Twice the Love: Crystal Williams and Twins Thrive After High-Risk Pregnancy

When Crystal Williams was told she was pregnant with twins, she was overjoyed. Twins ran in her family, and she couldn’t wait for her son, Chase, to have two new siblings.

However, the happy news came with some concerns. Due to Crystal’s age and the fact that she was having more than one baby, she was considered high-risk. The twins also shared a placenta, and one was receiving more nutrients than the other (causing her to be smaller than her sibling).

With these factors in mind, Williams’s care team at Lehigh Valley Physician Group (LVPG) Maternal Fetal Medicine decided to admit her to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest at 24 weeks into her pregnancy.

At 30 weeks, Williams’s care team found the babies were experiencing reversed umbilical cord flow – a complication that required urgent care. They immediately took Williams to surgery to deliver the twins by cesarean section. When they were born, the twins (named Olivia and Violet) weighed less than 5 pounds combined. Olivia weighed 2 pounds, 14 ounces. Violet, who was considered a micro preemie because she was so small, weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces.

Olivia and Violet were immediately admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital to receive around-the-clock care. Williams was unable to hold them for many weeks, but she visited the NICU daily.

“Having the girls in the NICU was hard – every time we’d go to see them, we knew they weren’t coming home,” Williams says. “However, we knew that they were in excellent hands with their doctors and nurses.”

Williams was kept informed of their progress by the many clinicians who were closely involved in caring for the twins, and after 41 days, Olivia was released from the NICU. Violet stayed longer, and after 101 days, she was able to go home.

Over two years later, Olivia and Violet are now healthy and happy toddlers.

“I am so grateful for the caring and supportive staff at Lehigh Valley Health Network,” Williams says. “They did everything they possibly could to take care of my girls and me, and I can’t thank them enough.”