Twin and multiple AN thread

[Mummyofonesofar]

Hi, just wondering if there were a few of us around so we could have a little support group for expectant twin or multiple mummys? 11+4 today for me and mostly very excited but also very scared of all the horror stories and hope we can all reassure each other?

lion I got a pregnancy pillow, but last night DP fell asleep with it, and by the time I wrestled it off him asleep I was so annoyed I threw it on the floor. Most mornings my back is ok being well propped up – it is sitting at a desk all day that breaks me. Trying to get Occ health and H&S to agree to a fitness ball chair like my mw suggested to see if that helps. But with 12 w left at work I am starting to wonder if all the hassle was worth it!

Mummy I would - 12 weeks is long time to suffer and you don't want it to get any worse. Can you use a normal fitness ball to sit on or does it have to b a proper chair one. I am using a fitness ball now when I'm having a sore day to watch telly bit couldn't be on it for hours.

It's a normal ball which sits in a base unit so you can't roll off it. It's got a back rest to give some support if my back gets tired. They finally agreed yesterday and got one sorted for me so will receive that next week

Really pleased your work sorted a comfortable chair Mummy.

Lion, I am having DCDA twins but until 29 weeks, they were the same size. So they got worried because the boy twin had grown more than the girl twin. But everything is fine and they don't want to see me until 36 weeks.

I had a bleed at 39+6 weeks so the hospital told me to come in. They weren't sure what caused it but they said since I was due the next day, they will induce me. So that started on Thursday morning. By Saturday, I had dilated 3-4 cm and each time I contracted, DD's heart rate would drop. So they would stop the syntocin then start it again upping the dose each time and nothing changed. By Saturday around 1:30 pm, I told the doctor that I had had enough and it was time to just take her out. DD was born at 2:16. It was really great. Although it is classed as an emergency c-section, it was more relaxed than the previous 2 days and all the staff were lovely. The anaesthetist sent a nurse to get my phone and took the first pictures of us with DD. The recovery wasn't too bad either. I was released Monday morning and I just took it really easy. Because I had such a positive experience and the fact that 75% of twins are born via caesarean in the UK, it doesn't feel worth the risk trying for a VBAC to me. At the same time, I have met a few people who have delivered twins vaginally and had a great experience. So you need to decide what is best for you and how you would feel about each possible outcome.

Sorry didn't really transition very well into my first birth story. Haven't been sleeping well.

Sitting on my office chair is killing my back too. Only 7 weeks to go at work tho and I only do 2 days a week. I am planning to work from home after Xmas, otherwise I will never make it!! 24 weeks on Tuesday, will be so happy to get passed that marker.

My backache seems to have gone up a notch as well, pelvis now aches at night if I'm in one position too long. Running out of space I think, and someone is leaning on a nerve.

Bluish it's nice to hear your story on C-sec, I'm thinking about opting for a C-sec. It just strikes me that particularly with twins the potential for complications and risks are higher than normal, and with a C-sec all the risk is on me not them. We'll obviously have to see which way everyone is facing to see if I have a choice first.

Ready you are about a week behind me, right? I'm 31+4. When is your next appointment/scan? Have you spoken to your consultant about the pros/cons of each option? I completely agree with you about c-sections being risky for the mother and not the babies. Because I am not particularly fussed about my birth experience as long as the babies and I are both healthy and well, I really don't think the risks are worth it for me. But some people really value that experience. I was asked by someone if I was disappointed because I didn't get to have a vaginal birth. I really had a hard time replying sensibly because I couldn't understand how I could be disappointed when I felt fine and had a lovely healthy baby to show for it. That is all that matters in the end.

joleyn it is good if you can work from home, it’s not an option for me sadly. It would make my weeks easier even now if I could work from home 1 day a week and more as I get bigger.

blu sorry your first birth didn’t go to plan but it seems you are very much at peace with it and have a good plan going forward with your twins.

Ready my back pain seems to get worse every day – had to stop sleeping on my left as it is not helping my hip only being on one side.

I will try a VB, I did manage it with my DS but it was very long and difficult but I would like to do it again if I can – depending on position!

bluish I totally agree, it's safety first for me when it comes to birth. As long as they are healthy and put through the least stress and risk I'll be happy. Haven't had a full conversation with the consultant yet, I mentioned it in my last appointment with the cover consultant, who was incredibly judgemental and gave me a lecture that women these days read too much about birth and should just go with the flow! I've decided to have a more reasoned conversation with my actual consultant. I am a week behind you, my appointment is 19th. The good thing is my midwife is supportive, she says 'there are no medals in motherhood' how they are born or how you feed them doesn't win prizes - she's brilliant, is a twin herself and has twins.

mummy I think I've resigned myself to the uncomfortable nights stage now. I'm not working now, so grab bits of sleep when I can - training for later I think!

Ready that is my motto - there are no medals! I have hopes - but if something doesn't go to plan during birth or after then at the end of the day you still have two beautiful babies!

