New here & worried!

I just wanted to first introduce myself, I'm new to TwinStuff! I'm Danielle, I am almost 22 weeks pregnant with mono/di twin girls. We did not know we were pregnant with twins until 18 weeks along! I don't know how often that happens but we were very surprised. I actually found out when going to Fetal Fotos for a gender scan, and she told us there was two babies in there! I had an ultrasound at 10 weeks in my OB office that only showed one baby, so it was a surprise! Although it made sense considering my fast growing belly, fetal movement higher than it should have been, and increasing soreness earlier on.

I just had a few questions for all you twin mamas out there, and basically to vent my worries that others just don't seem to understand!

So, my doctor warned us about the risks with one placenta and wanted to get me in for my midpregnancy ultrasound to see if they had one placenta or two. I know later on it is hard to tell because sometimes the placenta can fuse together, but my perinatologist could not see a hint of a separation between the placental mass, so was pretty sure they are mono/di twins. I believe I was 20 + 1 weeks during my ultrasound and both babies were measuring at 12 oz, amniotic fluid level looked good and both babies' heart rates were in the 140s.
Although there is no sign as of yet for TTTS, I am SO worried about it. It's something you could develop anytime during your pregnancy, right? I will be going to get an ultrasound every two weeks from now on to check their growth and fluid level. I am also extremely worried about these babies coming early and spending a bunch of time in the NICU. I just want healthy babies that I can bring home with me when I leave! Is it true monochorionic (sp?) twins are usually delivered earlier than di/di?

I also seemed to have placenta previa during my ultrasound. It just seems like the very edge was covering the cervix. My doctor says there's a good chance is could move up still with uterine growth. Has this happened to any of you and did it move up?

Also, how long did you work before you couldn't any longer? My fiance and I are full time college students living on our own and have to work full time to pay bills. My current position is a CNA with heavy lifting, which my doctor already told me I need to find something else. So my manager put me on a "float" shift to help with activities and dishes and cut my hours to 20 a week. I have to admit it's been great working less hours, as I am starting to get really exhausted and my back pain is getting to me. This cut in hours is barely paying the bills let alone food, etc, so I really am hoping I can work close to the end at least 20 hours a week. BUT I will do whatever I need to to keep my babies in my belly as long as they can be! I have support from my parents who will help financially if need be.

I've had a healthy pregnancy thus far, other than some of the basic symptoms. However, one concerning symptom to me is a racing heart rate. I often get this feeling of a really hardly beating heart and fast heart rate, and it usually makes me feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen and I need to lay down for 10 minutes. It doesn't always happen when I'm active, sometimes when I'm just sitting on the couch doing nothing. My doctor doesn't seemed to be concerned, she just said it's my body compensating for increased blood volume. Have any of you experienced this?

Anyways, thanks for reading if you made it all the way through and hope to hear from you!

 

Hi Danielle and welcome to TS! You've come to the right place and the ladies (and a few dads) will surely help with some and/or all of your questions.

I had my mono-di girls at 37.1 weeks via emergency c-section. It is a very worrying pregnancy and I hope that having fortnightly u/s will help put your mind at a bit of rest. Did they give you an exercise to feel your tummy for tightness in the morning? For eg. in the morning before you get out of bed (or whenever you feel that your tummy is tighter than it should be), lie on your back and gently prod your tummy. If it is soft, then no worries but if it is hard for longer than a minute, then please call your care provider.

Regarding your shortness of breath, what are your iron levels like? Generally, shortness of breath can be an indication for low iron levels. I was on double the dose of iron supplements (terrible for constipation!) so get that checked especially with two babies taking all your reserves.

If you are worried about NICU time (and that's pretty normal given the statistics), try and arrange a pre-visit so that it is a little more familiar to you, should you end up there.

Again, welcome!

 

Welcome! I didn't find out until 21 weeks I was having twins!

I worked until a week before I had my boys at 38 weeks, 3 days. Rest when you can, drink LOTS of WATER.

And I did experience the racing heartbeat once in awhile. I would just sit and relax and it would go away.

Again, welcome to the world of twins!!!!!

