When do you start regular U/S or meet with a specialist?

My OB said that the only difference with a twin pregnancy will be my 18 week U/S will e done at the hospital and that I'll meet with a specialist then. From what I've read others seem to have m numerous U/S through out their pregnancy with twins not wait till 18 months like with a singleton pregnancy. I'm worried she may not be experienced with multiple births, I also didnt like the way she treated her staff and have only seen her twice (once pre preggo and once for my first apt) I'm only 7 weeks along, so I am looking at different dr.'s any advise?

 

We have a simple US at every visit. Then we have our 20w US in radiology. After that, we will go to radiology every four weeks until the babies are born.

My medical insurance is Kasier Permanente in California.

Jenn

 

I never saw any specialists or anything. I had no complications. I did have US at every appointment tho starting at 12 weeks.

 

I have had a simple u/s every appt. and starting at 18 weeks I will go to the hospital every 4 weeks for a special u/s.

 

My ob doesn't do u/s even with a twin, I got my 18 wk one and they said I'd get one, MAYBE 2 more towards the end of the pregnancy.

That prompted me to call a MFM dr, I had to have a referral so I asked my ob for one. I had an u/s at 22 wks and will have another at 28 wks for sure with them, not sure how often after that.

I love my ob, they delivered both my kids, but I felt that I needed at least an u/s tocheck babies growth occassionally.

 

Well, I found out I was pregnant by having an U/S, during my very first visit to a Fertility Dr when I was 5wks pg. I had another U/S at 8 Wks, then 12 then at 14 Wks I started seeing the Perinatologist. From there It was a growth U/S once a month and a quick U/S every 2 wks to check my cervix and make sure the babes were OK.
We found out they were ID at sometime between 14-16 wks.

ETA- and the NST started at 35 - 36 wks. We delivered at 37.1

 

I didn't find out I was having twins until an Ultrasound at 17 weeks after an abnormal AFP test result. Since then I have been going every four weeks for the big Ultrasound and given a growth scan. As far as my OB appointments, he also does a mini Ultrasound at each appointment just to check for heartbeats and take a quick look, other than the Ultrasounds my pg has been treated just like my Singleton pg. Goodluck!

 

I had my first U/S at 6 weeks, then another one a 8 wks, just to confirm everything was still ok and this is when we found out we were having twins! I had a quick U/S at my 12 week appt and it sounds like I'll have a quick one at each visit, since we can't pick up two distinct heartbeats with a dopplar. So far I'm not seeing a specialist and I'm being treated like a singleton preg, so far. We think I'm mono/di, so if the fetal growth starts to get uneven, then I'm guessing he'll send me to a specialist then. We'll see.

 

I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks to confirm twins (IVF). The next one I had was at 20 weeks and then every 6 weeks afterwards (26, 32 etc). I had a great pregnancy. At 32 weeks I started having weekly NST's (non-stress tests) which included an ultrasound.

 

QUOTE(kitkat72783 @ Nov 25 2008, 11:27 AM) [snapback]1086125[/snapback]
My OB said that the only difference with a twin pregnancy will be my 18 week U/S will e done at the hospital and that I'll meet with a specialist then. From what I've read others seem to have m numerous U/S through out their pregnancy with twins not wait till 18 months like with a singleton pregnancy. I'm worried she may not be experienced with multiple births, I also didnt like the way she treated her staff and have only seen her twice (once pre preggo and once for my first apt) I'm only 7 weeks along, so I am looking at different dr.'s any advise?


I had my first u/s at 12w, when they found out I was having twins, and I've had a u/s at every visit since then. They did the anatomy scan at 20w and a followup (since they couldn't get a few of the measurements at 20w due to babies' positioning) at 22w. The others have all been growth scans. Starting last week, I have a biophysical profile u/s every week and a growth scan every other week.

I wasn't sent to a specialist, but one of the docs in the practice is an MFM. I scheduled my 26w appt with him. He didn't do much different from the others except with twins, he does an FFN test at every visit after 24w.

 

KitKat mine is much the same as you. I had a dating scan as I had no idea of my dates (my hubby threw away my calendar!). I was 15 weeks pregnant. I will have my morphology scan at 20 weeks and meet with specialist then.
I can choose to have weekly visits with a midwife who will listen with the doeppler for heartbeats. Hopefully my 20 week scan will be good and I can continue having checkups at my local, otherwise all my appt's will have to be at the hospital where I will birth them, which is 2 hours away.
My boys are mono/di with a 7-9 day difference in growth.

 

First off, maybe you would do well to find a new OB. One that has experience with multiple pregnancies/births.

Second...
Jenn Blend quote.....
"We have a simple US at every visit. Then we have our 20w US in radiology. After that, we will go to radiology every four weeks until the babies are born.

My medical insurance is Kasier Permanente in California."

I too belong to Kaiser in California and I receive the same treatment as "Jenn Bland". So, we get to see our babies every two weeks at the least. In my case, my Baby A has a two vessel cord, so I will be seeing specialists in San Francisco in two weeks and depending on what they find, I may have ultrasounds more often than four weeks with radiology.

Good luck to you in your search of a well qualified OB.

[SIZE=14pt]Happy Thanksgiving to all![/SIZE]

 

i too am in Cali and same insurance. U/s at 15W to discover mo/di boys, one at 17 weeks with a specialist, and will have an u's every 2 weeks following with the same specialist.

 

I have Kaiser insurance in Georgia and I had an ultrasound at EVERY visit I started seeing a MFM dr at 12 weeks. IMO you should not be treated the same as a singleton pregnancy - yes many twin pregnancies are fine without complications but I think you should be monitored more. and ultrasounds are the best way IMO. my pregnancy started off with some bleeding but after 16 weeks was normal and going fine. the OB did ultrasounds at every visit to be able to see each baby's heartbeat and the peri did growth scans ALL were normal until 30 weeks when we were shocked to learn that Addison had low fluid and had not grown since our last scan ! IMO twin mothers should have ultrasounds at every visit - so much can change SO QUICK.

 

I haven't seen a specialist yet and probably won't if things continue as they have been going...I do get growth U/S every 4wks until 35wks then its weekly. Despite being told this pregnancy this high-risk, it really hasn't felt any different than my singleton.

 

I am an american in the UK and here is what they do on National Health (I know it doesn't help you, sweetie, but I just thought it might be interesting to know, and maybe give you something to bargain with!)

I had my due dating scan at 12 weeks, and that's when we discovered twins-I have had an u/s every two weeks since then. I'm 32 weeks now, and after my next u/s (next week) we will be going to once a week u/s. The main reason I have so many though, is that my girls are mono/di and they're being uber-careful becasue of the possibility of TTTS. Maybe if your babies are di/di, they won't be as nervous and won't have to do as many. I have been seeing a specialist and a MFM from day one of knowing it's twins.
Best of luck-keep us posted on whether you find a new OB.

(*Edited cause I'm a dork and can't type. )

 

I have a ultrasound everytime i see my ob but i go to a specialists once a month to check on the babies aswell i started going there around 18 w

 

I see a regular OB who does deliver a lot of twins. That said, I wish I would have gone with someone who also consulted with a Peri.
I have an ultrasound at every appointment. My Dr. told me they really need to check the growth of each baby individually and can't rely on the tape measure for that.

A twin pregnancy (at least for me) has been a really, really different experience than carrying just one. It is so much harder!