momo twin pregnancy and scared

[zoski1984]

Hello I'm looking for advice/help/shoulder. Yesterday i went back to my local hospital in essex for another scan as my 1st scan couldnt show much due to being so early. Well i was dianogised with carrying monochorinic, monoamniotic twins of 7 weeks! This was the 1st time i had ever heard of it so looked things up online and am now scared and fearful that i need to push my hospital for more care? 7 weeks seem so much earlier than most people find out and the hospital staff seem unsure of when i will next be seen/scanned. As i have had 4 miscarriages at 12weeks of before i am very scared! Athlough i do know i can have healthy babies as i have 2 girls a 6yr old and a 14month old!
help anyone
zoe

bump for you

zoski if you haven't already, go to the Tamba (Twins & Multiple Births Association) website and also to the Multiple Births Association website

They have lots of information about twins in general and MCMA twins in particular. Also the Tamba website has a message board. You have to be a member to post, but anyone can read it and this is a common question on there so you should find some replies from those who've been through it.

Tamba are campaigning for a standard level of hospital care for multiple pregnancies and if you search their site/the message boards you should find out some information about what they are proposing, which might give you a benchmark for the level of care that you should request?

I don't know enough about it myself to offer advice - I am carrying DCDA twins and only found out at the 12 week scan. If it were me, I'd probably make a booking in appointment with midwife, even though it's much earlier than usual - you can then get 12 week scan booked promptly, get bloods to make sure there are no issues with your health that can be identified now, find out your hospital choices etc.

Good luck with it and hope you get some other help on here from someone with more relevant experience.

zoski, I had exactly the same situation when I was 7 weeks PG. I was told there was no dividing membrane and my babies were monoamniotic (one sac, no membrane) this is very rare and although lots of babies with this are born fine there are more risks. I posted on lots of different twin sites and was told don't worry they will probably find a membrane. Well at 12 weeks Pg I had an internal scan and a dividing membrane was found. With some ladies this is not found till 20 weeks but the chances are it will be found and you "just" have identical twins. My ID girls are now over 2 and a delight. Good luck and try not to read the scare stories and request another scan at 12-14 weeks when hoepfully a membrane wil be found.

thank you for replying, your situation is what im hoping for! Its the not knowing that is doing my head in, ie when will i get my next scan! How did you find having twins? im scared i wont cope as if they arrive on time my youngest will only be 21months possibly younger if they arrive early! my husband doesnt drive so i dont want a cs as i need to be mobile but then i know it may be safer for them, see now i fear im getting ahead of myself that i should just be thinking of the next scan and not beyond! did you get rather big carrying them? Any advice?

sorry i forget to reply yesterday thank you too 1stMrsF i have looked up those sites and found them helpful.
Have u got twin advice for me?

Hi again

Theres a good thread on here at the moment about advice for first time mums with twins - I know you've got another child already, but some of the tips are really useful. Here it is. Especially things like slowing down and stopping work early etc.

There is also this thread about having twins and a toddler. Try not to panic when you read this, because the mum who has posted is really having a hard time of it, and you may not find it so hard, but the people who have posted in response have given good advice about coping with a toddler at the same time.

I'm now 25 weeks pregnant and my experience was that I had scans at 13 weeks and 21 weeks and now will have them every 4 weeks (next one tomorrow) - I think with ID twins you might have them even more often after 24 weeks. I'm pretty big (people keep asking when I'm going to have them and looking horrified when I say they are due in April - and my actual due date is May 14th, I'm just assuming that they will come in April as I'll be 38 weeks at end April). I'm stopping work at 28 weeks and I wish I'd arranged it for even earlier because I'm very tired now. I really had to slow down from about 20 weeks so plan to take it as easy as you can, your little one permitting!

Hope that helps and stick around here - I have found it very supportive and helpful.

Zoski - re your concern about having to have a cs - that is not always definite with twins. I went to 39.5 weeks when they induced me with my boys and I had them naturally and the experience of the other multiple mums on MN seems to be a mixture of both so there is definitely options there (depending on what they recommend of course).

Re coping with baby twins and a toddler, I cant really comment but I did do it the other way round and had my DD when my DTs were just 2 - I will admit it was tough but fine - I had a double buggy and a sling, plus a buggy board on the buggy as well so we could get around ok. I didnt go out a huge amount those first months after my DD was born but that was ok!

I cant help with the momo question but if you do a search on old threads I am sure there will be lots of other ladies who have had this question before - sorry I cant be of more help on that.

TWins are wonderful - good luck with everything and will keep an eye out for you on the boards!

