Found out expecting identical twins yesterday!!!

[flowerygirl]

Freaking out to say the least! Currently only 6 weeks so very early days! Did anyone else find out this early? How did you deal with the news? I'm convinced something is wrong!

[slightlyinsane]

Hi I

[slightlyinsane]

Sorry phone appears to have its own agenda.
I found out at my 12 wk scan, I was convinced something was wrong as I was huge already and had wonderful ms. After the first minute when we were told there was 2 in there I cried for the rest of the scan. Originally we were told they were non identical, a few days later I got a call from the twin clinic with an appointment because they'd had a look at scan and decided they were identical. When you get to a certain point you will have fortnightly scans to keep a close eyeon them. I'm 25+4 now and can safely say I still have days where I freak out about most things. I think dh is still in the denial stage and probably will stay there till we have 2 babies to look after. My only advice I can give you at the moment is stay away from Google, it's not your friend and just added to my stress in the first few wks. Is this your first?

[Slebmum]

Congratulations!! I found out at 8 weeks and they're two and half now. I remember we were in shock for a couple of weeks after finding out

You will get or should get scanned every two weeks after 12 weeks with identicals. Were they able to confirm if they are in separate sacs? Probably a bit early for that.

[neversleepagain]

Congratulations, the shock does eventually go away

I found out at our 12 weeks scan and was in utter shock and burst into tears. Mine are now 17 months old.

You will get good, regular ante natal care with twins.

[Mrswellyboot]

Congratulations. Double the trouble, twice the fun

[SoonToBeSix]

Congratulations my identical girls are ten days old. We found out at six weeks as I had an early scan due to bleeding. I was in shock for weeks, but feel very blessed to have them here.

[kicksandgiggles]

Congratulations! I am also expecting identical twins, and found out around six weeks as they scanned me when I went in for some bleeding (am 13+4 now). In some ways, I am still trying to get my head wrapped around it, but at the same time I'm thrilled. I actually burst out laughing when the doctor told me as it was such a relief that not only was everything fine, but there were two babies

[flowerygirl]

I'm the same, the only reason I found out was I'm expecting two is I had some bleeding. I was so relieved when she said everything was ok and then she said 'there are two' I know it sounds weird but I almost wish I hadn't found out til 12 weeks because now I have more time to worry! Definitely staying away from google, I understand there are more risks with identical a? I'm so worried! I think the nurse said there are 2 sacs, does anyone know what that means?

[flowerygirl]

Ooh and I already have a 11month old! It's going to bedlam!

[flowerygirl]

Ooh and I already have a 11month old! It's going to bedlam!

[SoonToBeSix]

Two sacs one placenta is MCDA twins the same as mine.

[neversleepagain]

One sac & one placenta - MCMA (rare & identical)
Two sacs and one placenta - MCDA (identical)
Two sacs and two placentas (DCDA, can be identical or non identical)

[flowerygirl]

It's funny because I was blaming my genes as twins run in my family. But Wikipedia says there is no identical twin 'gene' , it's at random and not hereditary!

[flowerygirl]

Sorry slightlyinsane but just rereading this thread. What does ms mean when you said you had a 'wonderful ms'?

[NickNacks]

Morning sickness

[flowerygirl]

Aha! Thanks nicknacks Is it too early to blame baby brain?

[MultipleMama]

My boys were MCMA and completely freaked out when I found out and was convinced something was wrong when they called me back in for another scan only for them to tell me that they were sharing a sac and plancenta and that I'd need to be monitored constantly. Fortunately I carried to 37+3 and had 2 perfectly healthy boys naturally :)

Congrats!! :)

[ladythatlunches]

hi flowery girl. I found out at 6 weeks. my dd at the time was 3 months old.

there is 11 months between my id twins and toddler .. they were all born in the same year :)

they are 2 and 3 now sometimes feels like triplets.

I find my 3yr is more baby fied for her age as I guess I just treat them as a trio. potty training her is a nightmare so figured I will try all 3 together next week.

anyway enough about that. congratulations its scarey but an amazing time enjoy and don't worry I had no probs with them being identical apart from our hospital only recommends c-sections which was fine!