When I told my midwife that I was opting for an ELCS, she just said well you won't have to worry about having a prolapsed vagina when you are older and then she changed the subject. So I'm still not sure what to make of that reply.

mummy my back has been hurting lately too. I find when I sleep on one side for a few hours it hurts, especially my ribs. So I spend most of the night rolling over. I guess it makes sense with all the weight pushing down on your side. But it definitely doesn't make things easier.

ready do you see the same consultant usually? I haven't seen the same one twice so far. But I know they ask the senior consultant questions so he knows what is going on. He actually wanted to perform my c-section but we decided it didn't make sense to have them early just to fit into his schedule. So it makes up for not actually seeing him. I hope your appointment goes well and the consultant is cooperative because it does make all the difference.

Had my 20 week scan yesterday - two boys!! Over the moon The hospital screwed up though so I didn't get to see a consultant - booked in for my next scan and consultant appt at 24 weeks now. All looking good in there!

how is everyone doing?

Congratulations mummy! That's lovely news.

On my side I attended a 2 hour workshop with tamba which I thought was worthwhile. Nice to meet some other twin mums and the course is run by a twin mum.

Also started nct classes last night, I thought it was run really well, but not sure I'll ever get used to pretending to be in labour! Ironically I think these classes would be even more educationally with a glass of red wine ironically!

ready The tamba workshops were all really far from us so we did a webinar, which was useful – though I didn’t like the fact that we have 9,000 nappy changes ahead of us!! Shame we didn’t get to meet anyone but it was still useful.

Enjoy your NCT classes! Wish we had some nearby – but have managed to find some twin antenatal classes at the hospital 80 miles from us which I am attending in Jan on birth, coping with twins and breastfeeding.

We had our 25 week scan yesterday - all good. Am surprised by how well I still feel. Waiting for it all to get difficult!! I am not planning on doing any antenatal bits. No tamba or nct close to us and I did the nhs one last time and it was a bit rubbish. Am going to book on the breastfeeding workshop tho.

Has anyone else had their cervix length measured? Mine wasn't done yesterday and read that it should be monitored as the difference between 20-24 weeks and 4-5 weeks afterwards is a good indicator if you will end up with them early 32-35 weeks ish. Called my midwife and she said it isn't standard to be done - even with twins.

joleyn it hopefully won't get really hard, loads of people have easier twin pregnancies than some singles. That said I started to drift a bit down hill towards 28 weeks, it turned out I'd quickly gone anaemic, so worth keeping your intake of iron good in my experience.

mummy I haven't had cervix length measurements done either, seems to be a bit more popular in the states though.

I'm off for my 32 week scan in an hour, both babies are very high up at the moment (making breathing less fun), so I'm anticipating some movement in position and presentation to show up on the scan.

Scan went well, both babies are head down at the moment, but it's not clear who the presenting twin will be, they are jostling for position. I was amazed though when the sonographer pointed out hair on one of their heads - who knew you could see hair!

Glad to hear everyone is well. I did NCT last time with DD and although I disagree with a lot of what we were taught, I met an amazing group of people through it. So it was definitely worth it. I did the 2 hour Tamba class too but it left DH and I a bit shell shocked because we had forgotten all about the newborn phase. But now that I'm nearing the end, I would swap 2 newborns with being pregnant in a heartbeat.

Not much else to report. Less than 5 weeks to go until my ELCS so keeping everything crossed that I make it.

Hi all! Lovely to find a chat group! I'm 15 weeks with MCDA twins. Huge huge shock but getting there! I had severe pre-eclampsia with my now 3 year old daughter so I was already quite concerned about the risk for that happening again. The risk has obviously increased with twins but I'm being monitored on an almost weekly basis so I can't complain. I feel absolutely hideous though - 24/7 nausea, shortness of breath in the past few days and utterly exhausted. I'm not even that big so it felt quite odd being so out of breath!! I've just really struggled to enjoy this pregnancy and wanted to see if anyone else has felt similar. I just want to feel normal for a day as I've been sick since 5/40 but as the weeks go on, it feels less and less likely!!

Welcome bre and congratulations!

I don't have any basis for comparison, but the first 16 weeks for me were pretty much non stop throwing up. It was rough, but I did lose a ton of weight. Hope you come through the other side of it soon.

ready pleased the scan went well and both babies are head down!

Welcome Bre - I was still signed off at 15 weeks, just felt terrible and yes I have been feeling very out of breath for most of the pregnant – I think it is to do with the extra blood flow rather than the weight to begin with.

21.5 weeks here now with my DCDA b/b twins. So bored of people asking me if they are identical or not – we won’t know until they are born!! Obviously it is likely they are fraternal BUT fraternal twins are meant to run in families and I don’t have any twins in my family – it is ID twins that are random so I kind of feel like they may end up being ID. Anyone else with same sex twins really worried about mixing them up after birth?

How is everyone getting on?

Hi everyone. I was thinking about Lion because she was closest to the finish line. I hope she is well.

Mummy congratulations on the fraternal boys! I'm worried about mixing mine up or needing to check nappies to make sure I have the right one. But they could look completely different.

As for me, 35 weeks today and so so uncomfortable. Getting more BH and I can physically feel the babies are running out of space because when the stretch it hurts. I'm fluctuating between wanting them out ASAP and knowing that I'm lucky they have stayed in for so long and the longer they are in the better. Just 3 weeks to go!

How is everyone else?