Pregnant with twins

According to a recent ultrasound scan, my wife is 7+weeks pregnant with separate twins in different placentas. We are so excited.... if you have been pregnant with twins, what would you recommend in terms of diet, health, pre-term labor, C-section, etc. any useful info would be greatly appreciated. Also, she can't tolerate diary products...Is there any alternative source of calcium? Thanks.

 

Congratulations!!


I am a twin (faternal as well), and let me tell you, there is nothing better than growing up with a twin. A best friend that always gets to stay the night! Your babies are very blessed.

My mother is very petite (5'2") and she went full term with us. We were both 6lbs. She had a natural birth, no c-section. She was in labor about 28 hours.

I would have the suppliment talk with the doctor. Make sure she mentions she is intolerant to dairy so he can suggest a good, absorbable form of calcium for your wife (a lot of calcium suppliments don't absorb well into the body). Maggie Sugar is our resident Mom and she always has wonderful advice for expecting mother's. I hope she'll make an appearance on the thread

 

Oh that is sooo awesome! Congratulations! I'm the mama of a set of almost 3 year old twins myself. Boy and girl fraternals.

To be honest, I won't tell you much about my birth because it was very rough and not the norm. I was an extremely rare case (1 in a 1,000,000). My pregnancy itself was smooth sailing until the end however.

I can tell you whatever you want to know about the whole pregnancy and diet for carrying multiples. If you have any questions, just ask! I'd post more, but I could go on forever.

Hugs and congrats again! You are doubly blessed!

 

Once they start doubling up on ya is when its time to stop. Atleast thats what they say in my family.



Oh, btw your cursed.

 

No advice, but congrats and good luck

 

Congratulations! What I advise my moms pregnant with twins is to stick to an exceptionally wholesome diet.
Most important for moms pregnant with twins is getting adequate protein. Moms of multiples need at least 130 grams of good quality protein a day. Calcium is found in fortified soy milk, soy bean products, and dark, leafy greens, fish with bones (like sardines). Calcium absorption is actually increased during pregnancy, which makes it easier for the fetus's to get what they need. A good supplement, especially during the third trimester, when the bones are beginning to harden, helps. Make sure the supplement has exactly half the amount of mgs of magnesium, ie, 1000 mg calcuim plus 500 mg magnesium. Increase caloric intake to around 4,000 calories a day, which doesn't mean eating cookies and cake all the time .

twin mamas also can have more serious morning sickness, are at higher risk of developing pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, small for gestational age babies, preterm birth. These can all be prevented by getting adequate nutrition. Twin mamas should eat small frequent meals every 2 hours instead of three squares, and should always have nutritious snacks handy. Two placentas with two amniotic sacs means a higher need for water, she should always have a bottle of water nearby and drink LOTS. Do not restrict salt, she should salt to taste and avoid any packaged or processed foods. Every bite of food should build and develop her babies, so whole grains are a must, sweet potatoes are better than white potatoes, the darker the fruit or veggie the better it is. I recommend my mamas to use Ezekial bread, which can be found in the frozen foods section, made of sprouted grains so it's almost pure protein (and delicious!) I also recommend using a nutritional yeast supplement in a little juice for a boost of B vitamins and protein, and it's good for keeping nausea and vomiting at bay and gives a nice boost to energy. I also recommned they avoid juices (except for drinking the yeast) because juice is very high in sugar. Eat the fruit instead.
Sticking to a good diet can help Mama have a full term, healthy birth with babies weighing an average of 7 pounds each.
Also, if her OB is suggesting c-section birth (already!), find another doctor who will deliver vaginally. C-section should be a last resort. The last thing a twin mama needs is to recover from major abdominal surgery with TWO newborns needing her care and attention.

 

You ROCK, Brighid! Fantastic advice.

Congrats to you and your womyn, curious. Also, read some good books on pregnancy and parenting, so you can be both her and the babies advocates when things get rough. (It is hard to advocate for yourself, or your children while in labor, or while lying on an OR table. I hope she can have a vag birth. The recovery is so much better. and it will save her a lot of pain after the birth. Twins are often born vaginally, so get rid of any doctor who makes a C sec decision in the first or even second trimester.

 

Congrats! How exciting!!

