pregnant with twins

[pop]

I have just found out I am pregnant with twins. After the initial shock/euphoria/relief at having a reason for being soooooo sick, I am now feeling quite scared about what is in store. I have a 2 year old and am worried about the implications for me throughout pregnancy/health of the babies and the effect on my toddler. Any advice/comments/shared experiences would be very welcome.

Tinkerbell, congratulations, how exciting.

Tinkerbell, congratulations, did you have any inkling that you might be having twins? Was it a complete surprise?

Thank you, thank you!

Didn't have a CLUE as there are no twins on either side for as far back as anyone can remember (and my grandfather is 98 and has the best memory ever!!). Lots of people have said that this means they are more likely to be identical although not sure why!!!

Wahey, Tinkerbell! Congratulations!

I think you the reason that people are telling you they are likely to be identical is that non-identicals- where the mother has released 2 eggs in a cycle, which are then fertilised by 2 separate sperm- tend to run in families, ie there is a genetic tendency for the women of the family to produce 2 eggs per cycle. (It is not this simple though, because some people have argued that there can also be a family tendency for a single fertilised egg to split, resulting in identical twins- though I think it is generally accepted that there is less evidence that id twins run in families.)
Having said all this, I have non id twin boys and there is no history of twins at all in our family...

Wow! Double congrats Tinkerbell - I always craved twins and hoped I'd have them as my great-grandma had 3 sets of twins! Hope all goes well.

If you don't mind a bit of illiteracy and dullness (hope that's not too harsh) there's a twins talkboard here that has lots of twin-specific info from parents. Very yawnsome if you're looking for intelligent debate a la Mumsnet but good for questions on how you tell if twins are id, twin pregnancy and birth options, the joys and horrors of 2 at a time, etc etc.

And having begun my last but one message "I think you the reason" I am, of course, perfectly placed to be pompous about illiteracy...

3 sets of twins! Your poor, poor great-grandma, Enid! Did she descend into madness, by any chance?

re twin to twin
if they find out the sex it may put your mind at rest as obviously if its boy / girl twins (like my darlings)they cant get twin to twin transfusion syndrome

Tinkerbell - congratulations, try to look after yourself and keep fit (walking, swimming etc) & it will help you towards then end of your pregnancy when you look like Mr Greedy!

If your twins are sharing a placenta, then obviously you have a higher risk pregnancy but you will be monitored frequently and you will find out soon enough after the birth whether or not they are identical.

I have twin boys who are now 2 years & 3 months (and a 4 year old daughter) & they are great fun as well as the old cliche double trouble! I didn't find out I was having twins until 21 weeks so it was the biggest shock of my life as there is no history! I found the first two months incredibly tiring and stressful until I got them into a Gina Ford type routine. I recommend you get as much help as possible in the early weeks and join your local twins club (TAMBA will give you details or look at twinsclub.co.uk) & they will put you into touch with other twin mothers and other people expecting twins so you can go through similar experiences together - I didn't get this opportunity and I wished I had. The Multiple Births Foundation runs an information evening at Hammersmith Hospital at which there is a question & answer session with parents from a local twins club (they may run similar sessions in other areas). There is a group of mothers in our local twins club who were completely sorted by the time their twins were born and they have coped brilliantly with seemingly little stress.

I had an elective caesarean at 38 weeks (6lb 4 & 6lb 11) as the first twin was breech (after having had a natural, epidural-assisted, birth with my daughter) & that was absolutely fine although you do take longer to recover.

If you want to breastfeed, make sure you get plenty of support in hospital. I was put into a single room, which was great for privacy, but the call button didn't work so I was left to fend for myself when trying to breastfeed. I found it better to breastfeed them together but I introduced bottles early so that other people could help feed if they were around and the twins were happy with whatever they were given - breast or bottle!

Good luck; try and enjoy some quality time with your older child while you can and take care of yourself.

Hi everyone just a wee update! I had my twins 8 weeks ago (6 weeks early) after 4 weeks of daily scans the doc decided it was time to bail out as one was not growing. I opted to be induced rather than a cc but unfortunately got to the bitter end and was pushing when they discovered one twin was face first so had a cc anyway!!

The girls weighed in at 3lb12 and 3lb 5 and were only in hospital for 2 weeks before they got home. they are now about 7lb each!! They are just great and I am enjoying this stage a lot more than I did with my first although I am knackered!! They seem very settled although any advice on routine etc would be great Fifidella?

Good luck Tinkerbell and let us know how you are.

Many many congratulations - please send news from the twins front when you get a spare moment - I'm sure we are all dying to know what its like with two. And what a great weight gain. How is your toddler?

congratulations pop, it sounds like you are doing a great job (if you've got time to access mumsnet, you must be doing something right!). I didn't enjoy the early weeks at all - I was too shellshocked! however, I started the Gina Ford routine at 7 weeks and by 8 weeks they were having two naps a day (short morning & a longer afternoon nap); five structured feeds a day (ie no demand feeding); bath at 6pm; bed by 7pm (ie peaceful evenings!!); one more feed at 10.30pm (before our bedtime) & then they were only waking up once a night each between 10.30pm & 6.45am which was comparative bliss!

