Teacher with Heart Condition Worried Having Twins Could Kill Her. She Was ‘Terrified’ Until the Moment She Gave Birth

Twin Boys Born on Christmas Eve Turn the Holidays Into a “Dream Come True” for a Mom Who Faced Heart and Fertility Challenges

For Abby Wood, the winter holidays now carry an extra layer of meaning in the home she shares with her husband, Chris, and their twin boys, Simon and Clivie — born on Christmas Eve 2024.

“We had a birthday brunch in the morning,” Abby, 33, says, describing the family’s celebration last month. “I was like, ‘I don’t want Christmas decorations. I want it to be their birthday stuff.’”

The next day felt just as intimate. “Then Christmas morning, it was just the four of us,” she adds. “I remember sitting with Chris on the floor and we just held hands and got teary just looking at the [boys] with the Christmas tree.”

But behind those peaceful moments was a long, uncertain road — one shaped by fertility struggles and a serious heart condition.

A Scary Diagnosis After Symptoms Returned

Abby first noticed heart flutters in high school. Doctors told her at the time it wasn’t anything dangerous, and the symptoms faded for years. But in 2020, the flutters returned — stronger and more frequent — while she was working as a preschool teacher.

“I was like, ‘Okay, it’s probably stress or maybe it’s sugar,’” she remembers thinking. “Then I remember walking up the stairs and my heart was beating as if I just sprinted. I was like, ‘I don’t think this is normal.’”

After seeing a cardiologist, Abby learned that more than 20% of her heartbeats were premature. The condition had begun enlarging her heart and weakening how effectively it pumped blood — a diagnosis known as dilated cardiomyopathy.

“I was definitely scared, especially during COVID,” she says. “I had to go to all of those appointments by myself.”

Doctors prescribed beta blockers, which helped reduce the premature beats. Still, the monitoring continued, with regular check-ins every three months.

Starting a Family Didn’t Come Easily

Around that period, Abby met Chris, an engineer at a pharmaceutical company. They started dating just before pandemic lockdowns, navigating a relationship that began with “social distance dating.” Eventually they married — and when they tried to start a family soon after, things didn’t go as planned.

“It just wasn’t happening,” Abby says.

They went through five rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination), but none worked. The couple then moved on to in vitro fertilization. A reproductive endocrinologist also advised Abby to meet with a maternal fetal medicine specialist, who recommended transferring only one embryo due to Abby’s heart condition. The transfer worked.

The Twin Surprise — and the Fear That Came With It

On June 24, 2024 — Chris’ birthday — the couple received surprising news: Abby was pregnant with twins.

At about six weeks, Abby went in for her first ultrasound. But instead of pure excitement, she says the moment instantly brought fear.

“I was absolutely terrified because I had been told, ‘If you have twins, it will likely kill you,’” she recalls.

Because of the high-risk pregnancy, Abby was referred to two specialists from Massachusetts General Hospital — obstetrician Dr. William Barth and cardiologist Dr. Whitney Coppolino. Both felt confident she could be closely monitored and supported through the pregnancy.

“When I first met [Dr. Barth], he said, ‘Who told you that you can’t have twins? I truly believe you can do this. We’re going to monitor you heavily,’” she says. “That really helped.”

She says meeting with Dr. Coppolino gave her even more reassurance — and finally allowed her to feel joy.

“She reassured me that I could do this,” Abby says, “and I finally was able to celebrate that I was pregnant and I was going to get to have my twins, assuming everything went well along the way.”

High-Risk Monitoring Took Over Daily Life

Starting in summer 2024, Abby traveled from New Hampshire for appointments in Danvers, Mass., where Barth tracked the twins’ growth and development. At the same time, she repeatedly wore a heart monitor — sometimes for one to two weeks at a time — so Coppolino could follow how her heart was handling pregnancy.

By Oct. 31, Abby stopped working.

“It became absolutely impossible to teach 20 preschool kids while pregnant with twins with a wonky heart,” she says. “My life consisted of coming downstairs in the morning, having breakfast and sleeping on the couch.”

Eating also became a constant task. “I needed to eat more calories because I had two babies,” she adds. “So I kind of felt like a garbage disposal.”

“I could barely do errands,” she says. “It was really just growing those babies and surviving.”

A December Warning, Then Christmas Eve Delivery

In early December, Abby’s doctors told her an echocardiogram showed her heart function had declined and she was nearing early heart failure. She was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital to be monitored and to have her beta blockers adjusted. After a few days, she returned home with a livefeed heart monitor.

When it was time for her scheduled C-section on Christmas Eve, Abby says the fear returned in full.

“I was so scared texting my family like, ‘I love you. Take care of Chris and the boys if I die,’” she says. “And they’re like, ‘You’re going to be fine.’ But I was really scared.”

Even so, she says the care team helped her through the moment. “Every person that I had clearly could read that on my face, but they also took such good care of me,” she says.

Trying to hold onto hope, she remembers hugging her belly and speaking to her babies: “Okay, I’m going to meet you soon.”

The delivery went smoothly. Clive was born first at 4 lbs., 15 oz., followed by Simon at 5 lbs., 2 oz.

Christmas Morning in the NICU Was “Magical”

The next day, Abby was brought to a specialty care area to see her babies.

“That was so magical,” she says. “And it was Christmas morning, so it couldn’t have been any more special.”

She remembers the details clearly: “They had little Santa hats on and they were wrapped like little burritos.”

Life Now: Growing Boys and Better Health

More than a year later, Abby says the twins are thriving — walking, running, climbing, and filling their home with constant movement and laughter. She also says her own health has improved. After experiencing more heart flutters last fall, an electrophysiologist performed an ablation to address the issue.

Now, she says she feels “less flutters and skipped beats,” and that her heart has improved significantly.

Looking back at the years of uncertainty, Abby says there were moments when she truly believed pregnancy might never happen. Today, seeing her family healthy and together is what matters most.

She’s considering returning to teaching, but for now she’s content staying home with the boys.

“I can barely remember life before them,” she says. “It feels like home now, especially now that they’re running. You can hear the little feet pitter-pattering everywhere and the giggles. I mean, it’s a dream come true.”