twin ultrasound??

[Promomx2]

My dd is only about 5 weeks pregnant, with her first visit to the dr. scheduled for later next week. Twins run in our family and there is a chance she might have them, so I was wondering when the dr. will get her to do a ultrasound? We're leaving on vacation and will be very busy and I might not talk to her the day of her appt and I can't wait to find out.

 

[tigger51276]

My dd is only about 5 weeks pregnant, with her first visit to the dr. scheduled for later next week. Twins run in our family and there is a chance she might have them, so I was wondering when the dr. will get her to do a ultrasound? We're leaving on vacation and will be very busy and I might not talk to her the day of her appt and I can't wait to find out.

Chances are high that they will not do an ultrasound at 6 weeks. They usually do an early detection (for Downs) around 10-12 weeks and that also helps them pinpoint a due date. They should be able to tell then or when they are able to first hear the baby(s) heartbeat at around that same time. If there are no complications then she can expect her next ultrasound at around 20 weeks. At around 20 weeks you can also usually get to find out the sex. My doc wanted to do my 2nd kids around 18 weeks (for scheduling purposes) but I waited an extra month because I knew there would be a better chance of finding out the sex.

 

[ktlm]

It may depend on your location because around here a 6 week ultrasound is standard to check for a heartbeat. (That is when my panicked friend called me just after leaving her doctor's office because there were 2 heartbeats. )

 

[*BTMRR*]

My doctor wouldn't officially diagnose twins until after 11 weeks because, he said, it's extremely common that one twin is lost very early in pregnancy and the pregnancy just goes on to be a healthy singleton pregnancy.

There are twins in my family, but they are identical. Identical twins don't run in families, but fraternals do. If the twins in your family are fraternal, maybe the doctor might consider doing an early ultrasound just to take a peek.
It may depend on her insurance. My insurance would only cover one ultrasound, at 20 weeks, unless there was some reason to suspect a problem. I don't know if suspecting twins very early would have qualified under my insurance.

Congratulations!!

 

[DisneyDorkORama]

I always got one around 7 weeks...

 

[MomtoAlexnWilliam]

I think it greatly depends on your doctor! I always had ultrasounds at my first appt --- between 5 and 6 weeks. All of my girlfriends who used the same doctor did as well.

 

[auralia]

they say 1/10 pregnancies is twins and most of them get "reabsorbed". My insurance company doesn't cover an ultrasound until 20 weeks unless there complications. I had complications so i got more ultrasounds, there was some talk that i may have lost a twin but no difinative evidance.... with twins so often one is lost it's almost better to wait a while on an ultrasound so you don't know if you lost one. I am still not sure that i did or not, but my chart lists it as a possability and really i'd rather not know that i did.... maybe that sounds heartless, but you know... it's easier to not know.

 

[squirrel]

I agree, don't insist on an early ultrasound.

My sister had been trying to get pregnant for about 3 years. She finally did get pregnant and then she lost it. The doctor told her to come back in after her next period, but she didn't get one so she called up and made an appointment. The doctor I think did an ultrasound as a pregnancy test would most likely come back positive (from the miscarrage). It turned out she was still pregnant, she had twins and lost one. The good news is I have a little nephew.

 

[shaylahc1]

they say 1/10 pregnancies is twins and most of them get "reabsorbed". My insurance company doesn't cover an ultrasound until 20 weeks unless there complications. I had complications so i got more ultrasounds, there was some talk that i may have lost a twin but no difinative evidance.... with twins so often one is lost it's almost better to wait a while on an ultrasound so you don't know if you lost one. I am still not sure that i did or not, but my chart lists it as a possability and really i'd rather not know that i did.... maybe that sounds heartless, but you know... it's easier to not know.

I agree with this. I had a "vanishing twin" too. It is VERY common.

I have had several different OBs and how many ultrasounds you get depends on 1)how many your insurance company will pay for and 2)the style of the particular doctor. I had some docs who did a "standard" u/s at 8 weeks (as part of the first prenatal appt). Others prefer to wait until 20 weeks. Some insurance companies won't pay for them unless there is a medical problem.

I would wait till at least 8 weeks. There isn't much to see before then.

