Pregnancy Info HOME

Probably. I mean my doctor told me that we might find a 4th hiding behind the other three, but I think that it rare. I think that your doctor would have picked up a second heartbeat by now.

It is very improbable that they missed a second baby, especially if they took the time to do the measurements. From my 20 week u/s, there was obviously more that one baby in there. I mean, it is hard not to see more legs, arms and an extra head!

Your doc has a funny way of putting things... sounds a little like a teenager: "WAY big." lol Anyway, measuring big or small is normal. Babies grow at their own rates in the womb (past the first trimester mainly) just as they do outside of the womb. It's unlikely that your level 2 sonogram (which is the routine one you had at 20 weeks) would have missed something that obvious.

hi wondering-I am kind of in the same boat, I had one us at 8 weeks and it was only one. But I have been having tones of movement all over since 15 weeks. I have had a feeling but that means nothing and the us tech that it was highly unlikely that she would miss another one, but just the other day I had a full flip on the left side, and I have regular poking on the right side. I guess we'll see, my next us is in January and the wait is driving me nuts. I would think that at 20 weeks that they would definitely see a second one. I guess if is wasn't for the movement, I would let it go, but it is different than any other I have felt-especially this early. Good luck to you!

I feel the same way, my first u/s was at 6 weeks and they only saw one. But I cannot get over the feeling that there is 2 in there. Plus like Jenn said I feel movement on both sides at the same time, or like they are pushing one another.

One baby can feel like an octopus with all the movement in every direction they make. I'm at the point where I feel my baby all the time, every day, & I know there's only one in there. I'm at 24 weeks.

We have never heard a second heartbeat, but we've always found one right away and have never looked for a second one. I guess that is what I wonder about the ultrasound. We never saw a second baby, but we didn't look either. I just felt like this was the least thurough ultrasound of any of my previous pregnancies. Anyone with twins... did you ever have to look for the second baby? I have had the twin vibe all through this pregnancy, but I am terrified of the thought as they would be #5 and 6

With my triplets we never needed to "look" for the other babies. They were always there all jumbled together, a mass of arms and legs and heads. :)

at 20 weeks there are too many limbs, not to mention two heads and placentas to miss baby....you don't have to search it is VERY OBVIOUS!!! Missing one at that point is 1%. Level II u/s are very detailed and long, so at one point the tech would have seem something strange.

For all the others who have a "feeling" one was missed, yes it can happen but it is RARE(5% in the first tri)!! I have seen so many ladies swear it was twins even after their first u/s because they felt movement in more than one place, two hb and were measuring big and at birth only one baby came out.

When twins are missed it is usually very early and id twins sharing the same sac. Early u/s are pretty clear...the sacs would have to be the same size and shape AND be directly in front of each other.

hi twins4us-I had a question about the movement-for me, the only reason that I think that there may be two is bc every now and then it feels like the baby's whole body is being smushed forward into the front of my stomach and then there is poking in my back. I have never had this sensation before. I have a doc appt. tomorrow and blood work, I am certain that if there are two in there he'll hear the heart beat tomorrow.

I have to throw my 2 cents worth in here... LOL. RE: MISSED BABY--->> At 20 weeks the odds are low that they would miss another baby. But it has happened to some, so it is a possibility no matter how rare. There are others reasons a person could measure suddenly big...could be in increase in amniotic fluid for whatever reason (I'm not a dr so I wont speculate here)...but I would think you would have measured big all along if it were twins.

Now it is possible for a baby to hide, so to speak. I noted some postings stating how easy it is to see another or to pick up the hb. I am currently 27 weeks with twins, they only saw one for the first 2 u/s's. On the 2nd u/s I made sure to ask the tech to make sure there was only one in there...she did a thorough check and saw just the one. I had a 3rd u/s done at 12 weeks, and if the first baby had been sleeping, they would never have seen the 2nd that was right behind it!! (They are in separate sacs also!) At my 20 week u/s they did have trouble getting a view of the 2nd baby because they are literally one right in front of the other. I do believe that if we did not already know of the 2nd one, that it may have been missed on my 20 week u/s as well due to what I was seeing and how hard it was for the u/s tech to find it clearly enough. Also, even now, my ob has trouble picking up the back baby's heartbeat. RE: MOVEMENT ?? --->> when you feel pushing and poking on opposite ends...imagine a baby stretching itself out and moving at the same time. You are most likely feeling head and back pushing on one side and feet kicking on the other...Or feet pushing and head/back pushing and punching at the same time. I don't notice any difference in how it feels when twins are kicking around...mostly notice that is is more nonstop it seems. Although it can be downright painful when they both stretch and kick in unison....OUCH!!!

