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

@Robs20 hi, I’m 25+4 today and we have recently bought a Donkey twin. As we live in a flat, we are going to rely on the kindness of our neighbours to say we can store it in the common bike shed!!! Just curious whether you or anyone you know have found a second budget stroller to be helpful for little cafes/brunch spots that tend to have narrow doorways as you say?

@MilsCookie so lovely you’re feeling the movements already! I found it a nice way for my husband to feel included in the babies’ development seeing as the poor chap hasn’t been allowed to any of the scans so far. We found our local twins club via Twins Trust and then I asked to join the club’s Facebook group. The admins have since also added me to a very large and active WhatsApp group which I’ve mainly muted for now but is a great source of wisdom from other mums and also for second hand/free twin stuff.

@SEtwins

I've been on the Twins trust website a few times and I find the section to search for clubs really confusing as nothing ever comes up! I'm in the West Midlands so thought there might be at least 1 in Birmingham

@ivfdreaming That’s so frustrating! Have you tried entering your postcode into the search function at twinstrust.org/let-us-help/clubs/find-a-club.html

Alternatively, if you’re near Birmingham, I just entered “Birmingham Twins Club” on google and a Facebook group came up. You could try joining that and asking the admins if they’re aware of other groups nearer to you.

Hi, can I join? I'm 11+4 with di di twins. Found out at 7+3 and it was a total surprise! One twin was measuring smaller though so I had to go back at 9 weeks and all was well. Both with heartbeats and littler one had caught up a bit. I have my 12 week scan on Wednesday when I will be 12+2 and am so nervous that everything is ok. What has surprised me from the start though is that I have had so little in the way of symptoms - just tiredness really with the odd bit of mild nausea.
Hi to everyone and good luck 🙂x

Hi all what's the most affordable twin travel system you've seen? I've been trawling eBay but it seems people still want huge amounts even for second hand (eg silver cross wave £700+ and that's with only one lie flat carry cot/car seat as they have obviously been used for baby and toddler rather than twin babies so I'd have to buy these on top)

At that price I think I'd rather buy new and found this one at Argos? Any thoughts??

www.argos.co.uk/product/2028626

I don't have twins but I got a peach double for 200 quid 2nd hand. No carry cot but I used a wedge and laid the seat flat.

Hi @crazychemist, sorry I've only just seen your post.
Ive definitely got a bump coming through and I'm only 14 weeks. I have pains too, as in stretching, aching. How often are your appointments? I'm going in 3 weeks to see the specialist. Have they said you will have to ddliver early? X

@NicJayne1, mine are MCDA, so scans every two weeks (I think it’s once a month for twins that each have their own placenta) to check for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and growth retardation (no sign of either so far, thankfully). I saw the specialist at 16 weeks, and he said he didn’t need to see me again till 30 weeks unless the sonographer had any concerns in the meantime. When I was 16 weeks I had 4 appointments on one week! (Scan, consultant, midwife, some extra blood tests as they wanted to check my iron levels). Now that they are happy that things are progressing well, it’s only the sonographer that is still once a fortnight, but it was a crazy few weeks to start with!

Delivery date will be decided at 30 weeks when I next see the consultant, and I assume will depend on how big/well developed they are at that stage. He said to work on the assumption of 35 weeks (which is the norm for MCDA) but to have my bag packed from 26 weeks “just in case” as if twin-to-twin transfusion does occur (which is about 20% risk in my case) then they would deliver them straight away if it’s past that point.

How are you getting on @crazychemist @NicJayne1 ?!

I'm glad I have found this thread! I am 11 weeks pregnant with twins, we found out at 7 weeks as I had some worrying symptoms and needed a scan at the EPAU. I am an identical twin, but it didn't even occur to me that I had an increased chance of having twins myself. Due to a miscarriage last year, it's been hard for me to relax about this pregnancy. I hope that will get easier as the pregnancy progresses.

Welcome @tofuschnitzel!! And congratulations on your twins!! Do you know what type of twins you're having?

Ooh a twin thread, can I join? I am expecting twins, due 17th May.

Absolute surprise as I really wasn't expecting twins at my 12wk scan, the poor midwife didn't want to shock me so kept the screens off for ages to do the measurement before she told me.

Hi, can I join too. I’m expecting twins due 20th May.

Hey @RustyCat and @LittleTiger007 congratulations!! do you know if you're having identical or non-identicals?

@MilsCookie

Welcome *@tofuschnitzel*!! And congratulations on your twins!! Do you know what type of twins you're having?

Thank you! It was too early to give us that information, so we will have to wait until a later scan to find out more. I know that it is not always possible to tell if twins are identical without blood tests after birth. It would be nice to have identical twins as I have experience with that already

@tofuschnitzel oh really? I found out mine were identical at 6 weeks. It's actually fairly easy to tell from ultrasound (even to the untrained eye) do you have a photo of your scan? That's great you already have experience with identical twins! 😊

@tofuschnitzel (it's to do with them being in separate sacs/having their own placenta or not) DCDA have a placenta each, MCDA share a placenta but have their own amniotic sac (by 12 weeks they should see the very thin membrane floating between them) and MCMA share a placenta and an amniotic sac (most risky type of twins).

