anybody having twins?

[NicJayne1]

Hi,

I had a scan at 6 weeks and saw one baby, so when I went for my scan at 13 weeks yesterday and was told it's identical twins I was in total shock. Im due on the 6th February and wondered if there is anyone else in the same boat or anyone had twins who can give advise.

I'm in shock and don't know where to begin with things x

@SEtwins yes i asked for my ELCS. I didnt consistently see the same consultant at my hospital. Some were pushing me to try vaginal as Twin 1 was head down but i basically told them i am aware I have a choice and I want to have an ELCS as I was aware that i would have to give birth with an epidural in theatre with a vaginal birth anyway. Also with the twins sharing a placenta it is safer for the twins to be born via section as I didn't want twin 2 to get distressed during labour (she was feet first) and end up with one vaginal and one section. After I gave my reasoning they added it to my notes that it was my wish. This was at 30weeks. At 34weeks they gave me my section date as again i pushed for a date as they said they would give me a date at 36weeks but it may only be with 1 days notice which I said wasn't practical with my OH having to give notice to his work of paternity leave starting. They finally got out the diary and booked me in.

@emma911030 congratulations .

Im being referred to a twin clinic so I'm hoping that I find out more regarding when I will have to deliver.

One minute I'm fine and thrn next im like...oh crap!!.

Have you started looking at prams, cots etc? X

@SEtwins thanks your massages make me feel much better. I basically went for the scan but haven't actually spoken to somebody about it (a professional). They said they are in the same placenta and they can't find a membrane so I need to see a specialist team. I've not heard from anyone yet. Im 13 + 5 days now x

@Wishing56 exactly thats what I keep telling myself.

I think I will feel less anxious once I've spoken to a professional about it. I was told at my scan but not spoken to anyone.

I wasnt going to find out what I was having but now there two I think I might x

@Wishing56 did you find out with yours? X

@LittleMissBlatherskite oh congratulations . Yes definitely would be good to support each other. There's so much to prepare for ha x

@robs20 oh lovely one of each :). Do you have any advise around prams, co-sleeping and moses baskets?
I know its still early days for me but I need to prepare financially x

[quote NicJayne1]@ivfdreaming wow you are definitely prepared . Im worried about the financial side of things too. I suppose you just manage dont you.

Have you got a belly now? X[/quote]

Unfortunately I have to be! I'm the main earner and my DH is clueless about money plus childcare for my DD was £850 a month (thankfully she starts school in September but even just for school pick up and drop off it's £340 a month! 😬) so does 3 kids we ll be paying out more than our mortgage in childcare

I've been in maternity clothes since about 8 weeks and I'd say my bump is definitely the size it was when I was about 5 months pregnant with DD 🤣🤰 hence bit worried about how big I'll get - I'm pretty petite (or was!) only 5 ft 3 - luckily I lost over half a stone during lockdown so was about 10 stone before IVF

[quote NicJayne1]@Wishing56 did you find out with yours? X[/quote]

I'm finding out via the NIPT test - so I'll know by around 12 weeks pregnant (end of next week which is strange!)

As this is my last pregnancy I'm going to see about a second hand twin pram - they are so expensive for new (£1500!!!) but I've seen some silver cross etc ones on eBay for around £500 so once the 12 week scan is out of the way I'll probably start bidding! 🤣

I already have some bits from DD like a cot and a next to me crib (drop down sides) but I think I'm going to try having them both in a cot in our room until they get wriggly/too big

I need to ask about twin clinic referral - I'm guessing that will happen after the 12 week scan even though I've known I'm having twins since 6 weeks

@NicJayne1 Thank you, and you!

I've had a little look and have the pram in mind that I would like to get. Need something with big wheels due to where we live and our life style is lots of off road/farm type stuff lol but have only really looked for cost purposes.. I've had to start looking and suitable vehicles as I only have a corsa at the moment and I'll not safely be able to get three car seats in the back of my car 🤦🏼‍♀️ never envisions I'd be looking for a people carrier at 28 lol but never mind.
I'm just glad I didn't get round to throwing all my boys stuff out/selling it as it will all come in very handy now! Hoping it means I can just by 1 baby car seat etc. Gotta save the pennies somewhere!
Have you told family yet? How did they take it? Mine were shocked I was pregnant again, they thought the twin bit was a joke lol x

@ivfdreaming its crazy the price of childcare isn't it. Im unsure what we are going to do yet.

Ive been looking at prams but I'm pretty clueless.

Yes it was after my 12 weeks scan that they have referred me so will be similar I would have thought x

@emma911030 ive been looking too but no clue what type to get. This is my first so learning ha.

Yes I've told people. They all started nervous laughing....Great haha. Some have said how much of a blessing it is to have identicals. Then I've got the usual....how will you tell them apart ha x

@emma911030

I had a bit of a panic about cars - we have a Ford c Max - but I spent hours on google looking at the narrowest car seats available and then got DD one for the middle seat (luckily it has "proper" seat belt with the lap and diagonal bit otherwise wouldn't be able to put it there) so I hopeful that we can then get a baby seat on either side - it's a squeeze but figure we don't be going out much anyway 🤣

I HAD to tell people it was so obvious from about 9 weeks - although working from home has meant I can hide it from work a bit longer. Hardest bit is people asking and then me saying yes I am - then they ask how far along and because bump is so obvious I can't lie about it being twins - I tried and people kept saying you're MASSIVE (😬) for 9 weeks so I've had to admit about the twins bit!

Response has been great from people probably because I've been open about all our losses previously and how hard it's been to get pregnant again - even the nurses at my IVF clinic cried when they found out

@SEtwins great to see everything is going well for you too! How many weeks are you now?