However, I have to say that you have to be quite strict with the feeding - ie 3-3 1/2 hours between feeds and you may need to let them cry if they're not used to getting themselves off to sleep. If you haven't read Gina Ford, I recommend you do so, but you do NOT have to be so regimented as she suggests, once you get them into a routine, you can adapt it to suit yourself (& you need to with a toddler!).

Have you joined your local twins club? Feel free to call me if you think I can be of help:
07733 231576 or I'll try to keep checking mumsnet.

Pop -- was one of the twins always much bigger and then stopped growing? It's just if they induced you because one twin wasn't growing, I wouldn't have expected them to be almost identical birth weights.

Or do you think the last scan was wrong?

CONGRATULATIONS POP!!!! They seem to be thriving - you are obviously coping really well. Did you have to go through a long labour before c-section became inevitable - how exhausting. And, and, and are you using Gina Ford's routines to get them so settled so early?

Found out that mine are non-identical but also that I have to have a c-section again (too many boring reasons to go into but emergency last time and too many other risk factors to let me go full term) so at 25 weeks already mine could be only 11 weeks away!! GULP.

So please keep in touch with how things are going pop as I'm sure it will help us all!! And good luck.

Oh, and FifiDella, thank you so much for all the info re twins clubs etc. Will definitely get in touch with TAMBA to find out my local one. Bought their book which both dh and I devoured.

Feel enormous already (same size as full-term with ds!) so swimming is heaven and the only time when I feel smaller than a beached whale!

It's been a while since anyone posted here, but reading the thread, there are a couple of things I'd like to add. I agree with the advice about routines, definately a must with twins. I have twin boys (non id) now 2.5 yrs and heaven. They were born in the Us, but I put them on Gina F when they were about 12 weeks as I was exhausted, and not coping with constant feeding (did a combo of bottle and breast)- of course my US friends thought I was a cruel heartless chilly British cow - but it was the beswt thing I ever did. They went almost immediately to 4 hourly feeds and started dropping the night time ones, and within weeks were sleeping through the night. Bliss. We have stuck to it rigidly (altho I think in the early early days it would have bene hard and you definatly need support and back up even to breast feed twins)but the boys STILL sleep two hours in the middle of the day AND all night. Somehow they really liked the routine. Secondly - support.... you need it, you must have it, and if you can scrape up some inhome help (ontop of DH) then do it. The wonderful thing about having twins is you are let off any guilt about using bottles, dummies, disposables and paid help. Everyone considers you a heroine for even delivering two - let alone having to care for them, so take advantage of your new found status as a supermum and take all the liberties/short cuts int he book. Finally dont let anyone say to you - oh you poor thing ...twins...what a lot of work - its SO negative and doesnt begin to cover the fantastic thrill of TWO first smiles, and TWO first steps, and when they start interacting with eachother, its fascinating. My two are best mates, and the fact that they share a room means they dont need us in the mornign for entertainment, or infact at anytime for entertainment, they have each other, so there are many many situaitons where having two works to your advantage. Lucky you if you are pregnant with twins adn I hope it is a wonderful experience. Lucky !

i recently had identicle twin girls 11 weeks ago i also have a 6 year old boy i had my babes 37 weeks into the pregnancy i went through a natural birth they weighed in at 6lb 2oz and 6lb 5oz they are a real handful but i feel so lucky to have 3 healthy children iam just beginning to get them into some routine and getting a little bit more sleep which heelps its just getting into a routine that fits in with you especially when you have older children has any one got any tips on surviving the school run for your other kids i find this one very difficult

try and get EVERYTHING ready the night before...clothes laid out, bags ready by door etc. And congrtulations!!!

try and get EVERYTHING ready the night before...clothes laid out, bags ready by door etc. And congrtulations!!!

whoops - double trouble ...that's my posting and not the twins

Greetings all...it's been a couple of weeks since anyone posted, hope you're all still out there.

I found out last Friday that I'm expecting twins - like many of the mums here, with no previous family record. Suspicious eh! I have one beautiful but VERY energetic and demanding 2 year old, and have no idea how we'll cope - in no sphere of life are we ready for two more babies!! This was a whoops! pregnancy anyway! Except that being an 'older' Mum I'll be glad to definitely have the family complete before the bus pass arrives.

Hope to enjoy chatting with you lot for some time to come - I'm just 14 weeks now.

All the best! From FatGaijin

Congrats to you fatgaijin

im sure along with double the trouble they'll bring more than double the fun,just imagine seeing TWO brand new little faces looking up at you.

if you haven't already found it, wander over to www.twinsclub.co.uk - itis a mine of information and the forum is very active.