twininfo.co.uk

Babies

Mum

Although some twin mums manage to carry their babies until 40 weeks most will give birth around 37 – 38 weeks.  You should feel very proud of yourself for making it this far and by now you probably can’t wait for the pregnancy to be over!  Most women carrying twins to this point will suffer from aches and pains, sleepless nights, frequent trips to the bathroom, heartburn, swollen feet, breathlessness, an enormous, cumbersome belly and all sorts of other things that cause discomfort . You should by now have a birth plan in place and should be on the lookout for any signs of labour.

Babies

This is the month that the babies development becomes different to that of a singleton pregnancy.  Your twins are approaching five pounds each and measure about 46cm in length.   Due to the cramped conditons in the uterus their weight gain will be slower than that of a single baby.  The babies lungs are beginning to produce surfactant, which will help their lungs to expand for their first breath.  The placenta is still functioning well and nourishing the developing babies to allow them to gain the important final layer of fat.  The positions that the babies are in at this point are not likely to change before delivery.  If your babies were born now, they may need to spend a little bit of time in the intensive care unit.

Mum

There may be an increase in Braxton-Hicks contractions and you should be aware of the signs of premature labour by now as many women will naturally go into labour by week 36 of a twin pregnancy.  You are probably finding it really difficult to rest or sleep comfortably.  Heartburn, frequent urination and breathlessness may also become worse as your uterus continues to grow.  Your hips may feel like they are spreading and the diameter of your pelvis has probably increased a little by this time.  Your extremities may swell more  now and some women notice a thin, watery substance coming from their breasts.   This known as colostrum and, if you decide to breastfeed your babies, it will be the first nourishment they get until your milk comes in.  Your appetite may decrease due to the limited space your stomach now has in your body.

Finding out you are pregnant can be a momentous occasion but many women are shocked to find out that they are carrying twins and may find the propsect a bit daunting! Here is a guide to the key stages of your twin pregnancy, your twins’ development and guidance on what to expect during your 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters.

1. Weeks 0 – 4
2. Weeks 4 – 8
3. Weeks 8 – 12
4. Weeks 12 – 16
5. Weeks 16 – 20
6. Weeks 20 – 24
7. Weeks 24 – 28
8. Weeks 28 – 32
9. Weeks 32 – 36
10. Weeks 36 – 40

Babies

The babies will double their weight during this period and by week 28 each baby will weight around 3 pounds and will be about 35cm long.  The twins will cross the threshold of viability, meaning that due to the remarkable advances in care for premature babies, their rate of survival increases considerably.  If born now, there is a 90% chance of survival with medical intervention.  Their facial features are becoming more distinct and their eyelids will become unfused.  You can even sometimes see one or both babies opening and closing their eyes on ultrasound.  Each baby has their own sleep cycles and will begin to respond to sound during this month.

Mum

Your uterus continues to grow and stretch as the babies increase in size.  This can cause ligament pain and general pain in the uterus as well as frequent urination.  Edema (fluid in your body tissue) can be causing swollen extremeties.  By now you will be feeling very heavy and exhausted and the weight of the pregnancy is probably starting to affect your back and legs.   As the babies move down into your pelvis, you will experience pelvic pressure and increased pressure in your rectum.  You should still be feeling movements from the babies every day although the movements may feel different to before as they do not have as much room to move around now. Because you are carrying twins you are likely to experience a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions.  These are contractions of the uterus which feel a bit like period cramps and will make your belly feel hard.  These are unlikely to be painful but can be uncomfortable and unlike true labour contractions, there is no pattern to Braxton Hicks contractions.

Babies

The babies are continuing to grow and have produced some fat under the skin.   By 24 weeks they will be approximately 23cm long and weigh about 1lb 6oz.   The babies are also starting to be covered with a cheesy substance called the vernix caseosa coating.  The twins are in constant contact and kick and nudge at one another for space.  The membrane that separates them still is amazingly elastic.  Every joint in their bodies are flexed.  Their chins are at the chest and their elbows are tucked at their sides.  Their legs are often brought up to their chest and the feet are tucked under their bottoms. During periods of awake time, they will stretch out and move around.

