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Identical twins??

Hi

I have a few questions regarding indentical twins, if anyone out there can answer and reassure me.

1) Did you have the fear of god put in you about twin to twin transfusion syndrome? Because my twins are indentical sharing the same sac, they want to scan me every 2 wks fom 18 wks.

2) When did you start to feel movement with twins, and if you had dopplers, from when could you hear the heartbeats? Some poeple have told me it will be later with twins, and others have said it should be earlier.

Thank you
Debs 14 wks
xxx

Replies

  • Hi first congrats on pregnancy.

    my id twins are now 7 months old but yes i did worry about ttt (twin to twin)
    I was scanned every 2 weeks from 16 weeks and started to develop ttt at 34 weeks but as i was so far gone they monitered it then i delivered at 35 weeks. Firstly I wld recommend you checking up on your hospital-check they have the good quality scanning equipment, ask your gp and midwife and ask how many twins they deliver. the sonographers need to know what they are looking for as some signs of ttt are hard to spot esp when only in one sac.

    I didnt invest in a doppler as my m/w found it hard to find two seperate heartbeats and i knew that I would just worry me if I couldnt find them. regards movement I felt two definite kicks at 17 weeks but not regular movement untill 24 weeks which I was told was normal for twins.

    good luck xx

  • Hi there,
    I don't know about twin to twin sydnrome, but thought I might join in on your conversation as I just found out I'm having twins also! I'm new to the forum by the way - 1st post!
    Went for my 12 week scan on Wed & it didn't even occur to me about twins. The 'baby' looked very active from side on, legs & arms kicking all over the place. It was only when she moved it around & said 'hang on', that we realised there were 2 heads, rather than one!! All those legs & arms were in fact 2 of them kicking away quite happily. The other thing was they are in the same amniotic sac, so I'm told likely to be identical (?). We're seeing the consultant on Mon, so I guess he'll confirm then whether that's the fact.
    Came out in complete shock, but actually pretty happy. I'm just worrying about all manner of things now:
    1 - I'm 11 weeks & 6 days - but not really showing yet. In fact, I seem to have lost a few pounds (I think because I've not been drinking for the past few months)
    2 - It's my first pregnancy, so was worrying about getting used to motherhood anyway, but I'm not sure how I'm going to cope with double-trouble.
    3 - I'm 37, so my biggest worry is down's syndrome. I'm hoping the consultant will do a nuchal scan (or whatever it is), so he can set my mind at rest about that.
    4 - Now worrying about the fact they're in the same sac - I've read lots of info about the risk of them getting tangled up, difficulties with birth etc....

    So all in all, I've been in a bit of a tizz since Wed. Here's hoping you ladies who are a bit further on can maybe help with some calming
    advice!

    I do have to say though, every time I look at the scan with the 2 tiny heads on, it just maks me melt. I can't quite believe they're both mine. You just want to wrap yourself in cotton wool for 6 months until they're safely here!

    Em x
  • hi, not having twins but make sure you get nuchal scan before 13 weeks as that is last time to get them. I 38 and worried too but had it done when I was almost 13 weeks and was fine.
    Just thought I would warn you
    d x
  • I'm having triplets - even though I found out at 6 weeks I didn't get to see a specialist consultant until I was (or thought I was) 12 weeks - he did a scan during my appointment because I hadn't been scanned, or referred for a scan, and it turned out I was 13+2 and only had 4 days to have the nuchal translucency done - didn't have it in the end as it was Thursday (leaving the Friday or following Monday to try to get one done) and my husband was going away the next day! I've tried to put it out of my mind, but it does still worry me sometimes thatone or all three of my girls are going to have problems!
  • Thanks for the advice about the nuchal scan - I didn't realise you could only get that up to 13 weeks. I'm seeing the consultant tomorrow (will be 12+2 by then), so I'll make sure to ask him.

    by the way, lowri - triplets, wow! How are you feeling about that? You must be quite excited. Aren't there other tests you can have if you're worried (amnio etc?). I wouldn't worry though, not good for the little ones!
  • thanks again for the advice. The consultant did a nuchal scan and everything was normal, I'm really relieved.
    Babies are fine - growing well and both exactly the same size. They have the same placenta but different amniotic sacs - he was worried they were both in the same sac which is apparently high risk (but quite rare). It took forever but he found the membrane separating the 2 in the end. Quite fascinating really, I'm learning loads! Official name for them is monochorionic (rather than monoamniotic - same sac).
  • To be honest I don't know what I would have done if anything had shown up on the tests - I don't think I could have opted for selective reduction or termination, so having the chioice about the test pretty much taken out of my hands was a relief!

    I haven't really worried that much, at the end of the day all three are growing well, there's been no heart defects highlighted on any other scans, etc, and I'll love them all no matter what - things will be a little tougher, but there would be more help available.

    Hope things are going well.
  • couldn't agree more Lowri - i don't know what I would have done really if I'd had a high risk for down'. Once I saw them on screen they became little characters to me & you feel you'll love them no matter what. I'm sure you'll be more than fine though, so I'd put it right out of your head & enjoy looking forward to the triplets!
  • hi Mrs GG

    Im mum to nearly 8 month old twins who were monochoronic, diamniotic. With out doubt being pregnant with mulitiples is the scariest but most amazing time so big congrats. your lucky if your not massive already you must have been more sensible that me- i craved milk and mash potatoe and was the size of a small country by the time i was 16 weeks! good luck with it all pleased to hear scans are going well- r u going to be scanned every two weeks? xx

  • hi double-dubble (love the picture of the twins by the way!).
    Yes, I'm having scans every 2-3 weeks. I always get an audience when I go in as all the midwives seem to like to come in and see what's going on. I agree it's quite scary, I'm always worrying about something. I keep panicking that they're ok as I'm not showing much, but then I'm only 13 weeks I guess & I'm not really overeating (due to not feeling like eating in the evenings, I tend to get evening sickness - topsy turvy!). I've only put on about 2 lbs so far I think. I'm expecting myself to get quite a bit bigger over the next few weeks though - strangely looking forward to it!
    How are you finding it with the twins - do they wake up and feed at the same time? If they do it differently, god knows when you'd get any sleep. I bet it's lovely having them here though - were they your first kids (they are mine)? xx

  • Hey

    Yeah they are my first and werent really planned but wouldnt be with out them now- its great fun. Have always woken boys and fed them together so just about managed to get enough sleep. How are you feeling now your getting used to the idea of twins??

  • I'm definitely used to the idea now & loving it. Like my hubby says, we couldn't imagine it any other way now - it was obviously meant to be! We know it will be hard work, but then I suspect any kids are initially! We'll manage I'm sure (I hope).
    We're just frantically trying to find a new house as current place not big enough. We've seen a lovely house but got to get ours on the market pronto. I don't want to be moving when I'm about 7 months! Although there are benefits to that as I could just sit & direct everyone else to do the packing....
  • We moved house over the summer, luckily the move was sorted fairly easily because we get a house with my husbands job - had to tell the headmaster why we needed to move when I was still only a few weeks pregnant, but he sorted us out with a bigger house that was just next door! I was about 4 months when we actually moved and wasn't allowed to do anything - between my husband, my dad and my brother all being here to help, I felt quite left out - the hardest part was feeling as though I wasn't in control of anything and not being able to clean the old flat well enough! Even now there are things in the new house that I want moved around because they were put in the wrong places!

    One of my friends actually went into premature labour the day before she was due to move though, and was packing boxes through her contractions! So it probably is wise to try to move as soon as possible.
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