My Identical Twin Pregnancy – Part One

Posted on May 1, 2011 by No Comments

To discover that I was yet again pregnant with Twins was a surprise but at the same time no surprise at all if that can possibly make sense? Of course nobody expects to be pregnant with twins in the first place let alone have a second set of twins and for me this was also the case.  However, at the same time I thought “well of course its twins! I like a challenge. Why would it being anything else?  It’s not like life is supposed to be easy!”

Although this was my second twin pregnancy and I knew what to expect it was going to be a different experience particularly as this time the twins were Identical.  On reflection, the pregnancy was definitely a tougher and more complicated pregnancy than my first pregnancy with Fraternal Twins.  This was most likely due to the differences between a Fraternal Twin Pregnancy (dichorionic) and an Identical Twin Pregnancy (Monochorionic) and possibly my being 5 years older.

The pregnancy left me completely drained. I still had my older twins (who were just 5) to look after and therefore it wasn’t always possible to just stop and rest.  There were still school runs to do, meals to make and play to be had. My husband was brilliant and took as much of the strain as he could.

The nausea really lasted all day and sometimes the evenings seemed worse.  I really struggled entering the kitchen.  Just the thought of food made me feel terrible.  I tried to nibble on anything plain or dry throughout the day. I snacked on biscuits, crackers, toast and crisps.  I found that listening to my body’s cravings helped me.  If I fancied an Apple, an Apple is what I ate. If it was scrambled egg, I ate it.  I didn’t stick to a three meals a day diet I just ate when and what I could manage to see and smell under my nose!

I found sparkling water easier to consume than still water.  I often craved a sugary fizzy drink (something I wouldn’t normally drink) but instead of succumbing to the can of coke I chose to combine a sparkling water with a fruit juice. .

By 3 months it was obvious I was pregnant well at least to me anyway! I seemed to expand far earlier than with my first pregnant.  I assume this was due the ligaments and muscles and uterus being stretched previously.

When I reached the second trimester, I didn’t feel any more energised.  I felt as though I had reached the third trimester early which psychologically and physically meant for a long pregnancy. It was in fact cut short by 5 weeks due to early delivery.

I learned from my first twin pregnancy that sleeping really becomes uncomfortable and as it’s something you desperately need during your pregnancy I decided early on in this pregnancy to try and do something positive about it and sure enough at around 17 weeks I really started to suffer during the night.

At first it was due to the nausea.  I couldn’t lay on my front; I couldn’t lay flat on my back as this makes the nausea worse.  There is only so much sleeping sitting upright a girl can take.  During pregnancy sleeping on your side is recommended for blood circulation to the baby.  The problem with carrying twins is that both sides of your stomach have a baby occupying the space so there is never really one comfortable side for you to lie on.  I invested in a maternity pillow which did help for a few weeks.

By 20 weeks I found that my own movements were restricted.  Dressing was a challenge and not a task which could be met standing up.  I tried balancing on one leg whilst trying to raise the other just slightly but this was proving dangerous.   This was probably due to the babies positioning.  Lifting my new bulk out of our very deep bath was becoming increasingly difficult and quite frankly unsafe and something I knew would have to stop.  A real nuisance as being submerged in water is often the only relief you get from the weight of that twin bump.  Did I say bump? I meant to say Mountain!

My Identical Twin Pregnancy – Part Two