Mum

You should be feeling your babies move around every day although you might not be able to tell which one is which though.  Edema (swelling due to fluid in body tissues) is not uncommon during any pregnancy, especially when carrying twins.  Sometimes the extra accumulation of fluid can cause carpal tunnel syndrome.  This is a tingling or numbness in part of the palm and fingers caused by excessive compression of the bones and nerves.   Symptoms usually go away after delivery.  You may be noticing that you are warmer than everyone else in the room. Your resting metabolic rate is increased during pregnancy and causes you to feel overheated.  Some pregnant women also begin to experience leg cramps at this point of their pregnancy.  This may be due to a shortage of calcium.

Babies

Your babies are continuing to grow at an amazing rate.  By week 20, each baby measures around 20cm and weighs about 260 grams.  Although they can not see or hear yet, researchers believe that the babies have knowledge of each other at this point.  Each foetus has the appearance of a very tiny baby and their movements are becoming more coordinated.  Most of their development is now complete but the babies still need to grow and their internal systems, lungs and brains will continue to mature throughout the coming weeks of the pregnancy.

Mum

Most women will feel the foetal movements now and will look obviously pregant.  Your uterus is much larger than a woman with a single pregnancyas it has to stretch more for the extra passenger.  Nausea and vomiting should now have eased up and your appetite is probably ferrocious.   You may also be experiencing new symptoms, such as round ligament pain.  This is a sharp pain in a precise location on one side of your stomach.  It is usually between the hip and navel.  The pain is generally brought on by movement, but can also occur from nowhere.  It is caused by the stretching of the uterus and ligaments that support it and is a normal pain of pregnancy.

Babies

Your twins are still growing at a fast pace.  By week 12 each baby measures about 7cm crown to rump and can weigh up to 20 grams.  By week 16 they each measure 12cm and weigh about 80 grams.  The kidneys are beginning to function and by the week 16 water in their stomachs and urine in their bladders may be detected via ultrasound. The babies are now moving a lot more and some mums of twins report feeling the first ‘flutters’ around week 16. During this month your babies’ eyelids fuse together and won’t open again until the last trimester.  By week 13 the placenta(s) takes over from the ovaries in the manufacture of hormones necessary to maintain the pregnancy.  The babies’ faces are becoming more developed and they can now suck their thumbs.  By week 16 the babies can even make faces due to the deveopment of their facial muscles.  Fine hairs begin to grow all over their bodies (called lanugo) which will be shed before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser hairs.  If one or both of your babies is a girl she or they will now have more than 5 million ova.

Mum

By now you will probably need to think about wearing maternity clothes. Nausea should be diminishing or may even be completely gone and at times you may feel ravenously hungry.  You may also continue to experience cravings.  You may notice that you are not getting as much sleep as you are used to.  Your sleep can be disturbed by the need to urinate, increased dreaming, heartburn or other reasons.  Find a comfortable position and try to get as much rest as possible. Swelling of the feet is a common complaint also. The extra weight in your abdomen has the effect of increasing the curve of your spine.  It is hard work to carry a twin pregnancy and you need to be fair to your body and let it rest often.  Unfortunately not many mums carrying twins experience the energy surge most women carrying single babies get in the second trimester.

Babies

By week 8 each baby is about 2cm long (crown to rump) and weighs approximately 2 grams but by week 12 each baby will be about 7cm long and weigh up to 20 grams .  During this time the babies begin to make tiny movements and the fingers and toes form on their hands and feet, with finger and toe nails beginning to form by week 12.  They start to look more human-like although their heads are still grossly out of proportion to their bodies, accounting for half their body length.  Their eyes move towards the centre of their faces and their ears gradually move up from the neck to the sides of their heads.

Week 12 marks the end of the embryonic period and from now on each baby is called a foetus.

Mum

Babies

Your babies are developing quite rapidly. By the end of the fourth week the ball of cells (blastocyst) begins to tranform into an embryo.  During this time, the baby’s brain, bladder, liver, kidneys, spine, extremities, reproductive tracts and heart are all beginning to develop.

Mum

Pregnancies are dated from the date of your last period, so for the first two weeks you are not actually pregnant.  Your babies will be conceived by the end of the second week. You will not know that you are pregnant yet despite there being a lot going on inside your body, however you may experience a few pregnancy symptoms similar to premenstrual ones such as breast tenderness or nausea.  An over-the-counter pregnancy test may give a positive result by week 4 and a blood test would almost certainly give you an accurate result at this stage.