Twins in 2013

[fastscooter]

Anyone else having twins in 2013? I am 14 weeks now - massive, lardy bump already.

[OodHousekeeping]

There's someone on the 'due in march' thread I'll point her over!

[mandasand]

Hello fastscooter! I've 14 weeks tomorrow with twins! (Thanks, Ood!) Am getting a bit of a pot belly now. Everything looked good on 12+4 scan, and had nuchal results today 3000:1 for both, which is v.g. since I'm 37.

These will be our first children. What about you? Are these your first? There's an expecting twins thread that I'll post the link to in a minute. Not very busy, but it's great for asking questions on. 'Graduates' always gets back to you in between breastfeeds etc!

[KnackeredCow]

Yes - me! I'm 14 weeks too and feeling as sick as a dog. Just gone back to work on reduced hours after being signed off for two weeks. Thought it was supposed to start getting easier in the second trimester .

[mandasand]

Here is the link: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1424471-Twins-Club-4-All-welcome

[mandasand]

Oh and I do a lot of chattering with a lovely bunch on the March 2013 thread at www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1548407-March-2013-Mk-IV-Knicker-checking-knicker-wetting-knicker-knackered. Really nice, fast-paced chatter. So nice that I'm not moving to the Feb thread even though I'm told I'll probably give birth then!

Oh, and are you having tons of scans? I've got NHS scans 2 and 3 in October. One for the cervix. And another 4 planned after that - which is great as I love seeing how it's all going in there!

[mandasand]

Hello knackered!

Sorry for all the messages but I'm so excited to find other people with twins at 14 weeks!!

[OodHousekeeping]

What's with all the 14weekers with twins ?

[KnackeredCow]

Must be something in the water , not that we can enjoy that any more!

Hello to manda

[Bondnj]

Hi there, I'm 14 weeks with twins too, this is my 3rd pregnancy so a little shocked, nice to see others due similar time to me, felt a little on my own!!

[mandasand]

Hello bond, that makes four of us on this thread - amazing!

Is everyone in the 'high risk' category? It's my first birth, I've a history of overactive thyroid (and it's verging on underactive at the mo) and I had some uterine surgery 15yrs ago which needs to be investigated, to see if I can give birth naturally or whether it's a definite c-section. So for these combination of reasons I am high risk, but I don't mind as I prefer too much medical attention than not enough!

How's everyone getting on? Past the sicky, spotty stage? I have to brag that I've not barfed once which everyone finds incredible with twins. Nausea yes, but it's not been bad at all.

[Bondnj]

Hi,

Yes, I think all twin pregnancies are classed as high risk!! Although I had surgery on my foot 6 months ago and ended up with a DVT so I was already in that category before finding out it was twins!!

Lucky you having no sickness. I wish I could say the same!! Still feeling nauseous now but it is going slowly!!

Is anyone else having problems sleeping at night?! I keep waking at ridiculous times of the morning & struggle to get back off to sleep!!

[mandasand]

Hi Bond, sorry to hear about the DVT! Glad the nausea is passing. Sorry to boast but I feel pretty great at the moment! I'm enjoying it especially getting my appetite back before the heaviness and awkwardness of the 3rd trimester!

I am sleeping like the dead at the moment. Sometimes need to pee in the middle of the night but otherwise fine and sometimes I can sleep for worrying about the babies etc!

Anyone got scans coming up? I've got just less than 3 weeks till my 18-week cervix scan and then the 20-week anomaly scan very soon after that! Can't wait! The sense of relief I get after having a scan only lasts for a few days, though I did hear the heartbeats at the hospital recently so can't complain.

[Trimpampusik]

How is everyoine doing? This looks like a quiet thread. I am expecting twin boys at the end of Feb 2013, so now 33 weeks. Anyone at similar stage???

[KnackeredCow]

Nice to see this thread resurrected. I'm 32 weeks tomorrow with b/g twins so just a week behind you. Feeling excited but exhausted! Now on mat leave but not achieving anything I set out to do - even reading a book is a effort. All I seem to want to do is sleep!

How's everyone else doing?

[Arseface]

31 weeks tomorrow with twin boys here. Not too bad but finding it hard to get to, or stay, asleep at night.

Planned to do nice things with the DCs on this bit of mat leave before babygeddon but having to rethink what I can reasonably get done in a day. Previous pregs v.straightforward so finding it frustrating being so useless this time around!

