Dr. Appointments?

I was just wondering why some are having an appointment like every other week (it seems) and ultrasounds just as often? If it wasn't for me not knowing when my last period was they wouldn't have known it was twins until 20 weeks. They don't even see you until 11 or 12. Well they sent me to a different part of their office since it was twins and therefore high risk. This doctor saw me 8 weeks and is going to again at 13 weeks and he said about every 4 or 5 weeks after that and doesn't do ultrasounds in the office (they do have a machine they can move from room to room). I was sent to a peri for a NT scan at 12.3 weeks and said to come back at 20 weeks and then at 30 i would be seen every other week. They didn't even look to know for sure if their was two placentas or one. I asked at the end of the scan and she said it looked like there was only one but we won't know until your next scan. I thought it was easier to see if their was one or two between 11 and 14 weeks because if there is 2 they might join together. So I was just wondering if this is the normal or should I be getting more? I know the farther along you are the more you go so I'm really just asking what the normal was for under 20 weeks? Well knowing both will be good too though. O one more quick question, what is the difference between twins and super twins?

 

I go to the dr weekly and i go to a peri monthly but thats just bc i am diabetic and my first pregnancy didn't go as well as planned

 

Hi! I'm going to try and answer your question as best as possible. We found out it was twins around week 7. It was very early but I was having cramping and spotting so we were doing early u/s to make sure it was a viable pregnancy. I started seeing my regular OB week 8 and have been going every 4 weeks. His is just a quick check up - weight, blood pressure, listen to the heartbeats, questions/concerns. I started seeing my peri (specialist) week 12 or 13ish. I went for my 1st trimester down syndrome screening and a consultation. My next appointment after that was week 16 and I see her every two weeks. She checks my cervix to make sure I'm not at risk for early labor. She also does growth and fluid checks on my girls. They are identical so we need to make sure they are growing at the same rate and that their fluid levels look good. She sends reports of each visit to my OB and when I see him he goes over them with me. My OB said I was going to see a specialist along with him for most of the pregnancy as soon as we found out it was twins. Each doctor may have their own way of doing things, mine was more comfortable having the peri consult the entire pregnancy. If you have any questions, ask your doctors, that is what they are there for! Good luck Mommy, and take care of those little ones!

 

I found out at 6 wks it was twins because we did infertility treatments. I saw my ob every 4 weeks up until my 26 wk appt, then I had one 2 week appt at 28 wks, and now I am at weekly appt's at 29 wks.

As for the peri, I requested seeing one since my ob wasn't going to do any u/s's either. My first appt was at 21 wks with them, then at 27, and my next will be at 31. Not sure how it'll go after that.

My ob checks MY weight, MY bp, MY problems/concerns. The peri checks the babies growth, weight, fluid levels...etc. I feel comfy with my level of care having both dr's.

 

I have never seen a peri or any specialist for this pregnancy...I saw my OB every 4wks (we found out twins @ 8wks, its my OB standard practice to do office u/s @ 8wks to verify the pregnancy) up until I was 28wks. I had my first non-office U/S at 20wks and then one every 4wks after for growth scans. Up until I started having problems with pre-e, this felt like a normal singleton pregnancy. My OB treats di/di (which my boys are) like singleton pregnancies until the third trimester. I almost felt neglected after hearing how much everyone else saw their OB/Peri's. But I have learned not to be afraid to ask questions...write them done and take them with you.
Congrats on getting to your second trimester!!

 

I alternate meeting with my OB and peri every 3-4 weeks. This has been going on since 8wks. I prefer to go to my peri because he has a better u/s machine and always checks individual heartbeats/sizes.

The peri checked for sacs/placentas at 8wks and then double-checked at 12wks. I'm di/di near as they can tell. I had an NT (to check for Downs Syndrome) at the 12wk check-up, too. I have an OB appointment for 15wks and another peri at 18wks.

To answer your last question. Twins are twins. Super Twins are triplets, quads, or more.

 

You need to see a specialist if your twins are sharing anything. If they are not... an OB is fine. In your case, I'd say you need to find someone who knows more. It sounds like this person or these people, don't!!

You are correct, the earlier on you are in your pregnancy, the easier it is to tell zygosity.

I'd look up a specialist in your area. Better safe than sorry

Congrats!

 

Congrats on your pregnancy! The twinkies were our first pregnancy (and last) and we found it was twins at 9 weeks. We saw the OB for every appointment, which was monthly. We also had U/S at that time as well. I was never referred to a peri. As we got in the last trimester, we were seeing the OB every 2 weeks. I am not sure what super twins are though.

 

I agree with IVFbound. Super twins are more than 2. not a very scientific name for them though!
I agree you probably need to find out if they are di/di or mono/di. Mono/di will need further monitoring. Did she make sure there was a membrane separating them?
You probably don't need much further monitoring until your big u/s at 19-20 wks. After that, I'm pretty sure the midwife said the standard at my hospital is u/s every 3 weeks.
Because my mono/di boys are having problems, (this was picked up at the 20 wk scan) I have u/s weekly on Mondays, and will soon be seeing a fetal specialist on Wednesdays.

 

We found out we're having mono/di boys at 15 weeks. Had an u/s every 2 weeks with the peri until 22 weeks. After that we will be seeing her every week for u/s to monitor for TTTS. i havent seen my ob since week 16 but will next week again.



22W4D today

 

I am 9 and a half weeks, and I've already had six appointments and four ultrasounds
BUT I am high risk with one baby- I have a history of stillbirth, Pre-E and HELLP Syndrome.

 

I am 28 weeks and up until 25 weeks I saw OB 3-4 weeks and the Peri every 4 weeks. My twins dont share anything but my ob likes to use peri for all twins. I now go every 2 weeks to ob and 4 weeks still for peri.

 

I'm going very frequently now (1-2x a wk--once as an u/s and once for an echocardiogram, which is also done by u/s). The first one I had was bc my lab results came back and my hcg levels were "unusually high" so they examined a few things and sent me for an u/s. That one confirmed twins at around 9 wks. I had one the following week bc we wanted to make sure they weren't sharing the same amniotic sac (they're not--they just share a placenta). I had another one at almost 16 wks to start my growth scans bc of the risks involved with mono/di twins. That is when they noticed a discrepancy of fluid between the two babies. After that I was sent to a perinatologist for u/s, a MFM for possible surgery (which we're anxiously awaiting), and a perinatal cardiologist bc of some heart issues with the babies. Even if I hadn't had such high hcg levels to start this ball rolling, they still would have felt a difference in my uterus bc I have been measuring way ahead since the beginning.

This all started at a regular OB/MW office, not a specialist's.

 

We also got pregnant with twins using infertility treatments. once released from my RE around 10 weeks (we were having ultrasounds twice a week there) we see the ob 2x a month and peri once a month. I am now 19w4d without any problems at all. And no one shares anything.