720-777-0123
-
Conditions & Advice
Parenting Tips and Advice
From bringing home a new baby to building trust with your teen, our pediatric experts share guidance to help you navigate the ups and downs of parenthood.
-
Your Visit
Click to find the locations nearest you
Find locations by region
See all locations -
Research & Innovation
It starts with a Q:
For the latest cutting-edge research, innovative collaborations and remarkable discoveries in child health, read stories from across all our areas of study in Q: Advances and Answers in Pediatric Health.
TTTS Surgery and Recovery
The road to recovery after TTTS laser surgery
For moms carrying twins diagnosed with TTTS, their anxieties may not subside until they meet their babies. Here, your team is made of multidisciplinary maternal, fetal and pediatric experts, all collaborating to provide the specialized care you and your babies need – before, during and after delivery. We provide a wholly integrated experience for mothers and their babies, and you can rest assured that you and your baby are in the best of hands.
Our families discuss their experience with fetal surgery
These families share how they felt after undergoing fetal surgery, the ups and downs of the recovery process, and what helped them hold onto hope along the way.
TTTS treatment resources
Our Maternal Fetal Medicine Program
With a complex fetal condition like TTTS, doctors are really caring for multiple patients at the same time: the mom and her babies. That's why your care team should be as comprehensive as the disease is complex.
Treating TTTS with laser surgery
To stop the unbalanced exchange of fluids between the twins, our fetal surgeons seal off the abnormal blood vessel connections. How? With fetoscopic laser photocoagulation.
Treating Twin-to-Twin with Laser Surgery
Beating the bed rest blues: things to do on bed rest
Not all moms with TTTS are prescribed bed rest, but for those that are, bed rest means reducing their activity levels. For Nicole, being on bed rest didn't mean she was taking it easy. After undergoing her laser procedure, she found ways to distract herself from counting the days until her babies reached 32 weeks.
Check out her advice for staying busy while on bed rest – and still obeying the doctors' orders.
-
Find strength in friendship
Visit with friends before the babies arrive, because you'll be booked up once they're here. Call, write letters and invite friends over to keep you company.
-
Nest while you rest
Get your home ready for your babies without leaving your bed. You can design the nursery on Pinterest, fold baby clothes, select paint samples and shop for the essentials online.
-
Start (and stick to) a routine
If your doctor okays a daily trip around the house, plan how you'll spend it. Whether it's a chance to water the plants or make snacks, it can give your day structure and help you find your rhythm.
-
Stay busy
Knit, crochet, scrapbook or draw. Pick up hobbies that keep your mind and hands busy.
-
Exercise your mind
Stay sharp by reading books and completing puzzles like crossword or Sudoku.
-
Keep it light
Forget about anything serious; watch feel-good movies and TV shows.
-
Prepare for parenthood
Use this time to become a parenting expert. Watch childbirth classes, virtually attend Lamaze, browse mom blogs, and read parenting books and magazines.
-
Say no to search engines
Going down the Google rabbit hole will make you stress, not rest. Switch to parenting blogs instead of searching for medical advice online.
-
Get ready for your babies' arrival
You can make your birth plan, sort through insurance, find a babysitter, pick a pediatrician and handle all of the new baby logistics – without leaving your bedroom.
TTTS by the numbers
At the Colorado Fetal Care Center, we see and treat more babies with rare fetal conditions like twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). This means that here, the rare becomes common. Our maternal fetal medicine specialist, Dr. Nicholas Behrendt, breaks down our outcomes, volumes and research, and what it all means for your babies.
See how we stack the odds in your favor.
750+
TTTS patients evaluated
280+
Laser surgeries performed for TTTS
70.2%
Overall dual twin survival
"It's pretty remarkable that after everything we went through, the babies were fine."Nicole, Mila and Ciela's mom
Additional fetal care resources
Next: delivery and beyond
Our experienced family talks about what life is like after fetal surgery and twin transfusion syndrome, and what it's like to raise twins.
Your journey is unique, but you're not alone. Moms across the country come to us for the diagnosis and treatment of their babies' TTTS and other conditions.
Our Colorado Fetal Care Center cares for moms and babies with the most complex fetal conditions.
The Connections Program specializes in mental health care for families who have high-risk medical needs from pregnancy through early childhood.
Partnership with the University of Colorado School of Medicine
Children's Hospital Colorado partners with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where many of our physicians and care providers serve as faculty.