@emma911030 @NicJayne1 I'm only a little bit ahead of you so will be nice to keep in touch! I went to try some buggies the other day and think I prefer the side by side ones. I liked the mountain buggy duo and think it's quite popular with twin mums but the car seat attachment seemed a bit of a nightmare. I want to try the bugaboo donkey duo but it's SO expensive!! Where abouts in the UK are you based? I'm in Oxfordshire! We're also considering buying a new car as mine is tiny... after two car seats and a buggy are in it there won't be much room for anything else!

@ivfdreaming thank you for sharing your experience and really sorry to hear you had to go through all that trauma and the resulting ectopics but I’m so pleased to hear you have your little twins growing and cooking nicely now.

@Wishing56 thank you for the advice! Will think about it some more and will just have to stand up for my wishes with the consultant looks like!

@MilsCookie 25 weeks and a bit! I’m guessing you’re about 18 weeks now? Will be thinking of you at your 20 weeks anomaly scan - I’m sure everything will go well. Have you started to feel any movements yet? I only started feeling some when I was just shy of 20 weeks.

We’ve gone for a Donkey twin with some money off vouchers we had and a kind offer from my in-laws. Think we will eventually get a second hand MB nano duo for travel/ runs to the local small Tesco etc. I’ve found my local twins groups to be a really useful resource for getting second hand items from by the way. We’ve got a couple of carriers for free and a baby bath, as well as various clothing. People are v kind and have all been through it themselves!

@NicJayne1 we have a second hand Donkey. Twin mums that I know seem to have that or an Out n About. I wanted something side by side but it is BIG!

Sleeping - we have 2 next2mes. At the beginning we had one downstairs and one upstairs and they shared. Now we have one on either side of the bed. They tend to wake up once in the night so it’s really not too bad once you get through the first few weeks. We co-slept a little bit in the earlier weeks but I had a lot of nightmares about squashing babies!

The other thing I would really recommend is a feeding pillow - either a peanut & piglet if you are breastfeeding or one of those M shaped pillows if you are bottle feeding.

@Robs20 thank you thats so useful. Im only 13 weeks but someone I know is selling the donkey pram with lots of parts to it for £500 so I'm in 2 minds. We looked at the out n about but can't put car seats on it. Do you find it easy down shopping aisles with the donkey?

I was going to try and breast feed but wiyh twins I can imagine it being a challenge x

@SEtwins ahh thanks lovely. Yes I'm 18+3 now. Time seems to have slowed down again before the 20 week scan! I have been feeling lots of movement these last few days!! It's so exciting 🥰

That's good you've gone for the donkey twin. I definitely want to try it out! I need to try and find a twin group local to me! Was it on Facebook?

I feel massive today and I'm 11 weeks tomorrow - how is everyone else's bumps getting along? - I'd say im probably as big as I was when I was 5 months pregnant with DD

This is my 8th pregnancy but I lost 6 to miscarriages and ectopics and obviously had surgery twice through my stomach to remove the ectopics- do you think this could be why I'm so big already? I've read on a few sites of people not finding out they were having twins until the 12 week scan but mine has been so obvious since about 7 weeks 😬

Been slapping the anti stretch mark cream on veeeeery liberally the last week or so 🤣

Sorry to jump into the thread but how soon did everyone start to show? I've put it down to bloating but it's ridiculous now! No one can be this bloated. My mum keeps telling me I might be having twins and that I look at least 4 months pregnant already at 6 weeks!

@beaniebaby3

I had an obvious bump around 7-8 weeks - I was definitely in maternity wear full time by 9 weeks. I knew it wasn't bloating by the shape of it first thing in the morning before I'd eaten/drunk anything

I saw friends/colleagues at 9 1/2 weeks and it was very clear I was pregnant not just piled on the pounds over lockdown

@ivfdreaming I'm just trying to think rationally and that the baby is the size of an apple seed so even if there's 2 how could I be showing yet but surely bloating wouldn't be so low down?! Who knows, I'll report back when I have my 8 week scan 😂

Congrats! I’m 23 weeks with MCDA twins. The extra medical appointments are rather a faff, get ready to be really busy! I found the nausea and exhaustion were worse than with my previous singleton pregnancy, and took longer to wear off (well beyond end of first trimester I’m afraid). Also finding the size of my bump difficult - I constantly feel like my muscles are being stretched by how quickly it is growing, I never felt uncomfortable like this with DD1. So be ready - it might be tougher than you are expecting and other people might not realise just how physically demanding it can be! (Not guaranteeing it will be - have spoken to another twin mum who hasn’t had these issues, but I think it’s best to be prepared).

I had a definite bump by 11 weeks. With DD, I was hardly showing at all till 24-24 weeks. At 23 weeks now, I’m nearly as big as I was full term with DD . Quite astonishing really, according to sonographer there’s still only about 3lb of total baby in there, so I’m amazed at how vast I am but my consultant says it’s totally normal.

Haven’t done big purchases yet (pram and car seats), but planning to do so soon. I just don’t really want them to take up lots of space in the house when I’ve still got 3 months to go as my DD and cat will probably be all over them!

@NicJayne1 I haven’t taken them shopping yet! Generally we get into most places ok - 2 places we’ve had an issue:

1. a tiny brunch place we went to with friends last weekend (we phoned ahead to say we had a double buggy....they saved us extra space at the table but failed to mention the narrow doorway and tight turn on entering
2. our house! We live in an edwardian semi and can’t get the buggy through the backdoor or door between the kitchen and hallway. It’s a real pain and not something I had even thought to check