Mamas with MultiplesDo you do double or triple duty through every baby stage? Having multiples has its own parenting difficulties- especially when you are trying to parent gently and naturally... please share your thoughts and questions here in your special multiples forum
If they are fraternal twins then they are genetically siblings so weight difference would be normal. My largest singleton was 9lbs 2 oz & smallest was 7lbs. Biggest was overdue 13 days. But then my first four were each a week over-due & largest was 8 & 1/2 lbs
If the twins are identical they may have what my twins had: Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. There was a communication between the blood vessels & they shared a two lobed placenta. They were each in their own amniotic sac, but were in one chorionic sac. So one got more nutrients than the other. We sent off a piece of each umbilical cord for testing to prove they were identical. At 38 weeks & 2 days "A" was 5lb 13oz & "B" was 7lb, 15 oz.
Sometimes one placenta simply is more efficient than the other too.
Hope that helps
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Kerri mom to: Amanda & partner PC, Emma(16), Maddison(14), Jonah(11),Saige & Claire (7, id twin dds) & Teagan (4,ds), fostering four children, grandma to baby boy (Jan, 2008) and caring for horses, dogs, cats & rodents.
My neighbour/friend recently found out she is pregnant with twins, too.
As to your question, well Kerri pretty much covered it all (she's rather an expert ).
My boys, who we believe are identical (but we would need to have them tested to be 100% sure) were 1 pound 4 oz different at birth. I don't know if twin to twin transfusion syndrome was the reason...we joke that larger Sam (who was on top of Ian) was sitting on Ian for the last few weeks (Ian had his head firmly lodged down in my cervix for the last little while) so that he couldn't "eat" as much.
The boys either shared a placenta or it was fused...it certainly just looked like one, but we didn't feel a burning need to have it sent to a hospital to check (the boys were born at home).
Twins are cool . Didn't you post a loooong time ago in this board that you had twins run in the family??
My placenta was in the freezer Janice so I cut the end off of each umbilical cord & packed it frozen with frozen tofu (it stays frozen way longer than water) and sent them off to a University in Saskatchewan, Canada. It was great because I didn't have to do cheek swabs or blood tests. Both were quite expensive. It was only $100.00 to have the University do it!!
Fraternal twins run in our family so having identical twins was a surprise!!
My other kids look a lot alike (well my oldest & youngest have read hair, but the rest all have the same colour of brown hair). My 2nd & 3rd have been mistaken as twins over the years. Though there is a significant height difference now so it doesn't happen nearly as often. But still people will ask if we have 2 sets of twins!!
Having Twins by Elizabeth Noble has some great twin gestation information. I have read some info on line as well regarding weight differences.
I still highly recommend the Dr. Luke book.
I was told the twins would weigh 4lbs & 6 lbs. HA!!! almost 6 & almost 8 means they were off by 2 pounds each!! But I am so glad I ate so well. With them being 2 pounds different they could have been 6 & 4lbs or 5 & 3lbs. Your babies are what YOU eat!!
Perhaps I should get the U of S contact from you Kerri. I spoke with the woman at U of A who does the test with blood samples for about $100, but I didn't want to have blood taken from the boys for that reason. Then there's Pro-DNA that will test from buccal swabs for $195CDN.
I know that we'll have it done sometime, but I just haven't yet.
it could also be that you ovulated at different times meaning one is gestationally younger than the other. ours were about a week apart. however, the younger ended up being bigger at birth (34 weeks). she acted younger though and looked younger. her "older" sister is just thin and narrow.
i don't think we (science) understand twins as well we think we do. and i'll stop there before anyone thinks i'm TOO crazy .
My twins had a big weight difference that they thought at first was twin to twin transfusion. The thing that helped keep Maribeth growing was me on bedrest from 20 weeks and drinking high protein ensure 2-3x a day in addition to supplements and meals (when I could keep the stuff down that is!).
Before I went on bedrest - she hadn't grown (based on ultrasound measurements) for almost a month and has almost no fluid With bedrest - she kept growing - but at a slower weight than Megan. My girls also had their own amniotic sac, but were in one chorionic sac.
We found out at delivery WHY there was such a problem - Maribeth had only about 1/4 of the placenta with a tiny pencil thin unblilical cord. So she wasn't getting the nutrients and bedrest was helping the blood flow to the placenta - so she would get something. So restricted activity can really help out.
My girls are 7 months old now and Maribeth is still substantially lighter than Megan. They go to get checked today - but I"m guessing the weight gap has widened.
