Is it possible for an u/s to miss twins?

[jenr]

Okay, so I'm a little confused now. I went to the midwife today and I should be 11weeks, 6 days (according to the u/s as I have no LMP) so we were all set to hear the heartbeat. The boys were anxiously waiting and when the heartbeat sounded, my eldest (almost 3) asked if that was the "babies" in Mommy's tummy. Then my youngest (17 mos) started going "the babies, the babies". I've tried to explain to them that the u/s only showed one baby but they are insistent that there are two. Then, I noticed the midwife listening really closely, and she said "it's funny that they think there are two babies because I think I'm hearing a faint echo, almost like two heartbeat almost in perfect unison". I insisted that the sonographer only saw one, and then the midwife laughed and asked me if I was going to go for a regular 18-20 weeks u/s because she has never in her 20 years of practice had young siblings be wrong about twins. I'm not sure my boys would even know what twins are or that people can have two babies at once because we don't know any twins. So now I'm freaking out. I went for an early u/s and was dated at 7weeks, 5 days (which is probably about a week too far along in my opinion we were not doing any "baby making" during that time frame) because my 2nd pregnancy started out as a twin but I lost DS#2's twin at 10 weeks.

Is it possible for a twin to be missed or to "hide" during an early u/s? Someone reassure me that my boys will be the first sibling "wrong" about this, and that the Doppler merely had a weird echo to it.

Jennifer

[happydoulamama]

I don't have an answer for you, but wanted to let you know that my dd who is 3 has been saying pretty much since the beginning that I am having 1 girl baby and 1 boy baby. I'm in complete denial- this is something I majorly don't want. I hope she's wrong!

Good luck,
Rachelle

[jenr]

Originally Posted by happydoulamama

dd who is 3 has been saying pretty much since the beginning that I am having 1 girl baby and 1 boy baby. I'm in complete denial- this is something I majorly don't want. I hope she's wrong!

How funny! When we ask DS#1 what he means by the "babies" he tells us that he means (of course) the two babies in Mommy's tummy. Then when we ask if they are a boy or girl he gets a little confused so I have to clarify - does the baby (see, I'm being insistent here) have a penis or a vagina. He very clearly tells us that the "babies" have a penis and a vagina...one of each.

I think I will flip out and die if I go into labour and deliver twins. One of my second cousins (my mother's cousin) had very good prenatal care and delivered her son (what she was expecting based on her u/s) and then about 35 mins later, while she was alone in the room, had a little girl. She claims to have been told there was only one baby and according to her mom the doctor was totally surprised, but I always doubted the story and figured she just lied and didn't want people to know she was having twins (she's a bit of a strange one). Maybe this is Karma getting me back.

Jennifer

[loree]

In a prior pregnancy, when I went in for my first OB visit, she did a triple check for a second baby because she said her friend (another OB) had missed a twin before during a first ultrasound!!

Loree

[logan&jordansmommy]

I would say it is definitely possible to miss the 2nd baby but not probable. For me, it was very very obvious at 5 weeks that there were two sacs and two fetal poles. But I did have a mom on my due in board (different board) that they missed the twins the first time around. Hearing two hb's is a tricky one IMO. Early on we could never be sure if we were hearing one or two hb's because you can hear the same hb in different locations.
So unfortunately there is no one answer.
Is your uterus measuring on time at this point?

[storychick]

Not in your DDC, but my SIL had a u/s at around 9 weeks and they found one baby. She had another at 20 weeks partly because she was measuring big and sure enough, fraternal twins! (One of each gender.) So it IS possible.

[NocturnalDaze]

Just out of curiosity...do your kids watch Dora the Explorer? My dd has insisted that I would have twins for about 2 years now ever since the "Big Sister" episode first came out

[wardermom]

My kids told our new neighbours that we're having twins. I had to make it clear that we don't know that at this point.

[jenr]

Originally Posted by logan&jordansmommy

Is your uterus measuring on time at this point?

I haven't been measured or had an internal yet ( my midwife knows I abhor being poked and prodded without good reason, so she tends to only do what she has to), but I am definitely showing much earlier than I have with either of my other kids (I didn't show with DS#1 until about 6 months, and with DS#2 stayed in that awkward pudgy is she/isn't she stage until about 5 months). I'm definitely showing with this pregnancy at only 12 weeks. I've had two people comment about how pregnant I look early on.

Jennifer

[jenr]

Originally Posted by Oceansummer

Just out of curiosity...do your kids watch Dora the Explorer? My dd has insisted that I would have twins for about 2 years now ever since the "Big Sister" episode first came out

They watch it occassionally, but I'm always with them when they do and I don't think I've seen the "Big Sister" episode. I didn't realize Dora had twin siblings. Maybe they're sneaking in some contraband Dora-time without my knowledge.

Jennifer

[momma2girls]

I personally know of a family who had twins and had no idea until they were born. The u/s showed only one baby and they only ever heard one heartbeat. They were completely shocked to find out there was another still in there. So it is possible. Good luck!