Twins?

For those of you that I have not had the pleasure of seeing in the past two weeks, this may sound unbelievable to you. But those who have seen me recently (like everyone at Collin's birthday party Sunday) would probably vouch for the fact that my body has taken to this pregnancy quickly and grown outwards dramatically.

For example, with Collin, I was asked if I was pregnant based on appearance at 14 weeks. With Owen, someone asked at 7 weeks. With this baby, I was asked at 3 weeks ~ twice. By two women within two days of each other. That's twice merely one week (approximately) after conception ~ 4 days before I could even take the 4-Days Earlier Pregnancy Test!

At first I was shocked that anyone, especially women, would dare ask so early. But in hindsight, the bump really was so pronounced, they had no idea they were being "rude." I appeared much further along than 3 weeks.

Now, at only 5 weeks, many have started making bets and talk of twins is rampant. I have grown out of nearly all of my pre-pregnant pants/skirts in record time and most suspect I am due in December. So, I did a little research.

Is it twins?

From BabyCenter.com
Sure, twins run in families and you're more likely to be carrying multiples if you've undergone fertility treatments, but any woman can become pregnant with more than one baby. Could you be one of them?

Your overall odds of carrying twins

• Your likelihood of having twins is about 1 in 32 (or about 3 percent) and your chances of triplets and higher multiple births is about 1 in 555. About 95 percent of all multiple births are twins.

• Identical twins happen by chance and aren't influenced by family history or fertility treatments. Only about 12 percent of twins born in the U.S. are identical. Your likelihood of having identical, or monozygotic, twins (when one fertilized egg divides in half) is about 1 in 250.

Factors that influence fraternal twins

• Fraternal twins run in families, so if you're related to twins, you're more likely to have a set yourself. Your partner's family history doesn't appear to affect your odds of having twins.

• Fertility treatments dramatically increase your odds for multiples. On average, 20 to 25 percent of women who take fertility drugs or undergo in vitro fertilization and other reproductive techniques end up carrying more than one baby.

• The older you are, the greater your chances of having fraternal twins or higher multiples. This increase has nothing to do with infertility treatments. Researchers aren't sure why but think it may have something to do with hormonal changes in older moms.

• Fraternal twins are more common in African Americans and less common in Hispanics and Asians.

• Being well nourished increases your chances of having twins and being malnourished decreases your chances.

• The more pregnancies you've had, the greater your chances of having twins. In fact, by your fourth or fifth pregnancy, your likelihood of having twins is four times higher than it was for your first pregnancy. [*This is my fourth pregnancy.]

• Once you have a set of fraternal twins, you're twice as likely to have another set in a future pregnancy.

Symptoms of a twin pregnancy
The most common symptom for women carrying twins is rapid weight gain early in pregnancy. Measuring large for your stage can be another giveaway. And many twin moms-to-be (but not all) suffer much more intense morning sickness and other pregnancy symptoms due to the increase in hormones caused by two babies.