I took these photos from the internet. These twins are DCDA - they each have a placenta and can be seen clearly by the thick divide between them. 2/3 of these twins are non-identical and 1/3 can be identical (this is where you would need the blood test at birth).

These are MCDA twins - always identical. You can see they are in the same outer sac but have their own inner sac (the thin membrane surrounding them separately).

MCMA twins - also always identical. These are the rarest type of twins. They share the placenta and the amniotic fluid (no thin membrane between them).

At the scan I had at 6 weeks they couldn't see the membrane between them so thought they were MCMA, but it's often too difficult to see it at that stage. Then at 12 weeks they could see the membrane so they're actually MCDA! I can show you the photos from both of those scans if you like so you can compare yours?

I really hope I don't sound like a know-it-all, but I just remember I wanted to find out everything when I became pregnant with twins and scoured the internet for info!!

@MilsCookie

MCMA twins - also always identical. These are the rarest type of twins. They share the placenta and the amniotic fluid (no thin membrane between them).

At the scan I had at 6 weeks they couldn't see the membrane between them so thought they were MCMA, but it's often too difficult to see it at that stage. Then at 12 weeks they could see the membrane so they're actually MCDA! I can show you the photos from both of those scans if you like so you can compare yours?

I really hope I don't sound like a know-it-all, but I just remember I wanted to find out everything when I became pregnant with twins and scoured the internet for info!!

I misunderstood what you meant by type of twins, I was thinking how do I know if they are identical or non identical, it's too early for that!

That's what I had read about the membrane not always being visible at such an early date. My paperwork from the EPAU says that the twins are DCDA, but as you say, that isn't conclusive as to whether or not they are identical or non identical. I'd just like additional information from future scans.

[quote MilsCookie]@tofuschnitzel oh really? I found out mine were identical at 6 weeks. It's actually fairly easy to tell from ultrasound (even to the untrained eye) do you have a photo of your scan? That's great you already have experience with identical twins! 😊 [/quote]
Yes, my twin sister (ten mins older than me) and I know what we liked and didn't like growing up so I hope I can make some good choices for my own twins. For example, we didn't wear matching clothes, and my parents tried to ensure that we were seen as individuals, even though we are identical.

Sorry for misunderstanding/ misreading your initial question, it's been a very long day!

@NicJayne1 @crazychemist (and any other ladies) how are you doing? I'm 34+1 now, got my check up later today. I'm hoping we can get something booked in the diary regards to a date for induction/section although two. 1 has been head down for a long time now so fingers crossed for the induction! Would rather avoid section if not necessary for me and babies initially! I've been in for monitoring a couple of times lately although both times been fine and felt like was a waste of time I'm glad everything was checked.
How have you found your antenatal care? I feel like I'm really lucky as I've seen so many posts on MN about how rubbish their care has been as mine has been really really good so far!
I'm also finding it more or less impossible to sleep now which is getting on my nerves a little as constantly tired and my 20 month old has now decided although he doesn't want to nap more than 10 mins in a day he also isn't eating as well as normal and isn't sleeping through either! As much as I know they need to stay put a bit longer yet I'm sooooo ready for this pregnancy to be over, although totally terrified of the next stage when they arrive and I bring them home!
I have been and picked up the second car seat a week or so ago and am going to pick up the double buggy before my appointment today and we have everything we could possibly need initially! And I did end up buying a new car in the end which wasn't financially ideal but needs must and all that. Mine was slowly dying but was hoping to keep it going a little bit longer and finding ways around needing to go out.
I still keep forgetting that although I talk to people about having twins I think I actually forget briefly at times that twins means TWO! 😂 then I remember and think shit there's actually two babies this time. Terrified about how I'm going to cope but it is what it is!
As of last appointment (2 weeks ago) babies were measuring an estimate of 4.1 and 3.10 so hopefully this week they'll be nearly 5lb each and growing nicely.. still get excited to see them on the screen and although I know they're both moving from location of movements I always have a sigh of relief when the sonographer shows the heart beats! xx

@tofuschnitzel oh wow, your twin experience is that you ARE a twin! That's amazing! Did you ever think it would happen to you?! Sorry if it sounded like I was preaching to the choir before 🙈 yes I guess if yours a DCDA it won't be possible to tell if they're identical or not until they're born. Do you think you'd get a blood test done to find out for sure?

@emma911030 heyyy, we're really similar in dates! I'm 33+4 and having my c section on Monday at 34 weeks exactly! Mine are mcda and one twin has type 1 sIUGR so they want them to come a bit earlier to be on the safe side. Slightly terrified but mainly excited! Overall I'd say my care at the hospital has been brilliant but there have been quite a few communication issues which have left me and my partner rather frustrated. For example I know I'm having my c section on Monday and was told that I'd get a call with a time and phone consultation for pre-op assessment last week and if I hadn't heard anything by Monday just gone to give them a call. Well Monday comes and goes and I still haven't heard so I call and they say they'll call me by Friday. It's now Friday and I still don't know what time they're expecting me on a Monday, or where to even go! So that side of things has been a little stressful.

I know what you mean though, I still keep thinking how am I going to do this?! But we will cope and it will be wonderful! 😊 sorry you ended up buying a new car... so did my DP 🙈 needs must I suppose!