How would I know if I'm having twins?

[ShanaMama]

Besides having it confirmed by a dr/ midwife?
I am almost twelve weeks and have already gained 10-25 pounds. Sometimes I feel like my belly is huge for being this early, but then again, I never really got back into shape after DD was born. I'd think I would be feeling much sicker if I was having twins- I'm not constantly nauseated like last time. I am constantly ravenous. I mean wanting to eat a hot 5 course dinner every two hours. It's basically impossible for me to completely satisfy my hunger. The only time I really get nauseaus (sp?) is when I don't eat enough to satisfy my hunger- so that really explains the weight gain.
Anyway, DH is completely convinced I'm having twins and keeps telling me so. I feel like I should be refuting him but something inside keeps telling me- maybe he's right?
The only other thing that's really different than last time is that I am constantly EXHAUSTED. Unremitting, can't pull myself out of bed exhaustion. After a relatively chilled out day at home yesterday, DH, DD and I went on a few relaxed errands. I came home and promptly fell asleep on the couch for 3 hours! Solid, sound asleep.
I've been attributing the exhaustion to working, taking care of DD, and of course being pregnant, but I guess it could be a sign of twins.....

So other than waiting till my next appt, is there any way I would know if it's twins? Thanks for hearing me out.

[kijip]

Could be twins, could be second pregnancy with an older child to care for at the same time :)

Any way to move up your appointment or schedule an extra one to determine if it is a twin pregnancy?

[sarahsthreads]

Hm, I'm at the same point and I'm definitely only having one (have had an early U/S already) and I feel the exact same way with ravenous hunger and constant exhaustion (can't explain why I'm still up right now though). When's your next appointment? If you want to know for sure I think you'd have to get an U/S. I know at my last appointment (10.5 weeks) we could hear the heartbeat, but it was hard enough to find that the dr. didn't go looking for any extras. ;)

Sarah

[dotgirl]

With DS, who was my second, I showed much sooner, was much (much!) more exhausted (like, come home from work at 5:30 and sleep until 7:30, wake up for 15 minutes to eat, sleep til morning exhausted), and was constantly hungry.

Honestly, we thought he might be twins for a bit. I have a history of twins in my family, but DH doesn't. Anyway, in the end, it was just one little guy.

[MommyAllison]

I wondered the same thing this time, especially because I felt the baby move starting at 13 weeks (didn't get into the midwife til 16wks). I was also super nauseous, hungry, exhausted, and constantly needing to pee. There's only one baby in there though. :) I didn't gain too much at the beginning, but have gained a little more than I should have in the last month, which I am attributing to holidays and too many Christmas cookies. :) I know how you're feeling though, wondering and having a while to wait til you can find out if there are one or two in there. If I were you, I might call the OB office on Wednesday, let them know what you're thinking, and see if they want you to come in sooner, or if they want to schedule a separate appt to check heartbeat(s)/ultrasound/whatever. Have you had your bloodwork done yet? I would think your HCG or whatever it is levels would be quite a bit higher if you were having twins. GL!

[cvanbrunt]

I could have written this post about a year ago when I was pregnant with #2. The second time around was more exhausting and I was starving. I took naps in my office all the time. Ate more and gained more weight. My first pregnancy was embarrasingly easy and #2 wiped me out. Only one little monster, though.

[hardysmom]

I had twins when ds was 2...
I had twins when ds was 2yo.

Early on, the pregnancy was much more intense. I didn't have so much morning sickness, but the exhaustion was awful. This said, I've heard that 2nd pregnancies, particularly with a toddler at home, tend to have a harder 1st trimester.

The only way to know for sure is to confirm medically. My twins were spotted by u/s at my routine 1st OB appointment at 7 weeks. I sensed something was different, even at that point so I wasn't shocked.

Now that early 1st term u/s have become so common, many experts believe that twinning is much more common than previously believed. Many say that up to 10% of us begin as twins, but one "vanishes" before anyone knows it existed.

Stephanie

[SnuggleBuggles]

last spring I could have written that post and no twins, just 2nd baby. It was so dif't than my 1st pregnancy.

