Q: Hello Dr ketch, please, I am 11 weeks pregnant and for the past 1 week, it’s as if I’ve been feeling movements in the stomach. Is it normal or do I need to check a doctor? In my first pregnancy, I did not feel the baby till 20 weeks and above. Again, besides the ultrasound, how can I know if I’m having twins?
A: The first time you feel your baby’s movement is known as quickening and the time women feel it varies person to person. It ranges from 16 to 25 weeks but women who have had babies before may feel this much earlier. Women describe it as different things: a bubbly feeling; butterflies in their tummy; gas etc.
How to know if you’re having twins? Well, ultrasound is your best bet. But there are some other ‘signs’ that may be suggestive:
If your doctor is very experienced, he may be able to distinguish different heartbeats using Doppler system. Ask your doctor about this. This is a small ‘machine’ placed against a woman’s tummy that amplifies the baby’s heart beats.
You may also have excessive morning sickness. Again, this may be misleading as lots of women experience significant morning sickness even when pregnant with one baby 😀
You may find that your weight gain is excessive…but then again, if you eat a lot and really feed that urge you have to indulge in all manner of foods, then you would be adding weight; and this is not due to 2 babies 😀
The hormone, Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG) is the hormone that is sought for when pregnancy tests are conducted. If for some reason, your doctor decides to monitor its level and it is inordinately high, then this could lead him to think twin pregnancy.
When your doctor checks the fundal height…essentially the size of your pregnancy, the size of your tummy would suggest a much older pregnancy than the real age of the pregnancy.
You would also feel more tired, more frequent fetal movements etc or you may have a history of this or just feel a hunch that this is a twin pregnancy. None of these are fool-proof. So, an ultra sound scan is still your best bet 🙂
Have a great everyone 😀
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