Complications or Issues During a Twin Pregnancy

We know that there can be many complications during a twin pregnancy. Here you can find stories from other ladies who have been through it. Please click on a link below to read and/or share your experience.

Thank you!



Monoamniotic Twins

IUGR Baby

PTL or Pre-E

TTTS Success Stories

 

Hi. I'm new to this forum. The nurse in my doctor's office (who had twins) actually told me to check out Twin Stuff. My doctor specializes in high-risk, multiple birth pregnancies, and many on her staff have also had twins or triplets. So we're right at home there.

At only 17 weeks along, I developed placenta previa. I have spontaneous bleeding that can get serious. I have had two bleeding episodes, and the first one landed me in the hospital for two days. I bled enough to need an IV. The second episode I just got horizontal and waited it out. I am on bed rest, but I can get up and around a bit once the bleeding has stopped....usually just 24 hours after it started.

I have two twin boys who are fine so far in spite of this situation. It's sort of scary, but a lot of women survive this, and I know I will, too.

There is hope that the previa will correct itself and move off the cervix, but it probably won't happen. It is very prevalent with twins, so if you start to bleed DON'T PANIC. It might just be placenta previa. -- Ma

 

OK. My placenta previa is healing an moving up off the cervix (slowly but surely), but they found a placental abruption a week ago, so the scare continues.

BUT I got good news from the doctor yesterday. The abruption is not growing and it's located in a safer spot than most.

He now believes I will be able to carry the twins full term, but we are being cautious. He said that by doing bed rest early and being careful now...it will pay off in the last trimester.

So for those of you with complications early...bed rest. I've been down for five weeks now, and it's paying off.

Whew. That is all I have to say. This twin pregnancy is hard.

Good luck. May your complications find ways to uncomplicate themselves.

 

I had very minor bleeding and pain early on and did some modified bedrest. It sure paid off. Here I am at 32 1/2 weels and still working 5 days a week! Babies are doing great!

 

I had a supersmooth pregnancy however, I did have severe swelling in one leg, which was concerning to both my doctor and myself. It was also quite painful. Just to make sure they made 2 leg u/s, one at 36 and one at 37 weeks to check for blood clots. Both came back negative, although blood flow was "sluggish" in some parts, at least that's how they described it. The problems resolved itself as soon as they were born ... they were close to 8lbs a piece, so that explained a lot! So nothing to really worry about, but always worth checking out.

 

I had a pretty major complication with my mono-mono twin boys, earlier than most. They were high risk to begin with, but I thought I had lots of time to go until complications, if any, arised, as seems to be the norm with this type of pregnancy. I was at my 15 week pregnancy appointment, and found out both babies didnt have heartbeats. They were both gone. I didnt even get to hear their heartbeats. I never will.
They couldn't tell me if it was from cord entanglement, that they died from, or anything else. They did a culture (pathology report) on the remains of the twins, what was left after a D & E, and couldn't culture anything. I dont know what that means, besides there was no results from their tests, and that we will never know why they died. They had their cords tangled up pretty bad at 13 weeks, but with good blood flow, and heartbeats, so I guess that's what I will assume happened. I will never know for sure. Only God knows.
Katie

 

I have had two previous pregnancies, one ended at 12 weeks and was a singleton and my second was a perfect pregnancy ending in a beautiful little boy. i am now 15 weeks pregnant with twins and just started having what i think are braxton hicks contractions. i've been having them for about two days. some are painful, but mostly just uncomfortable. i'm pretty big for 15 weeks and am nervous that these contractions may be something serious. can someone tell me if these contractions are normal.

thanks,
Regan

 

I am 22 weeks along with twins and have had braxton hicks contractions since about 14 - 15 weeks. I had a previous singleton pregnancy prior to this pregnancy. While I had some braxton hicks contractions with the singleton pregnancy later on, I have had numerous more with this twin pregnancy. My doctor told me this was quite normal with a twin pregnancy and that some of the contractions that I think I may be feeling can be chalked up to the twins moving or changing positions, which I have found out to be true. I didn't find out I was pregnant with twins until 19 1/2 weeks, so many of the strange things I was experiencing finally made sense when I understood there were two. Hope this helps.

 

When I went for my first ultrasound at 6 wks there were three sacs but only two heart beats
We never did see the third heart beat and it gradually got smaller and smaller until I had some bleeding at 10wks and then there was no sack at all. My boys were in the 3rd and 11th percentile the whole time in utero so they grew pretty consistantly but at 31wks they decided they didn't like the blood flow to baby B so they had to come out. Baby B was IUGR but both boys spent a lot longer in NICU than we anticipated. I had a partial placenta previa but otherwise had a pretty uneventful pregnancy up until they were born.

 

thank you so much! i feel better now.

 

I had a very uneventfull pregnancy until about 32 weeks. I started itching like crazy, especially on my hands and feet. Thought nothing of it but it started to spread and just would not go away. I googled a few things and found a Yahoo group for Itchy Moms. The itching became unbearable, I would itch until I bled. I took 5 cold showers or bathes a day to calm the itching, it was sooo bad.

