[fyrebloom]

Hi everyone. I'm pretty new to MDC and am expecting monochoriatic diamniotic identical girls due in july. I have a 15 month son who will be 18-19 months old when they arrive. When we decided to ttc this time we wanted our kids to be kinda close, but we were not expecting 3 kids under 2!

It's been a huge transition. Not only do I now have to get girls clothes, but I need double the amount, need to make more cloth diapers, need another meitai and just bought a Hoppendiz, and on and on. I got dumped by my midwife and birthing center as soon as they found out it was twins, and I had to wean my son (at the reccommendation of LLL and my LC, but we were able to slow wean over the course of 2 months).

I'm worried about my son. He's a really easy going guy who loves other babies, but I was hoping to tandem with him or at least to have an arm free for snuggles while nursing. Now I'm going to have a baby in each arm and no free arm for him. I'm hoping to unwean him if he's interested and if I have the energy. I know twins are really time consuming so it's going to be a challenge with the three of them.

The other thing I've run up against is the loss of my natural birth experience. I was really hoping for a waterbirth, but that's not going to happen in a hospital. I've been told I have a 50/50 shot at a c-section as my ob will only deliver vaginally if both twins are vertex (although she has delivered triplets vaginally so she is good on her word about that). I'm working with her on the possibility of a breech delivery for twin B if twin a is vertex or for a version. She also said I have to deliver in the OR. I'm hoping to at least labor in a room and then transfer. I'm worried i'm going to be stuck to every monitor and the machine that goes ping again like I did last time. I was so restricted and I don't want that again. I do really like my Dr because she's an english trained midwife and is really good about not using interventions and c-section unless clearly needed (last time I was induced at 41.5 weeks and thus needed constant monitoring while on the pitocin). Most Drs would have just forced a section on me, but I delivered my son vaginally. I did have back labor (or rather my pelvis seperated because of his huge head and his sideways presentation) so I ended up with an epidural after 26 hours. Three hours later I had gone from 3cm to pushing. I so want to go into labor spontaniously and to deliver without drugs or all the fuss.

Anyway my hello has become a rant so i'll stop there... LOL!

nice to meet everyone.

 

[christyc]

I just wanted to say hi and welcome! I'm pregnant with twins as well, so I'm not as knowledgeable as some of the more experienced mamas on this board, but I'm sure they'll speak up soon!

It sounds like you're doing lots of research, which is a good thing!

 

[DoomaYula]

I have mono/di twin boys, they are 4yo now. I just want to make sure that you have been checked for TTTS, it's common in mono/di twins and it makes for a difficult pregnancy and a lot of concern. Mine had it the whole pregnancy but I was induced at 34w and had them both vaginally and they are fine now, normal happy crazy 4yo boys. I also have a 2yo girl and I'm pregnant again.

I did have them vaginally although baby B was a feet first breech. Baby A was vertex, and my doc said as long as baby A was vertex everything would be fine. I think for twin birth in a hospital, birthing in the OR is just the standard of care. I birthed in an OR with a zillion people there. When my water broke with B, his foot slid out, and he was born about 2 minutes later.

I was absolutely INSISTENT that I would have a vaginal birth. I told my ob/perinate/mfm every time I went in (which was frequently) that I absolutely HAD TO have a vaginal birth. I was a single mom of twins and I did not want to deal with recovering from major surgery and being a single mom of preemie newborns. Gah!

Welcome to mdc!

 

[LoisLane]

Congratulations on your twins!!!

I have mono/di twins as well who are 21 months old and a son who is soon to be 5.

There is so much to think of when you get the news, isn't there?

: First a couple of reassurances -- well, you don't need double the clothes of everything (and in the early days, when poop explodes and spit up is every where, who will care if they are wearing their big brother's clothes?) I read something that said 1.5 the amount you'd have with one and that seems about right, especially if you have your own washer and dryer.

One of the first thoughts I had after getting news was "well, there go my hopes for a low-key, no-intervention birth" I had been hoping for after my son's birth (which sounds a lot like your first birth -- long back labor, went from 4 to 10 in an HOUR after they started epidural, 3.5 hours of pushing before using forceps to turn him and his 97th percentile head...). But it sounds like you have a decent care provider -- and it's great she's experienced with multiples -- and that can make all the difference. If Twin A is head down, you should be fine -- after A is born, B is going to move around whatever position he/she is in, and an experienced OB will be able to help get B out if A made her/his way already. I also had to deliver in an operating room (with a good dozen bystanders), but by the time it was time to push, I didn't care where I was -- I was just so excited and ready to go!

And even though it wasn't the birth I had envisioned when the second line turned pink -- it was an awesome birth. I was able to FEEL and control the pushing so much more, and it was incredible. After K was born (she had been vertex for most of the pregnancy), to see my OB (who I had gotten to know VERY well by that point) smile at me and say "she's beautiful -- are you ready to do it again?" was just amazing... and then to get a second one! (sure, she was a double footling breech extraction, which wasn't something I'd do every day, but 37 week old twins were a thousand times easier to deliver than my large-headed, poorly-positioned son).

