few questions b4 my dr appt

Im going in for my second dr visit since we found out its twins, and have a few questions so I can be a little more educated when I get there...
1.What is a ffn test?
2.I am 17+ weeks and have not really felt any movement (2nd pregnancy) and was wondering if plactena placement had an impact on that and how?
3. Is a support belt something dr reccommends or is that something we can purchase ourselves?
4. What other tests can I expect?

Thank you for your help...I have to say I love this site

Oh and what are all of the abbreviations and what do they mean, such as DH, Mono/di etc

 

Good luck at your dr. appt today!

The FFN test is where they swap with a Q-tip to test for postive signs of labor. I am not all that familiar with them, never had one done. However, from what I have read on here, they don't always tend to be accurate.

The placental placement is a big factor on feeling movement. I am 19w6d and still feel no movement b/c the placenta is right in front and blocks me feeling their movement. The babies were moving all over the place Tues. during the ultrasound and I couldn't feel a thing. This is my fourth pregnancy so I figured I would feel them really early...probably a good thing that I can't being that it is twice the movement!

support belts are purchased on your own. I don't know if the doc. will suggest one or not, no one but my mom has suggested it to me thus far.

As far as this point in the pregnancy all the tests are going to be the same as with a singleton. You will have your blood tests (if you haven't already) and your urine tested each visit. Towards the end with twins we get to do non-stress tests which after asking all my TS friends here a while back, sounds pretty boring!

Abbreviations:
DH (dear husband)
DS (dear son)
DD (dear daughter)
Mono/di (type of twins. Monochroinic (one placenta) Diamniotic (two amnio sacs) Mono/di are identical twins.

There is a post in the twinwiki that has ALL the abbreviations listed out.

Take care!

 

Support belts are great for singelton pregnancies, and are a must for twin pregnancies. All the mommies I have talked to that had twin pregnancies have recommended them or didn't know about them and wished they did. You can try them on at Motherhood Maternity or any baby store to see the difference yourself!

 

1. can't help on the ffn test - i never had one done.
2. placenta placement has a HUGE effect - i didn't feel any movement from my girls until 21 weeks (i had an anterior placenta so it cushioned everything - once they got bigger & were really moving around in there, i was very grateful! ).
3. i live in Canada & my doc prescribed a support belt for me - i think this was mostly because she didn't like that i was going for regular massage & chiro appointments. however, i personally found the support belt completely useless - in fact, i found it very uncomfortable. so after gathering a number of second opinions, i ended up going back to regular massage & chiro appointments & that was a big help for me for back, hip & ligament pain. that being said, it's very important to have a massage therapist & chiropractor who are knowledgeable & experienced with prenatal masage & chiro as there are some differences to the normal kind.
4. i also can't help much with this one as the only tests i had were NST (non-stress tests) towards the end of my pregnancy. once i was put on bedrest at 27 weeks, there were nurses who came to my house twice a week to do them - it's a home care program they've started in Calgary to keep lower-risk women off of hospital bedrest as the entire maternity system is overwhelmed.

 

A fFN test is a where they will swab your cervix and if it comes back negative that means that you are highly unlikely to deliver within the next 2 weeks (can't remember the percentage, but it's high). If it's positive, it still does not mean that you will deliver soon, but it means there's a low chance that you will deliver in the next two weeks. I had a very short cervix and they started doing fFN tests on me around 26 weeks. The first one was negative and the next one at 28 weeks was positive. I still made it almost to 32 weeks and was actually delivered due to preeclampsia, not because I was in labor. I was told it's not a test to determine if you are actually going to go into labor, but more to give reassurance that you are not.

Agree that placenta placement can affect how much movement you feel. I didn't feel mine until around 23 weeks. Even then, I really only ever felt one move because of how they were situated and because of how the placentas were placed.

I honestly don't even know what a support belt is...? My Dr never mentioned one and I obviously didn't use one at all.

I had weeky NST's towards the end to check the movement of the babies to make sure their heartrate was okay. I had weekly ultrasounds also, but that was because of the short cervix. Also, had to do 24 hour urine tests and bloodwork weekly (although this is not common unless you develop preeclampsia). Can't really think of anything else.

Good luck!

 

Thank you all. You have been a great help.