Basically, I was an undiagnosed case because my doctor did not believe that I had it (it is not very common, 3% of pregnancies) and never ran the testes to determine if I did have it. Testing takes 2 weeks to confirm and I had the babes at 35 weeks, so only 3 weeks of misery. The itching subsided a few days after delivery.

If you feel strange about something definitely question it and don't neccessarily take a doctors words as gospel...

 

Hi everyone, I too am new to this site, indeed replying to any site. I am 9 weeks pregnant with twins at age 48! Darling son and daughter are 23 and 21. Of course, this happy result came from IVF, using an egg donor, and it was our third try. Beside the usual extreme nausea and fatigue that most moms of multiples report, I had two scary bleeding incidents that my fertility dr. eventually attributed to endometrin irritating my cervix. Thank God babies are both fine. Anyone else have this problem, and are any of you other expectant moms pregnant as a result of assisted reproduction technology? Thanks.

 

I found out at 8 weeks 5 days that I was having identical twin boys and would be undergoing constant supervision with both my OB and my peri to make sure everything was OK...this was my first pregnancy too btw.

Around 16-17 weeks I started getting these contraction type feelings and was diagnosed with an irritable uterus and put on procardia twice a day to control the pain since the terbutiline shots made my heart rate escalate. I was in horrid pain and found myself in triage every week because the procardia just wasn't cutting it.

When they did the glucose test (not the extended one) I got a reading over 200 so they immediately diagnosed me with gestational diabetes but I managed to control it with diet.

Around 30 weeks I want to say, I started funneling and was 2cm dialated. I was in the hospital on bedrest for about 3-4 days and sent home. At 32 weeks I went back to triage and was immediately admitted because of the amount of protein they found in my urine. I had pre-eclampsia.

I was in the hospital on strict bedrest for 2 weeks and sent home with a c-section date scheduled the moment I hit 35 weeks. I was sent home with strict bed rest orders and only allowed to get up to use the bathroom or take a quick shower.

When I had my c-section they told me that my toxicity levels were getting so high that if they had waited any longer there would have been serious issues.

I am happy to say that despite being 5 weeks premature both boys were perfectly healthy and came out screaming. They did spend 7 and 10 days in PICU not NICU so that they could grow a bit more since they kept failing their car seat challenge.

 

Margy~ I am also pregnant with twins from an IVF cycle. I had bleeding at 11wks 2days that was never diagnosed. My perinatal doc thinks that maybe we had a 3rd sac that didn't mature. I am now 14wks along and constantly afraid that something is going to happen since that bleeding episode. Both babies look great and are growing like they should which is reassuring, I am waiting to start feeling movement so then i know they are doing fine without having to see them.

 

Hello. I am new to this forum. I found out that I am pregnant with twins last week. I have a history of miscarriage (6 pregnancies, 1 two year old son). My twins were conceive naturally without any fertility treatments so they werent planned and unfortunately I didnt test until I was almost 8 weeks. I am now on progesterone and baby aspirin. I was wondering if anyone has an experience where there was discordance in the size of their twins and if you still carried to term. Twin A was measuring almost 9 weeks, twin b was measuring almost 8. Their heartrates were 100 and 105 which was also a concern for the doctors. I have another ultrasound this Thursday but I am looking for any information anyone would be willing to share with me.

Thank you.

 

The day after I found out we were expecting twins, I was actually admitted to hospital for bleeding and cramping. At that point my hcg beta levels were 441. I was discharged and had to do hcg every week. I've had old blood spotting (dr. wouldn't call it that but just "Stained" discharge) but my hcg levels are still rising. U/S again on the 5th (Tuesday) so praying things are continuing to stay sticking!

 

anyone have problems with an incompetent cervix? for some reason I am worried about that even though the risk is low (i read it was 1/100 pregnancies) and it seems to be the last thing on my OB's mind--she is more concerned about gestational diabetes and preterm labor--but she is sending me to a perinatologist for my anatomy scan/cervical check at 18weeks so that calmed me down a bit. on another forum there are two women that lost their twins just a few months ago due to IC so i think that's why i'm even thinking about it. it's also my first pregnancy and i have a fertility problem so i REALLY don't want anything to happen to my babies.

 

I am 14 weeks along and had a ton of bleeding due to a tear in one of the placentas. Both babies are doing good but I am still spotting and scared. Anyone have this happen.?

 

Never be afraid to talk to your doctor about anything that concerns you - they chose a profession where they know that they'll be on call and have lots of questions, and you never know what could be important. I started having BH early on too, and found that I was doing too much. While my doctor never officially put me on bed rest, he pretty much said "listen to your body". I found that I was pretty much on bed rest the whole pregnancy, which gets old after about 2 days. I was unable to work, or really to do much of anything around the house. But I realized finally that my most important job was to see to the safety of these babies. Another thing you can try is to REALLY hydrate. My dr told me to drink 3 liters of water a day, but I have been drinking 5 liters a day, and still that's not enough sometimes. Dehydration (even if you don't feel it) can bring on contractions. Drink 1 liter of water in 15 minutes and lie down (this is the equivalent of getting a bag of IV fluids). If it doesn't stop after an hour or so, then call your dr. Best wishes!

