If you have twins/triplets, how did the doctor/nurse/midwife tell you?

[TheTERFnextDoor]

And did any of you have a hunch before the medical professionals told you?

I'm just curious as this is always such a significant moment in films etc.

I forgot to add my twins are a girl and a boy ♥️♥️.

Somographer was looking at the screen, which I couldn't see but dh could. Then asked if there was any history of twins in the family (no). My reply was I guess there is now then burst into tears - happy but shocked. Thing was, that was on DH's birthday and the night before, we were out with friends and joking about 'what if it's twins' so reckon that was some kind of weird premonition.

I paid for an early scan about 8 weeks because i previously had a mmc at 7 & wanted to get past that point & know if everything was ok & break the wait until the 12 week scan (due to “delays” i ended up not getting that on the NHS until over 14 weeks so i ended up paying for another private scan) i had a baby in between & was offered nhs early scans so i followed similar time frame) she knew i was anxious and why so i had my eyes closed and she said “there we go theres baby there” i looked up at screen and could see a small baby shape (scan dated me closer to 10 weeks but my period had been irregular) and we were quite relieved and happy making past the first hurdle. She then said “and we’ve a wee bit of double trouble going on” i panicked at trouble didn’t get the reference and she said “here’s baby number 2 there” the colour drained from my husbands face and we went into shock. So much so that when i came out of the toilet a wee woman asked me it i was ok and had i had bad news at the scan as i looked so “out of it”

i had bloods done and my levels were high and we joked it would be because of twins. I also had a doppler with my 1st pregnancy and stupidly found it in the loft before the scan and turned it on to see if it worked. Picked my own heart rate up then found babies higher than expected and i didnt expect to as i was early on. It sounded different to 1st time round & “echoey” & again we joked “maybe thats the other one hiding in the background” no twins in the family, genuinely never crossed my mind it could actually be 2 hence all the joking & still being in full on shock. We worried about the expense as needed a new car and couldn’t reuse the pram etc and i also made the mistake of googling twin pregnancies to see the size people got. After the initial 24 hours of shock, panic and fear set in as i worried about early births, nicu & all the extra risks on top of all the norma worrying i had. I didn’t like being pregnant nevermind with two i just worried constantly & didn’t really believe it first time round until my daughter was born and heard her cry. They are almost 9 & sometimes i still can’t believe i carried them both at once!

We left a bigger gap between pregnancies to avoid having 2 in nappies at the same time and double buggys etc which i watched friends juggle. We were also only going to have 2 babies

Having had a singleton first, and knowing what my experience of morning sickness was, I knew that I was feeling far worse. I can't even describe how ill I was.

I genuinely went to my (long time friend of family) doctor and said "Martin, I think I might be dying." I can laugh about it now, but my word, at the time, I was so ill. I was 7 weeks pregnant.

He said, you know it could be multiples in there.

We left and joked about "the triplets, Mary, Mungo and Midge." I didn't get out of bed for about 3 weeks, then the sickness became more tolerable.

At the 12 week scan, the sonographer screwed her face up and pulled the screen closer. "Have you been feeling particularly ill?" she asked. DH and I looked at each other. "Because there's two in there."

I don't think I've said the word "Fuck" so many times. Then I cried. Then got a grip. Then cried more. Not happy, or sad, just shock.

Then we went to another room with a midwife who was telling us about extra things we'd need to do/think about as we were having multiples, and I remember none of it, as I was still in shock.

We went home and spent the day on the internet, looking at all things twin related. And it was at that point we realised that it wasn't going to be straightforward, but we were so unbelievably lucky.

The French call boy/girl twins, "un cadeau de Dieu" - a gift from God. And it couldn't be more true. Watching them grow together, the scans where he was kicking her in nearly every picture, understandable as she was constantly sat on his head. Their first night at home, swaddled next to each other, sleeping with their foreheads pressed together. And now, at 3, watching them love each other, become their own person, but with a constant best friend is just joyous.

They certainly have their moments of fisticuffs, and normal sibling rivalry. But they have an instant sidekick for all their mischief. And whilst I could tear my hair out sometimes because it's been a whole morning of "he's got more banana than me!!" interspersed with arguing about who's turn it is to cough, I know I am utterly privileged to be their mum.