[gbfw]

Hi, You are extremely lucky, I don't want to put a downer of things, but we found out the same at 8 weeks, I was over the moon, it couldn't have been better news, the family would be complete, I didn't think of twins, but ID twins, were actually a dream we didnt even know we could have, come true. Sadly it wasn't to be I didn't didnt realise I had TTTS at 19 weeks, and because the hospital didn't scan me every 2, (a patronising consultant at C&W poo poo'd my 'I am sure I am meant to be scanned every 2 weeks), and other things were missed like measuring my belly by a different consultant, we had one of our little girls pass away at 20 weeks from TTTS. TTTS is real, it says 15% but I believe it is under reported and more like 25% likely hood, so please, join this group Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome - UK Parents on Facebook, it could save your twins lives. I wish I had known about it from 8 weeks pregnant, but as 2 hospital staff told me, (which made me so angry) 'we don't want to scare mums' like we are all a bunch of idiots who don't have a right to information.
If the likely hood of dying crossing the road was 15%, I would want to have all the information to improve those odds, so please anyone reading this post, who is an ID pregnancy (TTTS only effects identical twin pregnancies) please join that group they will provide you with information on what should happen at each scan - which you should INSIST be done by a twin expert, not any old sonographer. You should 100% see a consultant every 2 weeks minimum, and you shouldn't be offered anything other than a C section (TTTS can occur at birth too).
The pain this caused me is immeasurable, I am lucky to have a surviving girl who looks like she has avoided brain damage, but because of blunders my odds of her having brain damage after we lost one were 35%, rather than 5% if you get laser in time when you find out you have TTTS, which can also save both twins.
Tamba don't send out symptom information in their pack which should be changed, so please put these symptoms on your fridge, and join the Facebook group, who happily advise what to ask what to look for and have experienced a lot of things. Everyone is more than happy for people without TTTS to be on that Facebook group, it is the best thing to have mums who are better informed, then go on to have no TTTS, but for the unlucky of us who do, at least within seconds of symptoms you will have someone who has been through what you might be experiencing and telling you what to do or ask or watch for.
Please be informed. I would book, scan 1 week, consultant the next, rather than convenience putting the 2 appointments in one day, you are meant to see a consultant every 2 wks, and a scan every 2 weeks.
Consultant appt - ask for them to measure how many weeks your belly is (I measured 31 at 20 weeks after we lost our baby, and I told the consultant, 'I feel really big', he didn't bother to measure, which could have made the difference.
If something feels wrong, don't sleep on it, go in get checked out, the hospital will be very helpful, and mention TTTS if they aren't.
If you feel big - go and get checked, pressure in your vagina, so if you are joking ' I feel like I am going to go into labour' go in get checked.

Warning signs in the mother include:

The sensation of a rapid growth of the womb
A uterus that measures large for dates
Abdominal pain or tightness, or uterine contractions
Sudden increases in body weight
Hand and leg swelling in early pregnancy

Warning signs in the twins appear on ultrasound scans and include:

Evidence of a monochorionic or shared placenta
A single placenta
Same sex twins
A thin, hard to see, dividing membrane
A difference in size of your ID twins needs to be monitored 10% is I understand the threshold, we were 10% difference, 3 weeks later, she was dead, so if you go to anywhere near 10% I would ask for weekly scans. Especially if you are 14 weeks up, between 16 and 25 is when TTTS most commonly occurs.

Don't ignore that twin pregnancies are known as 'high risk', a womans intuition is real, if something feels off, wrong go to the hospital, you won't be turned away.

If you really want to arm yourself for the best pregnancy, be aware of what is happening to you, monitor your own weight at the same time daily, keep organised copies of your own scan appointments, and look up what the words mean, if you don't know what the consultant has written ask them.
Each scan, ask them, do you see anything that would suggest early signs of TTTS, that we should monitor more closely for, if you appear knowledgable, they will look more closely.

