My mom is a fraternal twin (so, not identical, in other words, was her own egg) and always refers to her twin brother as her womb mate, which I think is pretty cute. They were born in the 50's and back then they didn't do ultra sounds or anything like that, but my grandma knew she was having twins. This was her 3rd (out of 6) pregnancy and her symptoms were just different than her first two. She gained weight and her belly grew a lot faster, had worse morning sickness and she said, "I just knew!" If you can believe it, despite my grandma's concerns, the doctors didn't listen much to my little grandma. Finally, they had to admit she really was growing at an incredible rate. The only way then to know for sure back then, was by having an x-ray taken (WOW! Today that is like a huge NO-NO!! Maybe that is why my mom is a little crazy!! Just kidding mom!). Sure enough there were two little babies shoving each other around in there and my grandma got the satisfaction of being right!!
I grew up thinking I would have twins myself. They say the odds increase if you yourself are a twin, your mother is a twin or your mother's mother is a twin. So with every pregnancy I crossed my fingers hoping I would get my twins. It never happened for me, but I did get my last two babies 13 months a part and after that realized how grateful I was I never did get those twins I had wished for!
With the OctoMom, John and Kate plus 8, and all the celebrity twins there is obviously some kind of something going on in regards to multiple births. Studies show that there has been an obvious increase in the occurrence of multiple births, but no study can directly link it to fertility treatments and drugs, which I find interesting, I can't imagine what else could be linked to it?
So what if you are having a multiple birth?? Could it really be that different? Well, I would thinkYES!! First, during pregnancy you will simply get bigger than in a single fetus pregnancy and you will get bigger faster! During a typical pregnancy you can increase your calories to about an extra sandwich (300 calories) per day but with multiples you should eat about 300 extra calories per fetus! Can you imagine having to eat that much while full of babies?? You would be eating all day long!! In general most of your symptoms may just be heightened. Your morning sickness may be longer and more intense. Your aches and pains may be worse and the onset may be earlier than in a typical pregnancy. It is also likely you will have your babies early. If you are having twins, you are more likely to deliver around your due date and 70% of the deliveries recorded as early were still within normal and safe ranges. However if you are having triplets or more the odds increase by a %100 that you will deliver early.
Since I have not had the opportunity to carry more than one baby at a time, maybe some of you out there can enlighten us more. . .what were the biggest differences for those of you that had a multiple birth?
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Funny, twins also run in my family, my grandmother was a twin. I grew up always wanting to have twins, even when I got pregnant. Now, I wonder how I would have survived multiples, one at a time was enough!
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Being that twin girl, I was always happy I was lucky enough to have a twin brother and not a twin sister, who I know I would've been very competitive with. My twin brother and I have a bond that is undefinable, but it's often like we are in sync and our natures are very similiar. We seem to just totally "get" each other. From what my Mom tells me, we were inseparable when little.(We were 6 weeks early -my brother came out first but had some bronchial issues, I did not, but they kept BOTH of us in hospital for approx 30 days after we were born - my Dad says the hospital bill for us was $300.00 (in 1953) - can you imagine what a month of premie care would be for 2 babies for 30 days now??? )
ReplyDeleteIt's about 25k for each baby for 3 weeks!!! Thank goodness for insurance!
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