Aa
Hello everyone!!!
I think I have to join all you here. Today I am exactly 6 weeks pregnant. I have been ttc since July of 2008. Finially I got pregnant when I had the iui done with 6 matured follicles. I just went to have an u/s today and they found 4 heartbeats. They think they saw a fifth one, but not sure. I know I will have a selective reduction to keep 2 of the babies. Has anyone ever been through this? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Yeah really hard decision! I notice that this twin pregnancy is SO MUCH more stressful on my body than the last (singleton) pregnancy was. I wasn't expecting it to be much more different than the first pregnancy but it is. I am still lucky though and haven't developed any complications or serious problems - just notice how exhausting it is and how they steal away all the nutrients from me! ;)
The responsible thing for a doctor to do is suggest selective reduction. The body was definitely not meant to carry 4-5 babies. Of course, it is possible, but like you said, not without a lot of risk to you and the babies. And of course, having 4-5 babies is also a tremendous stress on your life, marriage, etc.
On the other hand, it is such a personal decision. After TTC and then finally getting pregnant, it is hard to then see heartbeats and then make the decision to end a babies life. I am pretty sure I couldnt do it, even if my head knew it was the right thing, I dont think my heart would let me. I am just so glad that I am not in your shoes.
I am sure you will do what is right. Just dont even allow yourself to regret your decision. You have to do what you think is best and live with that decision. It will always be easy to second guess that decision in the future afterwards, but dont do that to yourself. Go with your gut feeling and know you did what you thought was right at the time.
The responsible thing for a doctor to do is suggest selective reduction. The body was definitely not meant to carry 4-5 babies. Of course, it is possible, but like you said, not without a lot of risk to you and the babies. And of course, having 4-5 babies is also a tremendous stress on your life, marriage, etc.
On the other hand, it is such a personal decision. After TTC and then finally getting pregnant, it is hard to then see heartbeats and then make the decision to end a babies life. I am pretty sure I couldnt do it, even if my head knew it was the right thing, I dont think my heart would let me. I am just so glad that I am not in your shoes.
I am sure you will do what is right. Just dont even allow yourself to regret your decision. You have to do what you think is best and live with that decision. It will always be easy to second guess that decision in the future afterwards, but dont do that to yourself. Go with your gut feeling and know you did what you thought was right at the time.
You have to do what is best for you!!! For those that have never been faced with this, they have NO idea.
I know there has been other women on here in the last year or so that went through the same thing. I cannot remember who...if I think of them, I will let you know.
I know there has been other women on here in the last year or so that went through the same thing. I cannot remember who...if I think of them, I will let you know.
Since I have had my daughter (now 4) I never took birth control or any other type of contraception and I would never get pregnant. I was on 10 cycles of injections and everytime I had about 3-4 matured follicles. None of those times did an embryo implant. The doctor did suggest giving me a higher dose of injections which led to me having 6 follicles. This has been a very emotional pregnancy for my husband and I and we do think about our choices. I understand where you all say there are many women who have multiple babies and they grow up to be fine, but there are also those that do not grow up to be fine. If we decided to keep them all and they are born with defects, of course we will always love our children, but it will be difficult to see them suffer because they can't lead a normal life. I will keep everyone updated on our final decision! Thanks everyone for your support!!
I have read that whenever there are more than 2, doctors will suggest selective reduction.
What I am surprised that they implanted 6 at your age...especially since you havent even been TTC for a year. The younger you are the more likely that they will develop into babies. The chance seems to me pretty high that they should have known you would be in this situation. IF you were 40 or so, I could understand that they might want to implant some extras since the chances of success are lower.
I honestly dont know what I would do if I were you. I can imagine that this decision is super difficult. We had a scare around 12 weeks where we thought our twins might not be healthy. Luckily they turned out to be fine, but it made me realize that even if they were not "perfect", I would have had a huge problem with aborting.... So hard!
Had you tried to get pregnant with fewer follicles implanted before and that didnt take? Is that why they put so many in this time?
What I am surprised that they implanted 6 at your age...especially since you havent even been TTC for a year. The younger you are the more likely that they will develop into babies. The chance seems to me pretty high that they should have known you would be in this situation. IF you were 40 or so, I could understand that they might want to implant some extras since the chances of success are lower.
I honestly dont know what I would do if I were you. I can imagine that this decision is super difficult. We had a scare around 12 weeks where we thought our twins might not be healthy. Luckily they turned out to be fine, but it made me realize that even if they were not "perfect", I would have had a huge problem with aborting.... So hard!