I wish you all the very best of luck, I wish everyday my other girl was here, but I am grateful to her that she stuck around to 37 weeks so my survivor survived. I don't want anyone to go through what we had to, considerations of termination at a late stage for the survivor if she was severely brain damaged (you have to have an MRI at 28-30 weeks to tell). A pregnancy where one side of my tummy was silent until the other twin grew into her space. Please be informed, information is never a bad thing. I have started to work on a sheet to be given to ID mums about TTTS, (the hospital said they would check it through and adopt it) because it is ludicrous that downs is 1% in pregnancies and you have 4 pages about it from day 1, but when you are in the bracket of an ID pregnancy you aren't given any different information despite it being 15% official figures of all ID twin pregnancies. xxxx

[gbfw]

Just to explain further, where TTTS occurs and is spotted early enough, you have the chance to save, and have a good result from your ID twin pregnancy. A laser operation is done in womb, it is the most amazing thing, Prof Kypros Nicolaides is the expert to see, laser cuts the blood vessels that have crossed over in the placenta causing TTTS, this op effectively stops the surge of blood to one and the loss of blood from the other twin. Where the onset of TTTS is missed (and it can happen fast), and a twin dies without laser intervention (which shouldn't happen in this day and age, but it still does because of a lack of information and knowledge in your consultant team), I understand there is a 30/30/30 risk, so if you loose one, you have a 30% chance of miscarrying, and loosing both within 6 weeks, a 30% chance of the survivor surviving and having brain damage, and then finally just 30% chance of the survivor surviving and being ok. We were luckily in the last 30%, without Kypros, I wouldn't have known we were until 30 weeks, he is an amazing man. He has a private clinic that you can scan at, so if you want to get additional checks that is the place to go, www.fetalmedicine.com/fmc/
I wish everyone the very best, when the hard nights handling 2 hit, please take a moment to say a little prayer for all the twinless twins out there, and remember that things get better the older they are, they have a friend for life which is the most amazing thing.

[kicksandgiggles]

gbfw, I'm really sorry for what you went through, but feel your post here was inappropriate and seems to have been intended to cause unnecessary worry and upset in the OP and others who are expecting identical twins. We all know about the risk of TTTS and have enough to worry about with unwelcome fearmongering on a light-hearted, happy thread.

[kicksandgiggles]

Without, that should say

[NickNacks]

Yes yes. Not cool to jump on someone else's announcement. Please start your own thread and you will get more appropriate responses to your own situation.

[S1234P]

I know this is an old thread but @gbfw THANK YOU SO MUCH for that information. I'm carrying MCDA twins that I've been told have a 14% discrepancy and I'm being closely monitored (currently weekly) but I've joined the Facebook group and honestly the advice you've given is invaluable.

[Kgbfw]

@S1234P I’m so pleased. (This is @gbfw but don’t know how to get into that acct).

firstly congratulations!!

You helped me by sending that. So kind of you. Makes me happy to know you’re being monitored.
i would ask for a
scanner specialising or with experience in ID
twin and TTTS to be the person who always scans you.
i would also go in more often than a week for a scan, because TTTS can happen quickly and docs will ‘normalise and excuse thing as ‘twins’ but unless they are a TTTS specialist ask for someone’s opinion who is,
find out who the person is at your hospital that other people on the TTTS Facebook had a good experience with, push for them to monitor you if they are above the position or someone you would feel more confident with than who you have

you should 100% be under consultant care as standard on the NHS with ID twins.


kypros nicolaides
scans privately, he is THE expert on Fetal scan inc and ID twins.

monitor yourself too
weight same time daily
measure your baby bump around the same point so say the belly button.
chart those things and you will then know if you start to retain liquid around your babies, that is not a sign to ignore.
never sleep on a ‘I’m worried about’ just pop into the hospital they will always scan you
you are a high risk pregnancy all ID twins are.
look ip the signs of TTTS put them on the fridge.

I am darling-creative.com any email to that website will get to me, I don’t monitor here sorry. No idea how your message popped up, but so glad it did and you’re not minimising the risk stats with ID pregnancy.

kx