New here with a few questions :):)

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum and trying to get used to the layout. I am used to delphi type forums, so this is new to me.

Little about me. I am 31 and married. We have two boys Ty 5 and Chase 2. We used fertility treatments to get the boys. We have never even had to use birth control due to fertility issues. Imagine my huge surprise when what I thought was the flu was actually a pregnancy. We went for an u/s to date the pregnancy and low and behold we are having twins! Could have knocked us over with a feather. Shock does not cover it. I do not have the 1st risk factor for twins. Our babies are in differ sacs. I thought they would be fraternal until my ob explained they might be identical depending on when they split. He said we would know fraternal if they had differ genders if the same they would test the placenta at birth.

That leads me to my 1st question...I have seen some posts on here from people not knowing the gender, but knew they were fraternal. How do you know, because you carried a risk factor for twins?

My 1st u/s A was 6wk4day & B was 6wk1day. My next u/s A was 7wk2day and B 7wk1day. So B caught up! I go back for another u/s in a week or two. I am almost 9wks now.

Some of my fears...
- I have had two c-secs and scared of my uterus rupturing later.
- Scared of vanishing twin, but my dr said now the risk is down to 25%
- Scared of pre-term delivery and being able to carry twins. I am short and petite and not sure there is room.

I think the list is endless. I just don't know any twin moms and need people to talk to. Actually a friend of mine is preg w/identical twins, but they have twin to twin transfusion and she has enough on her plate (prayers).

Thanks so much for reading my rant. Nice to meet you all.

- Hayden (not sure how to insert sig yet)

 

:welcome: to TS! Congratulations! I found out at 9 weeks that we were having twins. It's hard to not have fears with a twin pregnancy :hug: I had no idea whether the twins were fraternal or identical until I found out what sex we were having (b/g), so I am not sure how you tell before that. Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy!

 

Thanks so much! I have another question. How do I know if someone replies to me without going back and looking each time at that thread?

 

Congratulations on your Twin Pregnancy and Welcome to TS!!! First of all, there all lots of shorter petite women on this site that carried twins to term with no problems! :good: It is great that your babies have their own sacs (my girls had their own, but are identical) as it lessens the chances of certain twin pregnancy complications. I hope you have a wonderful, non-eventful pregnancy!! We look forward to getting to know you!

 

Thanks so much. I am just a worried ball of nerves here. So you knew they were identical after they were born?

Also how do I know if I have a reply w/out going back to my original post and looking?

 

If you click the "watch this topic" button on the top right of this screen it will send you notifications via email of any new responses.

We actually still don't know 100% for sure that my girls are identical, but we are pretty certain. Not only do they look a lot alike, they shared a placenta (mono/di= 2 sacs, 1 placenta) and they both have the same blood type. We could send away for a DNA test, but I think it would be a waste of money. My Dr. thought they were probably identical in utero, but couldn't tell for sure.

I understand you being worried, trust me but try to remain calm, not only for your sanity but for the sake of the babies. There are lots of women here that are willing and ready to answer any questions or concerns that you may have. :hug:

 

Thanks so much I appreciate it. I need to read th eFAQ so I can understand everything here.

 

That is really cool to have such an awesome surprise of twins! It is really scary, but I already know its going to be totally worth it!

 

Hi! Congrats on your twins! I have so many things in common with you. I have a 5 year old daughter and a 2 year old daughter and am pregnant with twin boys. They are in their own placentas and sacs so we are not sure if they are identical or not yet. I have had two C-Sections and my doctor said he is not worried about my uterus rupturing as long as I get in as soon as I start labor. I am 5 foot 2 inches, uterus measuring 46, and have had little complications this pregnancy. I will be 36 weeks tomorrow, and we have a C-Section scheduled for 38 weeks. It is totally possible for you to carry twins! Congratulations on your pregnancy! Think positive!

 

Welcome to TS!!!