 

[mjkacmom]

I found out I was having twins at 7 weeks, and then learned about vanishing twin syndrome - 1/4 of twin pregnancies result in a singleton. Twins don't run in my family at all. Twins are only genetic on the maternal side, and with fraternal twins. For example, my girls are more likely, but not my boys' wives.

 

[Promomx2]

Thanks foir all the help. My "baby" is 15 yrs. so I forgot alot of this, plus I know things change. I completely forgot about hearing two heartbeats. DD
is married to a marine, so I don't have a clue how the doctor or insurance will work and neither does she. I'm curious about the twins because my mom and my dad were both twins and I have cousins on both family sides that had twins. I had hoped I would have the twins but nope. Just hope whatever or how many she has are healthy. So will she hear the heartbeat on her first visit if she is only 5 weeks?

 

[r&kmommy]

heartbeat usually isn't heard until 6 weeks, and if she is in any way fluffy around the middle she probably won't hear it til later. I got an ultra sound at my first visit for both of my kids because I had irregular cycles and was unsure about when I conceived.

good luck

 

[mjkacmom]

Thanks foir all the help. My "baby" is 15 yrs. so I forgot alot of this, plus I know things change. I completely forgot about hearing two heartbeats. DD
is married to a marine, so I don't have a clue how the doctor or insurance will work and neither does she. I'm curious about the twins because my mom and my dad were both twins and I have cousins on both family sides that had twins. I had hoped I would have the twins but nope. Just hope whatever or how many she has are healthy. So will she hear the heartbeat on her first visit if she is only 5 weeks?

The hb is heard around 12 weeks, but can be seen on a u/s around 7 weeks. The fact that your dad was a twin doesn't increase your or your dd's chances of having twins. The genetic factor is the woman's chances of double ovulating. It's the woman who causes twins, not the men.

Also, my OB said is was very, very difficult to tell if she was hearing one or two heartbeats. This is not a reliable way of discovering twins.

 

[mjkacmom]

heartbeat usually isn't heard until 6 weeks, and if she is in any way fluffy around the middle she probably won't hear it til later. I got an ultra sound at my first visit for both of my kids because I had irregular cycles and was unsure about when I conceived.

good luck

The heart doesn't even start beating until 6 weeks, and can't be heard with a doppler.

 

[r&kmommy]

The heart doesn't even start beating until 6 weeks, and can't be heard with a doppler.

Right, I guess I should have said "the heart beat can't be SEEN until 6 weeks" ... it's early and I haven't had coffee yet LOL

 

[thebeesknees]

Another one with a vanishing twin here. Started losing the baby and went in to the doctor for a check at 9 weeks. Was told then that yes, we had lost the baby, but there was still one there and had healthy DS 7 months later. My doctor does not usually do an ultrasound until 10-12 weeks for the nuchal translucency test, but I got the early ones with all my kids for unexplained bleeding. Most of my friends had 1 u/s at 10-12 weeks, 1 at 20 weeks, and sometimes 1 at about 37 weeks to check the size of the baby.

 

[nelle]

We just found out at 19 weeks that we are having twins. We were quite surprised as was my doctor. I almost didn't have a ultrasound at all since I tend to be very "hands off" with my pregnancies and have had 3 normal healthy pregnancies so I wasn't worried.
Good luck!

 

[brergnat]

I am married to a Marine too, so I can answer on the insurance part of it.

Tricare covers 2 ultrasounds during a routine pregnancy. The first is at 10-12 weeks, the second is at 18-22 weeks.

At a 5 week appointment, your daughter will mostly fill out paperwork, pee in a cup, and have her blood drawn. She will also have an internal ******l exam and pap smear done. She will be given info. on proper nutrition during pregnancy and a prescription for Prenatal vitamins. That's about it.

 

[Promomx2]

Thanks brergnat for the info. Do you know whether or not they will give her a complimentary copy of "what to expect when you're expecting"? I see them all the time at the goodwill stores and I'm getting some things together to send her a package and would like to include it if she won't get one.

 

[ilovesugar]

I had both of my first ultrasounds at 8 weeks.

It is funny how people talking about twins being genetic. My family has fraternal twins on both my mom and my dads side. I have 6 brothers and sisters and between the 7 of us we have 17 kids, none of them are twins. Between those 17 kids, they have 8 kids so far, none of them twins. So I am not sure how genetics really plays into it. You would think that ONE of us would have had twins.