Twins are measuring 1 week apart...worried and looking for advice

Hi there,

I am 28 yrs old and 11.5 weeks pregnant with twins, after undergoing IVF for male factor infertility. My husband and I are very excited and feel so blessed to be pregnant with twins after all these years.

Naturally I'm worried that something is going to go wrong, and I guess I'm hoping that you all can calm my fears. My babies have been measuring a few days apart since the beginning (6 weeks 2 days vs 6w4d, 8w1d vs 8w4d). I've been having appt's every 2 weeks, and at my last appt the babies are now measuring 1 week apart (10w vs 11w). Strong fetal heartbeats have been detected at all 3 ultrasounds, but the Dr. seems concerned about the size difference and when I ask him about the little one surviving he kind of keeps it up in the air (you never know, only time will tell).

In your opinion, should I be really concerned about this? The smaller baby is still staying on course - gaining a day in size almost every day, but the bigger one just seems to be growing faster. My theory is that I'm having one big boy and one little girl, but I guess we'll have to wait and see if that is right =)

Have any of you had this situation and had a good outcome?

Thanks ladies.

Shannon

 

I have ID twins - so the difference in size for us meant problems with the placenta and possible TTTS.

If you have frats (or at least di/di) then the difference in size I don't think is a serious problem... You could be dealing with IUGR or cord insertion or 2 vessel cord, or nothing at all - and that's the way it will be the whole pregnancy, with no problems! If you're worried, then get more frequest monitoring.

Hopefully a di/di mom will have more experience - mine is a totally different story, but ours have measured a week apart since about 11 weeks too.

Jenny

 

I am having fraternal girls... early on they were measuring 6 days apart. I was also worried that there was somthing wrong, but for some reason after the first trimester they were both the same. Then I wondered if that meant that the one that caught up would "outgrow" the other one. But they've been very close in weight ever since - almost identical in weight!

Definitely glad to hear your doctor is monitoring you closely - just know that it is a good sign if the U/S is showing a good amount of fluid in each sac, which was my case.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

I have b/g twins and my twins sounded exactly like yours!! Our peri said she wouldn't get overly concerned unless there was a 2wk size discordance - my DD was consistantly 6 days behind her brother (started out as 2 days and then the bigger they got it stretched to 6 days)...it boiled down to the difference between boys and girls...she was 3.5 lbs and 15 3/4 in and he was 4.5 lbs and 16 1/4 in at birth at 36w even....and now he's 21 lbs and 29.5 in and she's 18 lb and 29 in...

good luck - I wouldn't be hugely worried at this point...do you know if they're in separate sacs? ours were at opposit ends of my uterus so we knew they were definitely fraternal!

 

my twin b is in the 10th percentile for growth, so like 2 weeks behind her brother who is in the 50th percentile. she is really small, but hanging in there! she passes her bio physical profile w/ a perfect score each time. your babies might catch up to each other since it's so early, but wanted to reassure you that you can have a very small twin and as long as they grow a little and move alot and have good fluids, they can hang in for the long haul.

 

Mine were measuring apart from the very beginning, and we were three weeks apart at around 28 weeks. My docs were never concerned--they always reassured me that they were two different babies with two different sets of genes. And boy were they correct. Born at a pound and a half apart, Ben has always been much bigger. At just over a year, they were already 10 pounds apart and that gap is continuing to grow. People assume they aren't even twins since he is so much bigger.

Anyways, I just wanted to share our story, since it sounds similar. I bet you are anxious to find out what you are having!

 

At 24 weeks my id girls were 3 weeks apart. It could just be the difference between the babies but it is something you want to watch because it can fortell problems. My little girl had a 2 vessel cord plus improper cord placement which resulted in IUGR.

 

My boy and girl measured a week apart almost the whole time. He ended up being 6.5 and she ended up being 5.12 they are both perfectly healthy and still within a half a pound of each other. It doesn't sound like you have too much to worry about!

Reyna

 

Mine have measured up to 8 days different at times, the girl always smaller. I've read that boys grow earlier and girls later. Not sure if this is true, but my girl is catching up with the shortest distance today being 3days!

I think you're babies are fine. They also grow in spurts as well and may not be on the same growth spurt schedule.

 

My b/g twins have measured differently as well, as much as a 1 week difference in early pregnancy, and 22% growth discordance (and a pound difference at 31 weeks) in later pregnancy. I have to have weekly bpp and umbilical aretery studies to make sure that baby b (my girl, and smaller twin) is getting enough blood supply, which she is. The ob isn't overly concerned, essentially with fraternal twins they naturally may be different sizes like any two singleton siblings. I would address your concerns with the doc, but things sound okay.