8 Symptoms of twin pregnancy. How I knew before ultrasound

Hey good people once again I welcome you back to the nursing mom's youtube channel. I'm nurse Janet and in today's video we want to talk about twin pregnancy symptoms. Why would you suspect that maybe you are having twins before going for that ultrasound? I'll be talking as a mother of twins what I experienced and again as a nurse most importantly as a nurse what I can tell if a mother comes to me that I'm feeling this and that and probably I'd advise you to go and confirm your doubts with an ultrasound. Watch to the end. These symptoms are based on what I experienced as a mother of twins during my twin pregnancy and most importantly before I went for an ultrasound. These are the things that triggered me to go and confirm whether I was having twins or not. The first symptom of a twin pregnancy is extreme morning sickness. Actually morning sickness is something that is common in almost all pregnancies but with twin pregnancy due to the high levels of HCG hormone there is that extreme morning sickness that okay if at all it was your subsequent pregnancy like it was in my case I realized that this was a bit different from the previous pregnancy that I had. The morning sickness is also extreme that you can find yourself sleeping the whole day you don't want to eat you are moody the vomiting is extreme and another level. The reason behind this is just due to the elevated levels of HCG hormone. This hormone in single pregnancy it works in maintaining the pregnancy but again remember in this you are having two babies most likely it's supposed to be on a high level to maintain this specific pregnancy so if you are experiencing extreme morning sickness it's not a diagnostic way but it can be a sign of having twin pregnancy. The second symptom is high levels of HCG hormone. HCG hormone is the hormone that is released during pregnancy to maintain pregnancy and is excreted in urine. It's the hormone that when doing home pregnancy test it's what you test in the urine yeah so during single term pregnancy like in one baby pregnancy this hormone is always within the normal range but if it is more than one baby the hormone levels becomes above normal. The levels are high because you are more than one baby. The way that you can know this level of hormone is high is through blood test but again in my case I did home pregnancy test and it was about 10 to 11 days post the date that I was supposed to get my menses and to my surprise the strip turned dark immediately and I was surprised okay what I didn't know it didn't hit me like maybe it's a twin pregnancy but again different from these other pregnancies that we do check that the strips we can one line can be paints or the lines can be fainter like in the 10 to 12 days post the date that you are going to get your menses. It was different that it was instantly dark two lines. This shows that the hormone level the HCG levels were high in the blood already. The third symptom is extreme fatigue and exhaustion. Actually the reason behind this is due to the surging levels of progesterone hormone. This hormone is equally important in maintaining pregnancy and in my case I actually did that pregnancy test because I was always tired. I don't know why because I already ran other medical tests and I was okay but I was ever weak, tired, dizzy. At times I would faint. Yeah so with this you'll find it on another level. Actually all pregnancies there is some level of fatigue but with twin pregnancy the fatigue is on extreme levels. You do this you are already tired. You wake up you are already tired. You want to go to your duties you are already tired. On your duties you are sleepy just due to the levels that are rising. Another important thing to note is that movement in twin pregnancy always starts earlier than this other single term pregnancy. In a single term pregnancy the movement can start from week 16 onwards but again in twin pregnancy it can start you can start feeling the movement as high as 12, 11, 12, 13 weeks. Yeah around 13 weeks my movement had already been established and I could feel by 13, 12 weeks I was already feeling that okay that is a baby and again with twin pregnancy you can feel movements on different parts of your tummy at the same time. This will show you that okay most likely you have one more than one baby in your tummy. Quite important to note is that during twin pregnancy your belly will grow bigger and heavier than usual. Actually it will not be corresponding to your gestational age. Yeah you will always find okay it seems you look like already you are five months pregnant but you are only three months pregnant. It's normal because you are carrying more than one baby. In my case by around 12 weeks the belly was already showing. Unlike others and again each and every individual is different. To some women they can just carry it smoothly without being on but what I know is that the heaviness cannot be ignored. In twin pregnancy the belly is heavy. Actually it's heavy more than the single child pregnancy for obvious reasons of carrying more than one baby and again there are notice fluids and the placenta too is big. Another important point to note is that food aversion and food intolerance in twin pregnancy is also on another level. Actually you will be so so choosy. As much as any other pregnancy there is that food aversion and food intolerance in most of the pregnancy but again in twin pregnancy you will be much choosier with your food. Especially in the first trimester the food intolerance is much. It's extreme and so you just have to find a way of taking care of what you eat. Whatever you can is what you really want to eat. As much as you remain hydrated try as much as you can to eat as little or as much as you can. In twin pregnancy there is exaggerated pregnancy symptoms compared to single child pregnancy. The level of breast tenderness is on another level. The moodiness, the level that you will be visiting the toilet just to go and pee. My dear you will be making trips especially in the first trimester. All this occurs due to the rising levels of hexygen and progesterone level just to maintain pregnancy and remember in single pregnancy the levels are not that high. The hormonal levels are not that high compared to the twin pregnancy. So in twin pregnancy if you experience extreme moodiness, frequent visitation of the toilet, the breast tenderness, the blood seed, food aversions, all those pregnancy symptoms are always very much high and exaggerated and at times you can literally feel sick and it's normal. That is how twin pregnancy can be. Most mothers of twins have what we call intuition. This is just an instinct feeling that this pregnancy is not just one baby. It happens maybe from the experience that you've had like maybe if it's your subsequent pregnancy or even if it's your first pregnancy but that feeling is always there to some mothers and to me actually by around eight to ten weeks I'd already felt like I really doubt if I'm carrying one baby. Maybe from the heaviness that I was experiencing or even the frequent urination but actually I had it in mind that maybe this is more than one baby and by the time I was going to do my ultrasound I was only going to confirm that I have twins. When the sonographer told me that I had twins it wasn't much of a surprise because actually it had already been on my mind that most likely this is not just one baby. This is what we call intuition feeling actually as a mother of twin and if you are having a twin pregnancy there is more than once twice this thing will cross your mind that actually this is not just one baby. It's important to know that each and every individual is different and every mother too is different and every pregnancy too is different. Twin pregnancy can be carried out smoothly while others can have problems and again on the symptoms that I've just talked about not every individual must experience these kind of symptoms. Some do not experience them, some do. So the best way to diagnose twins is through an ultrasound in the hospital or maybe after delivery if at all you didn't go for an ultrasound. That is also quite okay to know that not all these symptoms must be experienced for you to know that you have twins. Yeah if at all you have that intuition feeling that you keep on crossing your mind maybe I'm having twins or not. Kindly go and do an ultrasound just to confirm whether you have twins. Bye Thank you for watching this. Let's meet in my next video.