FIRST TRIMESTER WITH TWINS

WHERE WE STAND:

Well, as of last week, I am one trimester down.  I feel great actually - hard to still believe there are two of them inside there.  I really don't feel that much different than I was with Rose, except that I am popping out a lot sooner.  The Dr. said this is partly because it is my second pregnancy and 3/4 because its Twins.  It took two doctors and two sonogram techs to find a definitive line between the placenta(s) - and to make a long story short - they are "pretty sure" there are two placentas present.  Supposedly after the first trimester this line gets harder and harder to find because of the growing size of the babies.  Having two placentas is like hitting a gold mine.  My pregnancy would more than triple in the "risk factor" department if the twins were sharing the same placenta - that would mean I would be more at risk for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) where one twin gets too many nutrients and swells and the other twin gets too little and suffers.  Crossing the two-placenta bridge was a huge milestone in the success of this pregnancy.

I feel like after all of my research and questions I will only be a diploma short of a certified OBGYN.  In fact, I have even had sonogram techs ask me what I do for a living because they are having to answer questions like "whats the fluid reading behind baby A's spinal cord?" and "How wide does my Lambda Sign measure?"....  It amazes me how mothers don't research their own healthcare - they act like I'm some sort of Freak of Nature for actually having questions and knowing what a Lambda Sign is.  I have done nothing the last two months but read journal articles with statistics, and books, and even a Discovery Channel series on Identical Twin Births.  I have a new list of questions every time I go.  I will have my 20-week scan actually done at 19 weeks.  I will also be meeting with Dr. Tucker.  He is a multiples-specialist at Women's Hospital.  He will be aiding my doctor in the delivery of the Twins as well as being present at all scans in the future.  He will be secondary to read all of my test results and will co-captain my doctor through this.  According to Dr. Cole, the more babies - the more doctors - that is standard procedure, and I am grateful for that.  

13 weeks pregnant with the Hardin Twins

Here are some interesting Facts that you may or may not know about twins:

There are actually 5 types of Twins - Yes FIVE

• Fraternal:  two eggs are ovulated and fertilized by two different sperm.  All boy/girl twins are Fraternal twins, but fraternal twins can also be the same sex
• Identical:  one egg that is fertilized by one sperm and splits - here comes the tricky part.....  when does it split???????  How early determines what "kind" of identical twin.  There are 4 kinds of identical twins.  All identical twins are the same sex.
• Dichorionic - Diamnionic:  (Di-Di) meaning two sacs and two placentas.  This is a perfect split.  Usually happens before day 3 of fertilization.  This appears in the womb just as Fraternal twins would appear - each having their own life support system. This is the best-case scenario for identical twins!
• Dichorionic - Monoamnionic: (Mo-Di) meaning two sacs feeding off of one placenta - this is where TTTS has a 70% chance of affecting the twins and is considered a huge risk for a pregnancy.
• Monochorionic - Monoamnionic: (Mo-Mo) meaning one sac and one placenta.  The baby has a complete split but nothing else is separated.  Twins here also suffer from TTTS but also the risk of umbilical cord wrapping/tangling is the greatest risk of all.  This only accounts for 1% of all identical twin pregnancies, and 70% of the time, at least one twin does not survive.  If you recently saw the Facebook post on the twins born holding hands then you will see why that was such a HUGE success - those were Mo-Mo twin girls who defied the odds of a Mo-Mo pregnancy.
• Monochorionic - Monoamnionic (Mo-Mo) CONJOINED:  Not a complete split.  This is worst case scenario.

1. Fraternal twins are a lot more common than identical
2. Fraternal Twinning is hereditary through your mothers blood - line.  A lot of people think it can run fathers blood line too.  This is incorrect.  It doesn't matter how many sperm are in there - the MOTHER has to ovulate TWO eggs to be fertilized.  The father has no part in Ovulation - hence no part in fraternal twinning. Hence, I CAN ONLY BLAME MYSELF AND MY GENETIC LINE FOR THIS !!!!
3. Identical Twinning is not necessarily considered hereditary but more of a random event - there are mixed reviews on whether or not identical twinning is hereditary.  (I actually have both in my family - mothers blood line - so I don't know this answer).
4. GIRL-GIRL fraternal twins is the most common, followed by girl/boy, followed by boy/boy.  BOY/BOY Identical twins is the least common - only < .5% chance
5. Having twins younger than age 35 (even if it runs in your family) is <3%
6. The average length of a twin pregnancy only last 35 weeks.  Most vary between 32-37 weeks gestation.
7. Mothers of natural twins are statistically proven to live longer - this means they are more healthy and their body has the ability to handle more of a load than a "normal" woman. ha ha ha ha...
8. Women who are tall, slightly overweight, and eat a lot of diary are more likely to have twins???  (I am definitely not tall and I hate milk so dairy products are a no-go for me...  Maybe it was the being overweight thing that got me????)
9. Fraternal Twin Girls are twice as likely to give birth to twins as a singleton.  Fraternal twin boys do not have any more of a predisposition to have twins unless twins runs in the wife's side of the family. (mother's blood line only - boys can not be mothers)  
10. If boy/boy identical twins marry girl/girl identical twins then their children will genetically be siblings even though by law they are considered cousins.  Craziness!!!!
11. 22% of twins are left-handed, compared to only 10% of singletons
12. Once a mother has a set of twins they are 4X more likely to have another set of twins in the next pregnancy..... (Oh, just one more reason we are DONE).
13. Identical Twins have the same DNA but not the same fingerprints (interesting to me....?)
14. According to recent studies, twins are known to start deliberately interacting at 14 weeks gestation.
15. 40 % of twins invent their own language
16. The average size of a twin is 5 lbs, 3.5oz
17. The smallest twin to ever survive weighed 8.6 oz
18. The youngest twin to ever survive was 21 weeks gestation

MY PREGNANCY STATS SO FAR:

• First Trimester Weight Gain - 6 pounds even
• Do twins run in my Family?  
• The answer is YES.  My grandmother's sister had Mo-Mo identical twins.  We have only found a few other cases of twins, but my great grandmother had 10 sisters (who are all deceased) so it has been rather hard trying to track down my genealogy - but they are there and we are slowly figuring out who has twins, but its taking some time and lots of phone calls to figure them out.
• Fraternal or Identical:  
• Well, this is what I have been told:  Unless mine are boy/girl twins then we will not know the answer to this question until they are born.  
• Why?  Well, even tho it appears that they have 2 placentas I am still at risk for having Di-Di identical twins.  
• How do they know this?  Both of my babies are side by side.  The eggs implanted next to each other.  They are both on the right side of my uterus.  If they were definitely fraternal then there would be a greater probability that they would implant in totally different locations (one on the right, one on the left) - this is not the case - mine are literally side by side.  
• So.... what does my gut tell me...?  I think (not that it matters what I think....) but I THINK, that they are fraternal boy/girl twins.  They just "happened" to implant in the same location.  But that's totally me talking here.....
• Cravings?  Anything salty.... especially Bacon and tomato sandwiches!!! yum yum yum....
• Morning Sickness:  Negative
• Tired:  No more than can be expected.  I mean, I'm pregnant with twins, work full time, building a house, and chasing a two year old....  What do i expect???
• Sense of smell:  Out of this world.....  I think our house reeks of something.  I have sprayed, bombed, lit candles, its just awful.  Mark does not smell it and has no idea what I am talking about.  

Im sure I have put your brain on over-load with TONS of TWIN INFORMATION! Welcome to my world!!!!