I went for an early scan at 8 weeks after a bleed following 3 miscarriages. DH and I said this was our last try for baby 3 because I couldn't go through the heartache any more. The sonographer doing the scan said "don't worry, they're both fine". DH had said all along it was going to be twins, I was in maternity clothes at 6 weeks but just put that down to have had 2 previous pregnancies and diastasis recti.

Everyone needs a set of twins in their life, they are absolutely remarkable and so delightful to be around.

I emailed my friend the day before my 12w scan and said I'm putting it in writing that I have a feeling I'm having twins.
I said to DH in the car on the way I felt it was twins or maybe something wrong, but I just didn't feel the scan was going to be 'normal'.
The 2 separate sacs were clearly visible on the screen right away. I burst into tears and the sonographer said "Do twins run in the family?" She asked if they were happy tears and I said "no, yes, I don't know" and cried some more. 3 days later my eldest child had his first birthday - it was a very overwhelming time!
Those twins are now 10, big brother is 11 and we're all doing just fine!

@DemonicCaveMaggot why are tein pregnancies more likely in the states out of interest

I knew I was having twins as soon as I got the positive pregnancy test. Our Dr did a scan, found one heartbeat and then very dramatically said 'aaaaaannnddd...another heartbeat!'. Apparently it's his standard way of breaking the news to expectant parents, most of whom exclaim in some combination of horror/disbelief/thrill/excitement etc. DH and I just nodded and agreed, because we weren't surprised. Dr said it was the most anti-climatic twin news delivery he'd ever been involved in.

Awww I am an identical twin and love this 🥲.

My mum falling pregnant was a ‘surprise’ anyway, and when they went for their scan the sonographer said ‘there’s one…. And there’s the other one!’

Now that pregnant myself I can’t imagine the shock, no history of twins in my family!

By the way to all the twin parents, having a twin is truly the most unique and special feeling / bond. I can’t explain it but I will never feel alone and feel so incredibly lucky to be a twin! I’m not sure my mum felt so lucky when we were teenagers though! We are 30 now and still incredibly close ❤️.

I hopped onto the table and said let's see if it's twins then. I just bloody knew. She looked at me like a loon and scoffed. And then had to say ok so there's 2 and I have now have to check for 3.....I laughed cos I was prepared. DH didn't speak for 3 days. He went to pick up our eldest from nursery and was guided to the pub for a pint by the other dad's. 🤣

Pretty much this. There's one and look there's another just there.

Not me but someone I know is a twin, now in their 50s. Fewer scans back then and their mum found out she was having twins when she delivered the first baby and was told 'right Mrs Smith, get ready to push for the second one!'

Had an early scan around 7-8 weeks. During the scan we were asked if this was ivf or a natural conception. I said why can't you see anything. He said I can see two of them.

PrincessHoneysuckle because there aren't the limits on how many embryos can be transferred back during IVF as there are in the UK, hence Octomom, although I think things have tightened up a bit since that fiasco. It was quite normal for two embryos to transferred back in the hopes at least one will implant. Most of the mothers of twins in our local MOMS group had gone through IVF.

Strangely enough my father was a twin so twins do run in my family.

You've made me cry 😭 what a beautiful story. And I think you're incredible, being a single mother to twin babies. My twins are six now, and the early days were HARD.

I had no suspicions at all. Joked in car on way to scan that if it was twins we would sell one, not expecting that to happen for a moment. Sonographer rolled from side to side, saying " can you see what I see?" I'll never forget DP : " there's two of them" said with horror, he didn't speak again for hours 🤣

Oh and we kept them both. GG twins, now 6.

I didn't have my first scan till I was nearly 15 weeks (was a Midwife, felt fine - though sick as a dog, didn't see the point in an earlier scan).

The radiographer said, "Oh that's good, we've had a lot of really really early scans recently, so this will be easier. I'll do a quick scan over your whole belly just to check there's not 2 in there".

I laughed, and said "Yeah, funny".

She then said, "I'm not joking".

I laughed again, and said "yeah, I know you have to check, but funny".

She said, "No, I'm not joking. There's number 1, and there's number 2".

Husband and I just looked at the screen and at each other and just said "Oh my God" for about the next 10 mins.

Nearly 23 years later my son is heading off to University, and my daughter is working full time as a qualified Early Years practitioner.