 

Hi Danielle! Welcome to TS!

Working as a CNA would be hard- your doc is right.

Yes, my heart would race while I was driving and not feeling anxious or anything. It was scary but nothing for me to worry about either.

Yep, my placentas (my kids were di/di) moved up off my cervix.

Congrats on your girls!

 

Welcome and have a healthy pregnancy!

I also had the racing heartbeat out of the blue, scary but my doctor was never worried. I did have very low iron levels though, so I second getting that checked even though I do not know whether that had anything to do with it because we never managed to get them back to better levels.

I was put on bedrest at 20 weeks due to preterm labour but made it to 39 weeks; we tried to ease the bedrest a few times but it never worked and we were not willing to take the risk. I was able to work from home during my bedrest(lying on my left side, working on the computer), so maybe look for a job opportunity which allows you to work from home, or at least sitting down and resting more? But many women are able to work the whole time, my experience is not typical. And it is good to know that you could ask for help if it really becomes necessary - I know it can be hard to accept help from the family, but it is different if it is for the babies' sakes.

 

:welcome: to TS!

All of your concerns are VERY typical! Twin pregnancies are filled with questions and we're all here to help!

I had the rapid heart beat ( usually accompanied by dizziness too) my doc put my on iron, made me eat constantly (as if that was already a problem, lol) , and drink PLENTY of water!

I was blessed in not having to work but I was still put on modified bed rest at 24 weeks ( I think thats when it was) and had a c-section at 37 weeks. I was having issues with funneling of my cervix and an "irritable uterus " which later the doc told me he thought was due to a connective tissue disease I have.

I had the beginning of placenta previa but it resolved quickly.

I agree with Tas, familiarize yourself with the NICU just in case. My twins were di/di and although born at 37 weeks they were perfectly healthy and didn't need any NICU time but I did do a tour of the NICU prior to delivery just in case.

You're in for the time of your life!! Its going to be wonderful!

 

My girls were mono/di as well. While I found out they were twins at 9 weeks, the clinic I was going to was so small that they said nothing to me about them being mono/di until I switched to a bigger clinic at 20 weeks. We never developed TTTS, but were monitored frequently after 20 weeks. My OB doesn't let mono/di twins go past 37 weeks so my c/s was scheduled for 37 exactly, but I went into labor 3 days earlier than that. My girls were born skinny, but very healthy with no NICU time.

There is no way to ease the worry. I find myself worrying more with this pregnancy than my twin one. Go figure! I wish you the best of luck in your pregnancy!

 

Hello! Blessings for a healthy and happy twin pregnancy.

I can not relate to finding out so late in a pregnancy about having twins, we found out at 8w 3d and they were mono di. However we did get pregnant a second time with di di twins which was a shock! Both twin pregnancies with no assistance.

With the mono di pregnancy I was seeing a high risk doctor and doing frequent non stress tests. I was put on bed rest at 24 weeks for preterm labor and was put on a medicine trebutiline, which they no longer use for preterm labor. My doctor never specifically discussed in detail all the risks of a mono di pregnancy. He basically just said it is risky and gave the general information. I tried not to worry about it too much because stress is not good for the babies. At 28w 4d I went to a routine visit to find out that the babies developed sudden onset of TTTS.

The only advice that I can offer is to listen to what your body is telling you, listen to what the doctor tells you to do, and enjoy your pregnancy as much as you can. Work will be there and if it isn't you can find something else

I do agree in seeing if the NICU will let you take a tour so there are no suprises if your babies end up there. Sometimes for privacy laws they will not permit it. Lucas spent 9w and 3d in the NICU and it is a totally different world. Since I delivered so early and in an emergency situation I was thrown into the NICU without warning.

I hope you bring home two healthy little bundles of joy!
Sheial

 

Just want to say Congrats on your twin pregnancy. Ours was a surprise as well at 19 weeks. It was too late to determine if ours were mono/di or di/di. So we treated it like it was mono/di. Although my OB only did an extra ultrasound per month. The boys ended up being identical di/di with a fused placentas. When I had a racing heart, I would take 1/2tsp of cream of tartar. The potassium in it always seemed to help, plus it's good at controlling high blood pressure.

