Twin parents, I have a question

[Sonya]

Well OK, I have more than one!

1. My AFP test came back with an elevated risk of Down's. I hear that the test comes back with a higher chance of false positive when you have twins. Has anyone had experence with this?

2. If you have identical, how did you tell them apart during the 1st few months? My Dr said temporary tatoos. DSIL suggested a well placed Sharpie mark. Someone else said dress one in one color only.

3. How did you know which one would have which name? Did it really matter? The firstborn gets Superfly and the 2nd born gets Tamago?

4. Should they sleep together? I would think that would give them more comfort, but would they wake each other up?

I know I will have more later, this all I can think of for now! Thanks!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

I have a pal who painted one twin's right big toenail.

That darned test has so many false positives for downs I wish they wouldn't do it.

Above mentioned pal put her two together in the co-sleeper next to her as they seemed to sleep better still snuggled together.

 

[VioltePrincess]

my younger sisters are identical twins. can't answer your medical question, but ...

they slept in the same room, but not the same crib, they didn't wake each other up.

one had a pink ribbon and the other had a red ribbon tied around her wrist.

even with identicals, eventually you learn to tell them apart.

 

[Buckalew11]

I have a pal who painted one twin's right big toenail.

That darned test has so many false positives for downs I wish they wouldn't do it.

Above mentioned pal put her two together in the co-sleeper next to her as they seemed to sleep better still snuggled together.

Painting the toenail was my first thought!!

That darned test has so many false positives that I didn't even have it done.

Sonya, your post reminded me (because I'm old!!) of when Katie, Robbie's wife, on My Three Sons had the triplets and they couldn't tell them apart.
How are you feeling? I think of you often. (Well, you and kaki goris!! ) I hope you are doing well!!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Sonya, have you ever visited babycenter.com? Our DD is a longtime member there and has received alot of help there.

http://www.babycenter.com/baby/babytwins/index


DD does not have twins but the website has so much to offer.

 

[Sonya]

Thanks everyone. When they 1st come home I am worried that their nails will be too small to notice the paint! Also I am looking for a way to tell the difference in pictures too, years later I know we will forget.

Brenda, I am doing better, finally getting rid of most of my nausea and fatigue. I didn't want the AFP test done but the Dr insisted. Now it is just another thing to worry about! I feel it is a false positive but I still have to go to a genetic councellor. But hopefully I will get my level 2 sono sooner than the end of December!


Mmmmm, kaki-goris!

 

[lizally]

Hi. The AFP test is very unreliable with twin pregnancies. I did not have it done either. I just did not want the stress of dealing with the false positive results, which are very common.

My twins may be identical (we are not 100% sure. We'll probably get a DNA test someday, but for now it is fun to speculate.) Anyway, most people could not tell them apart, but my husband and I had no problem. You'll be able to tell, but if not, pick a designated color for one. My friend cannot tell them apart, so I always dress one in pink when we visit her, so she knows who is who.

As for names, we went alphabetically; the firstborn got the name closer to the beginning of the alphabet.

Mine slept together at first, but then started sleeping in bouncy seats, so that pretty much split them up. They now have thier own rooms.

 

[Linzybrooke]

K, I have no advice for you at all, but I want to give you a big old congratulations! I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Well OK, I have more than one!

1. My AFP test came back with an elevated risk of Down's. I hear that the test comes back with a higher chance of false positive when you have twins. Has anyone had experence with this?

2. If you have identical, how did you tell them apart during the 1st few months? My Dr said temporary tatoos. DSIL suggested a well placed Sharpie mark. Someone else said dress one in one color only.

3. How did you know which one would have which name? Did it really matter? The firstborn gets Superfly and the 2nd born gets Tamago?

4. Should they sleep together? I would think that would give them more comfort, but would they wake each other up?

I know I will have more later, this all I can think of for now! Thanks!

Mine were boy/girl so that resolved the name and telling apart issue.

