Synchronized everything

[MamaChicken]

So my boys have been within 6 oz in weight, 1cm in height, millimeters in head circ, 1 week on all teeth and growth spurts, days on learning to walk, etc since birth. Well, a week ago Drew had an ear infection and the next day Will had one too. Both were on ammoxicillin for 8 days. Drew woke up with hives and within an hours Will has them, too.

Seriously?

We haven't tested them but would this indicate MZ twins to you? I sometimes get them mixed up (more now than when they were born).

Do any of your DZ twins do this?

[Nanasi]

MamaChicken, it sounds like you have good cause to wonder if they are actually MZ. My boys are clearly DZ (strangers could tell them apart from birth). Their stats were very close when they were born. They were only .5 inch and 2oz different. Since then, however, their body size has really diverged. I now have one that's 19lbs and the other is 16.5lbs. They do tend to reach developmental milestones at around the same time, which I attribute to the fact that if one does it, the other wants to do it too. We haven't had any teeth come up yet, but I don't expect them to come in at the same time since they are DZ. Are you able to afford a cheek-swab test for MZ?

[MamaChicken]

Not yet. DH is paramedic school and we are surviving on loans. But he's almost done and then we'll find out!

[Intertwined]

Uh, no. Claire is at LEAST an inch and a half taller than Ben and outweighs him by 4 pounds. She's got green eyes and dark curly hair. Ben is sandy blond stick straight hair and hazel brown eyes. I often get asked if Claire and Izzy are twins. NO ONE suspects it's Claire and Ben! He started crawling at 3 months, her at 6. They walked fairly close together but not that close! The do often get sick around the same time, but then so do my other children-part of sharing small space with many people. They do NOT have the same tolerances, though. Ben is prone to ear infections and he's gluten intolerant. Claire-not so much.

Sounds to me like it could be MZ....especially that you still get them mixed up.

[nd_deadhead]

Mine were the same way, for about 6 months. They are monozygotic. They were those wonderful breastfed babies that only pooped every 4 or 5 days - but when one did, you might as well get two diapers, because the other was within 10 minutes of doing it too. They cut their first tooth on the same day at 6 months; they stayed very close in weight for a long time.

After 6 months they started to drift a little - one crawled first, one walked first, one lost his first tooth long before the other.

The most interesting thing, I think, was that one grew taller than the other when they were 3 or 4 (they are 15 now, so I forget exactly when things happened). B had a nasty stomach bug, threw up a lot and hardly ate anything for almost a week. He ate like a pig the following week to make up for it - but during that time, his brother had a growth spurt. B never quite caught up in height - I think he was "scheduled" for a growth spurt the same week, but the illness prevented or stunted it.

J has been about an inch taller than B ever since.

Other odd things: B is allergic to sulfa drugs, and J is not. J has seasonal allergies, B does not. B has an unusual chronic illness (he's considered an interesting case at Mayo Clinic, which means no one else has heard of it - we call it "B-itis"), J has never had the same symptoms.

So MZ twins can be a lot alike in a lot of ways, but they can be a lot different too! The whole "nature vs. nurture" question is a fascinating topic in our house.

[MamaRabbit]

Mine are MZ and for the first year they were hitting milestones together within a week. After 1 yr, it's sometimes only as much as a month apart for milestones.

deadhead, my dad says MZ twins should be an ongoing science project about nature/nuture in our house LOL

[Gena 22]

That's what finally got me to pay for the cheek swab. Mine were hitting everything together - milestones, sickness, teeth, everything. Lo and behold, MZ!

So I'd say you could safely assume MZ.

[f&p'smama]

That's interesting. I find it so interesting the ways that MZ twins are different. A woman in my MOTC had MZ twins, one of whom needed glasses as an infant and the other didn't. Her pediatrician pointed out that MZ twins with two placentas have a different environment even in the womb.

My DZ girls are the exact same height and are within a few ounces of each other for weight and have been like that for a few years now. Twin A was 2 lbs bigger at birth, but B caught up by about 15 months. Their milestones and teething were not synchronized, though.

Sounds like you have MZ twins if they look so much alike and their development has been so similar. One of my friends with MZ twins said hers even pooped at the same time as school-age children.

[Tigerchild]

My boys have never hit milestones together. They are also about 30 percent different in height and weight, have been since birth (well, in utero) as well. They are MZ, and had TTTS.

I was told that they might actually start synchronizing heights in puberty.

I don't know about it being a sure fire indicator in twins though. I know singleton sibs that hit alll their milestones at the exact same ages (separated by time, of course) and whom you can't distinguish a close-up face picture of as infants/young children.

[ChaoticMum]

Originally Posted by nd_deadhead

The most interesting thing, I think, was that one grew taller than the other when they were 3 or 4 (they are 15 now, so I forget exactly when things happened). B had a nasty stomach bug, threw up a lot and hardly ate anything for almost a week. He ate like a pig the following week to make up for it - but during that time, his brother had a growth spurt. B never quite caught up in height - I think he was "scheduled" for a growth spurt the same week, but the illness prevented or stunted it.

J has been about an inch taller than B ever since.

When my boys went on formula, Z took it 2 weeks sooner than L and gained an extra pound. L started gaining at the same rate but has never caught up - they are now a pound different instead of an ounce.

Originally Posted by f&p'smama

Her pediatrician pointed out that MZ twins with two placentas have a different environment even in the womb.
.

Even Mono/Di twins have different 'environments' depending on where the cord is situated on the placenta.

[herdingkittens]

Mine were always like this, too. We've never had them tested, but at 2.5, my eldest son still cannot tell them apart, my family cannot, and my husband's family occasionally mixes them up. I've always been able to tell them apart, but they go through phases where they start to look more similar or different.

Weight, head and length were always the same (or pretty darn close). Right now, for the first time, one of them is a whole pound bigger!

Here's one for you though: Mine had all of their teeth come in within days of each other, in the same order, and at the same angles. When they were around 12 mo., one of them fell and chipped his front tooth. 2 weeks later the other one fell and chipped THE SAME EXACT TOOTH AT THE SAME EXACT ANGLE!!!!

Twins are a hoot.