Oh and we know they are identical due to amnio (which for what it's worth - I regret doing - it send me into PTL and into the hospital on bedrest the first time I ended up in the hospital). Also they tested the placenta and I was told they were idential based on that. However - I don't think my girls look alike at ALL! So the different environments must have made a big difference.
Oh and fwiw - the ultrasound predictions on my girls weights were pretty much right on. But they told us at BC Woman's that there is a big difference in equipment between hospitals. My twin pregnancy care was with perinatologists at teaching hospital with the highest level care and NICU.
My 1st and 2nd get mistaken for twins pretty much every time we leave the house. Michael is about 1 in taller than his older sister.
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Cheryl single mama to
Melissa (8), Michael (7), Madeleine (6)
twins Megan & Maribeth (4)
Last edited by Mama2miracles : 09-13-2004 at 12:39 PM.
There really isn't anything you can do to prevent any of the complications that might cause one baby to be smaller than the other, but as Cheryl experienced you can take some steps (high protein diet, bedrest if advised, etc.).
My girls were within ounces of each other at birth (4 lbs 14 oz and 5 lbs 1 oz) and still are, 3 1/2 years later. They are very definitely fraternal but amaze me with their similarity in size. Their younger sister is nearly as big as them, so lately strangers have been asking me if they are triplets (doesn't help that the twins dress identically and then the 2yo insists on matching!).
Eat well, rest on your left side whenever you feel worried and try not to dwell on all the supposed "high risk" aspects.
This is where I got Canadian Testing info. Sorry, it was U of A not Sask!!
We were able to send the umbilical cord ends, only needed one inch, but had to mail it so that it would stay frozen & get there quickly. I didn't want to have to draw blood & as I mentioned the cheek swab was $$$$.
My twins are still slightly different in size. About 1 pound in weight, about 1 inch in height. One is definitely bigger boned, while the other is more "petite". So Claire outgrow an outfit, we can pass it down to Saige!! Depending on the clothes style the same size will often fit both for a while till Claire grows a bit. One also has slightly smaller feet than the other.
The smaller twin also was about 4 weeks behind in physical development. She rolled, sat, crawled & walked 4 weeks later than her sister. But they smiled on the same day, started talking & using the same words on the same days too!!
Daniel was 6lbs 14 oz and Abby was 5 lbs 7 oz, a difference of 1 lb 7 oz, roughly 22%. Around 25% they start considering twin-to-twin transfusion syndromw, which is mroe common in babies that share a placenta but especially share an amniotic sac.
Eat away - high protein is best - my friend who had triplets swore by peanut butter sandwiches. She was more concerned about getting enough protein than possible future allergies.
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Christine
Proud mom of Daniel and Abigail 6/21/02
Loving wife to Hugo 9/20/98
Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a disease of the placenta (or afterbirth) that affects identical twin pregnancies.
-TTTS affects identical twins (or higher multiple gestations) who share a common monochorionic placenta.
-The shared placenta contains abnormal blood vessels which connect the umbilical cord and circulations of the twins.
-The common placenta may also be shared unequally by the twins
-The events in pregnancy that lead to TTTS are all random.
-TTTS is not hereditary or genetic, nor caused by anything the parents did or did not do.
-TTTS can happen to anyone.
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My identical twins were in the same chorionic sac. They were NOT in the same amniotic sac. It is rare, but it does happen that identical twins can be in the same amniotic & chorionic sac.
My girls' placenta was not equally shared. One had about 25% of the placenta the other had about 75% of the placenta.
TTTS occurs in identical twins. In fraternal twins there can be some issues if the placentas adhere close together on the uterine wall & they can than affect each other and somewhere I recall reading can have some blood vessel issues. But they don't refer to it as TTTS.
So if the babies weight difference is "significant" it is TTTS only if the twins are identical with a shared placenta & chorionic sac. In my case my smallest singleton was just under 7lbs and my largest was 8 lbs, 7oz. So when the ultra-sound was showing a discrepency in weight we weren't overly surprised as it was assumed they were fraternal.
You can check out the web-site for more info.
If the twins are in seperate chorionic sacs then TTTS isn't an issue from my understanding. The twins will also then also have seperate placentas.
Kerrilynn is right that TTTS can only happen in identical twins. There are other things that can happen to one baby only - in my case they were considering IUGR (Intruterine growth retardation) with my dd. Sometimes two separate placentas can fuse, and one baby's supply could become compromised, it depends on how they fuse. Or one placenta could just not have developed properly enough to provide adequate nutrition.
But usually growth differences are minimal.
).
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With bedrest - she kept growing - but at a slower weight than Megan. My girls also had their own amniotic sac, but were in one chorionic sac. 
, Olivia 3, Eva 20 months
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