“The scares were not as scary, because of the team of caring nurses at the Brigham who kept us grounded in reality, supported our journey, and calmed all our fears.”
Veronica and Deandre Schoultz moved to the Boston area when Deandre was newly stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base. Shortly afterward, Veronica and Deandre began their journey to grow their family. However, they experienced several challenges with conceiving, including a miscarriage. “It was a difficult time, but we decided to keep trying,” shares Deandre. “When we learned we were expecting not just one child, but twins, we were overjoyed.”
Pregnant with twins, the couple turned to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for prenatal care, where Veronica became a patient of Carolina Bibbo, MD, a high-risk obstetrician. Dr. Bibbo specializes in prenatal care for multiples at the Comprehensive Care Center for Multiples within the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Brigham.
It was during a regular checkup when Dr. Bibbo noticed that one of Veronica’s babies was not growing at the same rate as their sibling — a condition called growth restriction.
Since size isn't always a reliable indicator of health, Dr. Bibbo suggested undergoing an amniocentesis test to get a more accurate understanding of the baby's well-being. Amniocentesis is a test wherein a small sample of the fluid that is around the baby (amniotic fluid) is removed from the uterus for testing.
The testing provided the couple with the comforting assurance that the twins were healthy.
Veronica explains, “I knew I was high risk due to my short cervix. The growth restriction diagnosis made me worry even more, because one of the twins was not developing the way they should, and I thought there might be some underlying issue. The Center understood these anxieties, and provided regular checkups and a social support system that reassured me. Dr. Bibbo and her team made it clear that the Brigham would help us to prepare for and cope with whatever came up.”
The Comprehensive Care Center for Multiples offers a multidisciplinary approach to high-risk pregnancy care, with a diverse team of specialists who are highly equipped to care for patients carrying more than one baby. The program includes specialized, doctor-led educational programs for expectant parents that cover topics ranging from learning more about the labor and delivery experience to coping with parenting and postpartum depression. Additionally, the multiples program offers social and emotional support for families including monthly support groups, led by Kelly Mccann Earls, LICSW, MPH, in which people who are pregnant can share their experiences, excitement, and concerns around expecting multiple babies. All patients have the option to meet with a pregnancy nutritionist who can advise on eating for healthy weight gain, and a genetic counselor who can guide them through their diagnostic screening and testing options.
During her now-weekly appointments, Veronica’s care team regularly watched the twins’ growth via:
The most important discovery during this monitoring was related to umbilical artery doppler ultrasounds. A doppler ultrasound allows the physicians to evaluate blood flow within the baby’s arteries, veins, and organs. Umbilical artery blood flow is a good indicator of placental health and is especially important to track in cases of restricted growth, like Veronica’s. An abnormal blood flow could mean that the placenta is not working well and helps identify babies that are at risk. In Veronica’s case, the doctors noticed that there was abnormal umbilical artery blood flow, and they recommended steroid shots to boost the development of the babies’ lungs, given the high likelihood of premature birth.
Veronica was hoping to carry the twins for at least 32 weeks, but at 28 weeks (seven months), she began having contractions. During a scheduled follow-up ultrasound and nonstress test, the team noticed the smaller twin’s heart beat was slowing down and was showing signs of distress.
“At that point, Dr. Bibbo said she would have to deliver the twins immediately by cesarean section,” says Veronica. “I wanted to do what was best for their health, and so I listened to Dr. Bibbo’s recommendation.”
On June 14, 2023, Veronica’s care team safely delivered her healthy fraternal twins—Skylynn and Deandre “Deuce” Schoultz—into the world.
Veronica Schoultz with her twin newborns, Skylynn and Deandre "Deuce" Schoultz.
Because they were born earlier than expected, both babies were brought to the Brigham and Women’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for personalized care.
Luckily, Veronica had gotten very close with her Brigham doctors and nurses, and felt well-prepared for what to expect in the NICU.
Deuce and Skylynn were kept together in a room that Veronica and Deandre could visit every day. In the NICU, families are paired with a primary care team, with members of the day and night shift dedicated to taking care of the twins. This is to ensure that parents see the same faces every time they visit, and that a small and dedicated team of clinicians support the babies around-the-clock. This NICU primary care team quickly felt like the Schoultzes’ extended family, trusted with the important job of caring for their tiny newborns.
“The scares were not as scary, because of the team of caring nurses at the Brigham who kept us grounded in reality and calmed all our fears,” says Veronica. “The doctors, nursing staff, and NICU team showed us the best path forward, guiding us through this difficult time.”
After five days in the NICU, Veronica and Deandre were finally able to hold baby Deuce. He had shown remarkable progress, developing and stabilizing faster than his sister. Not long after, the couple was overjoyed to learn the time had also arrived to hold baby Skylynn.
Deandre and Veronica Schoultz with their twin newborns, Skylynn and Deandre "Deuce."
Over the next two months, the couple spent six to seven hours in the NICU with Skylynn and Deuce every single day. Their care team helped them follow a consistent schedule, so they’d be present for routine activity and engage in vital bonding and imprinting with the newborns. Each day, the parents would be there to help with weigh-ins, temperature checks, feedings, and diaper changes. The babies were kept swaddled and received oxygen throughout their time in the NICU.
Veronica and Deandre took advantage of every moment they were able to spend with the twins in the NICU, and quickly began to learn the babies’ distinct personalities.
“The early postpartum period is when important bonding and imprinting takes place, and this process should not be disrupted just because the babies were delivered early,” says Dr. Bibbo. “We built plenty of parental bonding time into the twins’ intensive care plans so that this essential phase of development could take place.”
Two months after his birth, Deuce was able to go home, with Skylynn following shortly thereafter. The family was now complete, happy, and healthy at home.
Although they would miss the twins they had cared for, Dr. Bibbo and the NICU team were happy to see Deuce and Skylynn grow and flourish enough to leave the hospital and go home with their parents.
“Veronica and her family were lovely to work with. They wanted to have all the right information to be able to make good decisions,” shares Dr. Bibbo. “It was a tough road, but Veronica stayed in good spirits and in a positive space, asking a lot of questions and learning everything she could. It was special to connect with Veronica during our group postpartum zoom meetings and learn from her about her experience as a mother of two babies in the NICU and support her throughout this process. It’s rather exceptional that a baby born this small, less than 500 grams at seven months, made it home from the NICU. We were so pleased to see the new family is now home and thriving.”
The Schoultzs appreciated the continuity of care at the Brigham, from early appointments with Dr. Bibbo, to the diagnosis and monitoring of Skylynn’s growth restriction, to the comprehensive NICU care they received. They felt prepared, protected and respected throughout their care journey, and are grateful to the team they met and befriended throughout.
“With babies this small, sometimes you are afraid they are fragile, and you second-guess your approach to hands-on care,” says Deandre. “The NICU nurses just kept reminding us, ‘The twins aren’t sick, they’re just premature. They just need the extra time to mature.’”
Learn more about Maternal-Fetal Medicine services at Brigham and Women's Hospital
