fear of having twins

[MichelleAnnette]

I'm planning a homebirth with wonderful mw's. I went to see their back-up doc last week, who had her children at home and does homebirths upon requests. She is 2 hours away from me, though, so we couldn't go to her in an emergency. I've never met a doctor like her, and she really gives me hope for the medical profession. Anyway, I told her that I'm terrified of having twins, and she mentioned that without an u/s, my mw's might not be able to tell if I was having twins. I was under the impression that I would be measuring big if I might be having twins, in which case I would have an u/s. My doc said that 20 something years ago sometimes they didn't know until the second one was coming! I haven't talked to my mw's about this yet, but I was just wondering what you all think? I don't have a family history of twins - I'm just paranoid I guess. FYI: my mw's do not do twins at home and I would prefer a hospital birth with twins anyway since this is my first, so the idea of finding out when the second one is coming really freaks me out.

[krismarie]

i would really think that a mw would be able to tell (in most cases) by uterus size... i really wouldn't worry, especially if you are measuring 'normal' for your uterus size... if you are really worried, you could always get an ultrasound.

[christyc]

Well, some women have twins and never measure large, never have any odd symptoms, etc, and end up with surprise twins. And lots of women homebirth twins.

So, if you know you'd rather have a hospital birth with twins and really want to know if you're having them, an ultrasound can let you know.

But if you know that you really want to have your baby at home, twins or not, I'd decline the ultrasound.

Each option has its risks... Going the medical route means you'll be treated completely as a high risk pregnancy rather than simply a special needs pregnancy or variation of the norm. You'd likely be pressured into regular ultrasounds to check the babies and cervical length. And although the cervix typically shortens some earlier on in twin pregnancies that carry to term, if an overly jumpy doc thinks your cervix is shortening too quickly, you might be put on unnecessary bedrest or given all sorts of other interventions. It's harder to find a doctor who will deliver twins vaginally (although they're out there), especially without inducing early for no good reason.

Doing the homebirth means you'd have to be prepared for "surprise" twins, and that you wouldn't be in a hospital if you needed to be (although transport doesn't take long if you live near a hospital). Not having the ultrasound also means you wouldn't know if the twins were monoamniotic or not (which would be my biggest concern), so you wouldn't be able to monitor for pregnancy complications that, while rare, can come up in twin pregnancies and deliveries.

In the end, unless you have reason to believe you're having twins, I wouldn't worry about it. Lots of women think they're having twins, only to find out they aren't!

[velcromom]

If you have no ultrasound and it truly is twins... discovered at the birth... your midwives would not exactly walk out on you.. they would deliver twins that day. What is it about having unexpected twins that freaks you out?

I think you will feel a lot better about this once you have a chance to express your fears and hear what your caregivers have to say.

[umami_mommy]

my old MW had a mama who had surprise twins... this woman had refused both u/s and doppler. and she never palpated or heard the second HB with a fetoscope. the woman was large, but that doesn't always mean anything.

the first baby came, she went to get some water for mama, heard more moaning, thought it was the placenta and out came baby number 2!!

she said it was one of the biggest surprises of her life, but everything was fine.

[skueppers]

My aunt had twins unexpectedly 40 years ago. She's pretty tall (5'11" or so), and it was her first pregnancy. I get the impression this used to be pretty commonplace before the advent of routine ultrasound.

[MichelleAnnette]

Originally Posted by velcromom

What is it about having unexpected twins that freaks you out? .

I don't know anything about twins and wasn't planning on learning unless I am having them. All I know is that there are more "risks" involved, none of which I know anything about. I don't know what I'll do. I'll talk to my mw's and then decide if I want an u/s...which means I have to go to the doctor 2 hours away again if I decide I want one...The doctor is great and I don't feel that she would pressure me into doing anything I don't need. When I went to see her, I kept asking "what if" questions because I wanted to have all my bases covered, and she replied that you can't have all your bases covered in childbirth. She definitely views childbirth as a normal, natural event.

I would prefer not to have u/s. However, I don't know if it's more b/c I want to prove that I don't need it or b/c I have concerns about the safety of the technology. Any recommendations for books/websites that have info on the possibility of surprise twins in homebirth?

[umami_mommy]

are you opposed to a quick listen with a doppler? that should be all you need to see if there are two heartbeats.

i don't think an u/s is required.

[mamato3cherubs]

You will get all these stories from all these women. BUT the likely hood of having no sign or symptom of twins, then discovering it at birth, well, I think it is slim.

I do think you are being paranoid, and I don't think you will find alot of literature on just unexpected twin births at home.

Talk to your midwife, she will be able to tell you the things to be looking out for . Most people have more symptoms than just finding a 2nd heartbeat and measuring big. If you don't recognize any of it in yourself, then you should assume you this is a singleton pregnancy.

[kettunainen]

Originally Posted by honeybeedreams

are you opposed to a quick listen with a doppler? that should be all you need to see if there are two heartbeats.

i don't think an u/s is required.

a quick u/s would be safer than a quick doppler. doppler is a steady stream of sound, whereas an u/s is made up of short pulses, which equates to less exposure to the sound vibrations overall.

some signs to look out for:
-super early BFP (9-12DPO)
-early rapid weight gain (5-15lbs in 1st trimester)
-early belly show
-early fetal movement (9-11 weeks)
-measuring more than 2 weeks ahead
-being able to palpate and feel two heads/two butts
-being able to hear two placentas and/or two heartbeats on the stethoscope/fetoscope
-if you're far enough along, you can monitor movements, too
-strong intuition

as pp's have said, you may or may not have any of these and still pop out two, but the likelihood of that really is fairly slim these days.

