Twins | Twin Pregnancy
Third Trimester
In your third and last twin pregnancy trimester your babies will try to put on more fat and have started to store iron, calcium and other essential nutrients.
For you discomfort in many ways – such as back pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, sleepless nights and heartburn (as your stomach struggles for the appropriate digestive space) – will increase. Listen to your body and rest as much as possible! You know how hectic it will be as soon as your bundles of joy are born, so getting both physical and mental rest is very important.
During weeks 28-32 the size of your babies’ bodies is catching up in relation to the size of their head – which might have seemed disproportionately larger before. On average, the twins’ growth will begin to slow around 30-32 weeks, while a singleton baby’s growth continues until delivery.
In weeks 32-36 your twins will also have fully grown fingernails and toenails. And they are still getting lots of nourishment from the placenta in order to help them gain that significant final layer of fat.
For you there may be an increase in Braxton-Hicks contractions by now. Call your practitioner if they are painful or persistent, as it could be a sign of preterm labour. Other signs of preterm labour could be a feeling of fullness or pressure in the pelvis, change or increase in vaginal discharge, spotting or bleeding, leaking amniotic fluid and effacement and dilation.
By your twins’ position in your womb your practitioner should now be able to tell you whether you can have a natural birth or will need to have a Caesarian.
Towards the end of your twin pregnancy you’ll find there’s less movement as there is simply not enough space for two babies to move freely. So don’t worry if you are not able to feel your babies shift around as often as they used to.
Full term for a twin pregnancy is 38 weeks, unlike the 40 weeks for a singleton pregnancy. However the majority of twins are born by the end of week 36. So be prepared, have your hospital bag packed and get as much rest as possible in your third trimester – you know you’ll need it!
References:
www.webmd.com
www.twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com
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