Brighid and Maggie beat me to it. If her doc is already talking about cesarean, when there is NO reason in the world for it at this point, go find another care provider. Cesarean is no fun. And recovery from it with just one premature newborn is even less fun. I can't imagine what it would be like with two babies who need that level of care and attention. I would strongly suggest she at least consider midwifery care instead, with a good backup OB just in case his skills are needed. Both of you need to make it loud and clear, starting now, that you won't discuss the pregnancy or birth or breastfeeding with anyone who has anything negative to say about your plans or their experiences, especially if that person is in a position of authority, like her doctor. I'm not saying you should bury your head in the sand, know the risks, and know exactly how you want every possibility handled ahead of time, but don't let people use scare tactics on you, don't dwell on the negative. Women wouldn't conceive twins if they couldn't give birth to them, naturally and vaginally.

 

Thanks! 28 hour labor sounds like a long one...

Thank you! yeah, I see. I've heard for twins only after 6months are you out of a danger zone, unlike singletons--3-4 months. When you say 'smooth sailing until the end' do you mean the final couple days/weeks or the delivery room itself, when the babies were due to be delivered?

Ok. As far as calcium is concerned other than milk and diary products, it seems like no other food contains it in large quantities, so I am thinkin of buying her tablets or the ones that you can chew. Also her level of hemoglobin is slightly reduced now but she is eager to eat red meat so we are doing fine in this department. Do you think any fruit can boost hemoglobin, I found no such fruit as part of any diet. She's most willing to eat fruits like apples oranges, bananas, and she doesn't like even fortified cereals.

Ok. We use ultimate chopper/blender and make orange and other juices ourselves Sometimes she just eats oranges, apples, kiwi, instead of drinking juices.

No her OB is not suggesting anything at this point, this is what I was contemplating. I've read on the net that how the babies are positioned is very important. I've heard it often happens that the first baby is head down and anterior but the following baby is often not well positioned that can potentially prolong delivery and afflict undue stress on the later baby..Also baby sizes matter a lot--if the first baby at delivery tends to squeeze the second one and the uterus can only provide limited space for each...It is just my opinion and I am no doctor but that c-section could reduce risks, especially if we decide to not have more babies so no more c-sections or VBAC. As far as a recovery period is concerned, the mom will only need a few extra days and won't be able to breastfeed for a couple of days coming out of full anethsesia (affects her milk)? I don't know, but somehow C-section seems safer, especially if its planned? Also a friend told her that c-sections are best done at 8mo or so when babies are still relatively small..so she can plan.

Thanks so much. Well, we don't buy books but I google and read on the net all sorts of stuff, incl most up-to-date ones.

 

Curious, many, many women do not drink milk or use dairy products have no problems getting sufficient calcium from leafy greens, soy products, and fish with soft bones. The calcium is dairy products is not very well absorbed anyway, so even though it seems as if they are loaded with calcium, very little actually makes it to the blood stream.

Raisins are loaded with iron, as are egg yolks, dark leafy greens, cooking in cast iron pots, especially tomato based dishes. Hemoglobin is often lower in pregnancy due to the increase in blood volume, if it doesn't get below 11 it's fine.

yes, depending on the first baby's position, the first is usually head down, the second breech, but once the cervix is completely dilated, the second twin has a much easier time coming down, even if breech. Twins have been born vaginally hours and, uncommonly, even days apart, no problems. Usually the second twin follows within minutes.
Recovery after a c-section takes weeks, not days. Plenty of women will tell you that their recovery took months after a section.

 

Maybe look into Bradley classes for childbirth preparation. IMO, it is a better system than Lamaze, and it is great for attachment parenting and breastfeeding. Tell your wife, that sometime in her second trimester, to maybe think about starting to attend La Leche League meetings. The support is amazing, and she will know more about breastfeeding before she has the baby, than most of the doctors and nurses she will run into do (assuming she has a hospital birth.) Their website is www.laleacheleague.org The phone number is 1 847 519 7730.

Good books to get:

• The Baby Book by William (MD) and Martha (RN, IBCLC) Sears The BABY BIBLE. If you buy no other book, get this one. more than 800 pages of great information, and arranged so you can just look up what you need to know, or read the entire thing if you want.
• The Womaly Art of Breastfeeding, by La Leche League The breastfeeding Bible. When my freinds get pregnant, I buy them this and The Baby book when they get into their second trimester
• Mothering Multiples (blanking on the author) it is in the LLL catalogue and is great for nursing multiple babies. Written by a LLL leader who had twins, she is also a lactatioj consultant
• A Goood Birth, A Safe Birth by Korte and Scaer
• The Pregnancy Book and The Birth Book by Sears and Sears, this husband and wife, doctor and nurse, lactation consultant team, have 8 children together, they KNOW pregnancy, birth babies and breastfeeding
• Having Twins by Elizabeth Noble (I hope this is still in print.) Great book about twins. No horror stories, just honestly, from the breastfeeding mother of twins, herself.

