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Hi guys .. Anyone ever heard of this? probably not as i hadn't heard of it either but it happened to me in my first pregnancy.
I found out at 5 weeks that i was having twins i was shocked but very happy then i went in for a scan at about 7-8 weeks and seen my 2 little beans jumping around like crazy they were fraternal and i knew straight away that it was a boy and a girl,i listened to their little hearts thumping.
i had to come back at 10 weeks for an ultrasound to make sure they were growing well... WE spread the news we were having 2 babies.. how exciting.
I went to the next scan with bated breath i couldn't wait to see how much they had grown... i had been cramping a bit and they told me thats normal with a twin pregnancy especially in a first pregnancy because everything has to stretch really fast.
The sonographer started the scan and immediatly i noticed there was only 1 baby she looked every where there was only 1 heart beat too.. i started sobbing and crying and was asked if i had any bleeding and i said no just the cramping.. the doctor came to see me and had a look for himself - looked me straight in the face and said " this happens quite often the baby is gone, you have a healthy child on the way, just be happy with what you have" he offered no advice nor did he explain how this could happen.. i never bleed i had no symptoms but my cramping. i was very confused and had no answers.
i got told to suck it up and thats what i did for three years(three years of feeling like i was missing someone and being suddenly hit with waves of sadness and not understanding why i felt this way) and then a very good friend of mine had the same thing happen but got all the information given to her..
its called vanishing twin syndrome and practically what happens is that the twin dies and instead of all the classic signs of a miscarriage that baby gets re-absorbed by your body, this helped me greatly i was able to grieve my baby and get a little bit of closure.
Here are some great links if you want to read up on this..
i hope everyone who looks at this can get some valuable information that can maybe help some one one day..
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Hi there. I terribly sorry for your loss - i cant even begin to understand that sort of loss. I do want to say thankyou though for sharing your story - i have NEVER heard of vanishing twin syndrome. I hope that your story reaches many people - it is obviously an issues that needs a whole lot more exposure.
I have never heard of this happening before. I can not imagine how it must feel to have it happen and have the doctor be so heartless. I think its great that you are sharing your experience with people as im sure there would be others that has been through the same thing.
I have heard of this and it is a valid reaction to grieve. Anyone who does not allow the expression of a valid emotion is a cold heartless excuse for a human being. Now I've got that off my chest-I'm glad you have had some closure. That said -what will now happen is the surviving twin will need lots of help and support because they 2 have a piece missing and probably won't know what is missing just that they feel "incomplete", lonely, bereft and sad(for no reason!!)If you can it may help to talk about the brother/sisiter and what they meant to the family. I wish you joy in your life.
Thank you so much. This has actually happened to a cousin of mine, and those links are very helpful. She's moved past it, but it took a long time and she didn't get much more help than you did. 'Suck it up.' seems to be a watchword. Hopefully your advice can go a long way towards helping others in the same position.
I am sorry for your loss ,I know what you were going through as it had happend to me eight years ago with my second child and I to had naver heard of this before. I think that it is good that you are sharing this with other mums as I found talking about it helped to heal the pain of the loss.
Wow, that is really interesting. I am glad that you were able to find out about this and come to terms with the loss of your other baby. That doctor was terrible ignoring you. I cannot imagine how that would have felt ... but to be left with no information. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us here. I am sure it will come in very useful for people.
im so sorry to hear that you went through all that it would have torn up you up inside and this is the first time i have heard of this so you taught me something new thank you and keep your chin up ok
I have heard of this as my neighbour was a twin, and she was researching it, and the information that you have said, she told me, and i find it quite fascinating. This was about 6 months ago she told me. Great article.
i have never heard of that at all im sorry you had to go throught that it must of been horrible not knowing what had happen to the other babyim glad you know now thank you for sharing this article with me
That can't have been an easy thing to go through. I'm glad you finally got your closure, but what an insensitive doctor you had!
I like to think that the lost twin being reabsorbed like that gave your baby an extra boost of everything in life. The greatest act of love that tiny life could perform, and it did.
I had this happen to me as well....my twin stopped growing at 9 weeks. I found out at my first sonogram. I didn't even know there WERE two until they told me the second one had already stopped progressing.
I had a family member tell me 'thank God, you didn't need that extra expense....twice as many diapers...etc'....I had never heard of vanishing twins before either and I was scared for many months that something awful would happen to the child that remained. However, I'm happy to report I have a healthy, happy 6 week old daughter.
Thanks for sharing your story . . . What you went through would have been so hard, I am glad that you were finally able to find some closure and come to terms with everything. I can only imagine how hard that was.
I've never heard of this.......The least the doctor could have done was explain it to you.......what a horrible thing to go through without any sort of explaination. Hopefully this will help someone else!!
No I have never heard of it, what a horrible thing for you to go through, thanks for sharing, you I'm sure will help someone out there that has or will go through this very thing.... hugs to you x
Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.
(June 2007) (
Shelley
