Has anyone experienced, or does anyone know someone who experienced being pregnant with twins but having the odd ultrasound show only one baby? I know sometimes early ultras will show 2 embryos & one may be miscarried or absorbed or something… but I have been reading forums and things online about women finding out sometimes after a few (2 or 3) ultras that they are having twins…and one twin must have been ‘hiding’ behind the other (mirroring so closely that the techs can’t see it) or the techs somehow didn’t find the second one. Seems more common -not that it’s ever common, twins alone are rare enough- with identicals but I have read cases with fraternals too. Or stories where women has ultras showing two, then one showing just one, then the next one showing two again. Some of them are clearly just one baby in the pic, and some of them seem like there maybe is something else in the picture but its just not clear that it could be another foetus. It seems so bizarre, I want to know if it is a real thing. It certainly seems believable, some women even posted the progression of their ultrasound pics & it seems legit.
Really curious because twins run strong in my family (maternal grandma had four sets) & I have been ridiculously tired this pregnancy and am Really showing for someone whose only about 15 weeks. My mom has been teasing me that it’s twins (I think she’s hoping for it) but I already had an ultra showing just one, at around 10 weeks I think - but it WAS zoomed way in on the embryo & there is a lot of other stuff in the image, in the foreground & beside it, that I assume was just my guts (haha gross) but my husband says he thinks it looks like it cold be a second baby. My mom just says “they can miss things”. They’really both probably just teasing me. The tech during my ultra seemed to be in a rush (to be fair I was a couple minutes late) and may have been a little out of it as it was scheduled on a [name_m]Saturday[/name_m] morning.
Ahah my family’s suspicions aside, I am so curious about this! Has anyone heard anything oke that before?
I have heard of people being surprised by twins, but not sure how many ultra sounds, etc they had. I’d say it probably does happen with the first ultrasound, especially with identicals, but I think it’d be extremely rare to happen in multiple ultrasounds, especially as they get much more advanced.
if I had an ultrasound that showed one baby, I’d chalk the tiredness up to the fact that you’re already chasing after two small children, and I believe you mentioned still breastfeeding, plus consecutive pregnancies seem to get a bit tougher, and you’ll show earlier with each.
I know logically it is silly to even consider the possibility of it being twins, especially after having an ultraspund showing a singleton.
I’m sure you are right & I’m just tired because of chasing two little ones around, working, breastfeeding & having pregnancies so close together. But you know how these ideas can get stuck in your head! Haha.
I’ve definitely heard of surprise twins (and even triplets!) but only from older people who were having babies before ultrasounds. [name_m]Will[/name_m] you have any more ultrasounds? If you are concerned, bring it up, I’m sure they can check really thoroughly.
I totally agree about second pregnancies showing much sooner. My mom was much larger with me and showed a lot sooner than with my older sister, people kept teasing her about twins. Ultrasounds were not routine back then, so she didn’t have one. In the end, I weighed only a few ounces more than my sister had at birth.
My friend found out about her identical twins at 10 weeks after having seen what looked like only one at an earlier ultrasound–one was hiding behind the other, she says. At 15 weeks it seems pretty unlikely, though, since the embryos would be somewhat bigger. If it happens, it will probably be at an ultrasound before 12 weeks.
With my most recent two pregnancies I felt the same way you do. I had other complications, too, but for the most part I must have been exhausted by the big kids and just being older than in previous pregnancies. Different pregnancies can be dramatically different. Mine have gotten much, much tougher each time. I don’t blame you for wondering if something else was going on, though. Not a bad idea to mention it to your doctor, in case she wants to check for anemia.
Yeah, I know it would have to be super unlikely for this to turn out to be a twin pregnancy, I guess I’m just looking for an explanation of why this pregnancy is so different. I actually didn’t get scheduled for a 12 week ultrasound & I thought they were going to set me up for one around 15 weeks because the only one I’ve had so far was a dating one around 9 or 10 weeks. Well anyway now I’m scheduled for my 20ish week ultrasound mid November, That’s the one where they scan the anatomy really carefully so I feel like they would see a second then if there were one in there, I’m planning to ask the tech if she/he has heard of that happening or how often it happens, anyway. Because now I’m just curious!
I’m not anemic, for now. I had low iron with my first two so I have been supplementing with ‘gentle iron’. My levels apparently are on the low end of the scale but are reasonable. Everyone says that pregnancies can be so different but I haven’t experienced it for myself before. Both my pregnancies with the girls were so similar (emotional, nausea, carried higher & front, big appetite, “glowy” skin) & this one is so different (exhausted, carrying “egg-shaped” high/lower & wider, no nausea, no appetite - when I do eat I feel full right away, skin breaking out) that I just don’t know what to think.
My aunt found out she was having twins when she was six or seven months along. I know she had at least one ultrasound prior to finding out but am not sure what kind of prenatal care she had before that. She was in a bad situation at the time, so not the usual prenatal experience I’m sure you ladies have had.
While it’s not the same thing, I have a friend with a 3 year old boy. When she was pregnant with him, the ultrasound tech said she was having a girl. It wasn’t until he was born that they realized she had gotten it wrong!
I think gender mistakes are far more common than missing multiples!
If you’re having a boy this time around, that could explain differences in pregnancy…but so can any other number of things, from time of year to where the baby implanted to a different sleep schedule or diet for yourself, more stress, any additional health issues, birth control you took in between, etc. I’m sure you’ve often heard each pregnancy is different, it may just be coincidence your first two were so similar.
I haven’t been around a ton lately, so congrats on your pregnancy! Your experience with this one sounds like mine with my Feb’14 guy. Now, this pregnancy has been nearly identical to the one with my 4 year old girl, and we just found out that this one’s a girl too! My vote is that you’re having a boy
@southern.maple I have read so many accounts of women having multiple ultrasounds & not finding out til way late in their pregnancy they were having multiples. Seems so bizarre though, like something off one of those weird Mysteries of the E.R. kind of TV shows.
@sllah that happened to a colleague of mine at my old job! He and his wife were told they were having a boy & it turned out to be a girl. I’ve heard it’s unusual that way but pretty common for a boy’s little thing to have not decended or whatever when they check gender so lots of people are told it’s a girl & then it ends up being a boy.
@leadmythoughts you are right, there really are loads of factors at play. It absolutely may be a coincidence about my previous pregnancies being so similar. I always hesitate at the idea that boy/girl pregnancies are so different but really when you think about it it makes sense, totally different hormones at play with different sexes.
@t.k. thanks! I remember we were in the same thread waiting for our 2014 babies - what’s your [name_m]EDD[/name_m] this time around? Hopefully you’re right & this one’s a boy… I won’t care either way but my husband would live to have a little fella to carry on his legacy. Lol what is up with guys & legacies, am I right??
Thanks for all the responses & reassurance guys! I know I’m being crazy. My mom totally got in my head with all her twin talk (did I mention my grandma had four sets? Hahaha) & I have been feeling so tired & so much movement still I don’t think i’ll be fully convinced this is a singleton til after my [name_u]November[/name_u] ultrasound. [name_m]Feel[/name_m] free to ignore my paranoid ramblings
