Discordance of Fraternial Twins

hello everyone I am new to this and it was recommended by a friend to help me through some things that are going on, because she said there is someone else out there that has been through the same thing.
To started off I am 18.5 weeks pregnant with twins TwinA(boy) and TwinB(girl). We went and saw the specialist this week and he has scared the crap out of me because Twin B is measuring 2weeks behind her brother. We have known we were having twins since 7 weeks and one has always been smaller than the other, just not two weeks the most it was before was one week. We did find out that both have two vessel cords. He told us that we would have to wait another 4 weeks and to not stress about it, yeah good luck with that. He said that the small one might have genetic problems, we have had every test but an amino and they are all normal, her kidneys, spine, heart and brain all look good just smaller than her brother. I am just wanting to know if anyone else has had this happen.
This is my first pregnancy and I am really going crazy worrying about my little girl, any help or advice it greatly appreciated.

 

:welcome: and :hug: s! I'm sorry that the specialist scared you! They are good about doing that! :lol: My advice is to focus on what you can control, which is drinking a TON of water, getting lots of protein(have you tried Boost or Ensure?), and getting lots of rest so that those little punkins can grow!

 

Thanks I called my husband and told him to buy me so boost today!!

 

The Boost is a great suggestion, since all that's in your control right now is how much you eat & drink to help them grow! My baby boy has measured bigger than my girl all along also. My OB never referred to it in those terms though, like how much farther ahead, he did it by %'s. At one visit baby boy was bordering on 20% bigger which is when the concern starts. He said the same thing, not to worry and we'd check again next time. Sure, no problem! He said he was even less worried though because even the girl was measuring ahead of the 50th percentile. Still didn't help. But...sure enough at the next appointment she'd caught up. So I don't have any good advice other than to TRY not to worry about it (the u/s weights are just an estimate after all) and do your best to fatten them up...good luck!!

 

I'm sorry that you're going through this and I know that it can be really scary. I'm not quite as far along as you are - I'm 16 weeks but we're in a similar situation. My twins have been measuring a week apart since the very first ultrasound and went from being told by my fertility specialist that Baby B isn't viable at 6 weeks to if Baby B survives, it's a sign of a genetic abnormality. This of course scared me to bits but my OB and MFM (who is also a geneticist) seemed to have a different opinion. While they say that the size difference could be a sign of a genetic abnormality, the large majority of these twins are perfectly fine - just two different human beings growing in the same belly. They also weren't recommending an amnio based on my screening results. The NT ultrasound showed NT measurements within the range, both had nasal bones and blood test came back with 1:2500 odds for DS. Both my OB & MFM said that they wouldn't recommend an amnio until/unless they saw something other than the size difference that signaled a problem. (They also know I would have an anmio since I had one with my first.)

I honestly think Drs scare you with the worst case scenario because they don't want to be sued. My friend that's a doctor said that OBs get sued the most so I guess that makes sense.

 

I'm sorry you are going through this! I think being proactive woudl help so definitely eat lots of protein and water!

My girls were at the most 10 days apart at one time and they came out totally fine! Hang in there!

 

Thank yall so much this is giving me hope, and I will start the boost today, I also have not gained a ton of weight either only 9 lbs, I have been trying to gain but I seem to loose when I think I am gaining. Please keep us in your prayers, as I will do the same for all of you.
I never saw them measure the head to Rump, where we got the measurements from was when they measured the femurs, they never told us a weight or %, we just went by what he said that they were two weeks apart.

 

I'm sorry that you are worried. It is scary when they tell you something like this.

They noticed a 2 week difference between ours at 24 weeks and so we've been having lots of u/s and close monitoring. What they seem to look at is the trends in growth. For us so far, Baby B is gaining and staying only 2weeks behind its sibling (we don't know the sexes). Our issues is placental/cord. There is a flow resistance in B's cord. So we take it week by week. I don't know my % either. They've never told me in those terms. I usually just ask what their weights are and then the gain. And like the other girls have said, lots of protein, water and rest. Keep those babies growing

 

I just posted on the same thing. I went to my OB today and she read my ultrasound results from two weeks about. I have boy/girl fraternal twins and the boy is measuring 25 percent ahead of the girl. At my ultrasound, the doctor said everything looked fine, so I was shocked to hear this and now I'm totally freaked out. There was never any noted difference in their size to this point (I'm now 20 weeks; my ultrasound was at 18 weeks).

I'm not eating a ton; I have no appetite basically. I started out overweight and I've gained about six pounds at this point. My OB is not concerned; she said my uterus is actually big for this stage, so I wasn't concerned until I heard this today and now I'm freaking out! I did a quick search online and read that they seemed to be less concerened with weight discordance in fraternals; also if there's growth in the smaller one it's OK even if they don't catch up. I have another ultrasound in 2 weeks... I hate waiting.

Just want you to know that you are not alone!!!

 

I have a flow resistance in my baby B's cord also. They measured their systolic and diastolic pressures and A was 5 and B was 3 . A is 2 weeks ahead of B. Also baby A is above the 50th percentile and B is below the 50th. Did you have to go on bedrest? My MFM put me on bedrest until our next appt 2 weeks. How is your pressures now?

 

My boy was always measuring larger than my girl. My OB didn't put it in terms of weeks or %'s.
We just knew the boy was bigger. I had an Ultrasound like every appointment, the last trimester, just to ensure everything was ok in there. When I delivered, my son was two whole pounds larger than my girl! But, they were both healthy, and no NICU.

 

HI APPLEJACK --I've been on bedrest for a month already, just to encourage growth for baby B. We had been having ultrasounds every week to check the cord and every other to check growth. It always seemed to stay about the same, 2weeks behind for baby B and resistence the same. I never asked the exact number, just figured if it was worse they would tell me.

The good news is I just had a fabulous ultrasound yesterday and baby B has caught up amazingly!! They are both measuring with in normal range for 28 weeks ( A - 2lb 15oz and B- 2lb 11oz) and they recorded just a bit of resistence in B's cord. We just couldn't believe how much B grew. So of course the close monitoring will continue and it may fluctuate again, but for now we are thrilled!!!!
I just parked my butt on the couch and stuffed my face with protein. Who knows if that did anything, but I am sure it didn't hurt.

So have faith that things could turn around. I think the most important thing is too have great medical care. I know the next two weeks will feel really long until they check things again. Let us know how it goes, and good luck, I'll cross my fingers for you

 

Hi and :welcome: to Twinstuff! I'm sorry the specialist scared you. :hug:

 

Just wanted to say I'm thinking of you. I just posted about the two vessel cord finding in one of my twins this week. I understand the fear and the unknowns you're dealing with. Hoping your next visit sheds more light, and some positive news for you... take care!

 

Thanks for the info and the encouragement. When your Baby B caught up did you remain on bedrest? I have to lay down--no recliner. 8 hours at night and 8 during the day. I can break the day time up into 3 hour segments with breaks.

 

My baby B was always smaller than her sister. When I found out it was twins at 9 weeks, the difference was 5 days. But that difference grew and grew and by the time they were born, they were almost 2 1/2 lbs apart (7lb9oz and 5lb3oz at almost 38 weeks). They're 3 1/2 now, and Sabrina is 11 lbs, 4 inches, 2 clothes sizes and FOUR shoe sizes smaller. People are very surprised to find out they're twins. Sabrina is the size of a small 2 year old. She does have some vision issues which are genetic and unrelated to her size or being a twin. Because of her low vision, she was developmentally behind for awhile. But she's all caught up now. She's smart and healthy, talked before Sydney and has a larger vocabulary.