14 weeks Pregnant with identical twins, need advice on appointments please

[Abs85]

Hi,

I am 14+5 pregnant with identical twins (Seperate sacks). I have just recieved a million and one appoinments for the hospital for scans and outpatient appoinments and ANC's. It is all a bit overwhelming as this is my first pregnancy.

Could someone tell me what happens in ANC's which are booked in for after my scans??

I dont' have a midewife appoinment for another two weeks and I would rather be prepared for what's coming up. We are still very much in shock that we are hvaing twins, so any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks x

[Beamae]

You do get an astounding number of appointments! My first pregnancy was a twin pregnancy and I'm now pregnant again with just one, and feel comparatively neglected.

By ANC do you mean consultant? We had a consultant appointment after each scan to discuss the scan results. In our case it was purely routine as we had fraternal twins with own sacs and placentas, so fewer chances for problems. Twin pregnancies are more closely monitored because of all the issues that can come up so I suppose some people really need that post scan discussion.

[Phineyj]

I didn't have twins but my case was complicated for various reasons. What I found helped was visiting the GP a couple of times, sheaf of letters in hand, so he could explain to me what was what -- your GP should have an overview hopefully or can ask sensible questions if not.

[Cornwall73]

Hello and many congratulations. Daunting isn't it? I'm 24 wks pg with non-ID twins and I get scanned for an hour followed by a midwife appt every four weeks on the same day. I have these appointments booked up to 35 wks with a couple of drs appts thrown in for good measure. At the ante natal/mw appt it's all pretty standard and you have your wee tested for protein and your blood pressure taken. You will have blood samples taken occasionally.It is a chance to discuss aches and pains, concerns etc. With ID twins you could be booked in for scans every two weeks and just have drs appts. It really depends on the hospital. Next time you are in ask if they have a 'pathway' or list of what happens at each appt. I have one so I know what to expect.

Good luck!

[Abs85]

Hi Beamae,

I'm not sure what ANC even is?? they just wrote it on the letter next to the scan appointment. I'm guessing it's to see a consultent though after what you have said. Hopefully my midewife will explian everything in a couple of weeks. It's just all very new to me at the minute.

[Cornwall73]

And just to add I am 100% under hospital care so my GP/community midwife team has nothing to do with me. The hospital advices them as necessary (rare) but otherwise I just liaise with the hospital for everything.

[Abs85]

Hi Cornwall73 did you have your early appointments with a midwife?

[Beamae]

It might be Ante Natal Consultant. At my appointments they would explain the scan findings. I suppose if you had things like one twin growing faster than the other it would give you the chance to discuss options or procedure. My appointments tended to be training sessions for students to have a poke at my stomach, it would seem.

[justabigdisco]

ANC generally means antenatal clinic and will usually be staffed by both midwives and doctors.

[Beamae]

I also had no midwife involvement. I think it would have been better to have some midwife appointments as the consultants missed out lots of useful information, like giving me maternity leave forms for work and telling me about hospital run ante natal and breastfeeding classes.

[Tamof4]

Hi there, congratulations! Like Beamae, I had no midwife involvement either. With my id twins, I went to hosp appointments every 2 weeks. they did everything that would happen at a normal midwife app. but you got to see a consultant each time. It was very straightforward. All the best

[LaVitaBellissima]

I had scans fortnightly from 16 weeks onwards then a meeting afterwards to discuss results with a consultant, good luck :)

[LaVitaBellissima]

I had my girls at 34 weeks so 6 weeks earlier than a normal singleton pregnancy, this is quite common, we were in hospital 5 nights and home with no issues. I also had abc section as this is recommended for identical twins as they often share a placenta.

[Cornwall73]

Hi, my booking in appt was with a midwife at 8 wks and then the 4 week scan/mw cycle started. As the others have said you will be much closely monitored with ID and may not see the MW very much. Ask her when you are next in at 16wks and if she says that your appts are likely to be led by consultants then ask who will give you your paper work such as your MatB1 form for work, details on antenatal classes etc...

[Abs85]

Thank you for all your comments, that's settled me a little! Xx

[neversleepagain]

I had non ID twins and lots of appointments.

9 scans (I got to 35 weeks)
9 consultant appointments
12 midwife appointments

With ID twins you will be scanned every 2 weeks from 20 weeks with a consultant appointment tagged onto to each scan

Good luck and congratulations :)

[ladythatlunches]

Hi I had id twins and was scanned every 2 weeks.
I had consultants app every 2 weeks. I haf diabetic checks every 4 weeks as wellas midwife checks at thr usual times as a normal pregnancy.

They look after you and babies well when its id. No identical babies are often not seen as much