32 weeks, 4th percentile..... one TINY twin!

Hello :wavey:
I've been on bed rest for a about a week and a half now because baby B's growth has slowed WAY down. So, I go in for nst and u/s twice a week. At today's u/s the good news was that she (Baby B identical girls) had made some growth, but she's down to the fourth percentile!!! She appears to be healthy in every other way.... just TINY!!!! So, I'm resting away and eating lots and lots of protein.... thanks to reading about the Boost diet on twinstuf! I am curious about why on earth she could be so small? Baby A is at the 44th percentile. What could such a difference indicate (they do not appear to have TTS)? Anyone else have a tiny twin?

Thanks a bunch,
Marcy :itwins:
32 weeks

 

I do.. I also have identical twin girls.. Mine like to swap positions on us still but my little one was 1 lb 7 oz at 26 weeks.. and my bigger one was 1 lb 13 oz. I am not on bedrest yet.. but I am on the boost diet. So far it appears she is also just tiny.. no real sign of anything to serious yet.

 

I had ID girls too - at 32 weeks, they were 3lb3oz and 3lb9oz. I don't know what percentiles that is, but they were a couple weeks behind their "age". We did have TTTS, though, and a 20% growth discordance almost the whole time. My smaller twin had a 2 vessel cord, and velamentous cord insertion (into the membranes instead of the placenta) which also contributed to her small size. She was born at 38w4d at 5lb2oz, less than 3rd percentile, and at 5.5 months is still less than 3rd percentile (her twin was 6lb1oz which was less than 3rd percentile, but is now 20th percentile). More importantly, she's growing on her own growth curve. If the twin stops growing, then I would expect your dr to want to deliver pretty soon! I think my smaller twin stopped growing at the end, and technically had IUGR. Maybe if they share a placenta, it's a placenta share issue. Do they check cord blood flow/dopplers? The fluid levels ok? I imagine they are following you closely. TTTS can come up this late!

Also - twinsmake9 - mine weighed almost exactly the same as yours at 26 weeks! 1lb9oz and 1lb13oz.

Good luck!

 

Hi,
I'm having the same problem with baby 'b.' I'm expecting identical boys(they think), here are their stats.

28 weeks: 2lb 7oz, 2lb 7oz (46%) Perfect!!
30 weeks: 3lb 13oz, 3lb 3oz (59%,43%) B stilled gained normal amounts but A had a HUGE spurt!
32 weeks: 4lb 2 oz, 3lb 7oz (42%,23%) I may be off on the % but close. Neither gained much over 2 weeks. <_<
34 weeks: we find out Wednesday, keeping fingers crossed!!

So far my peri and doctor are ok, because it doesn't seem to be TTTS and their fluid is good. But I am going tomorrow and Wed before my appointments for my steroid shots just in case. Have you had the shots or have they mentioned them to you? I'm worried that they're going to want to deliver if they haven't gained quite a bit of weight. Both my doc and Peri do not let Id twins go past 36 weeks. I was hoping they would be big enough by then (may 28th) but now I'm just hoping I make it till then!!

I'm relieved that others have this same issue and their babies seem healthy as well just small. Mine passed their NST and are still growing just slowing down.

 

:Clap: Thanks for all of your input! I feel much better just knowing that I'm not alone out there in this situation! Let's keep eachother updated! It will do us all some good!
Marcy

 

My twins are not identical, but my baby A is having growth issues. She has IUGR and poor blood flow. She was about 1 and a half pounds at 28 weeks. Baby B was 3 pounds, so he is fine. I get the steroid shots and after this Friday I will tell my peri that I want to monitor her blood flow every week.

How does your Baby B's blood flow look?

 

Marcy - I dont have experience in your situation but I offer my :hug99:

You mentioned the Boost diet - is there some place you can direct me some more info on that?

TIA

 

We had ttts my baby b donor never really made the charts. At 33 weeks 2 days she was 3lbs 4 oz close to a 30% difference with baby a at the time. Even now she is still less than 5% for her weight yet 90% for her length. She is a string bean. I was induced at 36 weeks (without steroids but did amnio and results were lungs ok) she weighed 4 lbs exactly. Left the hospital with us weighing 3lbs 11 oz. Very healthy just tiny. 9 months almost and we just started size 2 diapers. I'm sure everything is great and sometimes those ultrasound measurements are off.

 

By the boost diet, I believe she means that she drank 2-3 Boost with protein a day. Some of the ladies on here recommended it to me too. I started drinking 2 a day. I hope on Friday I see a big improvement with my little one.

 

QUOTE(here we go! @ May 12 2008, 05:44 PM) [snapback]769372[/snapback]
Hello :wavey:
I've been on bed rest for a about a week and a half now because baby B's growth has slowed WAY down. So, I go in for nst and u/s twice a week. At today's u/s the good news was that she (Baby B identical girls) had made some growth, but she's down to the fourth percentile!!! She appears to be healthy in every other way.... just TINY!!!! So, I'm resting away and eating lots and lots of protein.... thanks to reading about the Boost diet on twinstuf! I am curious about why on earth she could be so small? Baby A is at the 44th percentile. What could such a difference indicate (they do not appear to have TTS)? Anyone else have a tiny twin?

Thanks a bunch,
Marcy :itwins:
32 weeks


Are you under the care of a Perinatologist? This seems like a pretty big weight discrepancy from what I know. I would be a bit more concerned than your Doctors "seem" to be.. When it comes to ID's you cannot be too cautious ESPECIALLY at 32 weeks and on...

 

One of my identical girls, Sierra, was small (3.15 lbs at 35.3 weeks) but we knew the reasons for it; she had a 2 vessel umbilical cord and she was the donor twin for TTTS. Her sister was 5.5 at birth.

Sierra was perfectly healthy though and just spent 7 days in the Special Care Nursery until she proved she was growing. In contrast, our bigger twin was in the NICU with respiratory distress and on a ventilator.

We scheduled our induction when Sierra stopped showing growth. She still looked fine on the NSTs but we went through a couple of u/s where she didn't seem to gain any weight so we decided it was time to get her out. As long as the baby is growing and otherwise healthy, gestation is more important than size. The Boost diet & protein are great to help get you through a couple more weeks before delivery.

What are your doctors saying?

 

Hello and thanks to everyone that's posted here!

I want to address some of the questions people have had:
My twin B's blood flow looks good, her fluid is sufficient and she's doing fine on the NST's. I am being seen by a perinatologist. She seems ready to schedule my c section the second there's an indication of distress in any of the above tests that they are performing twice a week. Baby B is 2 lbs. 5 oz while Baby A is close to 4 lbs. at 31.5 weeks. They are measuring the girls every two weeks.

The "Boost Diet" is something that I read about on the twinstuff forums when I searched IUGR. Basically, it means adding 1-3 Boost Plus shakes (high protein and loaded w/all sorts of vitamins) to your day per day. This should be on top of what you already eat per day. The purpose is to add protein and nutrients that are available to a "tiny twin" trying to put on some weight before delivery. I can't be sure if the Boost is what did it, but my little one gained close to 6 ounces in two weeks! That's up from maybe 2-3 ounce gain in the previous three weeks (before I started drinking two Boosts a day and being on bed rest).

Good luck to all of you with a tiny twin!! I'm sure we'll all be fine.... just take good care of yourselves.... rest, rest, rest!!!!

Marcy