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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Identical twins. Vanishing twin - lost one at 7/8 weeks. Can anyone give me hope please?

21 replies

lovetodance · 13/01/2011 12:06

Hi all,
This is my first post prompted by a lot of worry. I am 9+3 weeks pregnant. Due to having some spotting early on I have been for several scans (NHS and private). I have been told that one twin has a heartbeat and is spot on for growth, but that the other one has no heartbeat and is much smaller. The private consultant I saw last week said that it would probably be absorbed back into my body and should not result in a miscarriage in the majority of cases.
However, the previous scan on the NHS was more negative and I was told if my body recognised that one twin had died then both would be miscarried as they share the same placenta.
I have also worried myself silly because of all the research I have read that a vanishing twin (particularly a monchorionic twin) increases the likelihood of cerebral palsy and other neurological problems.
At the moment I'm waiting for a referral to a twin specialist on NHS.
Has anyone else been in this situation and had a healthy child? Any information or stories welcome, positive and negative as I just want the truth. Thank you.

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Milngavie · 13/01/2011 12:11

So sorry to hear this and it is understandable that you are worried.

I am the result of your kind of pregnancy. Mum didn't know I was a twin until we were born and the other baby was estimated to have died at about 12 weeks. Mum blames herself as she fell over at about that point in the pregnancy.

I was born healthy and am fine.

I'm sure someone will be along soon who has been in your position.

Take care x

Magna · 13/01/2011 12:17

Hello loveto sorry to read what you are going through.

The only experience I have of anything like this is that I am a twin that survived when my mum miscarried my twin. I am going back nearly 40 years ago when my mum went through all this in the days of no scans.

I am fine health wise - slighty nutty on days but that could be having 2 DSs under 6.

Sorry if this is not a lot of help. Take care

ivykaty44 · 13/01/2011 12:20

I knwo of two peopel who had miscarriages and went on to carry the other twin to full temr and deleiver healthy babies

BelieveInLife · 13/01/2011 12:36

Hi, so sorry to hear what you're going through. The only experience I have of this is that my Aunty miscarried one twin 20 years ago but the other is here and very well. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy, I hope you get the same result.

exexpat · 13/01/2011 12:41

Happened to a friend of mine a few years ago - two heartbeats on early scan (not sure if they were identical or not though), but a few weeks later one had disappeared - as far as I know she didn't miscarry anything, one twin was reabsorbed, and she had one very healthy baby boy at full term. Hope your next appointment is more reassuring.

hhg · 13/01/2011 18:17

Hi, sorry to hear about this. I am also 9 + 3 today. My cousin has similar a few months ago. Twin was found to have died at around 6-7 weeks but other baby is now a bouncing healthy chubby boy. Try not to worry till you speak to the specialist

taurustaurus · 13/01/2011 18:35

if you do have any further concerns and if you are based in London the fetal medicine centre on harley street is where you should go. If you go on a wednesday Professer Nicholadis (sorry wrong spelling!) is the industry expert in this area. All the very best.

IAmReallyFabNow · 13/01/2011 18:37

I can only post quickly as I can't deal with threads like this but I miscarried one of my twins and the other one is downstairs eating cake.

CuppaTeaJanice · 13/01/2011 18:48

The actor Andy Garcia was born with a partly formed twin attached to his shoulder. I know this is slightly different because they were conjoined, but you would assume that if one twin can survive when sharing a placenta and being attached to a miscarried twin, then the chances for a twin sharing only a placenta look good. As all the above posts have proved.

spikydahlia · 13/01/2011 19:42

Hi I have no experience of your problem I'm afraid, but I do have a problem with my pregnancy and was given limited information. When I googled it when I got home from my scan, I was scared beyond belief! I think alot of what you read on the net is negative stories from people who need to share and unload their worries. All the medical information tends to give you the worst scenarios without proper statistics of how likely things are to go wrong. Everyone with a positive story is probably too busy with their newborn babies to write.

When I spoke to my midwife my mind was put at rest. I would wait to see what the specialist says and try not to worry about what you may have read.

I hope all these positive posts fill you with hope!

happygilmore · 13/01/2011 20:28

My mother too miscarried my twin, and I'm here, fine - I don't know if we were identical or non-identical though.