I refused the AFP, however on the genetic screening ultrasound (which I think you are referring to as the level 2) my DS had some of the markers for Down's. It became a worry for the rest of the pregnancy, though my OB assured me he was probably not because his growth level in utero was the same as the other baby's. I elected not to do amnio because a) I could lose both babies from the procedure and b) I would not have terminated the pregnancy anyway. Over the course of the pregnancy I came to grips with the fact that if he did have Down's, it would be ok (that Dear Abby letter about Holland comes to mind). When he was born we found out he did not have Down's. I kind of wished I never had the ultrasound, it caused a lot of worry.

My babies slept together in a bassinet at our bedside for several weeks. They seemed to enjoy squishing in together. When they outgrew the bassinet, we attemepted to put them both in the same crib, but DS was kind of a wild sleeper so we separated them into their own cribs, but they stayed in the same room together until they were around age 4 when they each got their own rooms.

 

[qtwns]

My twins are fraternal and looked very different even at birth. But I'm guessing you'll just know who is who. Mommies know everything, right!

As for naming, even in the womb my boys had very different personalities. The names we had picked out just somehow fit them to a tee even then, and we named them based on their personalities before birth. Again--you'll just know.

My boys slept together in the same crib until one started smacking the other across the face waking him up! They moved to separate cribs then. Their cries never woke each other up.

I honestly can;t remember about the downs test...but as it has been said those tests are off so often. Just do what your doctor tells you, and try not to worry.

Twins are such a blessing. So is my "single," but there is just something about those double blessings!

Ask as many questions as you need! We are here to help!

 

[canwegosoon]

Well OK, I have more than one!

1. My AFP test came back with an elevated risk of Down's. I hear that the test comes back with a higher chance of false positive when you have twins. Has anyone had experence with this?

2. If you have identical, how did you tell them apart during the 1st few months? My Dr said temporary tatoos. DSIL suggested a well placed Sharpie mark. Someone else said dress one in one color only.

3. How did you know which one would have which name? Did it really matter? The firstborn gets Superfly and the 2nd born gets Tamago?

4. Should they sleep together? I would think that would give them more comfort, but would they wake each other up?

I know I will have more later, this all I can think of for now! Thanks!

1) My OBGY office does not do the AVP test on Multiples(due to the false positives, so I wouldn't worry)..I have Down's in my family too, and my sister had animos with her pregnancies. My OBGYN also said I made a good choice refusing the amnio...but that is a personal choice.
2) They still don't know if mine are identical(I have to do testing) but in my case their heads were different shaped due to positions. I also tried to dress one in blue/one in green.
3) Names...one looked more like me with longer eyelashes, and the other sounded more like DH with a deeper voice. Mine went unnamed for 4 days, and then I named them...I think the hospital wanted to get paperwork done for discharge.
4) Mine slept together for 11 months....no problem at all. I loved keeping them together, and remember being really sad seperating them ...but they were getting too big. I would play this one by ear and see how they do- one might develop a different schedule and then it might not work.

Good luck to you.

 

[Mermaid02]

Could they tell you boys or girls Sonya??

My dh is a twin (identical) and really, they look just different enough to tell them apart in baby pics.

They slept seperately but when Tim was old enough to climb out of his crib (he walked at 9 months- not bad for being over 2 months premature!!) he would climb into Chris's crib and they would find them snuggled up in the morning.

They didn't know they were having twins (they were going to be Stephanie- ) so I guess they named them off the cuff!

 

[Tiggeroo]

the test doesn't work for twins
My twins were supposed to be identical, one sac one placenta. When they were born they had different blood types so weren't identical. One has red hair one has blonde, etc..
But I still used to mix them up as newborns because they looked so much alike and had no hair. Paint one toenail.
The boys had seperate cribs but slept together anyway.

 

[disneygals]

They slept seperately but when Tim was old enough to climb out of his crib (he walked at 9 months- not bad for being over 2 months premature!!) he would climb into Chris's crib and they would find them snuggled up in the morning.

That is SOOOO sweet.

OP..Congrats on your twins!

 

[Daxx]

Congrats, Sonya!