I have twin boys. We did use IUI to get pregnant and at all my screenings during that cycle my u/s clearly showed only ONE follie. There weren't even any small ones. So when we discovered we were having twins at 6 weeks 1 day, my RE was more than a little shocked. They each clearly had their own sac at that point. Because of the IUI and knowing there was only one follie, my RE was pretty sure that my boys were identical. Later in my pregnancy we discovered that there were clearly 2 placentas, but again based on my IUI assumed they were identical. As soon as they were born we thought they were obviously fraternal. James had super dark, thick hair and Jack had light peach fuzz and their faces looked very different. Frats run in my family and my doctor confirmed that part of the genetics of that can be having 2 eggs inside one follicle. So we thought we were set.
Now almost a year and a half later, we aren't sure if they are identical or fraternal. Their hair is now the same color red and they look much more alike than they did at birth. Family and friends who don't see them often can't tell them apart and strangers always tell us they look identical.
We will be doing the DNA testing at some point, just not sure when.

As for being able to carry your babies to term....just because you are petite doesn't automatically mean you will have problems with your pregnancy. There are plenty of women who are small any carry their babies without issue. I know that when I was pregnant I would get freaked out about all the stories on here about preemies and NICU and all sorts of other complications. In general my pregnancy was very routine up until the last 5 days and everything that occured at that point could have happened in a singleton pregnancy as well. My boys were born at 36 weeks 1 day, very healthy and had no NICU time. You do have to be more careful and your doctors will monitor you more, but having twins can go just as smoothly as a singleton pregnancy. Yes there are more chances for complications, but by each baby being in their own sac you have missed one of the biggest complications that you could have had.

edited for spelling

 

It was so unreal that after not even having to use B/C we got preg on our own. Never saw it coming. Then to hear twins. Just wow!!!

 

WOW we do have so much in common. Just WOW. My OB was not worried about my uterus rupturing he said he wasn't concerned, but wanted me to have a tubal afterwards. I agreed this will be our last. We had thought of myabe one more a few years from now and now we will have 4. I wonder if like you I will also get opposite genders of what we have now. My OB wants to try to get me to 38wks as well. I had my 1st at 39wks and then my 2nd at 38wks days before his planned c-sec I went into labor. I live in AL you? 31 here you?
So nice to meet you and I look forward to hearing more from you! Oh yeah I am 5'1 so again about the same.

 

Thanks so much for sharing your story with me. I know or hope Iwill be fine. This is all so new to me. I just need to ask away, so I can ease my mind. When were you able to figure out two sep placenta's?

 

My first daughter I had at 40 weeks and 1 day, they induced me and I couldn't get past 9 so they did a C-Section after 19 hours of labor. Thank goodness for the epideral! My second daughter they scheduled the section for 39 weeks exactly, and I didn't go into labor before that. I am assuming my body just doesn't do labor on its own, so I am thinking I will go the full 38 weeks with the twins. You never know though. I am 33 years old and live in Illinois. Congrats again and wishing you nothing but the best!

 

Wow! What a great surprise and then to find out twins- even better!! Congratulations! I'm glad you found this site. There are so many informative and supportive people on here- if you have any questions- don't google- ask them here- google is just too scary, esp when it comes to twins. Have you told your boys yet? If so, are they excited? When I told my daughter she was going to be a big sister she said she only wanted one and that she wanted a sister (none of which she ended up with!) Congratulations again!!

 

I love love love the names you picked out. We have the same taste in names. Your lil girls Bday is my late grandmothers bday and mine is the 19th. If I have a girl I am thinking of giving her a middle name of Nan after her. I don't want to use her real name cause she was always nanny/nan to me!!! Are your boys id or frat? When did you know. Nice to meet you!!

 

We didn't find out it was twins till 24 weeks at the 1st u/s. We had an idea it might be twins because I felt them moving way early but at our 22 wk appt they only found 1 hb. Well turns out Jessy was above my belly button where they were not looking! I had a high risk(tall, overweigh, lots in the family) for twins but they turned out to be id any way!

