New Here too! ... And questions?

Hi everyone! We are expecting twin boys sometime in the end of May to mid June. The due date is June 16th so we are almost 19 weeks now. They are natural surprises especially since it doesn't run on either side of the family. We think they're fraternal, though the doctor refused to confirm that part even after the ultrasound showed two placentas and a membrane dividing the two sacks.

I am looking for a pediatrician and was wondering the following:

1. Did you seek out a pediatirician with multiples and/or preemies experieince specifically?

2. What questions should I be asking BECAUSE I'm having twins? Is there something special I need to look out for??

I'm seeing both my OB and a peri MFM specialist. Except for Baby B's much smaller size, which is being monitored, everything seems fine and I'm not on bed rest yet and not expecting to at this time thankfully! ( My heart goes out to you gals who are on bed rest... Keep up the good work and hang in there!! )

Thanks for any advice offered

 

:sign0016: to TS! Congratulations on your pregnancy I haven't figured out what to do yet about a ped

Dianna

 

Hi, welcome I just joined as well.

Its good to see that you are being seen by both a Peri and a regular OB. I would be a little more persistent on confirming frat vs. ident. twins only in that there are more concerns with identicals, especially with the size difference with your boys (and the fact they are the same sex). Finding the membrane is great as well!

I need to look into what questions I should ask for my Ped. thanks for posting this as it was a reminder for myself!

I hope you have a healthy and happy rest of your pregnancy!

 

Congratulations on your twin pregnancy and :sign0016: to TS!!

My pedi was referred to us by the NICU and yes she does have experience with preemies. We absolutely love her!

Also, there is no 100% way to tell that you are having identical or fraternal twins unless you are having b/g twins (then obviously they are fraternal), or if they are Momo twins (and there would be no dividing membrane). You will have to wait until they are born and do a DNA test.

Good Luck with the remainder of your pregnacy!

 

Welcome to Twinstuff and congrats on your twins!

QUOTE
Did you seek out a pediatirician with multiples and/or preemies experieince specifically?


No we already had a ped from our oldest DD and we knew we would use him.

QUOTE
What questions should I be asking BECAUSE I'm having twins? Is there something special I need to look out for??


Not sure, since we already had a ped. But I would definitely make sure that he/she loves the job and enjoys being around the kids. It is very obvious that our ped loves being around the children and that makes me feel much better.

Good luck!

 

I found my pediatrician through the phone book...literally! She was close by (didn't want something to far and they do sick calls and she was affliated with the children's hospital here in the city) and I made an appt to see her. Loved her right away and it didn't hurt that at our first appt I found out she also is a mom of twins....the other doctor in her practice (a woman also) is also a mother of twins. Made my decision that much easier!!

 

I just wanted to say welcome and I'm also due June 16th with twin girls, we think. I'll have them confirm it next month when I go back. I just started thinking about finding a pediatrician myself. I think I'll ask the peri for a recommendation. I found an office in my town, but there are so many doctors to choose from. Asking the NICU is a good idea too. I'd love to hear other advice as well.

 

QUOTE
1. Did you seek out a pediatirician with multiples and/or preemies experieince specifically?

2. What questions should I be asking BECAUSE I'm having twins? Is there something special I need to look out for??


1. No, I sought out a pediatrician I could have a great doc/mommy relationship with. I was more interested in being able to get questions answered and a high quality of care for the boys. We found her by DH asking around at work (since everyone there is on the same PPO) and I interviewed a couple whose names kept coming up as highly recommended. My only twin concerns were that they'd be treated as individuals.

2. Try to get a feel for whether they have a helpful staff since you may need an extra set of hands at times. I arrange help for well-child visits but I've taken them on my own when one or both were sick and the nurses were happy to assist.

You didn't ask but you commented on the frat/ID thing so I feel compelled to mention that my di/di boys are identical. Having their own placentas is good -- no TTTS concerns -- but it doesn't answer the frat/ID question. Gender might, blood type tested at birth might, or you may end up doing a DNA test like we did.

 

I never interviewed our potential pedi. :blush: I went on the recommendation of several friends and it turned out she had twins herself and was AMAZING!!

 

Some questions that you might want to consider are:
1. Do they have a lot of experience with twins in their practice? (Since there are more multiple births nowadays, many pedi's do have quite a few in their practice. This is helpful when you have twin specific questions when they get older.)
2. What is the procedure with twin appointments? Do they do the concurrently or separately? (Ours does one and then the other, but at the beginning he did them at the same time because their attention span is so short. It is also nice when they do it separately because they get the individual attention that they need.)
3. Do they have a specific exam room for twins? (Ours has a few extra large exam rooms built for larger families. We had to bring the Duoglider into the room at the beginning and some of the smaller rooms would not accommodate this.)
4. Consider how far the office is located. (If you have to take one or both of them in for an emergency visit, how inconvenient will it be to get there and get there quickly?)
5. Do they have any special considerations for premie patients? (When we arrive for our appointments we remind the staff that they are premies and they will escort us to our exam room immediately. They do this because they do not want premies to be exposed to the "sick" children in the waiting room.)

On a side note - I would recommend that you have 2 adults plus yourself (if possible) at all the appointments. We found this extremely helpful at the beginning because I had a long list of questions that I wanted to address and it would have been difficult to do if I had to take care of one of the babies. Fortunately, my DH and mom accompany us to all our appointments. HTH!

 

Just a congratulations and welcome from me! (I'm totally new at the twin thing. )

 

I chose a ped that was on the young side, and a woman, so that she could be my girls pediatrician for life. The office she's a part of was recommended highly by more than one person, too, so I know there's a good support system and good backup. The ped doesn't necessarily have a lot of experience with twins, but I don't expect that will come into play much anyway.

In any case, congrats on your twins and welcome to Twinstuff!