I really hope you get some positive news :)

stitchy · 13/01/2011 20:50

I found out at my 12 week scan that I had conceived twins but one died at 8wks. It wasn't clear whether they were identical or not so I can't offer any certain hope on that front for you but I am now 35+6 with what seems to be a very healthy baby. The sonographer, midwife etc never suggested a vanishing twin could cause problems though.
At my 20wk scan the second twin was no longer obviously visible and was being absorbed.

I was told by my GP that marvellous as early scans are you now find out things which can just result in worry and upset (I was sad to have miscarried and have found it had to enjoy this pregnancy) that without the technology you would never have known about. It's so easy to say but please try not to worry and good luck x

stitchy · 13/01/2011 21:01

hard not 'had' to enjoy this pregnancy, sorry

jellyhead188 · 14/01/2011 07:56

Hi - sorry you're having this stress to go through, my friend was carrying identical twins, one died at about 10ish weeks and she is now 25 weeks with the other, she's had lots of scans and checks including a CVS and all appears to be well with the remaining twin. She has been told that the other baby will most probably be reabsorbed or will come away with the placenta after the birth. xx

CaringForPod · 14/01/2011 08:21

Hi,

So sorry to hear what you're going through.

I too lost a twin at around 6 weeks, one of the most heartbreaking things I've every known.

However, I'm now 25 weeks with the surviving baby and everyone seems happy with the way things are going.

I hope this is of some reassurance and I really hope everything works out OK for you.

Take care x

theevildead2 · 14/01/2011 08:38

Not really any help sorry (although my friend is currently in her second trimester after losing one twin at 8 or 9 weeks too)

But did just want to say hope you are Ok as you can be and sorry you are going through this. I have read that many people start out as twins but that the weaker one doesn't make it.

Lots of luck
x

tots2ten · 14/01/2011 08:47

I had a scan around 12 weeks and was told that 1 baby had not grown past 7 weeks and that the other was a little bit on the smaller side.

Consultant mentioned something about vanishing twin, but never said anything about the extra risks, just said that it would be reobsorbed back into my body.

Dd4 is now nearly 4 yrs old.

Take care

zippy30 · 14/01/2011 14:21

Hi there, so sorry that you're going through this. My sister-in-law experienced the same thing - she went through IVF and they confirmed twins in early scans, then at around 8 weeks I think, they found that one twin didn't have a heart beat. This didn't result in miscarriage and the he baby was absorbed back into the body. My sister-in-law, although very upset and worried at the time, went on to have a completely normal pregnancy and the other baby was absolutely fine and is now a very healthy 14 week old baby girl. xx

grumblinalong · 14/01/2011 14:43

Hi,

I am 17 weeks pg with a failed twin pregnancy. I was scanned at 9 weeks as an NHS hospital inpatient due to hyperemesis, they thought I was having an ectopic pg due to the incessant vomiting.

They found two foetus, 2 gestational sacs and one placenta but only one foetus had a heartbeat. The second foetus had stopped growing at about 8 weeks. They weren't hopeful about the live twin surviving because they said that if one foetus had 'failed'(their words not mine) it was likely the other would due to chromosonal problems. I was rescanned at 12 weeks and the foetus was healthy and waving its arms and legs around all over. I'm 17 weeks now, still feeling dreadful, but have started to feel flutterings and movement so all hope is not lost! However, I am anxiously awaiting my 20 week anamoly scan to check everything out.

Original poster

lovetodance · 17/01/2011 11:54

Thank you so much for all your replies.
Grumblinalong - do you know if they would have been identical - sharing a placenta?
I'm 10 weeks now and still feel like I'm in the dark. Can't see a twin specialist till 11 weeks. Was scanned by an NHS nurse last Friday and she started talking about twin to twin transfusion. I don't think she had a clue though and even said she was out of her depth. What threw her was that twin B (did not have a heartbeat before) had grown since the last appointment 2 weeks ago and she thought she may have seen a heartbeat but she wasn't sure. ARGGHHH! Twin A has a good heatbeat and growth.
I'm going to try to speak to the specialist on the phone today.

OP posts:

Melvin213 · 06/06/2016 08:56

Lovetodance
I know this is an old post but I am pregnant with identical twin following IVF at 6 weeks there was two sacs then one week later I miscarried one. Went in to hear heartbeat. One twin Heat beat and growth is right in the other sac empty. With is being possible chromosome issue I'm worried my surving twin has health issues. How did everything turn out with the birth of you baby ?

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