Fraternal/ Identical?

Yesterday when we went for our sonogram I asked the lady if she could tell me if I had one placenta or two. And she said I could ask the dr. But we know they have two sacs and she said normally when there are two placentas the membrane between the sacs is bigger and ours is thin So would that mean if one placenta two sacs are identical or fraternal?

 

If it's truly one placenta, and not 2 fused, and 2 sacs they would be identical. Even if it is 2 placentas fused to look like one and 2 sacs if they are the same sex they could still be identical but you would have to wait until they are born to find out for sure.

 

Highjacking here; we had this discussion this week I am having boy/girl twins; obviously fraternal.... Could they still have one placenta?? Or, is one placenta just with indentical twins??

 

One placenta is only for Identical twins. It could appear that they have one, but that would mean that it is actually 2 that have fused together.

 

And another word on the membrane - ours was soooooooo thin and whispy it was difficult to find on u/s. They were concerned about it being a monoamniotic pregnancy (one sac) at first but then got a good glimpse - albeit extremely short - of a definite membrane.

I was told if its 5mm or thicker its likely two placentas. If the membrane is less than one. Ours was rated at 1mm thick at 4 different u/s. Amazing to think that something 1mm thick could withstand the kicks and punches and stretches from those babes!

 

That's intersting to know. There was an extremely thin membrane seperating my boys. It looked like a piece of hair floating around. At my 36 week ultrasound they could no longer see it.

 

Slipper - that was like ours too - the only reason they didn't get concerned at my 35wk u/s was because it HAD been seen previously. But literally for a second before it flitted out of sight again. I remember seeing it myself at one point and you're right - a piece of hair is exactly it.

I should have had a comment in my sentence "if the membrane is less, than one" meaning if less than 5mm its one placenta.

 

Thing is that my boys look nothing alike. Makes me wonder

 

Really?? How interesting! I'm assuming they told you it was one placenta? Gosh - don't you wish you had a magic wand to 'just know' without spending money to 'know for sure'?? LOL

 

We also had one placenta, 2 sacs and a dividing placenta that was so thin the peri had a hard time finding it. The joke was on us and all of our docs.
Our guys are fraternal, and the placentas had merely fused. There's no doubt about their zygosity as they have different blood types. So while the number of placentas and the thickness of the membrane can generally point you towards ID vs fraternal, it's not foolproof. Be prepared for frat even if the docs tell you ID - and vice versa.

 

Yes I was told one placenta. They only ever saw one, had my first u/s at 9 weeks. They only saw a membrane at my 20 week U/S. The boys have the same blood type, and exact same birth mark. I would love a magic wand!

 

Mellizos - we wondered that at first too - the boys were alike, but not insanely alike. Now tho at 14mths I am at a loss as to who is who...crappy mother that I am.....LOL

That's neat about the birthmark Slipper, because our boys have one - but its mirrored.

 

Theirs is smack dab in the middle of the back of their neck, just above the hair line. Williams is a little darker then Nathaniels though.

 

That is interesting about the birthmarks. One of my girls has one the other doesn't, which was one of the reasons I was told they weren't ID, but I have the DNA test to proove they are! Thank goodness there is this difference though or we would have had a much harder time telling them apart in the early months (DH still uses it to tell who's who ).

ChaoticMum, maybe your guys are mirror twins, that would be neat .

 

Our girls had an extremely thin membrane and we were told one placenta. But T is a redhead and M is a brunette and both have very different builds and features - they are 100% fraternal (and just about as different as can be!) They even did placental analysis on it and everything. But it must have fused extremely early and appeared to everyone as a single placenta. I think the girls just wanted to fool us all. We were expecting ID twins to be born and everyone was shocked!!

 

I love how it's all a surprise and all speculation until
The babies are born. It's almost like if we werent able to
Find out the gender of babies now days. I'm surprised the drs haven't said anything to me about one placenta or two but I will def ask when I go on the 29. And both times I went to the dr and the specialist and even when I did the u/s they were all surprised that twins don't run in our family and it wasnt IVF and I'm only 26. I guess it's not common if your the first one in your family and young. Lol. But I can't wait to find out how many placentas. Lol.

 

All through my pregnancy the docs and myself thought we were having fraternal. I had a very early ultrasound at 5 weeks that showed two completely sepearate--though right next to each other--sacks. That combinded with a family history of fraternals made us think fraternal. But then it turns out I did have just one placenta--not fused. They were born looking different and one was born with a mole. But by 9 months they started looking a like, by 12 months, there was no doubt that they were identical.

 

would you knowledgeable ladies say that since frat twins run in my family, its a good chance mine are fraternal even tho they're same sex? they are also di/di...

 

They could very well be frats, BUT di/di can also be ID's, just ask E's 3!

 

LOL, yup...my di/di girls are in fact ID. It's like another little mystery that won't be solved until they are born

 

There's no way to know this until you have testing done. Same sex, di/di can be fraternal or identical.
If frats run in your family, you have a higher chance of having them yourself, though.