Twin's Club 2! All Welcome! :)

[holidays2010]

Continued on from Here
Tried to update best I can with limited info and time, but here's the list on the new Twins Club thread, please update if I've missed anything!

Sassy34264 #2&3 EDD 12/09/10, Lancs, Jacob and Isobel born 13/8/10
strawberrylace #2&3 EDD 1/12/10, Suffolk, surprise Zoey and Lucas born 23/10/10 by c section
jjkm #1&2 ADD 29/1/11, outside the UK, Girls born 25/10/10
Lavitabellissima #1&2 EDD 13/12/10, SW London, Identical girls Born 04/11/10 c section (early 34&3)
smokeybacon #3&4 EDD 25th Nov, Nottingham, Freddie and Tobias born 06/11/10, natural birth after induction.
Jenzopos #1&2 EDD 23/11/10, Charlotte & Anna, Manchester 15/11/10 6lb 7oz and 7lb 5oz
Swazzee #1&2 EDD 02/12/10, South London, Adem 6lb 3oz and Rafi 5lb 13oz 21/11/10
Amberc #2&3, Madeleine (6.3lb) & Isabella (6.11lb) , delivered by C Section on 07/1/11 at 37 weeks, Kent
Thingamajig #2&3 EDD 20/3/11, Cornwall, identical girls Hannah (5lb4oz) and Louise (4lb4oz) born 13/2/11
Magic8ballhastheanswers #3&4 EDD 22/3/11 South London, ID girls born 27/2/11
Cerubina #1&2, SW London, Sebastian (3lb 4oz) and Rosamund (3lb 9oz) born 8 weeks early on 26/2/11 by emergency c-section
Holidays2010, 2 Baby Boys born 06/03/2011
CantDrinkAnyMoreMilk, Scotland, Baby Girl and Baby Boy born 01/03/2011
crazydayz, Thomas and Isobel, born on 28/4/2011 by C-section at 7lb 3 and 6lb 14

Tabbycat76 #1+2 Edd 21/02/11, Suffolk, surprise
VictoriaSecrets #1&2, EDD 17/05/11, Basingstoke, Prob Non-ID twin girls!

Snowfalls108 #2&3 EDD 29/05/2011, SW London, ID surprise
MissyMolly #1&2, EDD 29/05/2011, Midlands, non ID boy and girl
RestingKitty #1&2 EDD 15/06/2011, South London, boy & girl
Propercrimbo #2&3 EDD 16/07/11, North Lancs, not finding out
Brassicababe #1&2, 22/07/2011, Lincs, non-id, surprise
MorningsMadness #2&3 EDD 14/08/2011, Surrey, Non-ID twin girls
MrsStevo, #1 & 2, EDD 23/08/2011, Lincs, MCDA ID
Redshaw, EDD Sept 2011, MCDA ID
Tiggersreturn #2+3 EDD 26/09/11 NW London DCDA - not finding out
DoubleDiffedDachs, #1&2 EDD 5/10/11, Twyford (Berks), DCDA, too early to tell!
Fluter, EDD October 2011, Non-ID
PeelingmyselfofftheCeiling #1+2 EDD ... , DCDA
mybootsaremuddy 6+7 EDD 7/7/2011, surprise
silverangel #1+2 EDD ..., ID

I saw one after my 12 week scan because they didn't do the nuchal measurement thing for downs during the first scan (I was in tears all the way through it as it was such a shock I couldn't process it) so he had to talk through my testing options (I declined all tests) then I basically saw a consultant after every scan at the o&g clinic but didn't see my lead consultant (big boss woman with name above the door) until 32 weeks when we started talking about delivery options etc. In the end because if the emergency section she didn't do it anyway it was the surgeon on call x

They didn't do nuchal measurement for me. It hasn't even been mentioned as an option either. I don't know if they do it in this Trust, I didn't have it with dd. I was also totally shocked in the scan, the lady sent Dh and dd out as dd making a racket so i was on my own (and said was there noone we could have left her with, she mustn't come to next one, etc etc). Brusque to say the least. I'm sad Dh wasn't there for vast majority. I really hope I can see a consultant sooner to check if I need another scan etc.

