Twins due 2024

[Lavender2016]

Hi all. I’m 7 weeks pregnant with twins. I had an early scan due to a previous ectopic which revealed two growing babies with heartbeats. I’m looking to chat with other mums who are expecting twins or have had twins. I’ve read lots online but a lot the chat threads seem quite old. Is there anyone else out there? Thanks!
I have two DDs aged 7 and 4.

I'm 23 weeks pregnant with twins. Found out at the 12 week scan.

I have a DS who has just turned 1.

Congratulations on your twins!

Congratulations OP! My DTs are teens now and still adorable. Twins are special! MN was bloody brilliant for me all those years ago. Not sure of your feeding plans and none of my business but worth saying I fed them myself up to 18 months thanks and solely thanks to the wise women of MN.

Thank you 😊 how are you feeling at 23 weeks?
my head has been swimming with all the information, my pregnancies with my girls were fairly straightforward. This time I feel so poorly and bloated already.
im having a meeting with my line manager next week, I’m undecided yet if I mention to her that it’s twins, it seems like that you go on maternity leave a bit sooner with twins?

I’m definitely planning to breastfeed. I breastfed both my girls, my youngest stopped aged 4. Thank you for sharing

I'm feeling not too bad at the moment thanks, definitely more tired than I was with DS. My head is still swimming too and honestly, I'm still in shock too. I can't believe that I'll have 3 under 2.

I think it's worth mentioning personally. It will depend on the type of twins too which should be more clear at your 12 week scan if they were unsure at all with your first scan.

I'll be formula feeding but I also formula fed DS.

What kind of twins are you having? My gut says fraternal due to my age.

29 weeks with DCDA twins here. I already feel much more pregnant than I ever did with my DD, and I went two weeks overdue with her.

Hoping to breastfeed as well and it's heartening to read from women who have / plan to - everybody seems to say bottles will be our saviour. But I bf DD until she self weaned (just a couple of months ago, probably due to my milk drying up) and feel I owe it to these babies to give it a try.

DCDA which is two placentas and two sacs. They are the most popular type and it usually means they are non identical but some can be identical.

Hi @Lavender2016

Congratulations! I’m 9 weeks today and pregnant with twins. We found out at a scan at 7 w and it was the absolute biggest shock of our lives.

Definitely feeling overwhelmed at the thought of carrying twins and having to take earlier maternity.

how have you been feeling so far? I’m just mega tired, hungry (like I’ve never been fed), bloated and constipated!

xx

@pamshortsbrokenbothherlegs we can do it! We already know the challenges of early breastfeeding. I think it’s going to a case of being patient and having the right support. There’s a Facebook group for breastfeeding twins and multiples

@GeographyTeacher i seem ok in the mornings but come later afternoon/evening I feel very bloated and tight in my lower back. I’m already overweight so that more than likely doesn’t help.
do you have other children?

@SouthLondonMum22 I don’t know I’d get on with identical twins, I already mix up my two girls names as it is 😂
in my daughters reception class there’s a set of identical twins and a set of non identical twins. My daughter says she can tell the ID twins apart due to their voices, bless her

I've not long had fraternal twins. A boy and a girl. They'll be six months in two weeks.
Happy to answer any questions you might have.
And congratulations to all of you expecting twins!

We know that the twins are both girls so it will be interesting to find out if they are identical or not. I hope not because I'm nervous about not been able to tell them apart too! 😂

Congratulations to everyone expecting twins!! Mine are nearly 6 now, and currently play fighting and laughing their heads off.

The only advice I’ve really got for baby twins is what my mw (who’d had twins herself) said to me - keep them in a routine, and do everything for the babies at the same time, one after the other or together so they stayed in synch.

Congratulations to you all. I agree with@MuchTooTired the same routine was also advised by a midwife with twins. Mine also slept together and I never rocked them to sleep (because rocking two when they get bigger would be impossible), they settled each other.
Mine are teens now but I breastfed till 13 months when I struggled to continue along with working. I went to a breastfeeding support group but this wasn't very useful for advice for feeding twins. The thing that helped me was expressing early on to get a stock of milk so when we went out I could bf 1 and bottle feed the other (you can't discreetly bf twins in public! I also found as they dropped feeds it was obviously like dropping 2 feeds and I got mastitis a lot so I started expressing extra when they dropped a feed and slowly reducing it.
Be prepared for finishing work early, I was put on bed rest at 24 weeks, admitted to hospital at 36 and induced at 37. They were worth it though.
I think what i learnt very quickly with twins was you do what you need to do to get by (especially when you have older dc) and so try not to take to heart the inevitable advice from parents of singletons (its not the same). Best of luck to you all.

Congratulations all. Ive got 18 month old identical twin girls and an older daughter. The first 6 months were hard but found it got easier after the first 6 months (although maybe worse due to undiagosed dairy intolerance until they were 6 months). Happy to answer any questions regarding pregnancy/early days

@Richardbluebauble and @Donimo thank you for your support! I’m hearing the same message from twin mums about routine. My babies will likely be born just in time for the long 6 week summer holiday 😂 so just when support groups cease to exist. Luckily I work with a team of nurses and health visitors so I will have people I can talk to.
I’ve been worrying about work, our office is tiny and I will just be in the way. I also visit families in their homes, and sometimes they just don’t tell you when they are ill 😷

I only worked 3 days per week prior to having the twins. By about 29-30 weeks I was only making it into the office once a week as the twins were too heavy and had to have a lie down often. Was planning on working until 35 weeks (a week prior to my planned section). But twins arrived at 33 weeks. In terms of groups the best one I go to is a local twins club. Lots of support emotionally and practically.

Also I think you were discussing bf. I would just advise to be flexible when they come. I exclusively bf my eldest untill she self weaned. I was planning on doing the same with the twins but due to them being prem and lots of feeding difficuties I combi fed from about 6 weeks. As I was killing myself with having a baby attached or a pump attached to me 70% ish of the time and they were still loosing weight.

Just my expeirence and not everyones but one piece of advice is do whatever you can to get through it for you and your babies. This applies to everything and not just feeding. I said I wouldnt co sleep, use dummy etc etc and we do all of it!

@Lavender2016 i had my twin boys in July pair of little rug rats lol never thought I would of had twins but it was sort of bound to happen as there is 1 set on my side and 5 sets on dads side

@Donimo my twins was also born at 33wks done two weeks in nicu

@Donimo thanks 😊 I won’t go into it under any illusion that it will be easy. Sounds like you’re doing amazingly with yours!

@Twimum23 congratulations on your twins!

My twins are 3 now. Whilst everyone says ‘double trouble’, ‘you’ve got your hands full’ etc, honestly it is amazing. I feel lucky to be part of such a special club. The sleepless nights are tough, but you will become a master at holding and feeding 2 babies, taking 2 to baby groups, getting walking toddler twins safely in/ out of the car etc.

In terms of advice, join your local twin club. I am still very good friends with other mums of multiples born in 2020, we have a whatsapp group that is constantly chatting. The facebook groups ‘breastfeeding twins and triplets’, ‘gentle parenting twins and triplets’ and ‘twins, triplets and quads: safe sleeping training’ were all helpful for me.

Hi, currently 11w2d with twins!
It’s my first IVF pregnancy.
we are over the moon but can’t hide how scare I feel all the time. I did had bleeding in early days and every day it’s just a pray for everything to go well, especially when I’m whipping (sorry tmi)
everything seems perfect so far and can’t wait for my 12week scan when I will be 12+6 at 11th of Jan!
wish you a happy and healthy pregnancy🫶🏻