Stuff to stay AWAY from

• The What to Expect books, mostly they are utter rubbish and outdated stuff. None of the authors of these books have any training in Natural Child Birth (one was an OB nurse, but she is a total interneventionist) no training in Child Development, so most of the data they give is warmed over Freudian bull, and no training in Lactation, which is essensial for anyone who writes books on pregancy and infants. Their child birth and breastfeeding info is about 30 years outdated. The only good thing is the pages which tell you what the baby looks like at every stage, but you can get that info from other places.
• The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. AWFUL, this womyn has NO training in infant development, lactation, or childbirth (despite her lying to the contrary) she abadoned her own children in England to work for rich Hollywood people, and based her E.A.S.Y "program" on her experiences with other people's kids. There is NOTHING EASY about babies.
• On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo, Scary scary stuff. The worst of the worst of the "baby training" movement. There is nothing about "baby training" (especially Ezzo's particularly cruel methods) endorsed by Child Development experts or the American Academy of Pediatricians. In fact the AAP called this book "One of the most dangerous books on child rearing in the 20th century." Even Ezzo's publishers have treid to get this book taken off the shelves. Countlesss numbers of babies have ended up not only dehydrated, but developing Attachment Disorders from Ezzo's program and at least 3 deaths in infants have been attributed to it. The absolute worst.
• How to Get you Baby to Sleep (or something like this) by Ferber. Again, mean, cruel, cry it out, strategies, which now, even Ferber himself says "I wish I had never written." Yet, they sell, so he keeps them in print.
• Solve your Child's Sleep Problems by Marc Weisbluth. About the same as Ferber, but he hasn't retracted, and he's an actual doctor, so he sounds scientific and like he knows what he is talking about. Baby's need a mamas arms, breasts, and love and constant attention. They are not to "train." No one should expect "a good night's sleep" for at least the first year, and books like this promse you something that damages the baby more than night waking temporarily "damages" the parent.

Basically, good books about infant rearing care about the infant, and the infant's feelings. Poor books about infant rearing play on "how to make it easier on mom and dad." But, good, attached babies ARE easier on mom and dad. IMO, (A Lactation Consultant, with an MS in Child Development, and four kids between the ages of 19 and 6, good parenting is harder to do, but SO worth the effort.

You two will do a good job, congrats on the pregnancy.

 

recovery from my cesarean took months, and then I still had to have surgery later to remove the very painful adhesions that formed as a result of the cesarean. My milk took six days to come in after my cesarean, but as soon as mom wakes up, her milk is not contaminated by the anesthesia, even if she had been given a general. My baby was born too early and was not strong enough to suck hard enough to stimulate a decent supply and she lost a lot of weight and was rehospitalized for dehydration, where I was forced to give her formula which then caused me to lose all of my milk in less than one week's time. Then there's the PTSD that was a result of the cesarean, one of those side effects doctors don't tell you about and are not mentioned in the studies and lists of risks... cesarean is no fun, and it should not be chosen lightly or because a MAN thinks it might be better or easier. Go find out the risks for yourself. Don't make any decisions based on what any one person says, or what any article says, without reading the studies themselves. You can find just about any published medical study online at www.pubmed.com Try www.gentlebirth.org to dispell many of the myths you will hear and read about in the months to come. But, again, I urge you to not take anyone's word for anything! Do your research and make up your own mind. No matter what else you do, your wife's decisions trump anything you or her care provider have to say about it. Be supportive of her, help her gather information, but let her make up her own mind what it is she wants the birth to be like. Once she makes her decision, support her wishes with all your heart and soul, even if somewhere deep down inside, you don't completely agree with her.

 

I somehow think that she's not getting enough calcium. Perhaps they are not well absorbed in isolation but combined with other types of food (much like when non-heme type iron foods are combined with foods rich in C vitamin) they are better absorbed. She doesn't like yogurt either Regarding fish, they are good but you have to be sure that they aren't contaminated with mercury (ponds and environmental pollution) and fish poisoning is horrible....She can eat dark green leafy veggies, fortunately.

Ok.