 

Just putting my story out there, because I researched and it's so rare that there isn't much info out there. We did just 1 round of IUI, and boy did it take! At about 6 weeks along, hubby had just come home from work (thank God). I had been in bed about 2 days from what I thought was ovarian cyst pain (I have PCOS and have had this many times). When he got home, I felt a new pain that was completely different, thought maybe I had to go to the bathroom. I no sooner sat down on the toilet (not straining or anything), and before I could say "I'm dizzy" - boom! Fell straight to the floor, face-planted into the tile, and was passed out. Hubby got me into a better position with pillow under head, and talked to me till I came around. Then called my parents (2 miles away) and our dr, and rushed me to ER. Found out at this point I had twins, & they said placenta partially tore from uterine wall a bit (based on a little fluid in the abdomen) and sent me home on bed rest. 6 days later, woke up at 4 AM in the worst pain of my life! Rushed back to ER, this time it took both my parents and hubby to carry me to the car bc I was passed out the whole way. This time was admitted. After 8-10 ultrasounds, tons of blood work, and an MRI, they had no idea what was wrong, other than that I was bleeding internally really bad. I had zero spotting or external bleeding. Both times when I was brought into ER, blood pressure was extremely low (like 64/28) and they couldn't even get a pulse, temperature, etc. I was also clammy and very nauseated, and in so much pain I couldn't be touched or moved without screaming (and I'm pretty darn pain tolerant). Anyway, finally my dr came in and said she'd have to do exploratory laproscopic surgery to see what was going on. They gave me 3 blood transfusions and sent me into surgery. What she found was that while I did have twins in the uterus, I also had a triplet that was a tubal pregnancy - which had obviously ruptured. My tube was completely destroyed, and she had to do a lot of work to stop the bleeding. She was able to save the twins, thank God. I am convinced that had they waited any longer or had it been any other dr - I would have been dead! I've had a few other complications arise, such as gestational diabetes, etc. But overall, nothing compares to this experience!! It totally changes your perspective. I was told there is a 1 in 300,000 chance of having one in the uterus and one in the tubes. There aren't really even statistics on my circumstances because it is so extremely rare.

I tell this story because hopefully it can help others. Listen to your body --- you know your body way better than the dr's do. Don't be afraid to call and talk to them or seek medical treatment - it may be more serious than you think. I am now at 36 weeks, and my scheduled c section is 2 weeks away, but I'm hoping these girls come earlier. They are healthy and have great growth rates and heart rates. So thankful for my two miracle babies, and I can't wait to meet the little one I have waiting for me in Heaven!!

 

I am currently 26 weeks pregnant with twin girls and just experienced my third hospital stay for preterm labor. It seems as though im going into labor every three weeks which is odd don't know why that happened, First time was 19 weeks due to a UTI and they stopped contractions with morphine and iv fluids/ antibiotics, . Second time at 22 weeks, there was no distinguishable reason but they were able to stop contractions with Procardia ( horrible horrible stuff )! This last time I went in because I kept feeling this odd pressure in my pelvic area and turned out to be contracting every 4 minites. I hadn't dialayed but my cervix turned soft and they wereable to stop ot with terbutaline shots. They also did a fetal fibronectin test that came back negative which was very reasuring. I am very good about drinking water and don't drink any sugary sodaor caffienated drinks. The only other thing I drink is milk but once a day. I waswondering if anyone has hadany experiences similar to this or have an idea what could be a causeto always gooing into early labor. I am not working anymore and I stay off my feetpretty much all day long. I don't have any health issues and I'm not overweight at all for my height I've gained the correct amount that I should have. it's frustrating constantly worrying when the next time is going to be and ifthere are going to be any serious complications. it even seems like when I feel the urge to pee it brings on a braxton hicks contraction it's soo weird.

 

Sometimes, pre-term labor just happens even if you have no risk factors for it. That's great that your ffn test came back negative! And it sounds like you're being monitored closely and doing everything that is within your power to do for these babies. :hug:

A full bladder will irritate your uterus as it puts pressure on it. So it's a bit of a catch-22 - you have to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration which irritates your uterus but then having a full bladder all the time irritates your uterus. Still, staying hydrated is so important. It may just mean more frequent bathroom breaks. Hang in there!

 

Yes i definitely am! Thank you for your response it all makes sense. I also found out yesterday that the babies are no longer front to back. They are now on top of one another so that's putting even more pressure on my pelvis.

 

I had a tear in my placenta at 14 weeks also. The blood was terrifying! Luckily, I am 21 weeks now and despite some spotting up until week 19, there were no other issues.
My doc just recommended I avoid abdominal stress and stay on pelvic rest (no sex!),but the ultrasounds have shown it is healing up!
It was the scariest thing I had ever experienced, but luckily the babies are fine! Just stressed out mama a bit.

 

Just had my 30 week ultrasound and now am scheduled for an ultrasound every week because baby A is 2.7 and baby B is 3.2 so they don't like the discrepancy in their size. Would love to know if anyone else has had this complication arise.