[gardenpixies32]

Rest up twin mummies to be. My twin girls are 14 weeks now. It is lovely but a hectic full time job.

Looking forward to hearing your twin birth news :)

[KnackeredCow]

Arseface I'm in the same boat as you. V. tired but struggling to sleep at night.

Gardenpixies glad to hear we shouldn't feel guilty about resting up! Have a relaxing week planned next week - getting hair cut (figured it might be a while before I get the chance again ) and have booked mum-2-be package at local spa - back massage, facial and pedicure. Bliss! Plan to spend the rest of my week lounging around on the sofa snoozing.

[gardenpixies32]

Knackered sounds amazing! I am very but glad you are spoiling yourself.

I booked a hair cut when I was 34+4. DTs came 34+5. Needless to say, I didn't and still haven't had my hair cut! My parents are visiting and I have booked a hair cut or Friday! Would love a massage though, My hips still ache a bit from the pregnancy.

[mandasand]

Nice to see some activity on the thread!

I'm 32+3 and feeling really heavy in the bump this week!

Sleeping is a bit rough but DH has decamped to the futon in spare room and we're both doing better for it. At 32-week scan on Tues the sonographer asked him if he worked nights because he looked so knackered with my continual huffing and puffing when changing position!

Discussed birth options with obstetrician on Tues too. We had thought for a long time that it would be CS because I may have had a uterine perforation back in 1996 but the hospital in question couldn't find my notes. Because of the risk of uterus splitting along scar they said CS. However, Leeds found my notes over xmas and it wasn't a perforation that caused the haemorrhage so I can try for vaginal birth if I want. Though a CS has been approved if I want one. I am at a loss as to what to do now. Has anyone on the list been given the choice of vaginal or CS, and how do you decide with twins when chances are you may need some kind of intervention at some point during the labour?

If it was singleton I'd really want to try for active birth yoga, mindfulness meditation, water birth etc, but they say I will prob end up having epidural and a lot of monitoring. I don't really want to labour on my back. Any help/advice appreciated! Feel I'm coming to my birth choices very late!

Two women have given birth in NCT class (including one set of twins very early) over xmas so it's starting to feel real, though my babies can't come yet because I've got a lot of work to do (tho from home) and we're having v. old double-glazing replaced throughout ⅔ of the house at the end of the month!! Also, altho I have a list, my hospital bag remains resolutely unpacked!

Love the idea of a mum-to-be spa day, Knackered. I've had my hair done recently and am planning eyebrows and pedicure soon (v. annoyed that I can't get to scrub my feet! anymore).

Really excited as have finally bought the pram - Nipper double. It's ace.

[KnackeredCow]

gardenpixies hope you're enjoying your new hair! Fingers crossed you got to the hairdresser this time...

Manda exactly like you DH and I are in separate bedrooms now. DH likened me turning over in bed to an oil tanker changing direction. . I huff and puff too. Very impressed you're still working. I'm on mat leave now and achieving very little at all. I had a flurry of activity last week but it left me exhausted.

As for birth options I have been given the choice between vaginal and ELCS if my presenting twin turns. On Wednesday (32 weeks) my scan showed presenting twin is breech and twin two transverse. I'm going to be booked for an ELCS if they don't turn by next scan.

If they do play ball I'd like to try for a vaginal delivery, but I am slightly worried about risks. Apparently my placentas (one anterior and one posterior) have fused at the top so if I delivered twin 1 vaginally there is a risk both placentas could begin to peel away as the uterus contracts, which could cause problems for twin 2. What I really want to avoid is a vaginal delivery for twin one and a crash section for twin two - that's my absolute nightmare.

I have refused induction too. So, if I get to 38 weeks (even if the both twins are cephalic) I've requested a C-section.

Although the evidence for twin deliveries is limited and it's not always appropriate to extrapolate, two-thirds of singleton inductions end in intervention. 22% of singleton inductions in EMCS. If I'm going to need a C-section I'd much rather it's elective to reduce risks and recovery time. As twin births are more likely to end in intervention and be monitored (and like you manda) I want to avoid a labour on my back, I can't see an induction going well. My obstetrician completely agreed and said inductions are also more likely to fail in prima gravidas. He was really supportive.

