yeah - no drama on this thread~!
But, I am fascinated by all this twin info - I had always thought it had come from the dad's side too.

I am so excited that everyone is finding out the baby's sex! i'm jealous, I won't know for about 10 days at my 20 week. I think I mentioned this before - I really really want to find out, but I have NO desire to share (maybe I'll share with ya'll). Aside from personal reasons, I hate the idea of blue and pink explosions - and hope that not telling people will help us focus on things that we actually need from our parents and friends.

so let me update this list:

LJ - Oct 3 - 10 - girl
Sepi - Oct 8
Raspberry - Oct 8
Wavy - Oct 8
Poppy - Oct 20 - surprise!
Peanut - Oct 21
Sleepy- Oct 22
afield ~ Oct 22ish- 2 girls!
JinDC - Oct 25
Pumpkin - Oct 31
Plum - date? - boy!

I've had a rough day - just really tired, didn't sleep well, so i'm procrastinating going to the gym and making dinner by looking at DCUM. Oh, and I can't put down this book I treated myself to last weekend, it's called The Pregnant Body Book. Very cool if you're into all the nerdy science stuff.

The weekend is so close! We're going to make it . To quote Poppy: Go October Babies!

Anonymous wrote:Not purely true. Division up to 3 days after fertilization means each new embryo implants separately, sharing nothing. Suggest you do some research.

And, correct, identical twinning is random, matters not hereditarily.

Keep it civil on this thread, please.

Anonymous wrote:Not purely true. Division up to 3 days after fertilization means each new embryo implants separately, sharing nothing. Suggest you do some research.

And, correct, identical twinning is random, matters not hereditarily.

I have done research and have actually had twins. There are 3 types and whether they are identical depends on the placenta. Identical twins always share a placenta. They are either in the same sac (mono-mono) or in different sacs (mono- di). Fraternal twins don't share a sac or a placenta (di-di). Suggest you look it up.

Not purely true. Division up to 3 days after fertilization means each new embryo implants separately, sharing nothing. Suggest you do some research.

And, correct, identical twinning is random, matters not hereditarily.

afield wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Highly unlikely they are identical. Highly.

Yup. 1/9 is pretty unlikely. Its my guess. Maybe because my great-grandmother was an identical twin? Intriguingly, I was told they both have really good umbilical cord insertions in the centers of their respective placentas. So if we assume they get equal nutrition, they should grow about the same size. If they track different sizes...different enough...maybe that will be a leading indicator. I'm just happy that, with gender revealed already, I get to have something else to remain unknowable for now.

Again, if someone told me my child had a 1/9 chance of some disease, I would think that staggeringly high! And yet that same 1/9 of being monozygotic twins...seems very low!

jindc wrote:...if you are before 18-20 weeks, how did you find out your baby's sex? I couldn't schedule an anatomy scan until 18-20 weeks (so, 19 weeks it is).

Is anyone concerned about it being too early so the scan possibly being wrong?

Is anyone holding our for a surprise? We aren't, but I'm one of the later due dates here, so I'm behind

They are doing regular size scans, since she has twins and is 38 she gets watched by the MFM folks like a hawk. Hence this scan at 16w2d, and the sonar tech was able to give us a determination. And yes, you're right, I suppose I'm just taking her word for it, but from what she was showing us, it would have looked very differently had one of them been male. "Real" anatomy scan is at 20w. Plus a fetal cardio since DD has a congenital heart defect (repaired via surgery).


Does anyone know if there is a twins section of this board?

Twins on the father's side don't matter. It is twinning on the mother's side that is potentially hereditary. Also identical twinning is not hereditary even when on the mother's side. Your babies may look alike but if they have 2 different sacs with 2 different placentas, they are not identical.

afield, congrats on the girls!

Plum, congrats on the boy! Such good news.

Sepi, thanks for the good luck wishes, I think they helped :^)

Just got back from the midwives, and all sounds good. We also got the results of the sequential screen and cell-free DNA testing, and neither found anything worrisome. Whew! I came out of the pregnancy closet to my moms group this morning, and turns out two of them are expecting around the same time, too. Yay pregnancy buddies!

jindc, the cell-free DNA tests will provide the sex before the anatomy scan. We're waiting until the birth to find out, so had to tell them up and down not to send us that information.

I was also able to successfully taper the Zofran earlier this week, which I'm really excited about. I'm so thankful it exists, but also so hoping I don't need it as long as I did last pregnancy. We'll see.

Sleepy, I think you'd said you're transferring back to MCA soon. I got the scoop today from Tara on the new midwife they hired. Her name's Bev, and she's very experienced--23 years' worth! She's done everything from hospital to birth center to (her own) homebirth practice, and is apparently very nice. She, Tara, and Angel will be handling all the SG deliveries by October.

Okay, over and out from Poppy--hope all are well!

Anonymous wrote:

Highly unlikely they are identical. Highly.

Yup. 1/9 is pretty unlikely. Its my guess. Maybe because my great-grandmother was an identical twin? Intriguingly, I was told they both have really good umbilical cord insertions in the centers of their respective placentas. So if we assume they get equal nutrition, they should grow about the same size. If they track different sizes...different enough...maybe that will be a leading indicator. I'm just happy that, with gender revealed already, I get to have something else to remain unknowable for now.

