My name is Nina Pelosi. During my Mother’s 30 week checkup my mom was diagnosed with preeclampsia which affects 6-8% of all pregnant women. On April 30, 2017 I came into the world 10 weeks early. I weighed just 2 pounds, 7.7 ounces. My first 42 days were spent in the NICU at Moses Taylor Hospital. The nurses and doctors took excellent care of me and were with me each step of the way. This was very hard on my family, but the NICU staff made sure they were there for each and every milestone. On June 11, 2017 I was finally able to meet my big sister, Gianna, and make the trip home. It is organizations like the March of Dimes that helped me and my family through this journey. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Abigail Thomas. During my Mother’s 16 week checkup my mommy found out that my identical twin sister and I were diagnosed with Stage 2 Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). She was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) within 1 week of this diagnosis for treatment only to find out that our disease had progressed to Stage 3. If you don’t know what TTTS is, it is a disease that is very deadly in pregnancies where the babies share the placenta in unequal ways. One twin is known as the donor twin and the other the recipient twin. One twin receives too much blood flow (recipient) while the other receives too little blood flow (donor). My sister, Alivia, was the donor twin and I was the recipient twin. Alivia got to a point where she had very little amniotic fluid and actually had fluid on her brain and I was receiving too much blood so my heart had to work overtime to keep up, sending me into potential heart failure. My mommy and daddy had to make the most difficult choice to have a procedure done that would essentially stop the blood flow to my sister from the placenta in order to save my life. This was heartbreaking for them! Because of this procedure, my mommy went into premature labor with me at only 32 weeks 4 days. I was born at 33 weeks due to complications from her premature labor (preeclampsia). I spent 3 weeks in the NICU and struggled with APNEA and feeding issues. Thanks to my amazing NICU nurses and the strength of my mommy and daddy, I am a happy healthy 2 year old girl!