Beth

[kedss]

yep, my first pregnancy was too easy, this time around I was miserable for 2 months til my body figured out what was going on, I guess. Since there are twins on both sides of the family, I was a little worried, but we've only heard one heartbeat so far...

[ShanaMama]

Well, it's good to know this is pretty normal. I am probably not having twins, but will wonder till I know for sure. The midwife offered me an u/s at my 10 week appt, but I declined because I really saw no reason to have one. (She didn't have a particular reason either, just seems it's become commonplace.)
We did hear the baby's heartbeat, but when I mentioned that DH thought I was having twins she just laughed it off and didn't even try to look for a second. I imagine it would've been pretty hard to hear at that point anyway.
Because of all the weight gain & fatigue I started to wonder as well... so maybe now I would take her up on that ultrasound! I did have bloodwork but didn't even call for the results. I assumed if anything was abnormal they'd call me. I think I'll call this week and tell her my suspicions. If she can definitely rule it out based on the bloodwork I'll know, if not I may push up my next appt.
Thanks for the input everyone. It's really fun to see there are so many other people due around the same time. May we all have a happy & healthy.

[Momof3Labs]

I don't believe that the bloodwork will give them any indication, but she can also tell by how fast your uterus is growing. If it seems large for your dates, that would be another reason to suspect twins (and get an u/s to see what is going on). But to me, it also sounds like you have a normal second pregnancy with a toddler at home!

[StantonHyde]

On the eating thing--with my second pg I had one month where I was eating so much and it actually had more to do with stomach acid (can't remember--reflux? it wasn't an ulcer.) anyway it was something so simple and commonplace. I even forget if the doc gave me meds or just told me to do something different. Whatever it was, it worked and my weight normalized.

As for pg #2--just think of how tired you were when you were pg the first time and then think about the fact that you have DC #1 around to care for. I remember picking up my 30 some odd pounds almost 3 year old when I was 37 weeks pg and remembering that when I was pg with him, I could not imagine lifting something that heavy, let alone carrying him from daycare to the parking lot!!!

[oneplustwo]

Shanamama, I'll share my story when I was pregnant with twins. At my first appt. with a midwife at 7 weeks, everything looked good and normal. Next appt, 11 weeks along, different midwife, who after feeling my uterus declared that I was a month larger than I should have been for the dates we gave for conception. Ergo, we must have had the date wrong. DH and I looked at each other and said, "Uh, no, we're sure of the date." The midwife located a heartbeat, but it took her a while, since it wasn't where she expected it to be (for a singleton). She didn't look for a second heartbeat, but since my size was so off, she said I definitely needed an ultrasound. And presto, there were my twin babes.

I would say that at this stage, the midwife would be able to tell if you had twins b/c your uterus would be growing much faster than for a singleton. If you're still wondering and just not sure, go with your gut and get an U/S or ask the midwife to check you out again. But as everyone has said, pregnancies after the first one always seem harder -- and those stomach muscles seem to pooch out way, way, way too early!

Anne
mom to DD, 8/01 and DS#1 and DS#2, 11/03

[Melanie]

I showed very early with #2. So much so that I ended up going for an ultrasound so that I could begin to 'mentally prepare' for twins. LOL. Nope, just showing early. Baby was a normal singleton. As my midwives predicted, the growth evened out around 20 weeks and I measured "on target" the rest of the time. Apparently it's common in subsequent pregancies. They also told me it was hard to find the heartbeats of twins "by accident," and not to count on that for determining twins.

[HHCs Mom]

DS2 was a twin but ended up being a single birth. The second baby didn't grow properly and just vanished after a couple of weeks. We saw it via u/s and then it was gone the next time. My OB was drawing blood checking hCG levels and we suspected twins before we even had the first u/s because they were so high. So yes, you can tell by bloodwork.

But, I do remember being way more exhausted the second time around because I was taking care of DS1 and not working like I did when I was pregnant with him. Staying home was way more physically exhausting than working!