Identical vs. Fraternal

Quick question, I read in an earlier post “Since you are having boy/girl twins, you are a little less likely to deliver early than someone with identical “

I’m just curious why; I’m new to this “twin” thing.

I was told I am having identical and would love to know the difference in pregnancy other then it wasn’t 2 eggs just “science”

All my "twin books" don’t arrive from my on line order until the end of the week....

Thanks
Elizabeth

 

Well, I have not read anything to back up that claim...

BUT, statistically speaking, identical twins have a higher chance for TTTS which can result in an early delivery.

Just curious, what makes your doctor's say that they are identical?

 

I also wonder what make the dr. think they are IDs.. unless they share a sack, I'd think it'd be hard to know.. stats are that 2 out of 3 are frats

There is of course a risk of TTTS with IDs, but other than that I would think "any" sets of twins have the same stats of being early..

 

QUOTE(twoin2005 @ Nov 5 2007, 09:38 AM) [snapback]481532[/snapback]
Just curious, what makes your doctor's say that they are identical?


Thank you for your insight… I have read people post about TTTS but decide THIS pregnancy I would learn what I had to learn when it happens instead of worrying what could happen like I did soooo heavily with my son…
Well the short story is when I went to get my u/s @ 5 weeks my hormone level was that of 8-9 weeks, they (and I) just thought I was further along… well the Dr who did the u/s said well we found out why your hormones are so high… you see this thing here and if I move to the right this other thing here…. That’s twins!!!… and I went into shock, so did my husband… he then started to explain he knew they were identical because something about they are sharing a sac… but to be honest I wasn’t completely there I was just in shock… and all I could hear was “twins, twins, twin, twins….” Also keep in mind this was an unplanned pregnancy… so I was still in shock at being pregnant… I have some “high risk” u/s at the end of this month and I plan to ask all those questions I was too in shock to ask…
Also my regular OB does u/s every time he sees me and he said something about well we only need to find the sex of one of them because they are identical… but I don’t know if he said that because of what he saw (he delivers the highest rate of twins in my area) OR from what the Dr. at the u/s said to him????

 

QUOTE(jasonsmommy @ Nov 5 2007, 09:45 AM) [snapback]481548[/snapback]
I also wonder what make the dr. think they are IDs.. unless they share a sack

That was it... he said they share a sack... and someother stuff, but like i said, all i heard was "twins twins twins...."

 

Wow! They will be IDs if they share a sack, this means lots of risks too.. mostly TTTS and cord entanglement too.. I am pretty sure that sharing a sack will whined you up on bed rest too.. and I read on Wiki that IDs within the same sack are usually delivered at 32 weeks to prevent cord entanglement.

ALSO just for fun, female ID twins are more comon then male IDs..

Well Congrats again!!

 

QUOTE(jasonsmommy @ Nov 5 2007, 10:07 AM) [snapback]481599[/snapback]
Wow! They will be IDs if they share a sack, this means lots of risks too.. mostly TTTS and cord entanglement too.. I am pretty sure that sharing a sack will whined you up on bed rest too.. and I read on Wiki that IDs within the same sack are usually delivered at 32 weeks to prevent cord entanglement.

ALSO just for fun, female ID twins are more comon then male IDs..

Well Congrats again!!


All that you are saying sounds familiar… like this is what the u/s Dr. said when I was in shock… I heard him… but I didn’t pay much attention…
Well it is all out my hands, so all I can do is think positive and try to get rid of this nausea so I can get stuff done before I am bed ridden… I was bed ridden with my singleton… so chances are there… my reg dr. said I have a 40% of being bed ridden… I’ve accepted it could happen, but am not going to “give in” to the though and make it happen…. Does that make since?

Everyone hopes I have girls BUT I keep having dreams of boys… but that could be because I have a boy and know boys… even my pets are boys… I just want them healthy

 

my doc thought my 2 girls shared a sac too until my 18 week Level 2 Ultrasound.... the membrane that divides the two sacs is as thin as a piece of hair.. so alot of times its hard to see until later ultrasounds...

 

QUOTE(navywife2bmom @ Nov 5 2007, 10:49 AM) [snapback]481657[/snapback]
my doc thought my 2 girls shared a sac too until my 18 week Level 2 Ultrasound.... the membrane that divides the two sacs is as thin as a piece of hair.. so alot of times its hard to see until later ultrasounds...

OHHH my reg ob showed us a membrane… it was very thin… I just remembered my husband asking if they could “touch each other” as one was dancing and looked like it was kicking the other and the Dr. said no there is a VERY thin membrane separating them… see here…
It’s a funny video we posted… one baby looks like the catty shack gofer… its 10 week old arms kind of “dancing” and legs kicking…
but like i said i am clueless (kind of on purpose) this go around... but i know i cant be ignorant... so the books arive on friday...