This is how my mum found out about me 😁
I was horrendously sick in pregnancy and sent to hospital to be put on a drip. They did an early scan to check for twins due to family history of twins and the sickness. I only had one in there. Weirdly this is the first generation for a while where none of us have had twins.

At our first scan, the sonographer said "Umm. How many children do you want?" and I could immediately see there were two sacs. I burst into floods of tears, for no reason I can fathom now. DH was just stunned into silence. (There's no history of twins on either side of the family).

DDs are 14 now.

My granny, in 1965 - kept telling everyone she was having twins - twins run in the family on both sides. Although her great grandmother had died giving birth to twins, and her other grandmother had lost one of her twins at birth very sadly, so she must have been quite terrified!!

They told her no way. She gave birth in a tiny Catholic hospital with a very young student midwife - one of her first ever deliveries - and an elderly nun who in my granny’s words ‘was half asleep in the corner with a whisky!’

Said the wee student was incredible and completely unfazed by the appearance of twins!

Love this thread! Your excitement is so palpable, jumping off the pages!

Name changed to avoid anyone who recognises me in real life finding my other posts. Also, trigger warning for pregnancy loss.

My first pregnancy was a singleton one but I was sick as dog and went to the 12 week scan prepared for the possibility it was multiples - it wasn't.

My second pregnancy - around 5 weeks (not long after the positive test), I started getting all the symptoms of a miscarriage. But then I started getting pregnancy symptoms too. But nothing like in my first pregnancy - far milder. I was obsessing doing tests and trying to gauge if the line was changing. One day I'd be certain I was miscarrying, the next I was confident I was still pregnant - in short I was completely and utterly confused. Eventually I was far enough along for a scan to hold the answers, so I booked in with a private clinic. I remember filling out the form and one of the questions was whether it was a multiples pregnancy. I ticked 'no' on autopilot - there were no multiples in my family, I didn't have any of the risk factors, etc. Then I remembered that I didn't actually know for sure and changed my answer to 'unknown'.

I went in to the scan and the sonographer took a look with my viewing screen switched off. Then she said, "The good news is: you're still pregnant. The surprise is: it's twins!" And she went on to tell me that she could also see a smaller 3rd sac that appeared to have been a triplet that hadn't made it - hence my symptoms.

I'd had no idea what to expect going into the appointment, but wouldn't have guessed at that in a million years! It was a very strange situation - happy that I had two babies on the way, sad that I'd lost one and guilt at feeling sad when I was still far luckier than all the women who miscarry and lose their pregnancy entirely. I'd also scheduled the scan for my lunch break, so then had to return to work and try to act normal for the afternoon while trying to process all of that!

I already had 3 children and sadly lost my 4th…a son. A few weeks later I was having some unexplained bleeding and a lovely friend insisted I go and get checked out. I was reluctant to go as really didn’t feel up to going back to the hospital where I’d had to walk away from my precious boy in his cool cot, it had broken me.

Arrived at the hospital already emotional and bloods and scan was ordered to check me out. DH was waiting in the car with DD3 as covid restrictions were still in place. Went into the scan room and the sonographer said “oh yes I can see something here”, and so I rolled my eyes and did a huge sigh as was expecting to be told about a clot or some retained placenta or some other complication from my loss, and then she said “oh hang on I can see something else too” and turned the screen towards me to show me 2 tiny blobs measuring 6w 5d with heats beating away. I was so shocked I just burst into tears and was sobbing uncontrollably.

I was then sent out into the waiting room a snotty blubbering mess with a picture to wait to see the midwife and DH then text me to ask how it was going. I sat and stared at his text for ages wondering how to respond and in the end I couldn’t find words so just wrote they found twins! He messaged back saying WHAT!?!?!!! I didn’t respond to that as was then called into the midwife. It was only weeks later than I found out that DH had been sat in the car with DD3 utterly shocked and confused and had thought our lost son must have been a twin and not that I was newly pregnant with twins.

I had a very long and anxious pregnancy with lots of bleeding and thought I had lost them several times, but I am pleased to say they are boy/girl and now 16 months and are the most wonderful little things. I am so blessed and lucky to have them along with our older DCs.

These stories are wonderful. I am so sorry for those of you that have experienced heartbreak along the way