Vanishing Twin Syndrome?

When Kyla-Marie reached out to me with her twins story I was so intrigued to know a little bit more as I am sure you are also! I would like to start by sharing some more information regarding Kyla-Marie’s first pregnancy. In this pregnancy she had a daughter and a son with only her son surviving. She lost her Daughter as a result of Vanishing Twin Syndrome.

So what is Vanishing Twin Syndrome?
Vanishing twin syndrome refers to a condition that can take place during early or later pregnancy. Vanishing twin syndrome is a type of miscarriage.

When more than one embryo appears to be developing in your uterus, you might be told that you’re carrying twins — or in some cases, triplets or more.

Later in the pregnancy, though, one of the embryos or fetuses may no longer be detected. The baby that doesn’t develop fully is called the vanishing twin.

Doctors didn’t know much about how often vanishing twin occurred until the development of ultrasound technologies. Now that mothers can view their developing babies from very early in pregnancy, this condition is diagnosed more often. After the developing twin disappears, its fetal tissue is absorbed by the surviving baby and its mother.

Kyla-Marie also had a second twin pregnancy with her twin Daughters.

So Kyla-Marie when did you find out you were pregnant with multiples? Did you have any idea before your scan?

So with my first set of frat twins I found out at 6 weeks, I had my Implanon taken out of my arm and my partner and I were trying to conceive, although it only took just over a month to fall pregnant I didn’t think it would happen that quickly so when I took the test I really didn’t think I was pregnant, I had felt tired and was waiting for my first period to come.
Second set of frat twins i felt sick and overly tired not myself at all, i said the weekend before i found out that i wasnt going to have drinks at a friends BBQ because i didnt feel right and felt i might be pregnant as we were trying since july with one miscarriage and i didnt fall pregnant with my girls till march, i did the test the day before my period was due and bam two lines.

How old are your children now?

My first set of frat twins with only my son surviving is 6 years old, and my second set of frat twins are my girls and they are 1 and a half.

Do multiples run in your family?

My mother doesn’t know her real father so we are not sure about that side but on my father’s side, he has great cousins that are frat twins girl and boy.

What is the best thing about having more than 1 baby at a time?

I’ve written and deleted answers to this question like 5 times now because I have so many answers to this, but to put it simply they have each other, the bond they have and have always had since birth is the most beautiful natural thing I’ve ever witnessed. Plus more cuddles and kisses 😁

What sort of pram do you have? Why did you choose the one you have?

So after having my son absorb his twin sister I was worried about buying a side by side pram for my girls, for the fact I thought the same thing might happen again to me, so I bought a Phil and Teda navigation 2, which is a one on top of each other type pram. Then my friend was selling her Valco ion duo it is such a compact pram it folds up so small and is side by side so I bought that and I’m in love with it. So I currently have 2 prams.

How do you manage with more than one baby?

Change, feed, burp, wrap, put down was my routine with my frat girls, so they got used to not being held, as for the first 6 months of having my son I held him basically all the time I was so scared I would lose him when I was pregnant after him absorbing his sister I just wanted to keep him close to me all the time, which was fine when he was a baby but ended up in major separation anxiety as he got older. SWINGS SWINGS SWINGS they are your best friend, I don’t know what I would have done without mine they were my lifesaver. You have to accept that there is going to be crying your only one person and you can’t always keep everyone happy, so if you are changing a bum and the other one is crying don’t stress just breathe and remind yourself you are doing a great job and they can wait, they will be fine until you can finish. But honestly, I don’t know that I have tips I think being a first-time mother was harder than having my girls and I always tell people that.

Are your babies identical or fraternal?

The first and second set were fraternal

Were your babies naturally conceived?

Yep both times I think that some months I don’t release an egg so other months I release more than one as both times I’ve been pregnant has been with frat twins (my miscarriage I wasn’t far enough to know)

What are some of your top purchases for multiples?

Swings for sure, I always tried to buy different things, so I would buy a baby matt with some toys that overhang them and then a mirror and a blanket so that one bub could be doing tummy time and the other could be on their back.

How do you decide which baby to settle/feed/change if you’re alone?

To start with I always did it evenly so Addilyn first then Rainia then the next time Rainia first then Addilyn. But Addilyn is my fussier twin always has been and so when she was hungry the world was ending and she needed it 5 mins ago so hurry up mum.

How do you tell your babies apart?

To me my girls look nothing alike and never have, when they were younger most people couldn’t tell them apart but as they have got older they have more distinguished features that you can tell who is who.

Have you labelled your babies in any way to make sure you don’t get them mixed up?

With frat twins, if they are the same sex they can still be identical, so I was super worried that they might come out exactly the same so I actually bought little anklets purple for Rainia and pink for Addilyn.

Do you have a set routine and if so are the babies all on the same routine?

Feeding we have always been on a set routine as we got readmitted a week after my girls were born due to losing to much weight and jaundice, but sleep-wise no, they have never been on the same schedule or routine

Did you spend any time in the NICU or SCN?

My girls were born at 37 weeks via scheduled C Section. Both had to be resuscitated when they were born and Addilyn was able to breathe by herself but Rainia couldn’t, so she spent 3 days in the NICU. Then when we were readmitted they took both back to the NICU so I could keep them together and they even organised a bed back on the maternity ward for me which was lovely.

Were you worried about your first twin pregnancy and how that may have impacted your second twin pregnancy?

I straight away didnt think that I would end up having twins it wasnt until about 15 weeks or so that I accepted I was actually having twins, being so paranoid that one would absorb the other I didn’t even buy any clothes or anything twin related until after 15 weeks as I was so worried it definitely impacted how I went about things during my second pregnancy.

Thank you Kyla-Marie for sharing your story and your beautiful family with us!
Make sure you set a reminder for next weeks blog, Wednesday at 8pm, to hear from another twin family as we continue the series!

VTS information from – https://www.healthline.com/health/vanishing-twin#:~:text=Vanishing%20twin%20syndrome%20is%20a,may%20no%20longer%20be%20detected.