Expecting twins in 2020?

[Passionfruit20]

Is anyone else expecting twins (or more!) in 2020? I just found out I am. They’ll be our first. Technically due in April, although reality means probably March. Would love to share with other mums in the same situation as I’m now reading a whole new set of baby books and articles!

@MrsEG you can self-refer to the physio team. The bump support belts are brilliant and reduce the risk of your skin tearing and help keep your hips from clicking out. A total godsend! Would advise all you lovely M.O.Ms (mother of multiples) to get to your physio. 4 and a half years on and my hips are still giving me jip! (I was 37+6 when I had my boys, 7lbs5, 6lbs4...!)

@QueenOfThePumpkins we had first appt with named consultant then fortnightly with whichever consultant until 28 weeks then name back to named consultant til the end. Very happy as have specialist twin midwife who is fab

queenofthepumpkins thanks, I had an ELCS at 36+3. Was originally scheduled for 38 weeks but twin 1s growth had dropped down the chart so consultant wanted her out earlier. The section was amazing and twins didn't need any help in the hospital. my 2yo is fantastic with them, shows just the right amount of interest but then leaves them alone. He will help me with things like grabbing a nappy or a muslin.

Thank you @doodlejump1980 I’m going to try and get a physio referral today - really feeling pain in my upper inner thighs and hips today! Wow what fantastic weights your twins were!

@boodles101 Ahh your 2yo sounds like a fabulous little helper! How did you find the ELCS if you don’t mind me asking? I’m preparing myself for all eventualities with birth but the recovery from a section is something that worries me slightly!

@MrsEG I know your question wasn't directed at me, but I wanted to add my experience for you.

I planned an elective section at 36 weeks, moved to 34 because of the ttts treatment. Even though it was expected the girls would need a fair bit of help the experience was still lovely and calm.
I had no problems with recovery at all. 2 or 3 days of pain, but it was manageable as long as I kept on top of my pain killers. Within 2 weeks I felt normal.
I will add though that because my two were in NICU I really didn't have to do much more than sit by an incubator for the first week so my body was able to rest and recover more easily than if I'd been at home carrying two babies around I'm sure.

Thanks so much all for the movement dates, I’ll
Countdown to 18 weeks and hope for some flutters from then!

Also useful to know about everyone’s appointments. I have a 16 week scan in two weeks when I meet my consultant for the first time. Currently in limbo as I had a normal midwife, but now left her and not yet met my new ‘twin’ midwife. So look forward to that.

Also great to know about the special bump belt. What week did you wear it from @doodlejump1980

@passionfruit20 think I wore it from about halfway - think my midwife recommended it at my 20 week scan. The morning I had them I had a 55inch waist 🤦🏻‍♀️

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They were a bit like this ^ but our physio team measured me to get the right size as I grew.

Great tips about the physio and support belts. It's so helpful to hear from you experienced twin mums :)

I'm glad the section went so smoothly @boodles101, and your 2 year old sounds very sweet!

I had my 20 week scan today and it all went generally very well. I was reading through my notes afterwards though, and the consultant noted a size difference of

@QueenOfThePumpkins great that you're seeing your consultant tomorrow anyway to get it checked out. Does it give you deepest pools of fluid onto ur notes?

MrsEG I found the ElCS itself very calm and relaxing, I was allowed the curtain down to watch too! The next morning was the worst and getting out of bed for the first time is a real struggle, but once you have done it it just gets easier. I managed the pain on paracetamol and ibuprofen every 4 hours, but you can have stronger of needed. Make sure you keep taking it regardless. By day 5 I felt much more 'normal' and able to stand up straight without feeling like I was going to pull stitches. After 2 weeks I felt back to normal really. I just made sure I didn't do anything other than lift the babies. I've had no issues with my scar healing either.

Thanks @twinmum, yes I'm really glad I've got that appointment as I've got myself a bit worked up about it now

The amniotic fluid measurement was almost the same for both (just over 4mm), so that is reassuring at least.

I've now gone a bit overboard and started researching all the numbers, turns out that the smallest twin has a particularly small femur measurement too (6th percentile)

@twinmum2017 Thanks for sharing! I do like to think I have a relatively high pain threshold (although I get the feeling that’s about to be tested to the max!!), so fingers crossed!

@doodlejump1980 a 55 inch waist! Incredible! I have a belly band, I’m 23 weeks now so think it’s time to start wearing it!

@boodles101 Thank you for sharing that makes me feel a lot better! How amazing you got to watch too, I bet it was fascinating!

@QueenOfThePumpkins Google can be your worst nightmare if you are a bit worried about something - try and put it to the back of your mind for now and just have a good chat about it at your next appointment. I’m sure if there were any issues causing concern they’d have mentioned it to you today?

