Inspiration for this post comes from my dear friend Amanda. Today was my day to hang out with my friend Kate for my birthday. We were going to go to the YMCA, then go out to eat and do a little shopping. As I was waiting for her to pick me up, I checked my email and behold the comment that shaped the rest of my day.
"I predict twins."
Now this is a nearly heart-stopping comment. Not just because I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around me being a mom as it is, but Brian has made several twins comments as well. As we were planning when I was going to go off the pill, he came home with a bunch of sweet potatoes. "Oh what are you going to make with those?" I asked. "You have to eat these so that you'll have twins," he said. "I read that if you eat lots of sweet potatoes, you'll have twins." I was bewildered by this because at no point in baby discussions did I say ANYTHING about doing something to enhance my chances of having more than one being inside of me. Then there is the fact that his brother just had twins. And finally, while talking to Brian the other day about how quickly I became pregnant, he throws this out. "You're more likely to have twins after coming off the pill." WTF?!?! When has he been researching this? Where is he getting this information? And why on earth does he think it's a good idea to TRY to have twins? Here is his explanation. "Well, then you only have to go through labor once." Sweet, in his own weird way, I guess, but let me also add that there has been no talk of a second baby down the road. So this must be his own little plan for the future.
I guess we just wait and see on this one, but the idea certainly adds another thought to mull around. Thank you Amanda. I haven't seen Brian yet today to tell him this but I will this evening. I'm sure he'll be thrilled.
My reasons for predicting twins, in no particular order:
ReplyDelete1. You are more likely to have twins after coming off the pill, as Brian wisely stated already.
2. With advanced age (no, I'm not calling you old, just go with it) you are more likely to release multiple eggs during ovulation. Or so I think I've been told. I could be making that one up.
3. I'm slightly surprised you're experiencing such exhaustion and general discomfort so early on. For me at least, I didn't experience debilitating exhaustion or back pain until closer to the second trimester. Thus, I'm thinking that your body is working twice as hard to grow twice the number of babies.
4. I think it would be totally kick ass if you had twins and not-so-secretly hope you are. It would be AMAZING!
Feel free to throw those leftover sweet potatoes at my head whenever you deem necessary. I know I deserve it. ;)
I dug up a few numbers for you. There's good evidence that the likelihood of twins increases with maternal age; it's roughly a four-fold increase as a woman ages from 15 to 35.
ReplyDeleteThere are some data to support increased twinning after stopping the pill, but these are less convincing. Several studies found about a two-fold increase in twin rate during the first several months after stopping, but others did not find any correlation.
As for the sweet potatoes, there was one study done in Nepal that specifically looked at twinning in women who received either beta-carotene supplements or placebo. It found a very modest (~1.3-fold) increase in twin rate in the women who took the beta-carotene. (I'm just speculating that beta-carotene/vitamin A underlies the sweet potato theory, since they're loaded with it.) Of course, the women in the study were taking the supplements every day.
Or maybe your body wanted that damn baby so badly that, sensing a rare opportunity, your ovaries started firing out eggs like a tennis ball machine :) There might be eight embryos implanted in your wall!
I like it when Ben leaves a comment. Doctors are fun!
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