Can't stop looking at the scan pic and grinning :-)

Dreamfeeder, that's awful how you were treated at the scan, so unfair!!!

I had a nuchal scan they said they do them with twins, again maybe diffrent for non ID etc.

Hope everyoneis doing well.
BB3 I hope the little ones colds have cleared up and they are feeling a little better, a cold when there older is so much easier in fact sometimes other than snot I wouldn't know. But my little one (9months) she just had a virus cold thing bit of dicky tummy and it has completely mucked her routine up and she has started waking at night.

BB3, hope those girls of yours are feeling better. How much older katy til you hardly notice a cold?! I shall look forward to it with great joy, having recently had nearly a week of a 12 month old insisting on sleeping on my chest while I sat in a chair (she was so bunged up she couldn't breathe properly)

Now i'm wondering about a nuchal scan too. Will ask midwife on tuesday. In fact, I better start writing my question list now!!! Not that I had one with DD.

Any better with loads of pillows mersymersy?

Err, this is a bit preemptive, but I can't WAIT to be a safe-ish way along in this pregnancy (like, I'm thinking 26 weeks minimum, preferably 28) to feel a bit more confident there WILL be 2 babies who will hopefully be just fine... I've got a long wait for that from my measly 12.5 weeks!!!!!

Hello

Colds are clearing thank goodness! Still lots of snot coming through but the actual bunged-up-ness is settling so hoping we are through the worst of it.

On nuchal scans, the way my consultant explained it to me was that it's easier to do with ID twins because with non identical twins they can do both the nuchal measurement and blood test BUT the results are not accurate because essentially the blood test doesn't differentiate between the two babies. So if there was a risk factor identified when they combine the blood and nuchal results as well as patient factors (age etc), they wouldn't know which twin was affected and would therefore need to do an amnio on both twins which is why I decided not to proceed with it. As far as I understand it (and I might be completely wrong) is that because ID twins are ID, their blood results will be the same therefore the combination is valid for both whereas it's not with non ID twins. Hope that makes sense.

BBx

Dreamfeeder I would sat roughly about 3ish my older too are 5 and 8 and honestly I never know when there ill at all tough cookies that just run around, but goodness me when they were little you def new about it.

My little one os teething as well at the moment, so I will be nice and ready for the night feeds when little ones come.

Also I always put my self in stages too mine was 24 weeks as babies are considered viable, then 26 week which I am
Now, I now have my 28 weeks target then it will be 32 and I may then relax a little.

BB3 glad to hear little ones are on the mend, have you any tips on coping with twins yet? Would you say you find it harder/easier than you thought?

xkatyx it's much, much easier than I expected. I was so worried about how I would cope with two, how do you feed both, pick both up, have time for each one, for ds, how would ds cope? Will I love them the same way as ds Etc etc literally everything.

This is going to sound awful but because I have ds and there is two babies I find it easier because I simply don't have time to worry as much. With ds I focused on everything - is he full enough, burped enough, warm enough, cold enough, what does that red mark on his head mean? ....

With the girls they are fed, burped, clothed, cuddled and loved more than I thought possible but there are only so many hours in the day. When both are crying and you have to pick them up the perfect head cradling hold isn't possible but i haven't broken them yet

But I have great support in my family and dh.

The toughest bit is the lack of sleep. I can feed them together but I much prefer to do it separately so with that plus winding plus being scared they might stop breathing so checking them every spare second plus ds waking at 5.50 every morning and not having enough time to nap in the day by this point in the evening my eyes are streaming with tiredness.

Tips - have enough nappies and cotton wool to sink a battle ship x we are going through a packet a day (am looking forward to them reaching 7lb so they are big enough to wear their reusables - although not the washing!)

Try as hard as you can to get into a feeding routine. We were in a great 3-4 hour routine with the girls before their colds and it's all gone to pot since they've been sick and needed more top ups - cannot wait to get back to that so I can plan days better and give my boobs a rest

Give yourself extra time for everything as they will both puke / poo / scream just as you're about to leave the house - guaranteed.