Ok. also since twins are smaller in size than singletons they are more easily delivered. Actually, I was speaking to my wife the other day perhaps if all conditions are supporting, she can attempt vaginal birth perhaps...(although there is always a risk and a planned c-section is always far better than an emergency c-section or a combo of vaginal birth and c-section...its too early to judge though) yeah, sure c-section is a real surgery but so is appendicitis etc..we are looking for the type of delivery with least possible complications for both the mother and the babies even if takes more time for the mother to recover from a surgery while newborns need care and nourishment...

Thank you Maggie Sugar very much for this comprehensive list and analysis of information sources.

I see. Yes, s/he may not be mature enough to suck. Thank you for those links. I will read them. btw, what is PTSD?

 

If I remember correctly, it stands for "Post Tramatic Stress Disorder." Correct me if I am wrong, but that's what I think PTSD stands for. Here's a link about it:

www.nimh.nih.gov/HealthInformation/ptsdmenu.cfm

I hope that is more informative than I could be! Congratulations and good luck with the pregnancy!

Peace & Love

 

PTSD = post traumatic stress disorder. Most doctors still claim any feelings of sadness immediately after childbirth are due to hormones, and could not possibly be due to the things they do to women in the hospital. PTSD does not just go away, it stays with a person forever to some extent. Birth can be a very traumatic experience for some women, or a very empowering one. I know, I have had one of each kind. I'd take the empowering birth any day over the out of control traumatic one. Birth can also be traumatic for baby, another thing doctors and psychologists have debated since Freud first brought up the subject 100 years ago. PPD and PTSD not only affect the new mother, but everyone who loves her as well. That is why it is so important that she know ahead of time exactly what she wants in the event of any circumstance. Bradley childbirth classes were invaluable for my husband in understanding why I made the decisions I did with the birth of our second child (my VBAC baby). You can find tons of interesting information just by typing "birth trauma" into a google search.

find out for yourself what the risks of surgical birth are. Not just the risks of the cesarean, but of the medications they must give a woman in order to perform such surgery, the long term risks that might not show up for months or years afterwards. http://www.ican-online.org/ this is a very anti-cesarean website (for a very good reason, IMO), but they do cite their sources, and even give links to the studies in most cases.

 

I see, thanks. I've checked out ican site and sure there are risks from a c-section. As far as giving birth as an empowering feeling is concerned, I realize that is important too. Although, sometimes I think that giving birth to a healthy baby and in our case babies would be satisfactory to her after a time, even if she wouldn't experience the process and the sacrifice itself (for one thing, she's not very emotionaly in this sense relative to some other women, but I might be wrong). We'll see how it goes with time...I also found this site, http://www.maternitywise.org and looks very informative on c-sections.

 

My pregnancy, although as unfortunately with a majority of pregnancies where the mother is expecting multiples, was considered high risk. However, I never once allowed myself to settle for that title. I was never once put on bed rest or had any other restrictions placed upon me like a vast majority of the other women I spoke with who were expecting multiples or had had multiples. I was doing great actually, my doctor referred to me as his star patient because I never complained.

I did see an OB/GYN, even though I had really wanted a midwife for a more natural approach. However, I will say that my OB/GYN was absolutely fantastic and I was very lucky to have him. As I said before, my pregnancy itself was pretty uneventful except for me being on the smaller side and having difficulties with a lot of pain the further along I got. Let me be honest with you here. I could barely walk at times and turning in bed was quite painful, manuevering in general was tough. I had a lot of pressure and being a smaller lady, it was tough carrying around two babies. But I rarely complained to anyone, I just went along. My OB/GYN would tease me and say that he hoped for my sake that I wouldn't go to 40 weeks. I didn't. I went to 36 weeks when due to emergency I had to be induced, but it was a good gestation for twins thankfully.

My birth, well, I had my first twin vaginally but my second twin had to be taken by a cesarean section. The thing is, that's not something that happens often at all, but I also had a very rare complication that is extremely uncommon which was another reason why we didn't have time to play around with. I had severe H.E.L.L.P. syndrome and also Toxemia. Anyway, my babies were born, both at good weights for twins, and both did very well. My twin daughter (she was the twin born by cesarean) had to be in the ICU for a few weeks, but she did great. My twin son was able to be released when I was, which was 8 days after the birth due to my complications, but he was in the regular nursery, not the ICU.

