Multiple birth babies can mean multiple times the work parents
have to do. But on the bright side, parenting multiple birth babies
can also multiply the amount of joy
and level of fascination associated with raising children.
Being tired
There’s no doubt that looking after multiple babies is more work and often more complicated than parenting a single baby. Parents of multiples have more expense, get less sleep and are under more time pressure and greater stress than parents of a single baby. Breastfeeding can be a real problem for mothers of multiples, with many mums unable to breastfeed at all. After the first three months, mothers of multiple birth babies are more likely than mothers of one baby to report being exhausted, having no time to themselves and being depressed.
Growing up
in a family
Often twins will ‘stick together’. This can deprive them of important interactions with others where they might learn all kinds of things, particularly language. Sometimes multiple birth children will develop their own ‘language’, which is really the result of the children reinforcing immature speech. This form of communication might isolate them socially and can delay their speech development. The greater time pressure on parents and the increased closeness between twins often means parents are less involved with their multiple birth babies than they would be if they’d had one baby. Each child has less opportunity for one-on-one time with a parent, and the sheer busyness of parenting can make it harder for parents of multiples to as responsive and sensitive to their children’s needs. Multiple birth children can also experience less praise and receive fewer expressions of affection. Each child has different needs and doesn’t necessarily need exactly the same things as siblings. It’s important to help each child develop as an individual, as well as enabling each one to celebrate being a multiple. Within families of multiple birth children, older siblings can often feel displaced when twins or triplets arrive, especially if their relationship with their parent was particularly close beforehand. It can help if you:
- encourage older children to be involved in the preparations
for a multiple birth while making time for their needs and interests
- ensure that friends and relatives remember that an older brother or sister is very special too.
Why are there so many more
twins around these days?
One of the major reasons is because of assisted fertility
techniques and the number of couples who are undergoing reproductive
assistance. It was far more common in the past for infertile couples
to not have an option about having children. But our current
understanding and management of reproductive technology means that
couples with fertility problems now have a better chance of
conceiving than they ever have. It has been common practice for a
long time to insert two or more embryos to increase the chances of a
positive pregnancy. The other reason is that the care of premature
babies has become so much better, they now have a greater chance of
survival.
What will increase the odds of having twins?
- As well as reproductive assistance, increasing maternal age is another important factor. It is well known that the incidence of twins increases in women who are over 35 years. This is because the hormone oestrogen increases as women mature. This important sex hormone plays a vital role in stimulating the ovaries to release eggs each month. Another reason is because follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) tends to surge in the later years, leading to hyper stimulation of the ovaries.
- Women from Nigerian and African/American heritage have much higher chances of having twins. Women of Asian descent have the lowest incidence.
- If a woman is a fraternal twin herself, or her mother and or mother’s mother were twins, or she has siblings who are fraternal twins, then her chances are increased. It is the genetic endowment of ovarian hyper stimulation on the mother’s side which makes all the difference. Having fraternal twins’ starts with having two eggs being released rather than one.
- Assisted reproduction increases the likelihood of twins. Commonly prescribed fertility drugs stimulate the ovaries to support more than one ovarian follicle to maturity.
How will I know if I’m
having twins?
You may suspect you are having twins long before they are
positively diagnosed.
- Extreme nausea can be one of the first symptoms and not being able to keep any food down. It’s as if you can tick all the boxes for early pregnancy symptoms but increase them tenfold. Smells are more acute, your bladder won’t seem to hold any reasonable volume , you’re absolutely exhausted and your breasts may seem to have taken over your chest. This is because the pregnancy hormone, hCG is being produced in mega quantities and its effects on your body have become very evident.
- You are also likely to “show” much sooner than if you are only carrying one baby. It makes sense that two babies take up double the room. Pregnancy is usually not obvious until after the 12th week when the uterus starts lifting up out of the pelvis. But with twin pregnancies, a little round bulge is often visible long before the end of the first trimester.
- The other give away sign is lots of movements, felt earlier than normal. Foetal movements – isn’t generally felt until around 16 weeks by first time mothers and as early as 14 weeks for those who’ve been pregnant before. But with twins, those tiny first movements can be very clear. Twins fill up the uterus much earlier than one baby and are in contact with the uterine wall as they bounce and flit around.
- You may also find out from having an ultrasound and see two babies on the screen. Sometimes pregnant mothers don’t know they’re having twins until the 18 week screening ultrasound; others as early as 12 weeks. It’s possible to see on ultrasound at 12 weeks or earlier which type of twins a woman is carrying. Another way to detect a twin pregnancy is through Doppler; when two separate heartbeats are heard.
- Twins account for around 90% of multiple births and far outnumber triplets or quads in the multiple birth stakes. The likelihood of twins being boys or girls tends to be fairly equal, with around 50% of either gender being conceived. This matches the incidence of singleton (one baby) conception.
Identical twins/non
fraternal twins:
The estimate for identical twins is that around one in every three
sets is identical. Each twin shares exactly the same genetic
material. They look the same and can be very difficult to tell apart.
Non identical
twins/fraternal twins:
Most twins are non identical twins; around two out of every three
sets of twins fit into this category. So these twins share no
more genetic characteristics than siblings with the same parents.
Non identical twins can be the same gender or different genders.
Statistically, the chances are pretty much the same for both.
Plan ahead
Caring for twins can be a very difficult thing, but if you take
the time to organize and arrange your babies room so that it is
functional for you're before they arrive you will see how much easier
things can be. And there's little doubt you'll need lots of storage
space. So look for extra shelving (preferably in even numbers, so
each child can have the same number of shelving as his or her twin),
toy boxes, baskets and bins and a good wardrobe.
Incorporate them now, and having two toddlers in the same room will
be easier later.
____________________________________________________
From United Kingdom 203 402 4400 | From Abroad +44203 402 4400
No comments :
Post a Comment