Make time for one thing a day. So for me it's a cup of hot coffee. I drink tea and coffee til the cows come home and between the hours of 6am and 8pm not one cup is hot when I drink it, all Luke warm or cold because ive left it while
I feed / change / play with ds - so every evening when ds in bed and girls asleep, dh makes me a cup of coffee that i drink while it is hot! (it's almost coffee time now!) It's like my little daily luxury - so sad.

I am currently sat on the sofa covered in puke, pee, a little bit of poo, breast milk and snot! Don't expect the first few weeks to be glamourous in ANY way. I live in sweat pants, none of my clothes fit (maternity too big, old clothes too small), But they are worth it x I'm very very tired but I wouldn't change it for anything x

Oh my milestone were 24 weeks, then 28 then 34 (when lungs are mature enough) then September (so they'd be in the right school year) then 36 weeks for bfing suction required. After that I just wanted them out

Hello hello

Welcome Dreamfeeder. Just to add my 2 cents worth on your queries... my twins are DCDA (was very clear even at 12 weeks that they had separate palcentae and sacs) and I am on the same scan scehdule as BB3 mentioned, although I persuaded them to do an extra sneaky one at 12 weeks as my nuchal wasn't scheduled until 13+4 which i thought was pushing it a little. Glad I did ask as found out at 12 weeks that there were 2 in there. And I would agree that it is completely natural to be totally shocked for quite some time, and them just generally worried about the whole thing on an ongoing basis! Definitely feels scarier with 2 than it did with DD, and I was a paranoid first timer with her! In terms of nuchal... my hospital did both nuchal and bloods, although I have also heard what BB3 referenced that for DCDA twins you don't get a valid result from the combined test as the twins could have different blood types. To be honest I was happy that the nuchal measurements were well within the low risk zone and left it at that. Not sure what I would have done if high risk... probably nothing as I don't, personally, see a benefit in knowing in advance. Appreciate that is very very personal though.

Not much to report here... pelvis and back still very sore. Hoping to see GP tomorrow to ask for physio to see if that helps, and planning to start ante-natal yoga very soon as an OT friend of mine said that might help, especially with pelvis. Also want a prescription for Gaviscon as am going to bankrupt myself otherwise given the amount I'm consuming!!

24 weeks tomorrow - big milestone hit!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

ps BB3 - am in awe at how well you are managing having two and how positive you are. Hope I cope half as well as you seem to be!

BB3 thank you for the tips I'm getting a bit sick of people who haven't got twins telling me what I should and shouldn't do. Once there here I will def do a routine I couldn't function without one.

Do you have to write down feeds, nappies etc I think I would prob forget who's had what!

Do your babies roughly wake the same time for feeds?

Also I know your babies are not ID but they look so cute and both adorable do you struggle in knowing who is who?

I think if I was so tired I would get confussed lol

You sound like you are coping so well and have put my mind at ease so thank you.

How have you found the csection healing?

Sorry so many quotations

Hope you enjoyed a nice hot cuppa

X

Me too BB3, I bow down to your clearly superior twin + older child parenting skills. Plus, you are helping other people like me on here very generously with any remaining time and energy you have (for which I am very grateful!!)

Thanks tabbycatt, your 2 cents are much appreciated. I'm really glad I've not just gone into paranoia overdrive and it does seem to be common to worry more about twins. I wasn't this bad with DD either.

My twins definitely have separate placentae and sacs on their scan, with a good thick membrane between them of 3.4mm, but the sonographer still only said she 'thinks' non-ID and the NHS website says a third of ID twins have separate placentae and are DCDA?! I guess unless I can persuade them into a nuchal scan (which I would want just to see the 2 heartbeats and wrigglers again, rather than the measurement I suppose if I'm honest) i will have to wait until I'm 20 weeks then...

Yes, I'll aim for 24 weeks first, then 26, then 28, then 32 for happy lungs, then 36 for good feeding as you say BB3. And avoid counting up how many twins I see when I go back to work Weednesday week (if i'm not quite so sick...). So, that's only 11 1/2 weeks forever to go until the first milestone!!

Heehee no worries I asked so many questions to my one twin mummy friend when I was pg!