A tip for pregnancy with twins is that more than likely, the further along your wife gets, the harder it's going to be for her to eat. She'll probably feel full most of the time. Believe me. People think that when you're carrying multiples that your appetite is going to be through the roof. Not always so. At least, not in the 3rd trimester. What I did to make sure that I was getting the calories I needed was to make smoothies. I used yogurt, tofu, and lots of fruit. I would sip on those when I couldn't handle eating solids. Smoothies made with peanut butter, frozen bananas, and milk were really good too. Also, have her try to eat small amounts throughout the day if she can't do full meals. Due to heartburn, it was difficult for me to eat much at a sitting, so I grazed a lot to make sure I was getting the healthy calories I needed for my babies.

If you have any other questions about what it's like being pregnant with twins, or caring for twins, just ask. Willow1313 (another lovely lady on here) is also a mama of twins and she's also expecting her second set! She's not on a whole lot, but I'm sure she'd be happy to give you some tips or tell you about her experience with twins as well.

Congrats again! Oh, and let me tell you, pay no mind to the many negative comments you're going to hear throughout the pregnancy. I swear, I got so tired of hearing about what hell it was going to be having twins from people who never even had them, but "heard" from so-and-so about how awful and blah, blah, blah. Ha! No, it's not a cake walk, but it's absolutely amazing and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if I could! Hold your heads high and be proud! And trust me, it's not going to be as bad as you might think it may be. It's all in your frame of mind. Think positive, and things will be positive. Twins are awesome, really they are! I feel so fortunate to have been blessed with mine!

 

Thank you. Do you think if you had rested more on your bed it would have been a lot helpful?

I see. She has a friend who tells her "you should plan a c-section toward your 8 months"...(she has two kids--both elective c-section born and she never breastfed either baby...you get the pic..although my wife sometimes thinks giving birth would be better...) How long apart were your twin babies born? Were your second baby breach or transverse to require a c-section as well?

I see...although she is quite tall and not small, and she has always had a strong appetite, now she doesn't want to eat all that much, her hemoglobin is low-bordering the low acceptable limit--and I hoped that she would regain her desire to eat after her first trimester...although sometimes, she does get the urges to eat..

I think I should urge her to lie down many more hours after her first trimester to carry babies as close to the full term as possible and ask her eat frequently small amounts if she does not feel like eating.

Thanks!

 

one of the mom's at my old church was a full-scale vegan. she was up and around and barely able to reach the piano by the time she delivered two perfect and very fit full-term 7 pound babies. she's raising the babies vegan and they're GLORIOUS examples of what a determined and well informed mama can do. they look like a couple hummel figurines, rosy cheeked, plump, healthy and extremely active.

 

That really depends on the situation. My first two babies were LONG labors, with long pushing, which ended in C sections (but Not "emergency" sections, not all sections decided at the last minute are "emergency" emergency sections are done because there is immediate threat to the baby and mother, my sections were "this is just not going to work, and mama is exhausted after more than two days of labor, she's only at negative 3 after three hours of pushing and this baby isn't going to make it out with both of them intact, evetually.") When my sections were decided, neither my baby nor I were in IMMEDIATE danger, (although I had passed out several times and the babies had had some decels, the section was decided because they hadn't moved down my pelvis in hours of pushing, and evetually, both of us would be at risk, but they were not "emergency C sections" and most last minute sections are not emergencies.) My next two babies were scheduled sections (because the reason for my sections, android pelvis, was something that wasn't going to change)

I think, maybe the recovery was a bit easier with the scheduled sections, BUT I was really really glad I did the labor with the first two. There was NO doubt in my mind, then, that the sections were neccesary. I did go into a bad funk, about 9 months after my first section, "Why can't my body do what most womyn's bodies can?" I mourned my section and then moved on. I was lucky and although had some depression, did not have PTSD, probably because I was not disrespected, for the most part, during my labors, my sections or afterward, by HCPs.

I was VERY glad I did labor. Even though I couldn't push my babies through my pelvis, I know EVERYTHING was done to try. There was no "what if we had....." going on, and I strongly suggest, as long as mama and babies are healthy, and the babies are old enough to endure labor when it happens, to attempt a vaginal delivery. Placenta Previa, one or both of the babies being Transverse, extremely high blood pressure may require a section. But she is not far enough along to determine any of these things.

Good luck. You are a good daddy. You are doing your homework and are involved in the pregnancy. Read, learn take good childbirth classes, encourage your womyn to go to La Leche League, when she gets into her second trimester, and you both will enjoy the pregnancy and the babies.