Just think -- if it's a boy and a girl, you can name 'em Tom and Kat(i)e. And, yes ... you must put Kat(i)e's name w/the i in parenthesis on the b-certificate b/c you know that when she becomes a woman, she'll not be called Katie b/c it's childish (well, according to Cruiser). Maybe you'll have triplets and you can name the third Suri!??!

Thought you'd appreciate some Cruise humor to relate w/the pregnancy.

My sisters in law both have twins. Both painted the toe nails of one of the twins to tell them apart. I will see one of them this weekend and see if she has any advice!

 

[golfgal]

My AFP came back at whatever so we went on to have an ultrasound to check for defects, etc. They found nothing. This was DH's favorite appointment, he and the perinatologist spent about 1/2 hour talking about and figuring out the actual odds of having a baby with problems from the findings of the ultrasound. It turned out to be something like 1 in 500,000. We were comfortable with those odds .

I also have boy/girl twins so that wasn't an issue but I do know others that have identical and they painted toe nails. It also doesn't take long to figure out which is which for your own. After about 2 days I could figure out which baby was crying in the other room. We have some friends that have 14 year old twins that up until two years ago they thought were fraternal, although NO ONE could tell them apart. Their parents always thought they looked different and couldn't understand why people mixed them up. They participated in a twin study and that is how they found out they were identical.

Our twins did not share a crib but they shared a room. They were on monitors for a couple months and I was worried about them tangling up in each other's wires.

As for the names, give it a day or so and you might see which name fits which child better or just decide the first one born will be x and the second one born will be y.

 

[momoftwins]

-we also had a high AFP. The OB/GYN said multiples often cause a false positive. I wish they would not give those tests that have such a high chance of this problem.

Anyway, they sent me for a Level 2 ultrasound and this help eleviate some of my worry.

Congrats! My DD and DS are now 10. It has been a whirlwind of a life with them. I love them so much

 

[Sonya]

Thanks everyone! Good ideas here. For those who missed it, I am having identical girls!

 

[Mono~rail]

Well OK, I have more than one!

1. My AFP test came back with an elevated risk of Down's. I hear that the test comes back with a higher chance of false positive when you have twins. Has anyone had experence with this?

We didn't have any experience with that so I can't be any help.

2. If you have identical, how did you tell them apart during the 1st few months? My Dr said temporary tatoos. DSIL suggested a well placed Sharpie mark. Someone else said dress one in one color only.

Our DD twins are identical. There will probably be tons of things that help you to differentiate them from each other. Our girls were different sizes so that was one differentiating characteristic. Also our DD's are "mirror image" ID twins. Our first clue was their birthmarks. One's BM went from the center of her forehead over her left eye. The other one's BM went from the center of her forehead over her right eye. Personality can be used. There will be something there to help you.

If they are that identical that there is absolutely no difference, I've heard of people marking their diapers. The babies themselves don't have to be marked. Chances are though that there will be enough clues to tell them apart.

3. How did you know which one would have which name? Did it really matter? The firstborn gets Superfly and the 2nd born gets Tamago?

We picked our names according to their sizes. Our names we picked had different numbers of letters. Baby A was bigger so she got the name with more letters. Baby B was smaller so she got the name with fewer letters.

4. Should they sleep together? I would think that would give them more comfort, but would they wake each other up?

That is going to depend on their personalities, how long you carry them, and other extraneous factors. Our girls were born at 30 weeks so they were used to having their own space. One came home at 8 weeks, but the other was in the NICU for over 4 months. They will let you know how they want to sleep - trust me on this.

I know I will have more later, this all I can think of for now! Thanks!

Good luck!

 

[Mono~rail]

Also I am looking for a way to tell the difference in pictures too, years later I know we will forget.

Position them the same for pictures. Bayby A always on the left and Baby B always on the right. That is for posed pics though.

Even with the major differences between our ID twins, we still get them mixed up in pics. Dh, DD14, and I will argue with each other about who is who and which is which in photos sometimes.