Many congratulations! I'm not much help on the MCMA front havin non id twins. I found out at 6 weeks and can remember being so scared to hold on to them both. Well, they proverd tough enough and held on to them until c-section at 38 weeks. By this time I had my own gravitational field but then everyone is so helpful. Although I couldn't drive it actually slowed me down from doing too much for everyone else so not a bad thing.
I had scans every 4 weeks up to 24 weeks then fortnightly but I know that id twins were scanned everyweek to check for TTT.

My cousin also had a DD who was 20 months when her DTs were born and it was fine. The DD was old enough to be helpful to pass things and help a little and be big sis.

Don;t worry, the terror does pass and when they arrive it is fine: you do cope because you can. Keep us posted!

zoski, my DTs were mono-mono and I banned myself from googling anything about it. I had some initial, very bad and mis-informed information from a midwife but after that I was solely under the care of a twins specialist consultant.

I was scanned every 3 weeks to check for any growth issues - I looked forward to these, I loved seeing the babies so frequently (although I wasn't scanned between 12 and 20 weeks, and I know most hospitals scan earlier than 20 weeks for twin pregnancies). You will definitely be scanned more frequently than for a non-identical twin pregnancy (some hospitals scan id twins every fortnight). And if they do pick up any abnormalities, there is a specialist at King's in London who can help so not too far for you to travel - people who have seen him have been able to do so within days of any problems being identified. There is so much more that can be done now. But for the time being step away from google .

And although I did have a CS with my two, that was only because I'd had such a good pregnancy and had managed to get to 37 weeks which was the stage my consultant said the babies should come out. Had I gone into spontaneous labour before then, he had said he would have been quite happy for me to attempt a natural birth as both babies were head down. So a CS is not the only option so long as you and the babies are healthy.

Finally, my DD1 was 20 months when my DTs were born and I'm not going to pretend that it was easy. But she did help where she could - passing nappies and wipes etc and holding bottles. Now they are nearly 4 and 5.5 and are all such good friends I wouldn't have it any other way.

Hope this ramble has helped somewhat, but feel free to ask more if you need to .

TKB&3 - can you let me know the name of the consultant at Kings who has experience of this? we've just been told at a 7 week scan that we have momo twins so are a bit in shock. hoping its a misdiagnosis but preparing for it not to be. we live near kings and st thomas in london, which would be better for us to be referred to? how do i find this kind of thing out does anyone know? thanks in desperation.

zoski Congrats on your twins. Mine were MCDA. I was at St Thomas' under private care. They were quite good. I know it is an expensive option and may not be available to you. I think the main issues are still c-section and babies coming early. The rate of c-section in UK is nearly 50% for twins. You have one in two chances of having it. Does not mean it is guaranteed but it is highly likely. Best to be prepared. Perhaps you can line up some family for the first 6 weeks or some form of paid help. Also I had read some where that average gestation for Id twins is 35 weeks. They come earlier than non-id esp if they share a placenta. Again there are lot of people who have gone much further but just be prepared with help in the early weeks if you end up with prems. Caring for baby under 35 weeks is extremely different from caring for one post 37 weeks.

I second other mothers that you will need your rest during pregnancy very early on. There is no comparison with single pregnancy.

And most of all dont panic. Just be prepared and organized as best as you can with 2 x the hormones

hi anjlix, do you mind telling me how much private at st thomas cost? because ours are mcma we're going to need intense monitoring from 24 weeks and the NHS only offers fortnightly, or weekly if you're a pain in the bum and insist and get lucky, but all the evidence points to daily monitoring leading to the highest success rates and least neonatal mortality. it may be an option for us if we have to, but depends on cost. thanks, flump x

Flumpity, Here is the breakdown on the cost. It was mighty expensive and left us very poor

£3000 to book a room in Lansdell. This includes one night stay. Each additional night is £650. They normally discharge c-section monthers anywhere from 3-5 days if all was normal. This is the only fee you have to pay now and additioanl nights are pain upon discharge. Every thing else is paid after you are home with the babies.

£3500 for the preferred consultant. The two senior most docs Con Kelleher and Lawrence Mascarenhas are excellent and have loads of experience with twins including vaginal births.

£400 for the anesthesiologist if you need spinal/epidural

£400 for the paediatrician who checks your babies right after birth. If the babies need to go to NICU or SCBU then NHS care kicks in. I think NHS is brilliant for that.

Also if the mother needs emergency care after birth then also NHS coverage kicks in. For example I know some one who needed a pulmonary surgeon because of ruptured blood vessels and was in ICU for 4 days. All this was covered under NHS.

I had my scans done privately at the Fetal Medicine Center (www.fetalmedicine.com). They charge £200 per scan. I was monitored every 2 weeks from 24 weeks for TTTS. No idea about MCMA but Prof Kypros Nicolaides specializes in risky multiple births and should hopefully be able to guide you on the frequency of scans.

All in all very pricey but for me it was worth the risks and it was also a two for one deal!

Thankyou. That is really helpful. X