I have to say again that I am not a medical expert. What I am going to talk about here is my own experiences and some study I have done in this area. The best person to talk to about your own pregnancy is your midwife or twin specialist/consultant.
   

 
  MULTIPLE PREGNANCY


After discovering that you are expecting twins or more you will have many questions and not many people know the answers. You may want to know if your twins are identical or not. There are different medical terms which indicate this :

DICHORIONIC - Generally not identical

There are two stages here :

    • Clearly not identical due to two seperate placentas, and two sacs

    • Still two seperate sacs giving two chorionic membranes but a fused placenta (two appear to be one) thus making it hard to detect if identical or not

MONO CHORIONIC - All are identical

There are also two stages in this section :

    • One placenta and one chorionic membrane (one sac but split)

    • One placenta and one sac

If division in the fertilized ovum takes place after twelve or so days, the twins could be conjoined (Siamese)

 
 

HOW LONG WILL PREGNANCY LAST?

Full term for a single child is generally accepted as 40 weeks.

Twins generally go to 37 weeks (apparently identical twins arrive earlier than non identical in some situations)

Triplets - average length of gestation is 34 weeks.

Quads - 33 weeks - almost 7 months.

 

YOU

You most likely will be wearing maternity clothing long before you expected too. And don't expect to have a perfect bump - those babies have to fit somewhere and if that's round your sides and back, then so be it!!


There are books on pregnancy that tell you on average how much weight you should gain through pregnancy (whether it's twins, triplets or quads) I personally believe this is scaremongering. Do you really want to spend your maternity days on the bathroom scales?


Everyone will tell you to rest - sensible in a singleton pregnancy - a necessity in a multiple. Despite the fact that you will be tired due to carrying a couple of babies, you have to remember that this could be your last chance to have peace and quiet. If you are working, perhaps arrange to reduce your hours or finish work earlier.

 

GETTING READY FOR THE BIG DAY

Unfortunately, I went way over the top when packing my bag for the hospital.

Think about it laterally

The hospital generally provides :

    • A gown (much handier than messing your own nighties)

    • Maternity pads (once you have 10 of these packed there will be no room for anything else)

    • Nappies

    • Baby clothes (all the clothes you will have bought might be too big!)

Once you have given birth you will be able to ask your partner to bring in anything you need!

 

SPECIAL CARE UNIT

My two went into SCBU (Special Care Baby Unit) a few hours after they were born due to a blood sugar problem.


I feel it is important to say that your babies may spend some time in SCBU. Twins have a higher chance than singletons of spending time in this unit. Triplets and other multiples are more than likely to go to the Special Care Unit.

Don't be worried about all the special equipment there - it is helping your child. Try to take an active role in caring for them along with the nurses. Going down for the hourly feed and nappy change may be a long haul but you will feel the benefits of having spent those first few days very close to your babies. In my own experience, I found that the SCBU nurses were great and extremely helpful. The nurses will also help you understand how your child is doing. I wanted to breast feed and the SCBU nurses were exceptionally helpful and gave me tips on expressing milk. I was even allowed to try them at the breast whilst they were still being tube fed.

Depending on how well your child is, you may not have to stay in hospital too long. I stayed in for ten days, but a friend of mine stayed in for two days and then travelled to the hospital for ten days as her twins were in SCBU.