There really isn’t anything fun about the early weeks of pregnancy – obsessing over every flutter or nauseated feeling in your stomach and waiting around for confirmation. Then, if you are lucky enough to get a positive pregnancy test, the symptoms just get worse (sorry ladies!). Twin pregnancy is no exception. In fact, those early symptoms are typically much worse with twins. The plot twist? You won’t know you have twins until the first ultrasound – and even then sometimes it’s too early to detect. While I don’t condone obsessing over symptoms, if you want to have a little fun and compare what you’re feeling to what I felt before I knew I had two, buckle up and read on!
During my twin pregnancy, my doctors often used the term “spontaneous twins”, which is a fun way to say that they just kind of happened. I didn’t do IVF or IUI or take any type of fertility drugs. There are no twins in mine or my husbands family or in any part of our extended families (believe me, we checked.) All this to say, when I arrived for my first ultrasound, I could list about twenty things I would have been less shocked to find in my uterus than a second baby. Ready or not, there they were. Two little specks dancing around on the screen, heartbeats racing like the wind.
Before the twins, I had never been pregnant, so I had no reason to think any of the early symptoms I felt were out of the norm. Looking back on it, there are definitely things that stood out. I’m no doctor, but here’s my take on those early days and what I might have looked at differently if I’d known I had two.
1. Aggressive, Quick, and Routine Morning Sickness
Many women complain of morning sickness, so I’m not here to say mine was any worse. What I experienced was a very extreme burst of nausea early in the morning, usually around the same time. It was always bad enough to wake me up and force me out of bed. It was like having the worst alarm clock ever.
Nausea tip: Chewing these at the first sign of nausea throughout the day saved me!
2. Extreme Fatigue
There’s tired and then there’s really tired. And then there’s so tired you can’t stay awake past 2pm tired. Guess which one I was…? The exhaustion was unreal. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life. My dog loved it though.
3. Early Positive Pregnancy Test
At the time I got my positive pregnancy test, I was familiar with the “two-week wait” and counting days past ovulation. Like every anxious woman on earth, I tested early. Too early. With the twins, the test showed positive when I was only about 3 and a half weeks along, a whole week before my missed period. That’s pretty early. I also elected not to get a blood test after I got my positive test, mostly because I was afraid of getting bad news. My doctor told me that if I had gotten one it could have been an early indicator of twin pregnancy due to the higher than normal HcG number.
Testing Tip: Buy a box of strips and save yourself a ton of money and time going back and forth to the store. These are a great option!
4. Bloat So Bad I Looked Pregnant
At around 7 weeks, I remember being shocked that the baby (so I thought) was only the size of a chia seed when my stomach was already growing. It was just a crazy amount of bloat. I know I was pregnant, but I wasn’t supposed to look it quite yet.
5. Previous Cycle Complications
Two of my previous cycles before the twins ended in early losses. It’s not very common to have two in a row and it really messed with my cycle. I took a month off to reset and the next month I was pregnant with the twins.
6. Diet Changes
Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you about the Wellness Journey of 2022. I wanted to get healthier, but my main goal was to focus on hormone health. Now prepare yourself because this next part sounds a little nutty. I put a lot of focus into my luteal phase, which is the time between ovulation and your period. Mine was very short, which I came to find was not conducive to getting pregnant. A lot of women think they can’t do anything about this, but that’s not true. By adding a few supplements and changing my diet, I was able to extend my luteal phase by 3 days. This gave my body longer to get through the cycle of fertilization and implantation before Aunt Flo arrived to stop the party. Science!
7. The “Feeling”
Okay, I don’t know that I really had a feeling per se, but there were definitely weird moments that I can’t explain. For example, my husband told our OB he “wouldn’t mind” having twins at our 6 week appointment (it was too soon for an ultrasound, so we didn’t know yet). Also, the day before we found out, my mom and I went to lunch and started talking about how crazy it would be if I had twins. It’s not much, but it was enough to make me wonder if part of me knew.
I don’t know why I got pregnant with twins or if I somehow did something to cause it, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s an amazing gift that I hope to never take for granted. I know I have something that many women dream of, and if I had any secrets to share, I would. It’s the fact that you can’t plan for twins that makes having twins so special. Being shocked beyond belief by that first ultrasound is just part of the experience. But don’t worry. If you’re meant to be a twin mom, then it’s already part of your story. You just have to wait for that chapter to start. For now, all I can tell you is that it’s worth the wait.