[umami_mommy]

Originally Posted by kettunainen

a quick u/s would be safer than a quick doppler. doppler is a steady stream of sound, whereas an u/s is made up of short pulses, which equates to less exposure to the sound vibrations overall.

BUT it's really hard to get any place that does u/s to actually agree to a SHORT u/s... for liability reasons, you know CYA medicine. becuase i spotted for 5 months with this pregnancy the mw finally asked me to get an u/s to check and make sure the placenta was okay. the first 3 places i called said they would HAVE to do a complete u/s, as they were not allowed to do anything else with a woman who was 28 weeks pregnant. finally i called a place far away from me and told them that i had already had an anatomic u/s but my mw was still concerned about the placenta, could they just do a short placental u/s? yup, as long as you have already had one and i named a place close to my house and said i had had it done there, but since i was still spotting my mw wanted another one at a different place. yes, i lied, but i didn't know what else to do. and there are other risks with getting an u/s, like they get crazy about tiny things that mean nothing scare the crap out of the parents. so it's not just the u/s waves that are an issue. it's complicated. not to mention just going into an u/s places creeps me out.

a mw will listen quickly with a doppler for 30 seconds to get a HB though. and that's that and all done with and over.

[2+twins]

I was able to find a place that would do a quick u/s just to check for the presence of twins. The appt. lasted maybe 15 min total, but the actual exposure time was probably 2 min or less. I explained to the tech (who ran the biz) that I did not consider u/s w/o potential harm to the fetus and was only doing this to check for twins (b/c basically my mw scared the crap out of me that I might have a 2 headed baby or something - pg women *do* let fear get the best of them unfortunatley b/c I never would have gotten the u/s just to find out it was twins). Anyhoo, he did a super fast scan and said "well, there's at least 2 in there" and then did a couple other super fast scan (located body part, froze screeze, removed wand from belly, then did measurements on the screen & not while I was getting an inside peek at babies - I actually didn't want to see & made him turn off the monitor that was in my view). Anyway, it CAN be done if necessary.

OP - While surprise twins certainly *can* happen, I think you'll have plenty of actual reason (besides paranoia) to suspect if you really have 2 in there as the weeks go on. I had my twins at home & personally feel that it would have been riskier in the hospital, but I'm well researched on homebirth & hospital birth & felt comfy with that decision. You do whatever you think is best!

eta: I'd get a quick u/s over a doppler b/c it can be really hard to get a 2nd hb for sure using doppler, especially in same gender twins (their hr's tend to sync up). My friend (who posts here occassionally) had twins too and her mw could not detect a 2nd hb despite repeated attempts w/doppler. I believe she was 31 weeks when she eventually consented to a visual u/s check and found that she was indeed having twins.

[MichelleAnnette]

Originally Posted by kettunainen

a quick u/s would be safer than a quick doppler. doppler is a steady stream of sound, whereas an u/s is made up of short pulses, which equates to less exposure to the sound vibrations overall.

some signs to look out for:
-super early BFP (9-12DPO)
-early rapid weight gain (5-15lbs in 1st trimester)
-early belly show
-early fetal movement (9-11 weeks)
-measuring more than 2 weeks ahead
-being able to palpate and feel two heads/two butts
-being able to hear two placentas and/or two heartbeats on the stethoscope/fetoscope
-if you're far enough along, you can monitor movements, too
-strong intuition

as pp's have said, you may or may not have any of these and still pop out two, but the likelihood of that really is fairly slim these days.

That makes me feel better. I feel less worried now, altough my worries tend to change from day to day anyway.

Still not sure what I'll end up doing, but at least I feel better, and that's what matters, right? =)

[MommytoTwo]

My mw recently caught surprise twins. Apparently the mama gave birth to one very small baby .. all her previous babies had been 8 pounders, and her fundus was still really high and my mw took her stethoscope and found #2. It worked out fine.
If you are really concerned about it, for whatever reason, you could get a very quick ultrasound. They should be able to tell in under a minute how many are in there and you'll have peace of mind.

[Belle]

Originally Posted by MichelleAnnette

My doc said that 20 something years ago sometimes they didn't know until the second one was coming!

Not always true. My dh and his twin brother were born 31 years ago and my MIL did not have an ultrasound during her pregnancy. She also KNEW she was having twins. She had an OB. She asked him about an ultrasound and he said that the ultrasounds were only for "high risk" pregnancies. He didn't consider a normal twin pregnancy to be high risk.

[QueenOfThePride]

I'd totally prefer to give birth to twins at home than in a hospital! It is standard procedure in hospitals to deliver twins in the C-section OR. So you'll be flat on your back on the hard surgical table. You won't even be on a normal birthing bed. They want you in OR just in case they need to do an emergency C-section. I think a lot of allopathic drs. have unwarranted fear of something going wrong with twins, and will force lots of extra interventions on you, practically guaranteeing that something will go wrong.

[DucetteMama21842]

Originally Posted by QueenOfThePride

I'd totally prefer to give birth to twins at home than in a hospital! It is standard procedure in hospitals to deliver twins in the C-section OR. So you'll be flat on your back on the hard surgical table. You won't even be on a normal birthing bed. They want you in OR just in case they need to do an emergency C-section. I think a lot of allopathic drs. have unwarranted fear of something going wrong with twins, and will force lots of extra interventions on you, practically guaranteeing that something will go wrong.

[christyc]

Originally Posted by Belle

She had an OB. She asked him about an ultrasound and he said that the ultrasounds were only for "high risk" pregnancies. He didn't consider a normal twin pregnancy to be high risk.

Wha... ? Twins not high risk?!?! (sarcasm) Why aren't there any OBs like this guy around today?

Sheesh!