So yours are identical?

 

Mine are identical too - and it sounds like yours share a chorionic sac, but each twin has their own amniotic sac. So yours are monochorionic/diamniotic (mo/di). This is what I have too - and what the majority of identical twins are like. I actually do have TTTS, but it is stable for the moment and I'm almost 36 weeks! We thought we'd deliver early, but due to the TTTS. Because yours have their own amniotic sac, you don't have to worry about cord entanglement, btw.

I would encourage you to get monitored pretty closely for TTTS, which is scary, but keep your eyes open for it. You shoudl take comfort in the fact that only 10-15% of all ID pregnancies deal with TTTS, so the odds are on your side that all will be ok. If we didn't have the TTTS, I wouldn't be on bedrest or anything right now.

If your ID twins share a placenta (which it sounds like they will because of the monochorion) then there is some studies about the placenta "aging" quicker at the end of pregnancy, and that will result in an earlier delivery. I haven't run into this yet, but we are monitoring closely by u/s and pre-eclampsia.

Contact me any time if you have any questions!
Jenny

 

QUOTE(ferfischer @ Nov 5 2007, 12:03 PM) [snapback]481806[/snapback]
Mine are identical too - and it sounds like yours share a chorionic sac, but each twin has their own amniotic sac. So yours are monochorionic/diamniotic (mo/di). This is what I have too - and what the majority of identical twins are like. I actually do have TTTS, but it is stable for the moment and I'm almost 36 weeks! We thought we'd deliver early, but due to the TTTS. Because yours have their own amniotic sac, you don't have to worry about cord entanglement, btw.

I would encourage you to get monitored pretty closely for TTTS, which is scary, but keep your eyes open for it. You shoudl take comfort in the fact that only 10-15% of all ID pregnancies deal with TTTS, so the odds are on your side that all will be ok. If we didn't have the TTTS, I wouldn't be on bedrest or anything right now.

If your ID twins share a placenta (which it sounds like they will because of the monochorion) then there is some studies about the placenta "aging" quicker at the end of pregnancy, and that will result in an earlier delivery. I haven't run into this yet, but we are monitoring closely by u/s and pre-eclampsia.

Contact me any time if you have any questions!
Jenny

WOW, you know your stuff, and thank you for sharing… can I cancel the scary books now ardon: lol
I think I was in denial earlier in this pregnancy, but now that I look pregnant I have started my education process (well if starting I mean ordered books)… I don’t know why it took looking pregnant, because I feel VERY pregnant with all the nausea and fatigue…

Thank you, and good luck, I’m glad to here you are so far along… are you bed ridden?

 

You will learn a lot about twinning, and more specifically, identical twinning, now that you are pg with them. I have learned so much, and because of the TTTS, know a lot about that too. There are lots of great resources out there.

This will scare you, but I have been on bedrest since 17 weeks, so 17-18 weeks of bedrest so far. That said, it is due to the TTTS, which I hope that you NEVER develop. I wouldn't wish the roller coaster of TTTS on my worst enemy. Other than that, I feel pretty good, actually!

Just to prevent any problems - I would suggest making sure you drink lots of water, at LEAST 1 gallon a day. Boost your protein intake - this will help them grow. Take it easy, let your body nourish your placenta and the babies - I'm on bedrest to focus all of my body's energy and blood in the uterus. So far it has worked. Like I said, you probably will be fine with no bedrest or anything, but just in case, none of these things will hurt!

btw, the things to look out for with TTTS are: low/high fluid levels (lower than 2cm or higher than 8cm in maximum vertical pocket) and size discordance. There are other things, but usually the fluid discordance is the first sign.

jenny

 

QUOTE(e mauro @ Nov 5 2007, 10:57 AM) [snapback]481573[/snapback]
Thank you for your insight… I have read people post about TTTS but decide THIS pregnancy I would learn what I had to learn when it happens instead of worrying what could happen like I did soooo heavily with my son…


It is a a wonderful blessing to carry identical twins. The only downside is that unlike with your son there sometimes is a reason for fretting, and as a mother the best thing you can do is make sure that your OB is taking all the safeguards he can. (The great thing about having identicals in 2007 is that there has been a lot of recent progress made to ensuring they can be delivered healthily - however the fact the progress is so recent means that not all OBs are aware of it!)

For now, one of the best things you can do is to make sure that from 16 weeks that you get weekly ultrasounds to check out their fluid levels and your cervical length.

Identical mothers do usually end up delivering a bit earlier than Fraternals. But luckily neo-natal medicine means that this is not something to be scared of!