Sounds like you're already heading in a good direction. Good luck with your pregnancy, eat lots of protein and drink lots of water, and ask any question that might cross your mind.

Welcome!!

 

[heyitstwins]

Hello!

I'm pregnant with di/di b/g twins (also due in July)! I'm just over 6 months, and these are my first children. I just wanted to wish you a happy and healthy pregnancy!

 

[fyrebloom]

Thank you all for your support and stories. We are being monitored every 3 weeks for cervix length and for TTTS. So far i've had no signs of any problems and My perinatologist is almost certain i'll go to term (but with twins you never know). I think if I can have a drug free, vaginal delivery i'll feel satisfied. So far they are vertex vertex and i'm hoping they stay that way. My grandmother was also a twin mother and hers (my dad and aunt) were each 8.5lbs! We'll see how big these two are, but I don't think they have any chance of being even remotely close to the size of my son (whose head was measuring 41 weeks at 38

:. He was 23 inches at birth and just an all around big guy LOL. It was like snuggling a 2-3 month old when he was born and not like a delicate little newborn.
We aren't doubling everything, I am getting a second crib, so I can use it as a cosleeper sidecar and one with a rail on all sides for naps, then once they are too big for one crib i'll have two cribs ready for them. I'm planning on hitting my local twin sale on the 31st for the extra high chair, one more bumbo, and the crib. We really have everything else for them left over from my son.

 

[royaloakmi]

Congratulations!

Lois Lane already said a lot of what I would say, and I will definately second the thing about clothes. You really don't need a lot - especially for the first year. I just used sleepers and kimono undershirts. That's it - I didn't have time for anything else. And no one will notice your kids' clothes - they'll just be awestruck by how cute your twins are

FWIW, you may want to wait on the second crib - I had two and never ended up using either of them. It was just so much easier at night to have them in bed with me for nursing.

 

[fyrebloom]

I don't feel safe completely cosleeping. We have a pillowtop mattress and my husband has sleep apnea, both dangerous. I also can't sleep with a baby velcroed to me so I really need them in their own space. We used the crib as a sidecar with my son and it worked really well for us. I felt safe and Ds was nice and close to nighttime nursing.

 

[twinmomplusone]

Just be ready to get a second crib if need be. My girls would wake each other up even at 3wks old and I had to separate them. I was so glad I had two cribs ready and waiting because they move to much in their sleep to be in their together.

 

[Dena]

Hi! I am new here as well. We just confirmed our twin pg (fraternal) at our eight week u/s.

I have had a lot of the same thoughts you did about giving up a natural birth experience due to this. I have heard too many hospital horror stories to be totally comfortable there. I am very lucky to have a midwife who has committed to being at the birth no matter what, and a great doula as well. I am now spending some time interviewing OBs to find a good fit. I am also going to check out my local mothers of multiples group, though the fact that they hold their meetings in a local hospital makes me slightly wary...

:

Heres to a healthy and happy pregnancy!

 

[fyrebloom]

Congratz to you too Dena. I found out about mine at 7w4d although I had a hunch a bit before that they might be twins. Still a shocker though!

 

[2+twins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dena Hi! I am new here as well. We just confirmed our twin pg (fraternal) at our eight week u/s.

Welcome, Dena! FYI, unless you know that one's a boy & one's a girl, you can't know yet if they're fraternal for certain. More often than not identicals don't share a placenta or sacs - lots of u/s techs don't seem to know that (and some docs too) and tell women off-handedly that they're having fraternal twins when they may or may not be.

 

[2+twins]

Welcome, Lucia! I adore the names you've picked out for your twins!

 

[fyrebloom]

Yes it is very common for identicals to have seperate sacs and placentas although I believe that most identicals do share a placenta, but not always. Fraternals always have seperate everything, but often have their placentas fuse and it can be really hard to tell. Statistically you're probally right, they are most likely fraternal if you saw seperate sacs at 8 weeks, but there is still a chance they might be identical. You may not know 100% unless they are tested for zygosity (fraternals often look identical and Identicals sometimes look differant... esp if they have had ttts)

 

[Dena]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2+twins Welcome, Dena! FYI, unless you know that one's a boy & one's a girl, you can't know yet if they're fraternal for certain. More often than not identicals don't share a placenta or sacs - lots of u/s techs don't seem to know that (and some docs too) and tell women off-handedly that they're having fraternal twins when they may or may not be.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. I guess we'll know for sure at birth, huh? Though I have a feeling it is a boy and a girl, so maybe we'll know before then...

That said, this is an IVF pregnancy, and the nurse who did the u/s is pretty experienced. Also, in our case the chance of just one embryo implanting and dividing is slimmer than the chances of two implanting, considering that we had three embies replaced. So I guess I should say the odds are that we are having fraternal twins.