If you’ve had children before your current pregnancy, you must already know that odd feelings and emotions are common during pregnancy but, are pregnancy symptoms worse with twins? If you suspect you’re carrying twins, you must be eager to learn about the early signs of twin pregnancy.
What are signs and symptoms of twin pregnancy?
Can you really rely on symptoms of twin pregnancy? How do you know if you are indeed experiencing early signs of twin pregnancy? Listed below are the common twin pregnancy symptoms that are just as likely to be experienced with a single pregnancy:
1. Extreme sickness in morning. Some women report upset stomach accompanied by dizziness as one of the earliest signs that made them suspect pregnancy and, indeed, morning sickness are one of the first signs that you are pregnant.
2. Unexpected fatigue. Extreme feelings of being tired can be one of the symptoms of twin pregnancy in the same way that it can signal any normal, single pregnancy. It is perfectly normal to feel that you tire out more easily and that you need to rest more often. So, take a break and do short naps when you can.
3. Increased appetite. This symptom, like many others, is not a recommended way to tell how to know you’re pregnant but, many women do find that they have unexplained cravings. Unfortunately for others, pregnancy makes them lose their appetite and healthcare providers are rightfully worried with these conditions.
4. Unusual mood swings. Unexplained irritability, most especially if it is uncommon for your personality, can be one of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy, and can be one of the early pregnancy symptoms for twins. However, many women also report being upset, depressed and unusually hot-tempered around the time of menstruation and even during the onset of menopause. In general, this symptom can be experienced with the slightest change in estrogen levels.
5. Fetal movement. When you are feeling movements in your tummy about the third or fourth month of your pregnancy, it gives you a sense of confirmation that, indeed, there is a baby living inside you, even though pregnancy test kits are now highly accurate that when you get a positive result, you can be 99 per cent sure that you are pregnant. This development can cause you even more frequent urination in early pregnancy. Stronger and more frequent movements, however, do not guarantee that you are carrying twins because, in general, baby activity inside can vary greatly.
How soon do you feel movement with twins? The timing is just the same as for single pregnancies.
6. Shortness of breath. As your uterus expands with the growth of your baby, it pushes against your other vital organs, including your heart and your lungs. These changes cause many pregnant women to experience shortness of breath and is commonly listed as one of the factors on how to detect early pregnancy. Still, shortness of breath can be a sign of many possible health conditions, including being overweight and heart problems, that it is hardly ever a reliable sign that you’re pregnant, more so one of the signs you’re having twins.
7. Frequent backpain. Carrying twins will definitely make you carry more weight — weight that you are compelled to gain, actually, to support the normal and healthy development of two or more fetuses inside your tummy. How early do you get pregnancy symptoms? The timing varies greatly. However, frequent backpain usually do not become apparent until the second trimester of pregnancy when most women will show a baby bump.
8. Frequent urination. As your growing tummy pushes against your bladder, you feel a frequent and intense urge to urinate. It is hardly one of the early pre-pregnancy symptoms before missed period but, pregnant women report experiencing this symptom during pregnancy.
9. Digestion problems. This is common during pregnancy. It can be due to your diet which may cause gas, supplementing with iron which leads to constipation, and hemorrhoids which can make passing bowels more difficult. Gas can also lead to frequent heartburn.
10. Insomnia. Pregnant women complained about marked tiredness but may find it difficult to fall asleep. Experiencing difficulty sleeping during pregnancy can be due to many factors, including cravings way past midnight, frequent urination, fetal movements, and worrying about delivery and raising up a child.
Breastfeeding can significantly reduce your chances of getting pregnant several months following delivery. However, there are more certain ways of spacing your pregnancies and, if you’re worried you might be pregnant, know that pregnancy symptoms while breastfeeding are just the same as the ones identified above.
How Do You Know For Sure If You Are Carrying Twins?
A fourth week ultrasound to check for twins is the only certain way to find out if you are, indeed, pregnant with two or more babies. While a doppler test will help your healthcare provider check for more than one heartbeat, it is always possible for the sound to bounce against the walls of your uterus and mimic the sound of more than one heartbeat.
Other urban myths about twin pregnancy also point out that a very defined pregnancy test may indicate that you are carrying twins. Pregnancy test kits detect Human Chorionic Gonadotropin,(HCG), the pregnancy hormone. A very defined positive test may indicate a very high concentration of HCG which may be a characteristic of twin pregnancies, although not a definitive test to tell you for sure that you are carrying twins.
The likelihood that you may be carrying twins also increases relative to the following factors:
1. There are twins in your family. Multiple pregnancies do run in families. If you’ve had twins before, there’s even more chance that you are carrying another set of twins.
2. You are over 30. If you conceive in your 40s, your chances of a twin pregnancy increases even more. That’s because women experiences sharp peaks in hormone levels, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), around these times. That means the likelihood of releasing more than one egg during ovulation becomes more likely.
3. You have high Body Mass Index (BMI). Although more research is called for to establish this as a determining factor for twin pregnancies, experts have been able to observe that more overweight and obese women who are also tall have given birth to fraternal, non-identical twins.
How to take care of yourself when you are pregnant with twins?
When you have confirmed that you are carrying twins, you have enough reason to double the care that you give yourself. Here are some tips on how you can better manage a twin pregnancy:
1. Follow your healthcare provider’s advise more closely. When you’re curiosity of “What are the symptoms of twins in first trimester?” has died down and a twin pregnancy has been confirmed, make a commitment to stick to your physician’s orders more closely.
2. Monitor your weight gain. Come up with a chart if you have to. Stick to the recommended weight gain throughout your pregnancy to lessen childbirth complications for yourself and your babies.
3. Get on a healthier lifestyle. Make no excuses for getting on a regular exercise routine to stay fit, monitor food intake and varieties, and give yourself sufficient rest and sleep.
4. Take supplements. Stick to the ones recommended only by your healthcare provider. Refrain from supplementing without your healthcare providers’ knowledge and do not take more or less than what has been recommended.
5. Monitor your vital signs. You will benefit from a weighing scale, a meter tape, a glucose meter, a thermometer, and a blood pressure device.
Conclusion
See, getting yourself an ovulation calculator for boy twins does not guarantee that you can time your pregnancy to increase your likelihood of becoming pregnant with twins, whether boy or girl. There are other factors that come into play. How soon can you find out if you are having twins? As soon as your healthcare provider can confirm it by ultrasound, only then can you be certain of a twin pregnancy.
