Two sets of baby hiccups? « Back to Group Discussions

[mforeback]

I swear I'm feeling two different sets of fetal hiccups right now. As far as I know, I'm carrying only one baby. But then I get these odd movement patterns sometimes, and I just felt a really weird set of hiccups. I'd feel one pattern of them down low by my pelvis, and another one on a different rhythm up by my ribs. What the heck could be causing that? Could I have a surprise set of twins in there?

[BroodyWoodsgal]

Oooooo, who knows!!

Could be the hiccup are startling the poor thing and causing him/her to jump a bit every time s/he hiccups?

[KristaDJ]

I have heard of this happening in other singleton pregnancies, no idea what causes it though. I know my baby gets ticked off when s/he gets the hiccups; I will feel the hiccups and then some frantic freaking out movements all over like fists and feet are flying everywhere (I'm really looking forward to another ill-tempered child LOL), maybe it is just your baby reacting to the hiccups like broody says. 

[mforeback]

Sometimes when I feel hiccups, I'll feel little kicks and hits with them. But the kicks/hits are always at the same time as the hiccup. This felt different. It was two different rhythms, one stronger with accompanying kicks, and one softer with only occasional kicks, more like squirmy feelings with it. I don't know. I have a bit of a feeling it might be more than one...but then, this is my first baby, so maybe I just don't know how it all feels yet. But the movement patterns do seem odd to me...but maybe it's just wishful thinking...lol. I actually was hoping for twins in a way, but also not at the same time. I just "have a feeling" it might be two, but I don't know if I trust my intuition or not. Maybe I'm just inexperienced, and having wishful thinking.

On the other hand, surprise twins do happen. There was one woman I knew of growing up in CA who had surprise twins. She had an ultrasound to find out gender, OB listened on doppler for heartbeat at each visit (never heard two), she measured on target (never big), and delivered at 38 weeks...nothing at all to suspect twins. And then in the delivery room at the hospital, she had her baby, had more contractions that everyone thought was the placenta coming...and it was another baby! How heck they missed that on the US, I'll never know. I think she said that the OB told her that sometimes a twin will "hide behind" their sibling, and not show up. I know this sort of thing doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I guess that's why I'm wondering about this instead of immediately discounting things. :)

[mudhugger]

I get really big hiccups and so does DS-- with both pregnancies now, whenever the babies gets hiccups they hiccup so big that their bodies move...so I get a head bumping or sometimes a bum bump just after the hiccup.  It's offset just like you describe.  Doesn't mean you don't have twins :) but it might be a similar thing happening.

[mforeback]

I'm assuming it's something like that. I tend to be open minded and not discount the unlikely just because it's unlikely. That's why I was wondering. It's probably just one in there being very active. However, I will really be laughing at myself if I do end up with a surprise twin on delivery day. :)

[BroodyWoodsgal]

Originally Posted by mforeback 

I'm assuming it's something like that. I tend to be open minded and not discount the unlikely just because it's unlikely. That's why I was wondering. It's probably just one in there being very active. However, I will really be laughing at myself if I do end up with a surprise twin on delivery day. :)

A part of me will be jealous if you do end up with a surprise!! I think about twins and my eyes roll back in my head a little bit...but I've always dreamed a lot about twins. I have had a LOT of "surprise!" twin delivery dreams where one baby comes out and I'm like "ahhh, yeah!! I love you baby" and then a while later, when we're waiting for the placenta, I turn to my midwife and say "not to freak anybody out or anything, but there is another baby inside me - I can feel it moving around" - in these dreams my husband is always the VERY furthest thing from "okay"...hahaha.

Mystery is fun...I bet it is one active one being goofy...but you never know....: ): ): )

[MamaRuga]

These baby movements are such a mystery!  I've felt such strange things in completely different parts of my belly and I just wonder, does this child have eight limbs or what?  

I know that surprise twins is so rare, but I love the idea of it.  I actually do have a friend who had surprise twins three years ago.  She was with my current midwife who is very experienced, and there was one time that they might have thought that they heard two heartbeats, but they couldn't ever find it again.  She measured right on target for one, went right to her due date, they never did feel two babies when palpating.  It seems one was in front of the other.  They didn't do ultrasound so maybe that would have shown both babies.  The good thing is that she had a very successful easy home birth.  If the midwife knew it was twins, she probably wouldn't have agreed to do the home birth.  As it was the first baby came even before the midwife got there and she arrived just as the second was coming.  

I figure that it is so rare that I will never meet another person that this happens to, but I love that I can say I have a friend who did have unexpected twins.  

So... it can happen!

[Nicole730]

Ooh, I love the idea of surprise twins too.  It might explain why I can feel movement on both sides, in my ribs, and down very low all at the same time.  I did have an ultrasound though, so I suspect my chance of twins is very, very low.

[BroodyWoodsgal]

Originally Posted by MamaRuga 

These baby movements are such a mystery!  I've felt such strange things in completely different parts of my belly and I just wonder, does this child have eight limbs or what?  

I know that surprise twins is so rare, but I love the idea of it.  I actually do have a friend who had surprise twins three years ago.  She was with my current midwife who is very experienced, and there was one time that they might have thought that they heard two heartbeats, but they couldn't ever find it again.  She measured right on target for one, went right to her due date, they never did feel two babies when palpating.  It seems one was in front of the other.  They didn't do ultrasound so maybe that would have shown both babies.  The good thing is that she had a very successful easy home birth.  If the midwife knew it was twins, she probably wouldn't have agreed to do the home birth.  As it was the first baby came even before the midwife got there and she arrived just as the second was coming.  

I figure that it is so rare that I will never meet another person that this happens to, but I love that I can say I have a friend who did have unexpected twins.  

So... it can happen!

CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT???

Oh my god I can hardly even think of it....your MW is FLYING to get there....your baby comes out, you're laughing.."well, at least that was pretty straight forward and I didn't end up needing a MW for help hahaha" - and all the sudden you're like..."Whooooa, I think my placenta just kicked me a little as it moved down the birth canal....waiiittt a minute....ahhhhhhh" - hahahahaha. That's insane. That's completely insane.

[FarmBirther]

I think the baby has a hiccup then a kind of abdominal muscle retraction after, like a baby with hiccups out of the womb, their whole chest and belly and shoulders move. I would doubt this hiccup sensation is indicative of twins because twins wouldn't keep getting hiccups at the exact same time... but it still would be fun if you got a surprise like that!

[chickharley]

One of my midwives happened to be feeling my belly as my baby had the hiccups on our last visit. She said every time he hiccuped, he moved a little. :)  She would determine where he was, he would hiccup and then he would be in a slightly different position!  Maybe this is the second hiccup feeling you are getting?