Siblings share a magical bond with each other and what if this bond gets developed right in the womb? Conceiving twin babies means that everything gets multiplied, and you got to be ready to face the challenges because your body is going to carry two tiny babies in the limited space of your uterus. Twin baby pregnancy has its charm but needs loads of patience and a stress-free attitude.
Twin Babies Pregnancy
Twin pregnancy is likely to happen if you conceive at an older age because of the hormonal changes or you have undergone IVF in which more than one embryo got transferred, or you have been taking fertility medications to conceive. Twins can either be:
- Identical: In which one fertilized egg splits into two fetuses and thus the twins might share the placenta and amniotic sac or have separate amniotic sac.
- Fraternal Twins: In which two sperms fertilize two eggs, and the twins have separate placenta and amniotic sac.
Twin baby pregnancy is diagnosed through an ultrasound, which is conducted at 10-12 weeks and will help in determining whether you have identical or fraternal twins, and your doctor will conduct frequent ultrasounds to check the growth of the twins.
If the twins share the placenta then an ultrasound after every two weeks after the 12th week is recommended until the birth of the twins.
If twins have separate placentas then an ultrasound at 12 weeks, 20 weeks, and every four weeks until birth is recommended.
Twin Pregnancy Symptoms
Your body will start showing the symptoms early if you have conceived twins, and these are:
- Nausea
- Mood swings
- Constipation
- Fatigue
- Increase in body weight by almost 16-20kgs in comparison to 10-15 in normal pregnancy
- Hemorrhoids
- Bloating
- Stretch Marks
- Varicose Veins
- Morning sickness
- Unusual increase in the size of the uterus
- Higher AFP(Alpha-fetoprotein)screening results
- Positive pregnancy test a few days before menses
Antenatal care during twin baby pregnancy is important so that the nutrition reaches to both the babies. Twin Babies Pregnancy care involves that you:
- Have a healthy lifestyle
- Eat well and rest well which doesn’t mean eat double, but what you eat should be nutritious.
- Engage yourself in mild exercises
- Take supplements like folic acid, iron, calcium
Twin babies Pregnancy has some complications like:
- Premature birth
- High blood pressure
- Miscarriage
- Low birth weight
- Bleeding around the birth
- Development disability
- Gestational diabetes
However, keeping in touch with the doctor and following the guidelines is always beneficial.
Twin pregnancy delivery time is generally before 37 weeks, and in most of the cases, cesarean is recommended. You can consult your doctor for vaginal delivery if everything is normal.
Parenting twins is lots of fun but requires double the effort so, keep yourself upright and informed for the magical journey.
Be ready to face double the kicks when you are carrying twins!
