Weight disparity between twins at last u/s

I'm 33 weeks, 4 days. Went for my next ultrasound and was given a tech who was learning on the job. Another tech came in and checked one of the babies before I left. Cervix is also fine.

Then I went for an NST the same day and was told that Baby A weighed 5 lbs. 5 oz. and Baby B weighed 4 lbs. 3 oz. My last u/s 2 weeks ago showed both were on target at 3 lbs. 8 oz. and 3 lbs. 4 oz respectively. NSTs have been just fine and fetal movements have been great!

It was then discovered that my BP was high (has been normal up to now), but no protein in my urine, but I was kept in the L&D area for a few more hours while they ran some more tests because my feet were swelling (I get it all the time and it was very hot out yesterday). BP returned to normal. My u/s took 2 1/2 hours, which is very long but I cut the new tech some slack, so I thought that might have had something to do with it. My twins are kind of on top of each other, which does make it hard to get good measurements. Amnio was also found to be normal. I had also told the nurse I was taking Benadryl for a PUPPS rash, which had finally gone away so perhaps that increased my BP?

All tests in L&D came back fine. But now my OB wants to me to see a Peri, come 2x a week for NSTs, have an u/s once a week, and I am now seeing him once a week. He placed me on modified bedrest, which I laughed at considering all of my appointments throughout the week (I missed my endo appt. today, for I have GD, because I completely forgot and thought it was next week; I think I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by them all).

Anyone ever heard of one baby gaining almost 2 lbs. in 2 weeks while the other lagged behind by more than a 1 lbs.? Is this really possible? I'm inclined to think Baby B is just a little under (she is transverse and is cutting across my tummy horizontally in a weird way) and Baby B is a little over and was probably read incorrectly by the new tech (he is head down, nestled in my pelvis already, and is vertical). The babies have separate sacs and placentas. I'm eating very healthy, still exercising a bit, and keeping somewhat active. I'm a teacher so I am off for the summer and have been really good at resting.

I have another u/s scheduled for next Tuesday to confirm those weights. Just a bit freaked as to how one baby could gain so much so soon. I've looked online and have found nothing except TTTS for twins sharing a placenta. What could explain this?

Any info would be greatly appreciated if you or someone you know has experienced this or may have some thoughts. Thanks!

 

Do you know the sex of the babies? I read today that boys gain weight faster than girls. I wouldn't worry too much about their weight. The U/S measurements can vary 10-15% from actual birth weight. Be patient and see what the next u/s measurements show. Good Luck!

 

Mine sounds almost identical to that. At 32 weeks I was still in the hospital on bedrest and Ben showed a 2 lb weight gain in just a 10 day period. I freaked. My peri said that it was most likely a slight measurement error, since he was so hard to measure at that stage. I was sent home and given twice weekly NSTs. When I delivered at 34w4d, Ben was almost one and a half pounds bigger than Hannah. Try not to stress and just rest assured that you have TONS of monitoring! Yes, bedrest with a gajillion appts is a bit funny!!!

 

QUOTE(mommymeg @ Aug 9 2007, 11:06 AM) [snapback]362565[/snapback]
Do you know the sex of the babies? I read today that boys gain weight faster than girls. I wouldn't worry too much about their weight. The U/S measurements can vary 10-15% from actual birth weight. Be patient and see what the next u/s measurements show. Good Luck!


The bigger baby is a boy, the smaller a girl.

 

My G/B twins weight discrepancies change with almost each u/s any where from 2 lb to 2 0z differences. The last u/s showed my girl had passed my boy in weight by 1 oz -that was a first. Sometimes they have a hard time gettting an accurate measuremeant of head circum because of how they are positioned and that will affect the weight measurements. Also, u/s measurements can vary within 1/2 to 1 lb bigger or smaller than actual weigths. Hope this helps.

 

It's not at all uncommon at that stage to have the measurements be off a bit. I remember one ultrasound in particular (34 weeks, I think) when the doctor gave up trying to measure the femur because she couldn't tell which leg belonged to which baby -- and mine were in separate sacs too. She told me that the margin of error increases later in pregnancy.

 

Mine were 4lbs5oz and 4lbs6oz at 30 weeks. At 34 weeks they measured 6lbs15oz and 6lbs1oz, but my doc told me right away that she expected that the 6lbs15oz was "wrong". She said his belly measured ahead way more than the rest, so she said to expect that they're both in the lower 6lbs range. She was right, they were born at 7lbs11oz and 7lbs10oz 4 weeks later.

Even at their 26 week u/s they were 1 oz apart, they were born 1 oz apart and at 6 months they were 1 oz apart again!

 

Did you have different u/s techs? 2 different people can measure your babies on the same day and get different weights. Also weight estimates can vary because of the way the baby is laying

 

QUOTE(TwinxesMom @ Aug 9 2007, 03:09 PM) [snapback]362936[/snapback]
Did you have different u/s techs? 2 different people can measure your babies on the same day and get different weights. Also weight estimates can vary because of the way the baby is laying


Yes, I've always had different u/s techs. They've all been pretty knowledgeable and confident until yesterday, when they girl told me she was new and was still in training. She barely spoke during the monitoring and was having a lot of difficulty getting the head circumferences. I think you and others are right in that the reading might be due to her inexperience and the fact that monitoring twins gets more difficult in the third trimester.

At the very least, I really wanted to say thanks to all who have responded about this! I really feel much better and am much less worried! Thank you!