Had you tried to get pregnant with fewer follicles implanted before and that didnt take? Is that why they put so many in this time?
why are they waiting until the second trimester to "selectively reduce" (isn't that a polite way of saying abort?) the babies? do you HAVE to do it? i know that multiple pregnancies are high risk (i had twins so obviously i know....) but with how many women are having 3, 4, 5, 6 or even 8 babies....why do they "suggest" or make women do a selective reduction? i don't know if i'd ever be able to pick and choose which babies got to live and which died. how would someone explain why they selectively reduced their siblings to the kids when they got older?
If I may voice my opinion....even if you are only carrying one baby, the risks of defects is still there, premature birth is possible also. Yes premature birth increases with each additional fetus.
This is YOUR decision and I can tell from what you are saying, that this is the hardest decision you will ever have to make. But it is your life.
So many mothers on this Forum have had trouble conceiving and there are many that have lost their pregnancies early. This Forum is full of emotions about deliberately aborting a healthly baby. That's understandable. I totally understand these mother's that are desparate for a child. They would go to the end's of the earth, to conceive and deliver a healthly child. So please understand how emotional this post is.
I think your doctor is waiting 12 weeks to see if Mother Nature and God make any decisions for you. I suspect where you said that one baby had a very weak heartbeat, that this baby has the possiblity of not making it. This would be horrible, but as with every pregnancy, there's a chance of an incomplete gestation.
I can only say that I will pray for you and your husband. If you decide to carry these babies, you will have the support of every mother here, through the difficult months to come. You won't be alone. Even if you decide on selective reduction, we have to be happy for the babies that will go on to be born and thrive.
This is a difficult post, for sure. Thank you for being so brave, to come here and tell your story. I hope you make the decision that you are comfortable with. If you have any doubts, now is the time to voice them. If you decide to carry these babies safely to birth , you need the best doctor in the country to help you through this pregnancy. I forget the doctor's name, but he has been featured on many episodes on the Discovery Health channel, as being top in his field of bringing multiples into the world safely.
May God Bless you in every way,
Heather
This is YOUR decision and I can tell from what you are saying, that this is the hardest decision you will ever have to make. But it is your life.
So many mothers on this Forum have had trouble conceiving and there are many that have lost their pregnancies early. This Forum is full of emotions about deliberately aborting a healthly baby. That's understandable. I totally understand these mother's that are desparate for a child. They would go to the end's of the earth, to conceive and deliver a healthly child. So please understand how emotional this post is.
I think your doctor is waiting 12 weeks to see if Mother Nature and God make any decisions for you. I suspect where you said that one baby had a very weak heartbeat, that this baby has the possiblity of not making it. This would be horrible, but as with every pregnancy, there's a chance of an incomplete gestation.
I can only say that I will pray for you and your husband. If you decide to carry these babies, you will have the support of every mother here, through the difficult months to come. You won't be alone. Even if you decide on selective reduction, we have to be happy for the babies that will go on to be born and thrive.
This is a difficult post, for sure. Thank you for being so brave, to come here and tell your story. I hope you make the decision that you are comfortable with. If you have any doubts, now is the time to voice them. If you decide to carry these babies safely to birth , you need the best doctor in the country to help you through this pregnancy. I forget the doctor's name, but he has been featured on many episodes on the Discovery Health channel, as being top in his field of bringing multiples into the world safely.
May God Bless you in every way,
Heather
The procedure will take place when I'm about 12 weeks. I do have another u/s scheduled for next week since one of the heartbeats was very weak. I'll keep you posted.
Whatever you do, don't feel depress. Let God take control of this decision. If it's necessary to reduce it down to two babies, then great! You must be positive for the babies and yourself. How soon will the reduction take place to where it won't do any harm? Trust me, everything will work out just fine. In about 7 and half more months you will be enjoying your wonderful bundles of joy :). Remember let God take control and think positive!
Keep me posted!
April_Baby
Keep me posted!
April_Baby
I wish I didn't have to make a decision like this. It is very hard especially b/c he said to think there was a 5th heartbeat, but was not sure. I will find out more Next week. The doctor did say there was a lot of complications with 4-5 babies. First b/c I'm not too big in size and I'm already having some problems. I have been very- very bloated caused by the high hcg levels. My jeans are not fitting me anymore and I'm only 6 weeks. I have not had any weight gain yet, but I feel bigger. I will most likely have the pregnancy reduced to a twin pregnancy. I am so depressed and it is very hard on us to make that decision.
Wow! What a story? 4 heartbeats? That's a blessing. I am 23 weeks pregnant with twins through IVF. I have 6 frozen eggs left. This is a remarkable. Will the doctor's take away 2 of the babies? Is that a decision that you and your husband have came to? Keep me posted! 4 babies.....Wow!
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