I'm 22w3d pregnant with identical twin girls and I have this overwhelming fear that the nursing staff will mix up our babies! Like what if Baby A, whom we have named Paisley, accidentally gets her sisters name, Scarlett. How can I be sure that they don't do that? And how will we tell them apart at home during the first few weeks before their personalities start to show? I know this probably sounds a little silly and dramatic, but I can't get that Full House episode out of my head when Uncle Jesse mixed up the twin boys!
You know I never thought about that, I had di/di b/g twins though. I know they get the bands on the babies immediately, and with the c-section it was baby a ( my girl) born first. If they're like mine they'll have their personality immediately! Lol! They had different cries too. I'm sure the other ladies will chime in soon. I love their names by the way!
My girls had a pretty good weight difference so we never had a worry about mixing them up early on. I would wait and see what name fit who better.
Ok, I had di/di boys who did turn out to be identical. So Baby A was Sebastian and he was closest to my cervix/pulled out first. They are really careful with the legbands- each baby wore 2 or 3, I think, each with my name and Baby A stamped on it. I was terrified I would mix them up as well, when we took off the bracelets. So I painted just one of Sebastian's toenails blue for a few months to ease my mind. Mind you, they did have different cries and were .5 a pound apart so they felt different. Also, don't discount their personalities- they should be a bit different in personality right from the get-go. Someone will be 'needier', someone will be a bit more relaxed.
I had mono-di boys and as soon as they were born they got a bracelet with Baby A and Baby B. Each boy also had their own nurse after delivery. I had the same fear but honestly it was the furthest thing from me mind on delivery day
I had boys and, while I was pregnant, didn't know if they were going to be identical or not. I remember worrying about this too! As others stated, the hospital staff will put a bracelet on them when they are born and write on it who is who. I also had planned to do the paint a toenail trick to tell them apart. Mine are fraternal and right from the start were very easy for me to tell apart so I never did anything specific.
Our Baby A was always on the bottom head down, and they verified names right after birth. And Baby B (Ryin) had and still has red birthmarks on his nose and eyelid. That helped a lot, along with a weight difference as they got older.
As others have said, the hospital should be really good about getting anklets on them and making sure they are labelled. At my hospital, DH and I each got a bracelet for EACH girl and had to read off the number on our bracelets (which matched the girls') any time they came back from the nursery. Since the numbers were different and they had "Baby Girl A" and "Baby Girl B" on them it was easy to tell them apart that way. Our girls are fraternal, which has become more obvious every day, so I didn't have the identical issue to contend with but I did paint their toenails (one pink and one purple). They each have their signature color and most of the time I dress Livie in something pink and Sophie in something purple (it's for other people now - I get scolded by my MIL if I don't ). That said, it took a few weeks but I can be sitting downstairs and tell you which baby is crying. I can tell their laughs apart. They have their own personalities from very early on. You will find a way to tell them apart. You will also mix them up from time to time. Even with my girls looking pretty different, there were times that I thought I was feeding one of them and it turned out to be the other. ardon: They didn't seem to mind.
Just like everyone has been saying, they are pretty good at labeling the kids in the hospital. My girls had about three bracelets each. When we got home I was so worried that I would mix them up, they looked so identical. So for about 1.5 months Baby A had a small thin string tied around her ankle lol I know it sounds silly but this was the only way I knew who was who. Once I felt comfortable that I knew whose who, I took it off.
It makes me smile, too! I think we all worried over it during our pregnancies and then it became a non-issue. Amanda, aside from Sam's surgery scar, there are other distinctions between my girls (and I'm sure yours). Alexis has a mole in her hairline at her temple. Sam has a red birthmark on the side of her nose. Sam has a narrower face. Their hair whorls go in opposite directions as do their cowlicks. They suck opposite thumbs. Then, their personalities. They don't look anything alike when they're awake because they just make totally different faces. They sound different. The only time I've ever been unsure of who is who is when I'm asleep (this morning I had to ask the girls who got into bed with me last night).
I remember having this conversation with one of DS's teachers when I was pregnant with the dudes… and she said… “Does it really matter if the names get mixed up”… I had not thought if that… the only reason Seth was Baby “A” was because DH didn’t like that name (I was putting my foot down he could name one of the twins anything he wanted) and in one of the u/s he (Baby "A") was jumping/dancing all crazy and he joked “That one is yours”… funny… Seth is the calmer one of the two now at age 4 1/2… when they were born… it turned out they were starting to suffer from TTTS so Nate came out RED and Seth was pale… Seth was a ½ pound smaller and almost a ½ inch taller… so “skinny Seth” stayed while in the hospital… and we kept wrist/ankle bands on for the grandparents when we got home… I so remember that fear and giggle about it now when DH and I reminisce about those days....
