Oh my, there's 2!

[Rootvegetables]

I wasn't sure of my dates so had a scan this morning and there's 2 babies, I'm 10 weeks 4 days along, there's so much to think about. My first thing is which hospital to have my care through, does anyone know anything about kings or lewisham as both are easy for us, oh my!

In my head I have the weights in métrico, so one was 2.5 kilos (5lb 8 -ish) and 44cm, the other was 2.4 kilos (5lb 4-ish) 43cm. which was a damb site bigger than my own birth weight at full term

Try not To worry about them arriving a little early. I was told that twins often arrive early and mostly without complicaciones.

Just relax, follow the advice you Get from which ever medical person you are in contact with (sorry, I don't know the proccess for caring pregnant women in UK) and try To enjoy your pregnancy.

Those are great weights. My last 2 children were 6lbs and 5 lbs 9 ozs, so I seem to have small babies but the twins are measuring on track so far. Thanks a lot for your advice. Feeling fairly relaxed so just taking it week by week. Exciting, if not slightly scary :-)) xx

I'm glad you are feelling excited. If people start making comments about double trouble and stupid things like that just remember that you will have 20 tiny toes To tickle, How cool is that

Haha agreed! It's amazing how many people do focus on the hard part but I have to say the closer I get to them arriving the more excited I get. We are lucky ladies! X

Yes, very Lucky. It's always felt special To me in a way that I can't quite define. I have no point of referente as I only have my DTs, but it's still very special To have had them together iyswim.

I'm now 11.5 weeks and very attached to the idea of twins now the news has settled, I have had double the sickness, double the belly but now also double the anxiety, hoping desperately all is okay at the scan next week. It's lovely you are all so positive about it, most people have reacted with shock which I understand but I'm trying to say something positive back now.

That's great rootveg. My sickness lasted until about 13 weeks and then felt really good until last few days (30 weeks) when I'm now starting to feel a big more tired. Keep up the positivity. I know what you mean about people's reactions. My husband has 2 brothers and them an their wives seem to always centre on the negatives. I know they don't mean to be unkind or anything but it does get a bit boring. Yes it will be hard but I wouldn't change it for the world. Like you I have been excited yet anxious throughout the pregnancy but as time draws near their arrival, excitement has definitely overtaken anxiety xx

Root just keep thinking of 20 tiny toes To play with.

Many congratulations. I bet you are still in shock. I had triplets at the Pruh and they were fantastic up there. I had check ups and scans at kings though every 2 weeks up until a week before my babies arrived!
Please feel free to pm me any questions about both hospitals as I spent most of my life between both places last year!

Good luck and take care xx

Welcome to the world of multiples!! Ok, mine are teenagers now, but when I was pregnant all those years ago, I did have some problems, and, although in East Anglia I was referred to Kings, with back-up from Cambridge. Kings is a specialist centre for multiples is absolutely brilliant, so I would go there like a shot if they will take you. Good luck, and, by the way, your initial reaction was just like mine, and is apparently the norm

root unfortunately you will get more negativity, even after they're here. I've had "twins? Oh, bad luck", "don't envy you" (a lot), and lot of "are the nights horrendous?". People just don't seem to engage the brain before opening their mouth, and you have to get a bit thick skinned about it. However, for every stupid, thoughtless person, there are ten lining up behind them to tell you how beautiful your babies are, how jealous they are, how genuinely thrilled they are for you, how awesomely you're doing, how you've made their day, that you look like you're coping marvellously, that you deserve a medal. These are the people that will, completely unknowingly, get you through the day sometimes when you're at your lowest and just need to get out of the house. They will be complete strangers, and their words will affect you so profoundly that the negative nonsense that other people sprout becomes water off your back. Because you are, in fact, very lucky, you are coping wonderfully, and you are awesome.

Nothing to add re: hospitals as I had my twins in Scotland, but just wanted to pass on my congratulations! I have identical twin girls who are now 3 1/2 as well as a 6 year old dd and an almost 9 year old ds. Life is amazingly fun - busy yes, but so much fun! You have to be super organised with twins, but allow life to be a little chaotic at times and roll with it.

I second the comments about not letting the negativity get you down - that's always my advice to people expecting twins - you will hear so much negativity and you just have to ignore it. I heard a lot of it from other twin mums too who liked to make out that their lives were so much harder than anyone else's and really everyone should feel sorry for them and make allowances for them - nonsense. Life is what you make of it. There are plenty of people who have a harder time parenting than those with multiples, and you need to focus on the positives. Life is busy and yes, some things are harder with 2, but if you keep thinking everything will be hard then it will be, if you have a positive attitude you can cope with anything.

The only other thing I would say to you is to find out what type of twins you are having and keep an open mind about whether they are identical or not. My girls were DCDA (2 sacs, 2 placentas) and we were told repeatedly that they weren't identical. Eventually at about 30w we were told that they COULD be identical, but it was highly unlikely. We had DNA testing done when they were 5 months old and they are definitely identical. I have heard so many people being told their twins couldn't be identical because they were in separate sacs and it's simply not true.

My girls were born at 35+1 - spontaneous rupture of waters - both breech and ended up having an EMCS due to the fact they were breech and labour was a bit crazy (nothing to do with having twins, I had crazy labours with my other two too), and twin 1's heart rate dropped too low. They were 4lb,6oz and 4lb,10oz, but both lost over 25% of their birth weight in the first 5 days and went down to 3.5lbs each. One twin was taken straight from theatre to NNU due to a problem with her breathing and sepsis. 36hrs in an incubator with antibiotics and she was back on the ward with me and her sister. On day 5 they were both readmitted to NNU due to weight loss and were tube fed until they regained weight, maintained their temps and had enough energy to feed themselves. They came home at 15days old.

Hello all, I had my scan today and all was well! They are in there moving around happy and growing, such a relief! I love that you are all so positive and I really do feel like it's magical to have 2, plus my wonderful ds, I'm really happy everything went well, I'm ready to embrace the twinness!

That's great news!! Now you can relax and enjoy the next part of your pregnancy! X

Ah, so glad for you! I had scared myself silly after reading up on vanishing twin syndrome when I was pregnant last year, so I remember the relief of seeing two heartbeats and healthy babies at the scan. It's amazing how quickly you go from the shock of it being two to the protectiveness of 'of course there are two!' Hope the sickness lets up soon... mine lasted quite a while (22 weeks), but I don't think that's the norm!

So pleased for you OP. How exciting.

I had a missed miscarriage last week so ended up having surgery. It felt like a double blow losing 2. I felt elated when I found out there were 2, and I hope I'm lucky enough to have another baby in the future - twins again would be amazing.

Good luck to you