No I don't write down feeds or nappies at the moment. The girls have very loud, very smelly poos so there is no worry of missing that and I change them at feed time also so whoever is fed first is changed first. At the beginning I set my alarm for every three hours for feeds but now I don't and just let them wake up themselves especially at night.

Re waking pre cold - yes normally Edith-May wakes first the Ayse-Rose will stir shortly after. At the moment they are about half hour after each other which is annoying as it means feeds are taking well over an hour but hoping to being them closer together again one they are completely better.

On looks - The girls are very different when they are awake and you look close up but I do get a bit confused sometimes, especially if they are sleeping or im glancing from far away. Now Edith-may has filled out a bit they are looking more like each other and everyone is making little mistakes with who is who. I dress them differently for a reason

Cs is absolutely fine. Can barely feel it. Was really really sore last weekend as I did far too much on the Saturday entertaining then out for work BBQ standing up most of the day and my scar split slightly so was in agony but other than that am fine. You have to rest and not push it - standing takes it out of you the most. the worst bit at beginning was night feeds and forgetting about it so I'd sit up without supporting myself and it would sting quite badly. But really considering I'm 2.5 weeks post op I feel completely normal (just have to wait now until dr signs me off as for to drive at 6 week check). Considering how anti cs i was when they first told me id have to have one I actually quite enjoyed the process and recovery has been fine. Its harder for ds as he doesn't underhand why mummy can't go on the trampoline etc. X

Hey all, very quick post as my twins arrived a whopping 10 weeks early so on the long haul with NICU. But they - one boy one girl - are getting fatter and yummier every day!

Congrats to BB, although I too want to know when the tummy goes - 3 weeks today and I still look 4 months preggers , not that I don't have other stuff to worry about right now!!

dream the nuchal measurement has to be done before a certain point (cant remember what it is but think it is something like 15 weeks ill google for you!) so if you want it done I'd call your mw and book it in for next couple of weeks as 20 weeks is too late I think. They will need to do blood teat too and come back with combined result. Xx

Ooooooh peeling huge congratulations. How are they doing? What were their weights? Do you have names (if you want to share - no worries if not!)

Sending lots of love and strength to you and your little ones x keep us updated on their progress xx

Oh and tabby - yay for 24 weeks tomorrow xxx

peeling sorry forgot to ask, how are you doing?

Sorry for constant short posts - dream I just googled (I can do it now I'm not pg, you are still banned ) and think nuchal has to be done before 14 weeks x

Peeling congratulations, hope your babies are strong enough to go home soon, my little girl was in nicu and it so hard, so big hugs!

Thank you very much BB3 the advice is very helpful.

I just hope I cope as my little one is only 9 months old and won't even be 1 when there born :0/ very scarey.

X

Oh, peeling massive congratulations!!! Though I'm sure this is the hardest bit yet with your little ones in NICU. I'm glad they're both doing ok and getting stronger every day. I hope you are too. I'd also love to hear more about your twins. Were they a surprise? The boy and girl bit I mean?

katy, I'm sure you will cocpe- as several people have helpfully said to me, people cope with triplets, and even quadruplets. When I think how much more independent my just-13-month old is, it'll be so much easier than even at 9 months. she's very good on her feet, and can wander round happily by herself, but even if she's not walking, your LO will be moving be herself in some way by then probably, so they can entertain theselves more. They can give themselves their snack, drink from a beaker etc etc. I'm not saying I don't think it'll be hard, and I'm worried myself about my 18 ish month age gap but I think we'll cope on a good day.

Thanks for the googling BB3. I've got my midwife coming round tomorrow for the booking in visit so I will ask her about nuchal scanning. I really don't think it's offered here, so I will also tell her I feel I need more confirmation they're non-ID. I told DH I would ask her this and he started groaning and saying 'Oh, stop being so neurotic, she'll dread seeing you'. Helpful. Now, all your twin care, positive twin and older child comments, they really are helpful!! I'm SO glad I found this thread, though is there anyone else with as long to go as me?!?! I REALLY need to make time to go and look at the stats bit at the beginning.

hi

congrats peeling - hope you and babies continue to do well. Let us know how it's all going when you have a chance!

