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Whether you’ve just heard the second heartbeat or have known for a while, our twin pregnancy week by week timeline is for you. Created by expert twin moms and dads from our Twiniversity community just for twin parents to be!
Welcome to Twiniversity. Whether you found us online or through a twin parent friend, you’re in the right place! Twiniversity is the world’s leading resource for everything Twinnie, from pregnancy to the first year and beyond. Our information comes from our Twin Mom Squad and thousands of twin families worldwide. You’ll find that Twiniversity is all about the universal twin parent. We created a place for families to read, learn, and laugh about this wild ride of raising twins!
In case you’re new to us, Twiniversity.com offers TONS of resources about twin baby showers, double strollers, what to expect when you’re having twins, how to start a twins schedule, parenting tips for raising twins…the list goes on and on! Feel free to use that little search box above to look for anything that is on your mind while you’re pregnant with twins or after your twins are born.
This twin pregnancy week by week timeline will help you learn what happens week by week with twins.
You'll learn if your twin pregnancy symptoms are normal, about twin pregnancy complications that may have arisen, all about your twin pregnancy first trimester to-do list, details on your twin pregnancy development, dozens of twin pregnancy week by week pictures of belly, photos of twin ultrasounds, and SO much more! We're so glad you found us!
We know you might be ecstatic, scared, anxious, happy, confused, joyful, petrified, over the moon or somewhere in between about being pregnant with twins, but rest assured, we got ya covered with our twin pregnancy week by week!
When you’re pregnant with twins, expect the unexpected. Educate yourself on the warning signs of preterm labor, the warning signs of preeclampsia, and read up as much as you can on what to do to prepare. Our expecting twins class is a great way to learn all you need to know to prepare for your twin delivery and bringing home your babies (we also offer an online breastfeeding twins class!)
The symptoms in a twin pregnancy are the same as in a singleton pregnancy except they are typically stronger. If you would have nausea with a singleton pregnancy, you’ll feel EXTRA nauseous when you’re pregnant with twins. Your hCG levels will also be a lot higher than with a singleton pregnancy but you would only be able to know that with a blood test (which is typically done with reproductive assistance) but even then there’s no magic number to indicate twins. The only way to truly know if you’re having twins is to have a sonogram at your doctor’s office.
Twin pregnancy is typically a lot more difficult to manage than a singleton pregnancy. You may experience typical pregnancy symptoms in a more extreme manner, such as more nausea, more shortness of breath, more high blood pressure. But if this is your first pregnancy you probably will not know the difference — you may feel like this is how pregnancy is supposed to feel! On the converse, just because you’re pregnant with twins doesn’t mean that your symptoms will be hard to manage. A lot of twin moms report that they had typical pregnancy symptoms that can be compared to symptoms of a singleton pregnancy.
However, once you are getting around 32 weeks or later, you will really start to notice how difficult and painful a twin pregnancy can be. Around 32 weeks, your belly will measure about the size of a full-term singleton pregnancy and you’ll start to wonder how you’re possibly going to make it all the way to 38 weeks! Just hang in there and take it one day at a time.
The ideal time for twins to be born is at 37-38 weeks. It's important that the pregnancy doesn't go past 38 weeks to avoid added risks to the babies and mother. About 60% of twins are born before 37 weeks, while single babies are born around 40 weeks.
A little more than half of twin pregnancies end in preterm delivery (before 37 weeks). While 40 weeks is the full gestation period of the average pregnancy, most twin pregnancies are delivered at approximately 36 weeks (range 32-38 weeks depending on the type of twin pregnancy).
John Hopkins Medicine
As you get further along in your twin pregnancy week by week, your uterus will be pushed to its limits. By about 32 weeks, your twin baby bump will likely be the size of a full-term belly in a singleton pregnancy. Your uterus has to expand as your babies grow and it will definitely be larger than with a singleton pregnancy. This is why it's important to deliver your twins by 38 weeks -- to avoid uterine rupture, which can become deadly. After delivery, nurses will closely monitor and compress your uterus every 20 minutes to help it contract and reduce the risk of hemorrhage.
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