Love Times Two

Then, ten to twelve weeks into Cheryls third pregnancy, a routine sonogram indicated she was carrying twins.

"I laid there excited that we were having twins; we looked at each other several times. Wow! We are having twins! But after two hours worth of sonograms, we concluded something was really wrong," Cheryl explains.

Suddenly, the sweetness of their life turned bitter. Cheryl and Ferrall's twins were suffering from a condition called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. Cheryls physician, Dr. Larry Dennis, made the diagnosis.

"If untreated, twin-to-twin transfusion can be fatal nearly one hundred percent of the time," Dr. Dennis says.

Medically, the options were grim. They could abort the twins, do nothing and let them die in the womb, or try a painful experimental amniocentesis procedure that might help. Even if the twins survived the pregnancy, there were risks.

"The doctor said that if they lived, maybe there would be multiple handicaps, blindness, severe mental retardation," Cheryl recalls. "There were just a host of problems that could have occurred. I wanted them to be in my arms, handicapped or not."

And that wasnt spoken out of a selfish naivete.

"I grew up in a home with a handicapped sister, and I knew what it was like to have multiple problems and watch my parents deal with that, so I knew what I was looking attimes two," she says.

Somehow the Conleys found the courage to trust God with whatever happened, but they werent alone. Church friends, teachers, nurses, and their parents all rallied around the them and prayed.

"I was really praying specifically for those babies inside her womb that God would go in there and touch them," says Grace Ann. "I believed in my heart He was capable of doing that."

Adds Mary, "I prayed for her strength and I prayed for her to have faith in God and trust Him."

Meanwhile, Cheryls body reacted violently to the medication her condition required. She was bedridden, unable to care for her two young children. Twice weekly a needle was inserted into her uterus to drain off the excess amniotic fluid.

"I would convulse on the bed," Cheryl recalls, "and the doctor would have to do a tug of war with the needle to try to get the fluid. I would be very agonized in pain."

But she wasnt alone.

Says Wanda, "The whole time I was assisting with these procedures, I was praying because several things could go wrong. You didnt know what might happen or if it would happen."

"Obviously, it was Cheryls body that had to go through the pain of the amnio and everything, but we felt together it was our responsibility to give them a chance at life," Ferrall says.

"We just kept praying that the Lord would heal the babies all around because he is a God of miracles," says Gene.

Even with the best medical care, even with the countless prayers, the twins survival seemed hopeless.

"We were quite pessimistic when we made the diagnosis, and when we treated her with the amniocentesis for a period of time and saw no improvement, obviously we were quite pessimistic for the outcome of these babies. In fact," says Dr. Dennis, "we had pretty much written these babies off initially."

"We were prepared for the worst," says Ferrall.

Yet, they kept praying.

"The people that prayed, prayer waslike blood to a person needing a transfusion; it was life saving," says a very grateful Cheryl. "The people in my church, the people in New York where I am from, churches up and down the East Coast that I didn't know were praying for me, holding me up in prayer and my family, tooit was just overwhelming."

Weeks passed and still there were two heartbeats. By now, doctors had drawn 8 gallons of fluid out of Cheryls womb. By her seventh month it seemed as if maybe, just maybe, the twins would survive. But then there were complications.

"They did an amnio, and the heart rate of one of the babies dropped to almost zero," says Cheryl. "We watched as the monitor dropped from 8,7,6 and they unhooked it because they didnt want to watch the baby die.

"I said, 'Lord, only you can give me peace in the midst of this, and so like Abraham I will give these kids to you. If you want them, they are yours.' I took a deep breath and I held up my hands like this, 'Here they are.'"

Today, those two little twin sisters, Cassie and Alley, are still in the hands of a mighty God. They too are learning about His great love and care. Their lives reflect a reality that, indeed, God still answers the prayers of His people.

"Miracles happen most of the time to people we dont know," says Cathy, "but when you see it happen to people you know and care about, it makes God real. It also makes God real when you see a family trust God through their pain, in uncertainty, even when the outcome is unclear. Thats a miracle, too."

"Certainly we are very pleased in the outcome and we feel we played some part in that," says Dr. Dennis, "but, ultimately, why these kids got better, I cant answer that for you."

"The doctor told us it would be a miracle if they lived, and thats what happened. Not only did they live, they were healthy!" Ferrall explains.