TTTS and nutrition

I'm pretty sure I'm carrying ID's from responses to my post about having 2 sacs and 1 placenta.
I don't have another doctor visit until September 3rd at which time I will be 16 weeks. I'm sure he will perform a sonogram in his office at that time. I have a 19 week sonogram scheduled already, that's in 6 weeks.

I want to know if there is anything special I can do nutritionally in the meantime (before my doctor visit). I haven't been diagnosed with TTTS as of yet and the babies are the same size.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks :bow2:

 

You sound like me! As soon as I found out I was having mono/di's I freaked about TTTS. Try not to stress too much. I pretty much had myself diagnosed, but so far my girls have had zero signs of ttts. I did drink protein shakes both to be proactive about ttts and to gain weight. I had bad nausea up until 16 weeks and lost 10lbs and that made me nervous as well. I started with the high protein boosts 3xday but eventually switched to carnation instant breakfast because the boosts are so expensive. Once I hit 28 weeks I stopped drinking them all together because now I am having NO trouble gaining weight. I gained 8lbs in 2 weeks!! ugh!! I really don't need the extra calories. Good luck and try not to stress about ttts, my peri told me at my first appt that i should be more concerned with PTL and he was right since I went into PTL at 24 weeks!!! I guess I worried about the wrong complication.

 

I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent TTTS, but I'm not 100% sure- other ladies with more experience will comment, I'm sure. I know that drinking plenty of water and getting rest will help both you and the babies. My boys were also mono/di so we got lots of extra monitoring for TTTS. Beginning at 18 weeks we had u/s every 2 weeks. If you are in fact mono/di, I would suggest seeing a peri, if you haven't already. Good luck!

 

What I was told about TTTS was not to worry about it too much because the actual chances are like 15% but you should err on the side of caution with frequent monitoring etc. I was also advised to drink the 3 high protein shakes a day ( I do the generic safeway brand) and up your overall protein intake. Drink lot os water, take you prenatals and try to get as much horizontal rest as possible. I have no signs of TTTS and am 30 weeks now. I have done all of this from about 14 weeks on and have had no complications, but that may just be coincidence. I have heard others on this site say that they were diagnosed with stage 1 TTTS and did the high protein shakes accompanied with bedrest and the condition stabilized for the rest of the pregnancy. If you are diagnosed with mono/di twins after your ultrasound then there are excellent resources you can contact for more information. There is the TTTS foundation and Dr. Julian DeLia. Just speaking with him (he was the one who made the recommendations to me) really put my mind at ease as he is an expert on the subject and a wonderful man. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

I have frats, but I did supplement with the Boost High Protein drinks 3x a day.

 

My boys had TTTS, and there wasn't much you could do beforehand to prevent it. Unfortunately it is something that happens. Try to keep hydrated and off your feet as much as possible.

 

QUOTE(monodigirls @ Aug 12 2008, 02:08 PM) [snapback]926877[/snapback]
You sound like me! As soon as I found out I was having mono/di's I freaked about TTTS. Try not to stress too much. I pretty much had myself diagnosed, but so far my girls have had zero signs of ttts. I did drink protein shakes both to be proactive about ttts and to gain weight. I had bad nausea up until 16 weeks and lost 10lbs and that made me nervous as well. I started with the high protein boosts 3xday but eventually switched to carnation instant breakfast because the boosts are so expensive. Once I hit 28 weeks I stopped drinking them all together because now I am having NO trouble gaining weight. I gained 8lbs in 2 weeks!! ugh!! I really don't need the extra calories. Good luck and try not to stress about ttts, my peri told me at my first appt that i should be more concerned with PTL and he was right since I went into PTL at 24 weeks!!! I guess I worried about the wrong complication.


Thank you, I'll try the protein drinks. I don get lots of rest.
I'm glad to hear you haven't had the TTTS problem.
But, I guess you're right about PTL. I've been very careful during this pregnancy.

Thanks and congratulations and good luck to you too.

 

My girls had TTTS - but my TTTS stabilized with bedrest and protein drinks. There are some drs (including Dr. Delia) who believe that TTTS could be caused (or exacerbated) by some sort of nutrition problem, but they haven't comfirmed it. However, I do know that those things helped stabilize the TTTS for me, which was worsening quickly.

I really believe if you try those things, you might be able to prevent it, or maybe not make it as serious as it would be otherwise. Obviously, it can develop anyway, it has many many ranges - from mild to severe - and I personally think that almost all mo/di twins share blood vessels, but in the serious cases, and depending on the blood vessels you can develop TTTS. I also think it is more common than 10-15% - I've heard of so many people say after birth "wow, that baby is RED, and that baby is WHITE" - well, that's TTTS!

I never had PTL - in fact, we scheduled a c-section because I had no signs of labor coming on its own - and you're right PTL is probably more common than TTTS!

Do as much as you can - obviously it was different for me, I didn't have a chance to prevent it - so when I found out, I changed everything, very quickly, to try to stabilize it. I spent 21 weeks on bedrest, and it was worth every single second.

 

QUOTE(Jenn G @ Aug 12 2008, 02:14 PM) [snapback]926889[/snapback]
I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent TTTS, but I'm not 100% sure- other ladies with more experience will comment, I'm sure. I know that drinking plenty of water and getting rest will help both you and the babies. My boys were also mono/di so we got lots of extra monitoring for TTTS. Beginning at 18 weeks we had u/s every 2 weeks. If you are in fact mono/di, I would suggest seeing a peri, if you haven't already. Good luck!


That's good advice, I appreciate it. From what I've read, the monitoring usually doesn't start until about 16-18 weeks. But, I'm not for sure on that. I see my doctor in 3 weeks, at which time I will be just over 16 weeks.

Thanks again.
P.S. Your children are beautiful.