When my girls were born it was easy to tell them apart b/c Lily's feet were badly bruised during delivery. But before we left the hospital we got some red polish and painted Amelia's big toenail just to make sure.
I think every single mom, when they find out it's twins, has this fear! Even for my b/g twins they had several ankle bands saying Girl Bell, and Boy Bell, and the warmer/bassinet itself had a big A and B on it. Baby A was my boy and he was taken straight to bassinet A for his exam, and baby B my girl, to her bassinet. They are really very careful about this sort of thing, try not to lose any sleep over it The one thing I DO suggest, label pictures as soon as you put them on your computer (or print them or whatever). I know it's time consuming to do! But 10 yrs from now, you are NOT going to remember who was on the left and who was on the right. My babies are b/g, but of course, it's nearly impossible to tell the gender of a baby without looking in their diaper. I didn't specifically label a few pictures, and I have some on facebook that say "Sean holding a baby". My sister was teasing me, "You don't even know WHICH baby he's holding???" Well, in my defense, the baby is in a white/yellow onesie and a white blanket! I have no clue which baby he's holding! :lol:
having worked in OB over the summer I can tell you that in the delivery room they have separate warmers for each baby, and a separate nurse for each baby...also too, as soon as they are born they are braceleted AS SOON as they hit the warmer - whether delivery is normal or traumatic... I've heard of people leaving the leg bands on for a while (until they get too tight), or painting a toenail, or putting a dot with a sharpie on some unobtrusive part of the body...you'll figure it out...
We waited to name our girls until after we saw them; actually they were in the hospital for 2 days nameless ardon: . By that time, they already had their bracelets on and Baby #1 and Baby #2 on their bracelets, so we knew who was who by that time. Also, we kept their ankle and wrist hospital bracelets on them until we just had to cut them off, then one girl got her toenails painted. We were very careful about who had who, and all that. And there was no telling ours apart!! But like a previous poster said, each girl had her own pediatrician and set of nurses when they came (they were early and I had a c-section). They weren't getting baby A and baby B mixed up. But honestly....how do you know that Baby A in your womb will actually be Baby A on birth day?? I have no idea if the baby they pulled out that day who became Baby A was actually Baby A the whole entire time I was getting u/s. Just my opinion, but wait until they put on their bracelets and you see them to give them the names you have picked out...then you'll know.
Ours actually did get mixed up, lol. Not by the hospital but by DH! Until 20 weeks Luke was the presenting twin(Baby A), then they swapped positions, so Joshua was now technically Baby A. They continued to call them by their original letters so that growth and fluid measurements would stay on track. When they were born, DH didn't make it in time and Joshua became Baby A according to the NICU because he was born first and Luke became Baby B. Then when DH showed up and they asked names, he gave them the names based on what they were in the womb, lol. Plus I told him Joshua was the sicker baby and when DH saw the CPAP mask vs the vent tube, he thought that the CPAP mask looked worse. So when I got to the NICU, the wrong name had been assigned to the wrong baby, lol. We finally got it sorted out, but it cracked us up! They have them in different rooms in the NICU for this very reason, they don't officially get their names until they are discharged, so on their charts they are Baby A "Last Name" and Baby B "Last Name" with name alert stickers all over their paperwork and charts to try and prevent mix ups.
Oh my I thought I was the only one out there with a fear of mixing up my twins because of Jesse on Full House! Lol I haven't read the other responses so forgive me if I'm repetitive. I have ID boys that are 3mos. They're my second set of twins. The first set were frat girls who looked nothing a like. The first few months I was freaking out about telling them apart. Anyway, the staff will place bracelets on them. Each will have their own nurse to tend to them immediately after birth. They do their apgar scores, weight, etc. So they won't get mixed up there. I painted my twin B toenail blue. Actually both big toenails because one day it wore off the one and I about flipped. I could see the outline of blue. Now, at three months I can basically tell them apart but still use the blue polish as a back up just in case. I try to keep my B in blue and A in whatever other color too though I've dressed them alike and know who's who.
I totally agree with labeling pictures. I haven't done but need to sooner than later so I don't forget who is who. I did label pictures well with my girl twins though they look very different. I just assume the first month of pictures will go into the boys' books with the label here ya all are without knowing who's who. Lol