 

QUOTE(pettums @ Nov 5 2007, 02:44 PM) [snapback]482188[/snapback]
It is a a wonderful blessing to carry identical twins. The only downside is that unlike with your son there sometimes is a reason for fretting, and as a mother the best thing you can do is make sure that your OB is taking all the safeguards he can. (The great thing about having identicals in 2007 is that there has been a lot of recent progress made to ensuring they can be delivered healthily - however the fact the progress is so recent means that not all OBs are aware of it!)

For now, one of the best things you can do is to make sure that from 16 weeks that you get weekly ultrasounds to check out their fluid levels and your cervical length.

Identical mothers do usually end up delivering a bit earlier than Fraternals. But luckily neo-natal medicine means that this is not something to be scared of!

You ladies have really got me going this morning... i went to this web site that explains "mono-chorial" and "bi-amniotic" and it had a lot of information on “faq about twins”, “complications with twins”... it was enough so I’ll have some good questions on my 15 week check up at the end of next week...
I also think I have taken the "worry when needed” attitude is because I trust my Dr. so much... my son would not be here today if it weren’t for him and the fight he took on for me to save him... plus he (by pure coincidence) has one of the highest rate of twin deliveries in my area... so I know he is on top of it... and takes the time and is the kind of Dr. that gave me his personal cell number to call any time day or night... weekend or weekday (I had friend who didn’t even get the same Dr. every time she went to there OB)... but I know once my books get here I will buckle down and start my learning... cant have your head in the sand forever…

And thank you for the advice... i WILL talk to him about that...

 

I definitely wouldn't worry about anything until you have to! The odds are in your favor that everything will go great! I learned as we went along.

jenny

 

QUOTE(ferfischer @ Nov 5 2007, 04:39 PM) [snapback]482457[/snapback]
I definitely wouldn't worry about anything until you have to! The odds are in your favor that everything will go great! I learned as we went along.

jenny


i'm sticking to that general plan... worrying might just stress me out, and if i don’t need to... i don’t want to sound cold, but at 12+ weeks there is really nothing i can do that i'm not already doing... i'm eating protein (its the only thing that’s sort of stops the nausea) and i really don’t do a quarter of the stuff i use to... sometimes i spend a day or two going from chair to couch to bed... I drink as much water as I can with out making myself throw up…so… i'm doing my best

But thank you for your kind words... i'm keeping positive!!!!

I see you’re from Colorado... what part? we have a little place in Steamboat that we go every year to over Thanksgiving... other wise its mostly a rental... i love Colorado... if it weren’t that my husbands business is 95% entertainment industry and we HAVE to live is So Cal... we have thought of moving there sooo many times... Steamboat in the summer with all those wild flowers...plus my Dad is from Colorado... but he’s a big old loveable hill billy from a town of 80 about an hour drive from Durango… good people come from Colorado

 

I had my ID girls at 35 weeks. I had one placenta and one sac with a dividing membrane. I went for biweekly u/s to monitor growth and they were always even. I went on bedrest at 32 weeks due to high blood pressure/preeclampsia and then was delivered at 35 weeks. My girls were 5 pounds and 5 pounds 3 ounces.

I am also a NICU nurse and although ID twins run the risk of TTTS, I have never seen a correlation between ID vs frateranl pregnancy and preterm labor. There is a slightly higher risk for premature delivery for those who have undergone IVF and had a multiple pregnancy though.

Good luck and your almost there!!

 

I had my mono/di twins at 37 weeks 5 days, scheduled c-section. I never went on bedrest or had any complications whatsoever. Good luck and I hope the rest of your pregnancy is very uneventful!

 

QUOTE(jasonsmommy @ Nov 5 2007, 09:45 AM) [snapback]481548[/snapback]
I also wonder what make the dr. think they are IDs.. unless they share a sack, I'd think it'd be hard to know.. stats are that 2 out of 3 are frats

There is of course a risk of TTTS with IDs, but other than that I would think "any" sets of twins have the same stats of being early..

Hello just want to share my story..my dr told me that mine are identical because they share a placenta and have only a thin thin membrane that seperates them.....mine are 2 boys....and im 29 weeks....so now im kinda confused are they identical or are they not...

 

QUOTE(TANDJ831 @ Mar 8 2008, 10:52 AM) [snapback]659108[/snapback]
Hello just want to share my story..my dr told me that mine are identical because they share a placenta and have only a thin thin membrane that seperates them.....mine are 2 boys....and im 29 weeks....so now im kinda confused are they identical or are they not...