To Katziz: How far along are you now?Why did your dr. decide to do so many u/s? My first and only one was done at 6wks (where they said there was only one). I am scheduled to have another next week, only because I messured large for my due date. I hope if there is 2 babies they detect it before my c-section.

hallo KATZIIZ, i find your story quite interesting and fun to read...now i have a few questions i was hoping you can shed some light on...
you say that it wasnt until your 3rd scan i.e at 12 weeks that you found out you were having twins...so how come you made the tech look properly...did you have any reason to belive it was twins? and when did you have your first 2 scans at how many weeks and did you watch the screen and see only one big clear sac? were they transvaginal? how come they couldn't even see the pther sac for a little bit if they have moved the probe around?
i am just curious...my relative just founf out she has twins and this is at 20 weeks...at 12 weeks they never saw the other one..but hers are identical and share the same sac hnece they may have missed it at 12 weeks. how is it possible for tech's in your case to miss the second sac. if they move the probe around and if you had scans done beofre 12 weeks wouldnt those be transvaginal? aren't those ones that get a very good overall view of the whole uterous? the sacs come up black on a scan...how can one manage to hide behind the other without being detected!would be nice to hear your answers....i bet you fell of the couch lol!!!!
so how come you thought you were having twins, intuition? dream? symptoms? please let us know! i am not having twins but since i was almost on route to do so find these surprise stories very fun to read!!!!i am currently 9 weeks.

wow what a shocker that must have been. You are right they can be missed but it happens only 1% of the time. "Some" people here are so desperate to convince themselves it IS twins that they will take your story and run with it even though it is SO very unlikely that they fall into that 1%.

I totally agree with your movement comment. Lots of ppl will feel movement at the same time because the baby is hiccuping and they have a reflex...so they feel movement by the baby's head and at the same time they feel the foot/hand move too.

It all the years I have been talking to twin moms I have seen twins missed very rarely(under 5%).

there is also the fact that sonos are done in real time...and are not still pics. Twins will not shadow each other 100% of the time so one hiding behind the other for the entire sono is very unlikely. The tech would have seen "something" out of the ordinary at a level II sono.

Yas~ I had both vaginal and abdominal done at 6.5 weeks. They did that one because I was spotting and my beta levels weren't quite doubling. It was an u/s tech and at that time they only saw an empty sac. Just one sac, and it measured for only 4 weeks. So they had me come in again 8 days later to check and make sure it was not a blighted ovum happening. When I came in that time my ob did a vaginal u/s and saw a 6 week sac and a healthy baby. I had a gut feeling and asked her to make sure there is only one in there. She did a sweep around my uterus with the vaginal and said "yes, there is only one". Now, before you all think the wrong thing...I never wanted more than one. So, I was not hoping, I was worried and wanted to be reassured. So, the next month went by mostly uneventful...but in my gut I was worried because I was feeling very pregnant, like a lot of pulling pains already and alot of discomfort in my pelvis and cervical area. My nausea kicked in about 8 weeks and it was pretty rough! By the 11th week I was feeling my uterus almost at my belly button, odd for me that early on, I have had 3 other kids and am overweight, so I knew I had a larger than normal for me uterus going on. Well, at 12 weeks, after a long walk downtown and a 2 1/2 block walk uphill pushing my 40 lb toddler...I noticed cramping and spotting when I got home. So I called my ob, and she had me come right in to check the baby. She slapped the abdominal u/s on me...said the baby looked good, had a good hb and was growing fine. Then we both noticed that when the baby did it's whole body jerking move...you could see something behind it that was not moving. After a long awkward silence and a lot of trying to get a view behind it....there was another baby of the same size, not moving, laying directly behind the first and with a good hb as well...she just looked at me funny and said "you know you're having twins don't you?". Talk about being freaked out! They do have seperate sacs and the peak was visable suggesting two fusing placentas. That is what gets me when I see a poster say "they have to share the same sac to have one hiding behind the other" well I have to say "poo to that" I have living proof that it can to happen! :-) As for the vaginal probe question, I have read some reports that uterine positioning like a "tilted uterus" can make it hard to properly see all the uterus area. At 12 weeks, I was measuring large and my ob says that they would have ordered an u/s anyway to check on why. I thought it was funny and ironic because I had just posted on this forum a question asking what the odds of missing a twin on u/s would be and less than a week later I was diagnosed with twins. :-) So, my advice to everyone out there wondering if there are more than one in there after u/s already done....it can happen but don't get so excited that you might be the rare case of missed twin...by 20 weeks you and your ob will typically have confirmed how many are in your womb accurately.