1. More Doctor visits, More Tests, More Ultrasounds
Being pregnant with twins is a life-changing experience. With most healthy singleton pregnancies, you might feel like you are just going through the motions until the baby arrives. Routine blood work at the start, an early ultrasound to confirm your due date, and another ultrasound around 20 weeks to access growth and possibly learn the gender.
Expect to have way more ultrasounds during a twin pregnancy. If you have twins with separate placentas, you’ll generally have a dating ultrasound then one every 4 weeks from 20 weeks. Where twins are sharing one placenta, you might have an ultrasound every 2 weeks from 12 weeks. With my twin, I had an ultrasound every 3 weeks. Those appointments increased to every week at 34 weeks until the boys were born. Twin pregnancy ultrasounds are also far more meticulous. Each appointment was roughly an hour to carefully check over the growth of two babies, while also checking for possible complications. These ultrasounds are long, tense, and physically uncomfortable. I had to get into all kinds of twisted positions to accommodate the examining tech. I also had more blood work done. In addition to the standard testing, I was screened for gestational diabetes, hypertension, anemia, and a NIPT test for chromosomal abnormality. I came back positive for gestational diabetes and anemia.
2. Twin B Might Be Born First
Naming our child was very important to me early on in pregnancy. This is a wonderful way to start bonding with your child pre-birth. I loved running my hands over my belly, talking to my boys, and calling them each by name. Both my husband and I had a different name in mind. Twin A was positioned to be born first and was named Baby S (technically Baby S III ) in honor of my husband’s late Father. Twin B, conveniently later named Baby B, was a name I deeply treasured for our secondborn. Approximately 5 weeks after each twin was labeled and named, I was resting comfortably at home. I felt this tsunami building. I watched the ripple across my stomach grow as Twin B heaved forward into the head-down position. I felt around in wonder as I regained my breath. My ultrasound next week confirmed it, Twin B was now on track to be the firstborn. They changed leads twice more, with Twin A nuzzling out a short-lived lead just weeks before the delivery before Twin B secured the coveted spot. All of our postnatal paperwork had “TWIN B BORN FIRST” handwritten across the top. I guess this is rather unusual, but prepare yourself for the possibility.
3. Swelling
Overall I got lucky. No nausea, no vomiting, no spotting, no headaches. I count my blessings.
Where I paid my pregnancy dues was with the swelling. I’d wager 10lb-15lbs of my pregnancy weight gain was just from swelling. Easily. I felt like I was chronically walking around with soaking wet wool socks. Elevating my feet on a pillow made little difference. Compression stockings were unbearably painful when moving quickly. I remember reading pregnant women have to carry and process an amazing 40% more fluid and blood. Twin pregnancies jack that up to 60%. That’s a LOT of fluid for your body to process, and double the babies exerting pressure on your pelvis only compounds the fluid lag. I googled and followed the “6 simple ways” to reduce swelling, but saw no improvement. This would just need to resolve itself with time. I also suffered from nerve pain in my hands and feet, and occasional bouts of sciatica. All this from the swelling. It wasn’t until several months after the boys were delivered that could I see what normal feet are supposed to look like.
4. So Much More To Worry Over
When the doctor told me I was expecting twins, I didn’t jump and down. I didn’t scream and I didn’t cry- all that came late. I broke out into a cold sweat of dread. Moments before the news, I had been prepared to care for and protect one tiny life. Now there were two lives counting on me, and so much more could go wrong. I could hardly breathe under the magnitudes of it all. I count myself fortunate that I was so far along in my pregnancy when I learned the news. We were past the risks of vanishing twin syndrome, and miscarriages, and both boys were developing on track. Still, the dread weighed me down. Only when I got home and shared with news with my husband and MIL did the excitement start bubbling to the surface. Every morning I would wake up and feel for Twin A and then Twin B, reassured that they were still happy and moving. I spent too much of my pregnancy teetering between bewildered joy and cautious optimism. We held our breath that they would remain in place long enough to make it to full term (38 weeks).
5. Delivery May Not Be As Imagined
Women today are encouraged to write out a birth plan before going into labor. A birth plan is supposed to outline your wishes for labor and help communicate to staff the delivery experience you want. Expect that this will almost certainly not go according to plan. Things change very quickly in a twin pregnancy. Everything about my birth journey was completely different than had been expected. I had been planning for a single child, born in my home, by a midwife. Now I was preparing for twins, a hospital delivery, in an operating room, assisted by an OB and three complete medical teams. I tried to modify my expectations and explored other options I thought would be available to me in hospital. I’d planned to walk the halls during my labour, take a shower, and perhaps labour in a birthing tub. This ended up not being possible, I was strapped down in bed by an IV and three heart monitors. I quickly learned to let go of the vision I had in my head of what my perfect birth would look like. I had two little lives depending on me, and for their safety, I had to follow the best practice protocols as advised by my OB. My birthing story was still an incredible (and somewhat bittersweet) experience you can read here if interested. My best advice is to have flexible plans in place, know when they need to be compromised on, and don’t be afraid to advocate if you feel the care is not in your children’s best interest. Trust that inner voice.
