size difference

meggy1017

I am 29 weeks and had a biophysical profile done at the perinatal specialist today.  At every other visit my twins have been within 4 oz of eac hother.  This time my daughter was 2lb 9oz and my son was 3lb 6oz.  This caused concern with the doctor and us of course.  Has anyone had a large size difference with their twins that tbecame more even towards the end?  Has anyone had this happen and the little one was just fine?  I usually love reading what everyone has to say and this my first post so thanks to anyone who can give me a little insight...

atc282

My girls were almost exact in weights (few oz. difference) until the early 30s (weeks) growth scans. Then all of a sudden A lagged almost by a 1 pound--dr. said to be prepared to deliver early (he suspected and even labeled A first SGA--meaning she was less than the 10th percentile for size; then she was labeled IUGR-in the 5th percentile). She had to gain at least 200 grams by the next growth u/s 2 weeks later.or they'd deliver since it was prob. an indicator her placenta wasn't holding up well..she managed (204 grams) to gain but was still tiny.they let me keep her in until my induction at 38w5days (I had to do BPPs 2xs a week).

Well, at their birth, it was a very pleasant surprise (to me and DH...and our dr!) that she was actually only 2.5 oz. less than her sister (Baby . A weighed 5 lbs, 13.5 oz and B weighed 6 lbs even. Neither baby needed NICU time.

All to say...try not to put too much stock in growth u/s. My exp. proves that they can be waaay off!! (She was super hard to accurately measure due to her positioning). Did your dr. mention drinking liquid protein (i.e high protein shakes like Ensure Plus?). Mine suggested that when A started measuring so far behind...I slugged back 2-3 of those in addition to my twin pg diet. Studies show liquid protein crosses the placentas quicker than solid sources. It was worth it, IMO. I just would blend them between meals.

HTH!

meggy1017

Thank you so much!  It was very reassuring and I will try the protein drinks!

txdaisygal

I don't remember the exact weights & differences at different dates, but my girls were just a few oz apart until we hit 28-ish weeks. At that point we had gone maybe 3 weeks between u/s and they were starting to show a growth difference. Over the next 6 weeks Baby A gained almost 2 lbs and Baby B gained less than a pound. Toward the end, Baby B gained only 2 oz from 32 - 34 weeks and Baby B gained around 10 oz. They went from a discordance in the 20s at 30w to a discordance of 44%, per the u/s measurements, at 34w4d. So, we decided to deliver at 34w4d since Baby B's growth had been so static over the last 4-6 weeks compared to Baby A. On the u/s the EFWs were 5#2oz for Baby A and 3#1oz for Baby B (I think). They ended up at 5#1oz and 2#15.6 oz and a 43% discordance at birth (my MFM was quite pleased with his accuracy in measurements. lol).

They're 11 days old now and Baby A is at 5#5oz while Baby B is at 3#4oz.  I got the round of steroids at about 29 weeks and they had no breathing problems. They were each on oxygen for about a day, but at a very low flow. They were both under warmers for the first few days, and had to be under phototherapy lights for one day last weekend. Baby A is now in an open air crib and we're just working on getting all her feedings by bottle. Baby B is in an isolette but is maintaining her temp. They won't move her to an open air crib until she's at 1500 grams, which she's just a few grams away from right now.They're basically considered "feeders and growers" right now and everyone says they're doing really well, especially Baby B. Baby B actually has done better than Baby A in some ways - she's always been a better eater, for example. 

I was put on bedrest at 32w4d for hypertension and b/c of Baby B's size. They were hoping that bed rest would help her growth a bit. It's hard to say if it did or not, but it did help my hypertension and I think it helped me get to 34w. Otherwise I think I would have developed pre-e. I definitely would talk to your Dr. about getting the steroid shots. One of my friend's had her singleton daughter at 34w and she was on CPAP for almost a week and was sent home with an apnea monitor. Baby A had one apnea episode last week, but nothing since then. I am confident that if I hadn't had the steroid shot that they'd have needed more intervention for their lungs. 

Temp159135562506975

size can be way off with US's - and since your doc is concerned sounds like they will stay on top of it - so try not to worry.

my boys were almost 2lbs apart at birth - but in their US's were very close in size - so it can vary a lot from what you see on US's. ... and FWIW my boys are almost 10lbs apart now.

macchiatto

There was one appt where there was suddenly a large-ish size difference between my LOs (I think 15-20% though before then they'd always measured fairly close together). I think that it was either just a matter of one having a growth spurt and the other having his later, or the inaccuracy of u/s estimates, because at birth they were only 3 oz and 1/4" apart.

anyalee

At all of our growth scans the babies had been within 50 grams of each other.  Until the last one at week 29.  Baby A was measuring 3lb2oz (55%)and Baby B was emasuring 3lbz6oz (65%).  The MFM and my OB don't seemed worried at all.  OB said if B gets to be 15-20% bigger, then that would be something to look more into.  The u/s are less accurate after 28 weeks because the babies are so crammed in there that it can be hard to get proper measurements.