@QueenOfThePumpkins the fluid sounds good so don't panic. Try not to worry too much about the measurements. The fact that it is just the femur measurement that is particularly small suggests to me that they haven't got an accurate measurement - don't forget that just a mm or 2 can make a huge difference to the equation they use to estimate the weights.
We're the Dopplers okay?

I spent a couple of awful weeks thinking that one of mine had a tiny head. Turned out she was so low down that it was difficult to get the measurement.

Thank you ladies :)

Looking at it with my limited knowledge, I feel like it was a slightly rogue femur measurement. The smaller twin actually has a bigger head than the bigger twin! It's only the femur lengths that are very different. At each scan there have been jokes about how unusually active these babies are, so I know it's been hard to get the measurements. That theory shall comfort me for this evening before I see the consultant tomorrow :)

Sorry @Twinmum I meant to say, yes the Dopplers seemed fine so it really is just this measurement thing. What bothers me is the ">10%" on the written report, which is incorrect looking at the actual figures, so I'm just a bit nervous about what might have been missed.

@doodlejump1980 a 55 inch waist at 20 weeks is pretty 😮 must have been really hard work at the end

@QueenOfThePumpkins rTher than wrong it just sounds Ike how thry write their thresholds as 15% is >10%so perhaps they only record if its more than 10,.ore than 20 etx

Sorry @SleepingStandingUp, that was a typo - the notes say

Ah yes I see. The concern is more that the person who scanned has reported inaccurately.
Definitely raise it.

I wonder if it's because they know they couldn't get a proper femur measurement and so they've estimated the size difference rather than basing it on their measurements. Should have explained this to you though if so.

My ttts was caught at stage one and there was a 25% size discordance and a huge difference in fluid levels - just to put your mind at rest even more

@SleepingStandingUp no! It was the day I had them ha ha!! Ooft 🤣🤣

Queen I don't know if this helps but mine had an 11% discordance at the start (16w scan) and by week 29 still had an 11% discordance, only the opposite way iyswim! Ie at 16w T1 was the bigger and then by 29w he was smaller by that margin.

He turned out to have IUGR and was pretty titchy at birth but at nearly 2, he is now on the 25th centile for everything - so not big but small side of average and an unholy terror pretty lively!

Thanks so much @twinmum2017, that does make me feel better. I'm so glad it was still at stage one when picked up. It really is my biggest fear at the moment and I can't imagine how scary it must have been.

Thank you for sharing your experience too @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff, and it's good to hear that things turned out well in the end. When was the IUGR diagnosed, and what was the size discordance then?

Unfortunately my appointment was a bit of a disaster today... My consultant was on call so her colleague saw me instead. She was so shirty with me when I (very politely) mentioned the size discrepancy, and basically said I should be grateful that I get reviewed by fetal medicine specialists and not to doubt them! I actually have a lot of confidence in all the professionals I've seen so far, but unfortunately they are human and everyone is capable of making a mistake. She wouldn't answer my question about whether 15.4% is anything to worry about or not, and kept going back to "but there are no signs of TTTS so I don't see what the problem is". I said that I wasn't just worried about TTTS but also other things like IUGR. She responded to that by talking about risks such as gestational diabetes rather than saying anything at all about what I'd actually asked

She then asked "is that everything then?" and off I went, after 5 minutes of being made to feel very small indeed. I had thought of a few questions to bring to the appointment but didn't even feel like I could ask them in the end. I left having no idea what the appointment was actually for - that conversation was it. I've been a bit upset about it today, and will have a chat with my midwife to see if I can meet my actual consultant (who is hopefully a bit more approachable!) soon. Hope everyone else has been getting on a bit better than me today

That isn't on that they were rude and dismissive of your points. They might be specialists but thy at doesn't give them the right to make anyone feel belittled. I hope you can arrange an appointment with your actual consultant.

I didn't realise you were with a fetal medicine unit though. That is great news because the chances of anything being missed is far less!

Believe it or not @Twinmum, I didn't actually know they were fetal medicine specialists until the doctor said so today! I am at a fairly small hospital, and due to staffing issues they've been holding regular clinics with consultants from our larger regional hospital. So I did suspect they may be extra highly skilled! The lady today didn't actually know whether they'd been seeing me at our local hospital or whether I'd been travelling to the regional one for the scans though (she asked me)

I had my treatment at Harris Birthright at Kings and they were incredible. I've also heard brilliant things about Birmingham.
Wherever you are they will be far more on top of things twin related than the smaller hospitals.
Would your triage be at that unit too?