dreamfeeder - on the identical bit - I don't think they have anyway of telling if DCDA twins are id or not when in utero. My understanding (although happy to be corrected) is that the only way to tell for sure is by blood test when they are born, and I have no idea whether this is standard NHS practice (to do said test) when babies put in an appearance. However, I'm not aware that the risk factors are any different in id DCDA twins to non-id DCDA twins - anyone else know? I thought the main risk factors around ID twins was when they share a placenta and you have risk of TTTS and when they share a sac and you have risk of them getting caught in each others umbilical cord?? (anyone?) My experience of the combined blood and nuchal downs test is that it is very new for the NHS to be offering a combined test and a lot of people within the NHS are not clear about what the limitations of the combined test are when it comes to twins - especially when you get into the specific differences about applicability of results to ID and non-ID twins. BUT I haven't done a huge amount of research into all of this so if anyone else knows more and I'm talking nonsense please feel free to shout me down!

BB£ - thanks for all the info and tips - keep it coming!! out of interest are you putting your girls in separate moses baskets/cribs/cots or in together??

tabby they are in separate moses baskets but they are going to go together in DS's old cot bed when they reach that stage but I am going to top and tail them with gro bags rather than sheets and blankets as I am pretty sure Ayse-Rose will wallop Edith-May as she tries to cuddle up.

Oh, tabbycat, that makes sense. I'm so glad someone with a brain who can think logically is on here and can straighten out fools like me!! Yes, I can see that if they have their own sac and placenta they wouldn't be at risk of the ID complications of TTTS so wouldn't need any different monitoring or care to non-ID. That is fantastic, you have calmed all my worries about what if they're wrong about non-ID so long as they're right with the 'probably DCDA they printed on my notes

I might have checked when I'm 24 weeks- 29th December. AGES away.... Gah...

Absolutely loving the updates on the beautiful Ayse-Rose and Edith-May

But... I tried to start at the beginning of this thread while DD napped today. Got stuck at the bit with Dachs, so, so sad... and no help to a paranoid pregnant person. Heartbreaking. I hope for everyone's sake that she was the unlucky exception... And that she gets her much wanted baby ASAP.

Dreamfeeder - DH laughed so much at the thought that I have a brain and am thinking logically at the moment that he spat out his tea. But thank you for thinking it! So far this week we have spent an hour looking for my wedding ring which turned out to be in my pocket, and then I lost my phone for a day which was in the bag I thought it was, I just couldn't see it! I am not loving pregnancy brain at all!! But glad my ramblings made sense and helped put your mind at rest a little bit. I don't know enough about it all to understand how, if it was clear that they had 2 sacs and separate placentae and a thick dividing membrane, the sonographer wasn't convinced they were DCDA. I would ask your midwife that!

Ladies - I need some advice please. Am very very very very tired today (and was yesterday) and generally out of sorts - very teary etc - so think that my hormones might be shifting a bit, which is fine, except it correlates with T1 going very quiet. He is still moving I think but no where near as much as usual and actually it is hard to tell that it is definitely him as T2 is quite active and now that they are getting bigger it can be hard to pinpoint where the movements originate. I've got my first consultant appt tomorrow... do I just wait and see what happens until them and assume they will scan me if they are concerned, or do I phone mw today and explain my concerns? Could be being completely irrational and it could all be fine... you just worry about everything don't you?

And finally... a rant... trying to go and see a physio (turns out I can self refer) about my pelvis which really is painful and is limiting movement. Left a message for her today and missed her when she called back. Her message said that if I want to speak to her I have to call between 8.30 and 9 Monday/Wednesday/Friday.... otherwise she can't talk to me. Seriously?! Am I the only person in the world that is generally travelling between 8.30 and 9 on a weekday to get to work/take DD to nursery and therefore that is a REALLY STUPID stipulation on their part? Can't quite believe that one. Now not sure when I am going to be able to go and see her.

And to top everything off work has gone nuts today and I jsut had our floor tiles delivered for our extension (tiler starts tomorrow) and the delivery is wrong and they forgot the adhesive. Not having a good day.

Hope everyone else is in a better place!