I do feel weird about it all though as I always wanted a natural delivery and active labour too. But after weighing up the risks and benefits I think if I make it to 38 weeks (taking into account foetal mortality in twins begins to climb at this point) an ELCS is what I personally feel most comfortable with even if the babies are head down.

But it's a very individual decision, and I think you have to choose what's right for you.

However, as leading twin currently breech, I think the decision for me is most likely out of my hands, which I've found quite a relief if I'm totally honest!

[mandasand]

Knackered, your post has been seriously helpful in clarifying my thoughts - thank you so much. I just read bits out to my DH and we've had a good talk about it and seem to have come up with a bit of a plan. This is great, especially since Tuesday all he's really said is that it's my body and ultimately my choice. But after hearing bits of your rationale he had more of an idea of what would be medically sensible for us. Brilliant.

I think the main factor which contributes to our plan-in-progress is that we aren't at all keen on an induction. So, if I make it to the 36-week scan and consultant/obstetrician appointments then CS is the most sensible option and if the babies decide to come before then we will, I guess, try for a vaginal delivery (though, like you, my worst case scenario is vaginal birth followed by a CS).

No-one has mentioned that my placentas have fused, although they are both anterior high and over to the right. I can see the risk you're concerned about with placenta two detaching early, causing problems - potentially - for the second twin, but the medics will be watching out for that, I'm sure.

The oil tanker analogy is appropriate here too! My upper arms have even developed a bit of tone from hoisting myself up on my elbows (in order to turn over from one side to the other) so frequently through the night over the past months! I didn't expect this side effect of pregnancy!

Thanks again, Knackered. Nice we're just a day apart on the due-date front too (I think so anyway - my official due date is 5 March).

[KnackeredCow]

manda yes, we are a day apart. My EDD is 6 March.

Agree with you that I'd be monitored closely for placenta detaching, but then that gives the kind of scenario when you end up on your back strapped to the bed and a possible EMCS, which I really want to avoid.

If you want to avoid induction, it's also possible to ask for regular monitoring once you get to 38 weeks. If everything is fine then you can hang on and wait for nature to take its course. If they pick up on anything that isn't so good then you could then be referred in for C-section.

Personally, I'm uncomfortable enough as it is, and I think I'd want them out if I got that far . But it's likely to be academic!

By the way, I haven't packed my hospital bag either! Think I saw you haven't on your last post on twins thread. I've written a list of stuff that needs to go in mine, and bought stuff such as maternity pads but the actual packing just hasn't happened....

[KatieRogers12i4]

OH WOW amazing!

[mandasand]

Hello! How is everyone?

Knackered - still hanging on in there?!

NCT instructor took one look at me on Weds and said I should be thinking in terms of days not weeks which terrified me a bit! I had just walked from the restaurant at the end of the road, though, which for me at the moment is quite an epic achievement and I was huffing and puffing all over the place! Not too bad around the home, though I do rely on DH's help in the evenings.

Our group produced three babies over xmas, including a set of twins. The twin-Mum came to the last class (sans babies, who are in hospital as they were quite small at 2lbs something each) and she said she was looked after so well. Seemed so calm - v. reassuring!

Like you knackered I've still not packed the hospital bag(s)!!! Denial or what?! However, I have got the suitcases out, made the lists for each, and everything is either in the bedroom or in the nursery. Normally I love this sort of task but for some reason I just haven't brought myself to do it yet. But DH was noble and bought maternity pads yesterday and the Ocado man last night trudged through snow and ice to bring me some Lasinoh nipple cream and various other bits and bobs so there really is no excuse. This weekend it will happen!

I guess I've been hiding behind the confusion that I don't know what sort of birth situation it will be but that's really no excuse!

Perhaps even as pressing is the realisation that there is a ton of baby stuff that we simply haven't bought yet. We have been given so much brilliant secondhand stuff by family and friends that I just presumed that the baby-mountain in the dining room contained everything we may need. Alas, when going through it, it doesn't and so I think an online shop will be required! (DH won't let me out in the snow - boo!)

Main things are new mattresses (we have one cot and one crib at the mo, and will sleep them together as long as poss), a bath, and some kind of bottle/sterilizer system (because even if bfeeding works out I want to express so DH can do some feeds).

I am guessing that I shouldn't buy one of those industrial boob expressing machine until have had a chance to try out a couple at the hospital?

[mandasand]

PS bump has had a real growth spurt and the movements are now massive! It's better than telly in the evenings!