Couple of questions...

Hey there, I have a couple of questions that have popped up in the last few days. First of all, I can't possibly be feeling the babies yet, can I? I didn't with my daughter until about 16-17 weeks and I swear I felt movement yesterday. It was like little bubbles... but it could have been my digestive system since I have ulcerative colitis. That's what I'm guessing it is, but my mom is hounding me on when I feel movement so she can start shopping. LOL

Secondly, does anyone know much about vanishing twin syndrome? I asked the midwife about it and she just said something along the lines of "twins are born every day and twins vanish every day and there isn't anything we can do about it." It wasn't very reassuring. I was hoping to hear something like since both babies measured the same and had high heart rates that they should be fine. However, I'v been panicking about baby B having less fluid. I don't know if it's the angle or not, but it looks like he/she does.

Lastly, my mother keeps pointing out that the sacs are flat on either side of the divider and she thinks that means they are identical. That isn't necessarily true, is it? I'm going to attempt to add the picture to this post, it's a cell phone picture of the ultrasound.

Umm, nevermind... no idea how to insert the photo because it isn't on the internet, just on my computer.

 

I would be very suprised if you could feel the babies moving this early, but I guess it is always possible. You are beyond the point of having to worry about vanishing twin syndrome. That normally happens before 8 weeks if it is going to happen. AS far as them being identical......two sacks and one placenta means that they should be identical unless the two placentas have fused together, one sac one placenta is definite identical, and two seperate sacks with two placentas is defintie fraternal. I had two sacks and one placenta so we actually do not know if our girls are identical. They look pretty close, but for us the only way to tell is with genetic testing, and to be honest I just don't care enough to pay the money to find out.

 

I was convined I felt movement around 10 weeks with my girls as well even though it was around 16 weeks with my son. It was the same thing, bubbles and I wasn't sure but since it wasn't a "normal" feeling I figured it was them! I thought I was feeling them so early because there was 2 in there and because I had an idea of what their movement would feel like since it was my second time around.

I was also terrified of vanishing twin syndrome. I tried to stay away from the internet (hard to do I know) and rely on my midwife and the info from the ultrasounds. I asked for another US at 13 weeks just to be sure they were both still there and that everything was fine and then I managed to relax a bit (and start to freak out that there were actually 2 in there!!!). Unless you are told there is something to worry about, don't! The fact that they both measured the same and had good heart beats is great news!

In my first US (8.5 weeks) they could not tell if there was one placenta or 2 and the line between the sacs was very thin so they were unsure at this point if they were ID or not. I ended up having 2 placentas and ID girls. I felt that because they were so close together at that initial US that they had to be ID and they were. If they end up being the same sex (and you have 2 placentas) you'll have to wait until they are born to know for sure. I looked forward to that surprise since we did find out the sexes during the pregnancy (we did not with DS)..it still left a little mystery for when they were born!

Congrats on your twins!

 

I'm not sure how to copy and paste from someone elses post but just to clarify what the post above mine said (2 sacs and 2 placentas are fraternal), this is not true. I had di/di ID girls. It depends on how early the egg splits whether you end up with 1 placenta or 2.

 

I'm guessing the "movement" was my colon or something, since I can't pinpoint where it really was and my uterus is still high.

Thanks for the info! My u/s was at 7 weeks 2 days so no placentas, just yolk sacs and they each obviously had one. There is a thick space between the sacs but it's straight and the edge of the sacs are straight against it instead of each sac being round. It's hard to describe, but they kind of look like the gumdrops candy from the side.

I'm going to have to stop thinking about VTS - I had some BAD dreams the other night.

ETA: managed to get the photo as my profile picture at least!

 

I felt movement very early with my twins. It may have been movement. 2 sacs and 2 placentas does NOT mean they have to be fraternal.

 

Thanks Heather! Unfortunately today I felt the same thing and heard myself gurgling a little. Guess it was the UC tricking me. Oh well, I don't want her shopping until after my 12 week ultrasound anyway... need to double check there are still two healthy babies in there!

 

They can usually tell around a 12 week scan what type of twins they are. It's called a "chorionicity" scan.
Mine were di/di and each had separate placentas and sacs but with only a TEENY TINY membrane separating them. So they said we won't know if identical or faternal till we found out the sex (if boy, girl, then of course faternal, but if girl/girl, boy/boy, then you would DNA test them once they born) b/c the egg could have split within 4 days of fertilization, resulting in 2 placentas, 2 sacs.

So wait til you have your gender u/s!

We found out we are having B/G twins, so they're def faternal!!!!

Hope that helps!

PS. I definitely felt "bubbles" around 16 weeks... if you are a tiny woman, you'll feel the babies earlier too!

 

the actual shape of the sacs has nothing to do with determining if they are id/frat...

 

Yeah, I didn't think so either.