Back from week 21 US

Everything so far looks good according to the measurements, they said last time they suspect them to be identical because of a thin dividing wall, this time I asked about the placenta and the doctor said as far as he can tell there is only one placenta. Does this mean they are automatically identical or can they be faternal and still share the placenta? They measures 70g difference and I am calculating that to be about 20% he said that was fine, but it seems like a lot. They have a really layed back style here, and I am wondering if anyone else has had a difference like that? We are scheduled for a new US in 2 - 3 weeks.

 

If there is definitely only one, they are identical. Make sure they are monitoring you at least every 2 weeks for ttts (really should be every week.) Congrats on your ID babies!

ETA-You are seeing a high risk doc right??? You should be.

 

I wouldn't say high risk doc, like we have in Canada, here in Sweden the OBGYN's only see the high risk patients, all other pregnancies are overseen by midwives at the clinics or in the hospitals. So I guess in a way yeah, but it is a typical example of how they are super layed back here. I appriciate their eagerness for every birth to be vaginal with very ""few interventions" but it's times like these that the better safe than sorry motto sits well with me. In Sweden everything shuts down in the month of July because almost everyone is on holidays, everyone gets 6 weeks paid vacation at least here, most take the month of July off and use the other weeks during the other months, which is wonderful otherwise, but not when you want to be booked in for an ultra sound.

 

I didn't find out I was having twins until 19 weeks along. From that point on the placenta looked like one, but what we found out after the birth was that the placenta was actually two fused together. So we ended up getting the boys' DNA tested to know what type of twins they are. They turned out to be di/di Identical (two placentas, two sacs). So it is still very possible that your twins are fraternal or identical. Did you find out the sexes? And what did your earliest ultrasound picture look like. Were the babies in the same sac or seperate sacs (black spots)?

 

If there is only one placenta they are ID and that is when you need to watch for TTTS, I believe. Glad to hear everything looked good. :good:

 

I agree with everyone else, Identical. :good: I'm happy everything is looking good!

 

Twenty percent size difference in identicals sharing a placenta is a red flag.

You need to make SURE you're being watched closely for TTTS starting now.

Good luck and Congrats!

Could you post an early ultrasound pic??

Did it look like ONE black blob or two??

 

Hi again and thank you for all of your posts, we have had ulta sounds in week 7 and 12 and they were in two seperate blobs, the doctor said today that they have their own sac, it's just that the sacks dividing walls are very thin. The first doctor that did our ultra sound in week 7 said it looked like a think division between the babies and he suspected they were di tiwns. It was only until we had the ultra sound in week 18 that they said same sex, and thin dividing sac 1.4mm that they said it looks like they could be identical, now at 21 weeks they said one placenta. I talked to my husband about the 20% difference and he said as he understod it the head and thigh measurments were very similar it was the Chest/trunk measurement that differed and the doctor said it has more to do with how the twins are at that time what position they are in. Because they calculate the weights based on these three measurments, because one was very active and the other was more still the 70g difference was not that worrying to the doctor. I on the other hand am very worried, and fear I will have to wait another 3 weeks for an ultra sound. One twin measured roughly at 350g and the other 410g. They told me that if the `TTTS is a problem they do a procedure in Stockholm where they try to redirect the blood flow from the bigger twin to the other, by stopping some of the blood flow to the bigger twins ambilical cord, but that just sounds really scary, has anyone heard of this procedure?

 

I agree, that if there is definitely only one placenta then they are Mono/Di identical twins!! Glad everything went well!! :yahoo:

 

You should check out the ttts site. The only treatments I know of are amnioreductions and the laser procedure which separates the vessels they are sharing. Maybe that is what he is talking about. How were their fluid levels?? I only ask because you said one was not moving as much.

 

You can ONLY go by EARLY ultrasounds when trying to determine zygosity. Later ones will not work. You are carrying di di twins if they had their OWN black blob at 7 weeks. I'm sure of it!! So, in that case: the 20% is not a big deal AT ALL.

When you're this far along, it is impossible to tell by ultrasound if they are monodi or di di with any certainty. EARLY ones are perfect cuz there's still lots of room!!

Congrats on your di di twins! And NO, I'm not a doctor but you can post the ultrasound pics and we can all look and see what we think.

With our mono di twins, they are in the SAME black blob at 7 weeks and NO dividing membrane can be seen.

Good for you for asking questions!

 

Thank you for all of your help, I will try to figure out the scanner on our printer tomorrow and see if I can post the 7 week scans photos. Cheers Julia