Gina and I are part of a group called Full House Moms (FHM). It’s a group specific to parents of multiples in the Portland Metro area. Thus far, it’s been a really great resource for everything from finding twin-specific doctors and stores to finding pre-owned twin equipment on sale. We love it.
This morning I was browsing for a certain type of wrap we learned about at our twin class and I came across this post below: it’s a request for insight and then the supportive responses that followed. It inspires me to tears. It’s also reassuring for me to know that this kind of support is available if/when I want/need it. Maybe not in the “Red Tent” kind of way like I long for, but at least right here on my computer and monitor… and maybe even a phone call away.
The power of women and community never ceases to amaze me.
xo,
regina
Here goes:
Almost 34 Weeks W/ Twins-So Confused!
Hey Mom’s,
So I have now made it to almost 34 weeks with twins, and am now having contractions (both at the hospital and at doctor appointment this morning) on the monitor that are strong and 3-5 minutes apart. I am also feeling an extreme amount of pressure in my pelvic area, which I believe is due to baby A’s head being down so low. (doctor confirmed this yesterday) My cervix had managed to dilate to 2 centimeters as of Thursday evening, but have had no change since then. (was checked again this morning)
I am just so confused about how I can be having such strong/painful and close together contractions without my cervix making more of a change. I really hope these contractions don’t last until the 36 weeks the doctors want me to make it to before I deliver. 
Did any of you have a similar experience?
-NK
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I had contractions for about 4 months…seriously! In the end I barely noticed them and was actually 7 cm dilated when I went in to be induced at 38 weeks (I thought the severe pain I was having was in my stomach….and, it wasn’t even my first baby!).
My baby A had a SUPER low head…so low that one of the nurse’s who was doing an ultrasound swore he had flipped because she couldn’t see it…it is SO painful and I think it causes the contractions to be more painful, too. Drink LOTS of water and try to relax. Twin pregnancy is a bit of an anomaly and even the doctors have a hard time explaining what’s happening.
Hang in there!
-C.
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I had contractions from 32 weeks on pretty regularly. I was actually admitted over night at 34 weeks and they thought we were going to deliver. I dilated from 2 to 3 while in the hospital over night and was 70% effaced, but ended up going home the next day. I was admitted for extra monitoring every week after my weekly NST. I got very frustrated, because they always made me think we were having babies and then sent me home. My girls were born at 36 weeks.
Hang in there!
-M.
Are you resting for significant periods in the day? Seriously, like 2 hours on your left side, a couple of times a day. As I recall from earlier posts, you have another child (?). Makes resting challenging, but it can really help.
Remember, your uterus is a muscle and it is getting very irritable with all the work it is doing stretching and accommodating for two babes. Lying down and relieving some of the pressure can help quite a bit.
I started having some contractions around 24 – 25 weeks (which is about when your uterus is stretched to the size of a full term singleton–so makes sense that it gets irritable!) Sometimes I couldn’t feel them and other times they were fairly significant.
And my baby A was so low that we never saw his face after the 20 week ultrasound! Matter of fact, a couple of times they had to put me in trandelenberg position (upside down) just to get his head out of my pelvis and get a measurement of his smushed little head!!
Be proud of your 34 weeks, and keep them in as long as your body can allow them to be there. You need to give in to it all and lie down more. I fought that for a long time, but it was good for me and the babes once I did it.
-G.
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I had very small contractions for months and at 34.3 weeks I was dilated to a 3 with no pelvic pressure. It just snuck up on me! I put myself on light duty and made it to 36 weeks exactly when my water broke. Babies were 5.4 and 5.7 with no nicu stay and came home with me 2 days later. Just take it easy and you will make it too!
-E.
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Thanks for all the input. We just got back from another hospital stay, due to bleeding that started yesterday morning. They still don’t know what caused it. What they do know is that I am now having contractions that are 2-3 minutes apart, but that they are not changing my cervix from the 2 centimeters. The pain is extremely intense, and the medication they have given me to take at home to control them is not working at all. (niphedipene) sp?! I am not sure what to do next, it just seems extremely unfair that I have to be in this much pain with absolutely NO relief until these babies decide to come. They say they can’t give me anything to make the labor get stronger, but that they won’t do anything to stop the labor either. I just don’t understand how they can expect someone to feel this way for maybe another two weeks if it takes that long.
-NK
M.
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