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Pregnancy is a beautiful stage of one’s life. Carrying your heart’s heart inside of yours and that too for good 9 months. Those flutters, the feather flowing movements, and everything to do with the gorgeous baby bump. All this keeps a pregnant woman busy. And, then one fine day a little angel is born or two? Yes! We are talking about having twins. It’s only natural, when you’re trying to conceive, to ask yourself whether you might have more babies. Let’s find out the early pregnancy signs of having twins:
When is twin pregnancy likely to happen?
1. Age: Age plays an important role. If a woman is above 30 years of age.
2. Perimenopausal Stage: If a woman is in a menopause transition phase. This stage is also called as ‘Perimenopausal’ phase. It usually starts at the age of 40 but can happen as early as in the 30s.
3. Built & BMI: Tall and/or overweight women with a Body Mass Index of 25 and above.
4. Family History: Heredity plays a significant amount of role in here. If having twins runs in the family, that means if there are twins in your biological family, especially from your mother’s side, then the chances of having twins are high.
5. Fertility Treatment: If a couple is facing fertility issues and opts for fertility assistance or decides to undergo any treatments such as IVF to conceive.
6. Ethnicity: If you are of African American descent. Black women are a bit more likely than Caucasians to have twins.
7. Twins Before: OMG! But, it’s true. If you have already given birth to a set of twins, then you better watch out.
Early signs of pregnancy (for twins):
1. A hunch
What? Is that a symptom. Yes, indeed! This is one of the most common pregnancy signs of having twins. This may happen even weeks before she has even conceived or missed her period. Some may dream or have a vision of the sorts.
2. Old wives tales
Craving for yams? Eating a lot of them while the bun is in the process of being made in the oven? If so, you will get to hear a lot of grandmothers telling you that ‘it’s twins’. You will probably laugh it off. But, sometimes, these old sayings probably have a logic behind them.
3. Too nauseous
Feeling very nauseous from an early stage of pregnancy. It can often be so extreme that the mother finds it difficult to digest foods. She also develops intolerance towards her favorite food (often meat, tea, coffee).
4. Early breast tenderness
This one sign is common in pregnant women, however, those with twins experience it pretty early on. Often to the point where it may be too uncomfortable to even have a bra on.
5. Extremely positive pregnancy test
Even before a missed period, if you take a pregnancy test at home and see 2 very dark pink lines, then it’s twins. The level of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (pregnancy hormone) can be so high in pregnant women carrying twin babies that there is an immediate, strong and clear positive confirmation on the pregnancy testing stick. For those who have undergone fertility assistance, a typical blood test will reflect a very high concentration of hCG early after conception.
6. Extreme breathlessness and exhaustion
Again, a common symptom during pregnancy. But, if early on, your resting heart/pulse rate is higher than normal and you are getting exhausted pretty early in your pregnancy. Then, this is a sign of the heart having to pump out a greater blood volume with each heart muscle contraction in order to supply the uterus with oxygen saturated blood. Though not an obvious symptom of having twins. This sign could also mean that there may be a blood circulation issue in the left uterine. So, do talk to your gynecologist if you experience extreme breathlessness. You can also check with her if there are any exercises/meditation that can be done to relax.
7. Uterine fundal height
Yes! This one sign only gets clarified during an ultrasound. If the uterus is “large for dates”, which means it measures larger than the dates.
When is it confirmed that you are having twin babies?
- Very first ultrasound will clearly indicate well defined two embryos on the screen
- Hearing two, separate heartbeats on a Doppler