With my boys we were able to tell right away that they were identical because they appeared to share the same sac- they actually thought they were monochorionic monoamniotic- momo twins- but they did find a membrane that separated them which meant they were each in their own amniotic sac. They shared a placenta so they were monochorionic (one placenta) diamniotic (2 sacs) (mono-di)... I would say yours are identical if they share a placenta and have a separating membrane...

 

Hey Girls- I've been reading everyones post. I'm 29 weeks pregnant with identical twin girls- same sac, but in
seperate amniotic sacs. They share the placenta and have a membrane that divides them. Every specialist I ask
say most likely they are identical. Few questions-

1. Is it true if you did IVF that you will go earlier? I did with my daughter- 34 1/2 week. But I'm in the hospital
because of cervix issues- that could of been the case with my 1st. But never knew, because I didn't see a
specialist and my whole pregnancy was just fine?

2. With identicals, someone said the placenta ages with identicals?? Is that because it's kind of warn
out from both babies using it?
3. Can TTTS come back if it was there once, but then went away?

EMauro- I had a mild case of TTTS in the beggining, we think the fluid levels evened out. Right now, it's my cervix.
I'm funneling. I'm sure you heard my story before.

EVERY day I ask Dr.s all kinds of questions from you all from TS, books ext. With MY situation it's a week to week
or even day to day thing. Sometimes it's so frustrating because you wish you had answers. They all say they want
me to go to 36 weeks here. I wonder???

 

It’s interesting to read this post again…. It was one of my first… I think I was 10 w when I posted it back in November…

Now at 30w we have lucked out so far with no signs of TTTS…yet… there is a NICU nurse mom at my sons school and I asked her this question a while back… she said you would think with them sharing a Placenta it would age quicker blaa blaa blaa PTL… but she hasn’t seen more ID in the NICU then Fraternal… but she also pointed out that Id are more rare then Fraternal… she says she has heard from Drs that more twins that are results of IVF deliver earlier… but she’s on the fence when I asked her thoughts… maybe we should do our own unscientific TS poll and see ardon:

 

Hi all! I just wanted to pop in because my ID twin (mo/di - shared a placenta AND had TTTS) delivered at 38w4d by scheduled c-section - no signs of labor! My twins came home with me. One is smaller and a little developmentally behind (due to the TTTS) but both are healthy 3 month olds now! So, I'm not sure you can deliver early or not, I sure didn't.

Oh, and by the way, TTTS can come back ANY TIME! Make sure you are monitored and take it easy to keep things stable. I had pretty severe TTTS that evened out at 23 weeks, and stayed that way until I delivered, but we were monitored weekly and I thought for sure we would deliver early! Not so!

Jenny

 

Just thought I'd chime in here with another ID twins, TTTS success story. The doctors detected TTTS at 34 weeks and I had been on bed rest for PTL, an irritable uterus, and a cerclage since 20 weeks so you're doing FABULOUS! You're almost there...just coast-no worries!

 

Hi. How did you who had TTTS keep it at bay? I thought once you got it you were either headed toward amnio reduction or laser surgery. We are showing mild signs and I'm worried what we'll find next Tuesday. Any information would be so helpful.

Thanks!!!

 

QUOTE(jasonsmommy @ Nov 5 2007, 10:07 AM) [snapback]481599[/snapback]
Wow! They will be IDs if they share a sack, this means lots of risks too.. mostly TTTS and cord entanglement too.. I am pretty sure that sharing a sack will whined you up on bed rest too.. and I read on Wiki that IDs within the same sack are usually delivered at 32 weeks to prevent cord entanglement.

ALSO just for fun, female ID twins are more comon then male IDs..

Well Congrats again!!



Oooh.... cool.... we are SO hoping for girls! But I strongly suspect boys.... I've had hardly ANY morning sickness and I'm preg with IDs (9 weeks)

 

QUOTE(desolation_anonymous @ May 5 2008, 07:35 PM) [snapback]756728[/snapback]
Oooh.... cool.... we are SO hoping for girls! But I strongly suspect boys.... I've had hardly ANY morning sickness and I'm preg with IDs (9 weeks)


I was horridly sick for almost 16 weeks and I had two BOYS!

 

QUOTE(jasonsmommy @ Nov 5 2007, 10:07 AM) [snapback]481599[/snapback]
Wow! They will be IDs if they share a sack, this means lots of risks too.. mostly TTTS and cord entanglement too.. I am pretty sure that sharing a sack will whined you up on bed rest too.. and I read on Wiki that IDs within the same sack are usually delivered at 32 weeks to prevent cord entanglement.

ALSO just for fun, female ID twins are more comon then male IDs..

Well Congrats again!!



I thought cord entanglement was only an issue in monoamniotic, not ones in different placentas and/or amniotic sacs?