 

Hi and congratulations!

I definitely had a racing heart and found it very scary. At around 16 weeks I was so anxious I couldn't sleep all night and went to a new doctor first thing when they opened, as I wasn't happy with my obgyn. All was fine. I was anemic and had/have shortness of breath. I get winded just talking. I don't know if the racing heart was because of iron deficiency or anxiety or something else. I had a huge amount of anxiety, three miscarriages prior to the pregnancy and some other things going on, so my new obgyn felt that was the main reason. I don't have the racing heart much anymore, mostly just when I exert myself carrying my 2-year-old or climbing stairs. I imagine yours will subside a bit in a few weeks as you come to terms with the risks and all that and just accept the situation. I hope so. Also get checked for iron or just start taking extra iron. And if you do, I recommend daily prunes for snacks and fiber chews to combat the constipation. Helps a lot!

 

Looks like you've already gotten some great advice and support, I just wanted to say WELCOME to TS!! :welcome: We're glad you found us, you'll love it here!

 

Hi. I also didn't find out I was having twins till I was 20 weeks. I'm a smaller girl so I really didn't have a big belly. I was also shocked when I found out at my first ultrasound (20 weeks), I cried out of fear. I was a student at the time also. Was put on rest at 28 weeks. So in order to finish my semester at school, I was lucky enough to have great teachers who let me do everything at home on the computer. So i didnt work but be prepared ghat u might be on bed rest, cuz i know a lot of women who were. Other than that I had them at 34 weeks.

 

I am also pregnant with mono/di twins. I am now 30 weeks pregnant and luckily still working as a RN in a hospital. it is def. getting harder, but I keep telling myself the longer I can work the longer after they are born I can take off. Our maternal/fetal specialist told us the risk of TTTS dramatically drops after 26 weeks. We have had US every 2 weeks and at 32 weeks will start with NST's twice a week.

I have also had that horrible feeling of feeling like I am going to pass out and discussed it with my doctor and they checked my blood counts which were fine. He said it is very common unfortunately with twins due to the extra blood flow. My b/p is actually low and he said that may also be part of it.

Good luck with everything and as everyone keeps trying to tell me, try to enjoy the pregnancy as much as possible. Not everyone gets the joy of having twins.

 

Danielle, how are you doing?

 

Hey Danielle..congratulations!! What a wonderful surprise! I had my girls at 35 weeks with no NICU time and relatively few complications. I am a teacher, so I worked until 33 weeks at which time was our Christmas break. I wish, wish, wish, I could have taken off at 27 weeks, which was what my doctor wanted me to do, but I was completing my internship year and there was strict guidelines on the number of days I had to teach, so taking off early was not an option or I would have had to completed my internship year all over. If you can afford do, I highly suggest you take off the time if you can. The rest will be very useful as their is no rest to be had once they come. Even though I had an excellent employer who was willing to work with me, and few complications, I am convinced that working all that time and on my feet made me go into labor early. I was just blessed that we had no issues after they were born. We did have some growing issues, the girls just were not gaining weight the way they thought they should and the U/S that I had a week before they were born showed them at 3 lbs a piece or so....but when I had them they ended up being almost 6 lbs a piece.

Good luck! I hope you have an uneventful full term pregnancy!!

 

I have mo/di twins who are now 5!!! Just want to say, "breathe." It is hard not to sweat the TTTS but try not to needlessly worry. Wait until there is a reason to! More than likely, there won't be . The good thing about mo/di is that #1 they have their own amnions which is great ... no cords around each other. #2 you will have tons of monitoring. I felt like each time I went, I would be relieved with news of no significant differences then by the time I started myself up again with the worry (because I could not follow my own advice LOL) I would have another appointment and all would be well. As for the racing heart ... normal ... though freaky, I know. You just have so much MORE blood going through the same sized body ... I remember I would have to sit down and take breaks just to blow dry my hair! I was. ot obese either ... 150 pounds when 34 weeks pregnant with them! It is crazy how different your body is when you are pregnant. Try to enjoy it and try not to worry too much. So easy to say, I know. I wish you well!