Again, if someone told me my child had a 1/9 chance of some disease, I would think that staggeringly high! And yet that same 1/9 of being monozygotic twins...seems very low!

jindc wrote:...if you are before 18-20 weeks, how did you find out your baby's sex? I couldn't schedule an anatomy scan until 18-20 weeks (so, 19 weeks it is).

Is anyone concerned about it being too early so the scan possibly being wrong?

Is anyone holding our for a surprise? We aren't, but I'm one of the later due dates here, so I'm behind

They are doing regular size scans, since she has twins and is 38 she gets watched by the MFM folks like a hawk. Hence this scan at 16w2d, and the sonar tech was able to give us a determination. And yes, you're right, I suppose I'm just taking her word for it, but from what she was showing us, it would have looked very differently had one of them been male. "Real" anatomy scan is at 20w. Plus a fetal cardio since DD has a congenital heart defect (repaired via surgery).


Does anyone know if there is a twins section of this board?

...if you are before 18-20 weeks, how did you find out your baby's sex? I couldn't schedule an anatomy scan until 18-20 weeks (so, 19 weeks it is).

Is anyone concerned about it being too early so the scan possibly being wrong?

Is anyone holding our for a surprise? We aren't, but I'm one of the later due dates here, so I'm behind

Plum here...back after a few weeks.

Congrats on the baby girls, afield and LJ!
Awesome news with the GD test, J!
And Sepi, I could have written your post - I'm 17 weeks and (a) suddenly feeling like I've got a noticeable bump and (2) keep thinking I'm feeling movement. Unclear! I want to feel it all the time.

In other Plum news, we've got one little baby boy in here. Nothing else to report except that I feel impatient about everything...impatient to feel movement, impatient for my 20 week scan, impatient to get a real big old bump, etc.

afield wrote:yes, they are dichorionic - 2 sacs. Something like 88-90% are fraternal twins.
Which is what makes it pretty high likelihood that they are fraternal.
HOWEVER if a zygote divides on the early side of the timing, you get dichoionic identical twins.

(It struck me -- if the probability is 1/9 of them being identical, we would all call that pretty low. However, some people would call 1/9 a very "high" probability if the discussion were about some sort of problem.)

Highly unlikely they are identical. Highly.

yes, they are dichorionic - 2 sacs. Something like 88-90% are fraternal twins.
Which is what makes it pretty high likelihood that they are fraternal.
HOWEVER if a zygote divides on the early side of the timing, you get dichoionic identical twins.

(It struck me -- if the probability is 1/9 of them being identical, we would all call that pretty low. However, some people would call 1/9 a very "high" probability if the discussion were about some sort of problem.)

afield wrote:Just had DW's growth checkup today. I thought it was the lengthy anatomy scan but that is in 4 weeks, at the 20w mark.

All is proceeding according to plan. A and B are both within 7 grams of each other, around 150g each. And both are.....girls!

I had written my prediction down a few weeks ago "identical twin girls" and sealed it in an envelope. Of them being identical, now at this point...probability is around 1/9 or so. I think So my guess is still a long-shot!

Are there 2 different sacs?

Just had DW's growth checkup today. I thought it was the lengthy anatomy scan but that is in 4 weeks, at the 20w mark.

All is proceeding according to plan. A and B are both within 7 grams of each other, around 150g each. And both are.....girls!

I had written my prediction down a few weeks ago "identical twin girls" and sealed it in an envelope. Of them being identical, now at this point...probability is around 1/9 or so. I think So my guess is still a long-shot!

Hi all, Sepi here.

LJ! So jealous! I'm hoping for a girl . Congrats!
And, Jin, just to echo Poppy's statements, good work on that GD test!
I'm also jealous of Raspberry's trip to Africa. I've always wanted to go.
Afield - please give your wife another hug for me. I don't know how she does it!

I'm like Poppy, my belly's getting bigger too. I keep thinking that maybe I'm feeling movement, but not quite sure. I'm 18 weeks, 1 day. The wait is killing me. I'm at the point where I can only zip up my pants halfway now. I really should go get that belly band. Luckily, rubber bands coupled with my long camis seem to hide it. And I'm so glad I was really into the long shirt phase. It covers the unzipped pants. But my bump is pretty noticeable. I'm out there to everyone that sees me. I am lucky though, I had a sweet friend who is almost my size lend me all her maternity clothes. Haven't gone through them, but fingers crossed!

Poppy - good luck tomorrow!

LJ, congrats on your girl! I'm so glad to hear she looked healthy and normal. Excellent news all around.

jindc, yay for the good GD test! I know you were worried about it, very glad to hear all went well.

Peanut, I'd totally take those massages off your hands, but I know I wouldn't be able to use them before the end of the month, sadly.

Raspberry, I'm impressed with your travels! Especially without the wine--I miss my nightly glass, and that's just sitting on my couch. Safe travels and hope the sono goes well next week.

Not much going on here, belly's getting a bit bigger, and I'm loving the maternity pants. We took our 18 month in for her check up today, and the doctor said, we'll see you when she's two! And it hit me--holy cow, we'll have another baby by then. We see the midwives tomorrow, I'm excited to have a listen at little Pip. I haven't felt any movement yet, but since I have an anterior placenta again, I'm not holding my breath.

Go October babies!

Poppy