Twins?

[bluebutterfly]

When I told my 4yo about the baby, I asked if he thought it was a girl or boy.  He said "both."     I'll be 10w this weekend and my belly is already sticking way out there.  I know showing early isn't unusual in a second pregnancy but suddenly I'm nervous - especially with the heightened nausea and the sudden increase I've had in fatigue.   Then I started thinking about my dad being one of two sets of fraternal twins.

I suppose there is no way to know until my visit and quite possibly not until the 18-20w ultrasound.    My midwife appointment isn't for a couple of weeks.

What I'm really wondering is if this is just a normal fear or if there is some intuitive process going on!

[Dandy Lion]

I'm going to go with this being a normal fear. And statistically there should be a few sets of twins in our group. I'm a little worried, but there's only one set on my side of the family...

[alyadri]

Ummm I'm most definitely freaking out.  I've been in full maternity gear since 8 wks and I'm only getting bigger by the day.  My weight has literally stayed the same so I know I'm not eating too much.  I have felt so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open without chugging copious amounts of caffeine.  My husband was a twin and my great aunt was also.  Twins skip a generation and my generation is the one to have 'em. 

Oh lord, If I have twins I might literally lose my mind!

[Frenchie2]

I was worried early on too because the pregnancy was so different and I started showing so early.  They did an US at 10 weeks for dates though and confirmed there is only one baby - measuring big, but just one.  There are no twins in my family though, so I knew the chances were slim, but I was still a little nervous.

[BirthFree]

Twin facts can be confusing... twins don't actually skip generations. Fraternal possibilities are only down the female line (the tendency to ovulate more than one egg) and don't follow any guy lines in families at all. Identical twins are considered chance. My mom had twins (fraternal) and thus I have an increased possibility, but never have had fraternal twins. My daughter has a slightly increased chance, but my sons do not... since their contribution has nothing to do with multiple egg production or eggs splitting for identical twins.

Just thought I'd clarify because there are a number of wives' tales that can make us unduly excited or nervous.

[BirthFree]

((I am a fraternal twin. I always wanted them too... oh well! Not in my stars.))

[bluebutterfly]

Originally Posted by BirthFree 

Twin facts can be confusing... twins don't actually skip generations. Fraternal possibilities are only down the female line (the tendency to ovulate more than one egg) and don't follow any guy lines in families at all. Identical twins are considered chance. My mom had twins (fraternal) and thus I have an increased possibility, but never have had fraternal twins. My daughter has a slightly increased chance, but my sons do not... since their contribution has nothing to do with multiple egg production or eggs splitting for identical twins.

Just thought I'd clarify because there are a number of wives' tales that can make us unduly excited or nervous.

Fraternal twinning is caused by a gene on the X chromosome.  This gene can cause hyper-ovulation, when a woman's ovaries release more than one egg per cycle.  It is possible for a woman to inherit this gene from either parent.  It is true that a father has no increased chance of fathering fraternal twins with this gene (since he obviously can't hyper-ovulate) but he can pass it on to his daughters.  So the genes don't skip a generation but the twins, themselves can *appear* to.

My grandma may have had this tendency because she had more than one set of fraternal twins.  If so, it is *possible* my dad passed it to me.   The overall chance is still probably small though. :)

[biffer]

 on top of that if you have had identical twins you are more likely to have them again just because your body has the history of screwing up. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how many twins we get in our DDC!

[BirthFree]

Bluebutterfly, this is not the information I learned in my classes, but I don't have any personal issue with the various twin thoughts. Carry on.

[TriciaRawks]

Well, I've wondered the same thing. Especially when my 5 yr old niece announced my news slightly off by saying she was going to have new cousinS. I'm not sure why she added the S but yeah I'm starting to show a lot too....no twins on my moms side that I can think of. I might just be bloated a little. My husband's mom is a twin and she didn't have any twins when she had kids. 

[alyadri]

No twins here!!  I had an ultrasound yesterday and there's only one baby :-)  Such a relief.

[cameragirl]

I've always been terrified of twins for some reason, but we're definitely not having twins this time. My hcg counts and both scans are consistent with just one gummy bear growing.