How many twins here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm over 35 and had twins. This was the result of IVF. Honestly, I took alot of precautions once pregnant. I was rightfully scared. It is exhausting and takes alot financially. However, if you have a strong marriage (as most are if they have survived IVF more than 2 times), you can overcome the initial 1 year of strain.

I have never been HAPPIER. These girls are amazing. The love they have for each other is unique. I'm so grateful that they entered this world together.

It's now easier on me: activities are the same, vaccines are the same, play dates are easy (just match with that one age)... it's so amazingly fun. The three of us are ham balls. Always laughing, very few dull moments.

SWEET!!!

[Anonymous]

OP -- it all depends on age -- if you're over 40 ALL RE;s I've spoken with have said they will put back 3 or 4+ as egg quality is so severely diminished as we age. So, obviously, age is a huge factor in number of embryos to put back in.

[Anonymous]

Under 35 twin mom here, we transferred two 5 day blasts and they both took. Honestly if i could do it over with a clear head i would have done SET as my DH wanted... But after nearly 3 years of trying, tests iuis and drugs, not to mention reactions from the drugs, i just couldnt face another bfn. I love my kids but this first six months has been hard as hell. After a tough pregnancy, one twin has recurrent health issues and he was a term baby. Best of luck op. It is tough, and i know that even if i had read this post and all others warning about how much different and difficult twins are, i still would have tranferred two- desperation will do that.

[Anonymous]

hello! i guess you'll never know what can happen. we transferred 2 five day blasts, and so definitely prepared ourselves for the fact getting pregnant with twins was a HUGE possibility. well we did get pregnant with twins, but identical - not fraternal. so i guess one of the embryos didn't make it and one split... who knows if we would have put back just one - would that be the one that split in to two, or the one that didn't make it? weird, huh? i kind of feel like it was a blessing, like we have been going thru fertility treatments for 2 years and the identical part is totally by chance, like a gift. something "natural" happened among all of the precise scientific stuff we've been doing. makes me happy!

but anyway - it's definitely something to think hard about, and if you only want to transfer 1 embryo, then you and dh should feel comfortable doing that.

[Anonymous]

I had twins in my early 40s from IUI. Felt like I'd won the lottery. One died from SIDS. Then, I started reading the literature on infant mortality from twins. 1 in 100 die in the first year. Yikes. That's not in any of the fertility treatment literature. . . .. .

Basically, anything a baby can die from (prematurity, birth defects, SIDS) twins die from at a much higher rate than singletons. It has been a while since I read this, but it may also be higher death rates from genetic deformities. I thought once I got through the second trimester and prematurity risk, we would all be okay. Unfortunately, not so.

I suggest that anyone who prefers twins look first at death rates on CDC website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had twins in my early 40s from IUI. Felt like I'd won the lottery. One died from SIDS. Then, I started reading the literature on infant mortality from twins. 1 in 100 die in the first year. Yikes. That's not in any of the fertility treatment literature. . . .. .

Basically, anything a baby can die from (prematurity, birth defects, SIDS) twins die from at a much higher rate than singletons. It has been a while since I read this, but it may also be higher death rates from genetic deformities. I thought once I got through the second trimester and prematurity risk, we would all be okay. Unfortunately, not so.

I suggest that anyone who prefers twins look first at death rates on CDC website.

thanks a lot- now i am extremely worried and depressed.
i hate this website!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had twins in my early 40s from IUI. Felt like I'd won the lottery. One died from SIDS. Then, I started reading the literature on infant mortality from twins. 1 in 100 die in the first year. Yikes. That's not in any of the fertility treatment literature. . . .. .

Basically, anything a baby can die from (prematurity, birth defects, SIDS) twins die from at a much higher rate than singletons. It has been a while since I read this, but it may also be higher death rates from genetic deformities. I thought once I got through the second trimester and prematurity risk, we would all be okay. Unfortunately, not so.

I suggest that anyone who prefers twins look first at death rates on CDC website.

thanks a lot- now i am extremely worried and depressed.
i hate this website!

How about a little compassion for someone who has clearly been through a lot? It seems she is only trying to tell a cautionary tale. Obviously, this doesn't happen to all twins, but maybe this is something all the people eagerly seeking twins (and there have been a number on this board) need to be aware of.

PP who lost your baby -you have my deepest sympathies.

[Anonymous]

where is this information on CDC, i looked it up but haven't found anything.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 month old boy/girl twins from 2 blasts transferred. It was my first IVF and I was almost 40 at the time.

[Anonymous]

thanks a lot- now i am extremely worried and depressed.
i hate this website!

come ON -- this woman lost HER BABY! i hate people who constantly think about themselves! i can't imagine what that woman went - and is and will continue to go - through. heartfelt condolences to her. heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

i know she did, and i can't imagine her pain and what she is going through. but it still is scary to think about especially if you are carrying twins. are we supposed to regret carrying twins, or worry even more i guess?

still can't find anything one the cdc about it, she doesn't mention a link. does anyone have a link? i found information on SIDS in general, but not specific to multiples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i know she did, and i can't imagine her pain and what she is going through. but it still is scary to think about especially if you are carrying twins. are we supposed to regret carrying twins, or worry even more i guess?

still can't find anything one the cdc about it, she doesn't mention a link. does anyone have a link? i found information on SIDS in general, but not specific to multiples.

First, perhaps you might offer condolences to this woman who lost her baby. Second, I don't think she meant that you should regret carrying twins. I think a lot of people inexperienced with twins take a cavalier attitude to having multiples and are really not aware of the risks. Obviously, you can't go back and more than likely things will be fine. You control what you can control (you know the usual sids precautions..back to sleep, etc...) and then leave the rest to God. Because in the end, much in life is really out of our hands. And worrying doesn't do a darn thing. I speak from more experience than I hope any of you ever have.

[Anonymous]

Mother of dead twin back. I went into an IUI with high estrogen, several large follicles (don't remember now how many) and a strong sense that multiples were likely. It was one of my first IUIs and I was not very far down the infertility path, unlike several who have posted here, and have had multiple IVFs, etc. My RE didn't say, wow, twins are likely, should we stop? Maybe yours would. . . . . I thought, I have big hips, twins are so cool.

Link below, see pages 4 and 5 for discussion of mulitples.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_02.pdf

In 2005, 6.86 deaths per 1,000 singleton, 31.5 deaths per 1,000 multiples. Twins 3% of live births, 15% of infant deaths. That doesn't count the higher rate of stillbirth in twins. I know of many women that delivered one dead and one live twin.

[Anonymous]

PP, I'm very sorry for your loss and thank you for posting your story. I had no idea regarding the twin stats and this is definitely something that I would want to know before pursuing fertility treatments.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I am another woman who delivered one live and one stillborn twin. I wish I knew how many risks there were with twin pregnancies before I naively was so excited about having twins. There are a surprisingly large number of us. Fertility doctors should be ashamed (those who have not changed their ways) for pushing multiple embryo implantation. Those doctors are only thinking about getting the woman pregnant rather than the long-term health of the mother and baby/babies. Sad stuff.