-The uterus is a very strechy organ. I'm sure the doc till make sure to take precautions to watch for this.
-After your next u/s it should be less likely for vanishing
-Yes the Nicu can be a scary place. If around 30 weeks you might ask for a tour of your local nicu if it looks like you might need to have your twins early. My girls were in 15 days and 21 days as growers and feeders (meaning they did not weight enough and had to learn to nurse).

 

Congratulations on your twins!

I just wanted to let you know that you can do it! I too am 5'1" and I carried my twins to 38 weeks. I didn't have many complications, although I was on bed rest from 32 weeks on. I went into preterm labor at 32 weeks, but they were able to stop it and I went home after only a few days in the hospital. My babies were 6 lbs 18 1/2 inches and 5 lb 10 18 inches at birth. They never even spent time in the regular nursery. They were always in the room with me. They were breastfeeding pros from the beginning and they came home with me.

I wish you all the best!!!

 

Thanks! My brother and nephew have birthdays on the 19th, too!! I think the middle name nan is really sweet!!
My boys are identical. We knew right away because we had an u/s at 6 weeks and they were clearly "sharing" the same space. My ob first thought they were mono/mono but the peri was able to find the dividing membrane at around 8 weeks. My sister's girls were also thought to be fraternal because they were di/di but at birth they had the same blood type and looked a lot alike so she had them tested and they are identical. Good luck and welcome again!

 

Everyone here has been so nice. Thank you so much!! I am such the worrier.

 

AWESOME story thanks so much for sharing!!!

ETA: About how much weight did you gain? I aks cause my husband was mentioning I need to eat more today. I am not showing at all. With my 2nd son I had already gained so much weight and looked 4 months+ preg. I think that had more to do with the fertility meds to. I am pretty much just sick this time around and losing weight.

 

Hej Congratulations on your twin surprise, I was also worried about the weight gain, with my son, who is 3 I gained over 50 pounds, so far with these 2 I have only gained about 22 pounds, everyone tells me I am all stomach, I asked my doctors about it and they said not to worry. I'm only 5´2 and I am actually relieved that I haven't put on as much or more than with my son, because getting around wasn't easy.... Well I can say it was about the same as now at 34 weeks with twins, so I can imagine it would have only been worse. :welcome: :hug:

 

Wow that is less weight than I ever put on with either of my boys. I gained 28lbs with my first and 50-60lbs with my 2nd I was HUGE! I know I gained 24lbs in less than a week, the week after I found out I was preg with my 2nd. They thought I was having multiples or something was wrong. They chaulked it up to the fertility meds. By the time I was 16-20wks preg I looked full term. Maybe this time I will be right up in the middle then. I was also never sick with the boys and I am sick as a dog this time.
Good luck to you! 34wks already that is great!! Are you having g/g, b/b or g/b do you know frat or id?

 

We're having B/B mono/di twins, and we are thankful for every day that we get closer to our due date, I've had tunnel vision for awhile now. Looking back though this pregnancy went very fast, it does feel like yesterday I hit 20weeks and could start the official countdown. I think I didn't gain so much with these guys because I was puking my guts out the first four months and only gained 2 pounds then when that went over I gained about 6 and then suddenly I had one twin with a butt, back or head pushing constantly on my rib stomach or what not, giving me major heartburn and what felt like a lump in my stomach. I haven't been "hungry" with cravings with this pregnancy after the first 4 months. What ever you gain, I hope that you just feel well and the babies do great. Even if you gain 100 pounds you'll be buring it off pushing a huge twin buggy around- :friends:

 

Congrats!

We did IVF and found out we were having twins at 6 1/2 weeks. We knew/assumed they were fraternal because we implanted two embryos, although technically it could have been one embryo having split. There are several moms of identical IVF twins here. I guess we didn't know for sure until we found out the genders.

 

Thanks! It was so odd to find out I was pregnant after our past fertility troubles. I was just shocked. I guess now we will wait till we find out gender and if they are opp gender we get to know for sure frat. I think I am about 60% on them being ID. I guess cause I have no risk factor for twins and just a hunch. lol