# Vanishing Twin Syndrome



## calilove77

Hi Ladies,
I went through vanishing twin syndrome when I was 6 weeks pregnant and searched hi and low for more information on it and how much at risk my other little one was. Here is my story for anyone who has or is experiencing it. 

First of all, let it be known I had never heard of this before! At 5 weeks I began having little cramps, nothing major. Went to the Dr. and she said it can be normal, did an US and saw a possible baby (still waaaay to early to see anything) She told me there was some old blood up there but it was prob from having intercourse and that I would spot for a few weeks. 5 days later I really started spotting and it was pretty red. I went back to the Dr. She said all was fine and we saw a heartbeat on the monitor. She informed me that after they see a heartbeat my chances of a miscarriage goes down to 5% (boy was the music to my ears) Went home and took it easy. 2 days later I woke up and went to the rest room and was bleeding bad... chunks of blood. (at this point I was a little over 6 weeks) I was terrified. We rushed to the emergency room to wait for 5 hours in a hallway on a bed with the number 15 above it. They did an US and blood work. The Dr finally came and talked to us... in the middle of the hallway in front of everyone and told us that the heart rate was only at a 97 and should be a 140-150 and that chances are we were loosing it, especially with the amount of blood I had lost. ( weeks later I learned that 90-110 was normal for 6 weeks!!! dumb dr) We were devastated. Went home and made a Dr apt with my OB for the following Monday (5 days later) to make sure everything was "cleaned out" Spent the entire weekend in bed crying with Hubby. Monday morning we went in and saw a Dr (not mine) and there she was, heart rate of 120. The Dr we saw said it looked like everything would be ok but I was not in the clear yet. (ok this is now 4 ultrasounds and still nobody has mentioned vanishing twin syndrome) Went back in for my first original apt the following week (8 weeks now) That was when my Dr showed us the other egg sac and showed us that it looked like there had been something in it and it was now laying on the bottom. She said that it really happens more often then people realize, however, most of the time the other twin absorbs all of it so there is never any evidence. By our 12th week apt there was no evidence of it either. We had mixed emotions about everything until my mother pointed out that because the other one absorbed it, there will always be a part of it with her. Even though we found out after the fact it is still hard to see twin baby items at the store, or when people jokingly say are you sure there's only one in there referring to my large belly. Now, enough sadness, I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and everything looks great. She (Ryleigh Ann) has a beautiful heart rate in the 150's. She is very active kicking my bladder every chance she gets and although I am a lot more cautious about things such as lifting or doing to much I believe all is well. Another interesting side note is that after having this happen and telling people you will hear "Oh ya, a girl my daughter worked with had that happen to her" and etc. Out of the other 3 cases I heard and about everyone of them including me is having/had a healthy girl. Interesting. I hope this helps anyone else going through this. I believe it is getting easier, I know it will with time. Try not to be too hard on yourself. I felt guilty for being so sad that we lost it, but still happy one was still there. You will need time to grieve, it was still a baby, and a miscarriage is still a miscarriage. It has been a very large, long emotional roller coaster. 

Mommy and Daddy love you Kayden Brave, We trust the angels are taking wonderful care of you until we get there. :angel:


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## Eoz

:hug: My heart ached for you when I read this.I am pregnant with my 5th but this is my 3rd case of VTS.

The 1st wasn't really spoke about as it was 12 years ago but my daughter was born 5 weeks early fitting in with my original dates and was perfect small but perfect.

2nd pregnancy I was all booked in for a d & c after a confirmed miscarriage but i knew something was not right so made them scan me and yup there was baby with strong heart beat and a 2nd sac but empty.Confirming VTS.

I suffered very badly in that pregnancy.My body thought I was still carrying 2.My daughter wasn't getting the right amount of nutrients and even stopped growing at one point.When she was born I passed out the second sac and my placenta was in 2 bits.

This pregnancy started the same way. Positive tests and sickness then nothing for 3 weeks.I knew I was pregnant but no the doctors said another m/c off you go.Well I tested again and bloody hell I was pregnant!I had a scan and yes there was one baby but two sacs.The other sac did have a shadow in it causing all manner of confusion.I have just had another scan and the second sac has now gone confirming VTS for the 3rd time.The shadow was twinny absorbing :cry:

Yes I find it sad and I often wonder what if ,but I am blessed to still carry one so I can't complain.I am scared this pregnancy will be the same as my last and I have a cyst growing at the same rate as the baby causing worry again.And like you I seem to be big and when people take the mick and say have you in there 2 I get angry.I do not lie though I tell them the truth.

I do wonder if my losses were boys as i have 3 girls and my son I nearly lost several times.I guess I'll never know.

There is a lovely lady on here called Mamafy.She to suffers from VTS and has been fantastic support to me.

I wish you well in this pregnancy and hope everything will go smoothly for you.

As for me I can't take the heart ache again so this is definitely my last baby.

Hugs to you and your beautiful bump :hugs: :flower:


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## Wellington

Interesting stuff.
I'm currently carrying a little girl, but at 6 weeks or so had a bleed that was described to me as probably a subchorionic haematoma, but the early scan at that stage also showed an empty sac. The explaination was that it was entirely possible that the haematoma and sac combination was a disappearing twin.

Subsequently, at 23 weeks, my anonomly scan showed that this little one also has a single umbilical artery, seen in between 1 in 100 to 1 in 500 babies, but more common in twin pregnancies.

I wonder if it is all related. I guess, I won't! But the baby beating me up from the inside now is a girl too!


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## mama2connor

I'm so pleased i'm not alone in this. I also have had vanishing twin syndrome in this pregnancy. Our first scan at 6 weeks confirmed we had two gestational sacs, but only 1 baby and 1 yolk sac. The sonographer told me that my body would likely absorb the sac, but they wanted to bring me back 2 weeks later to check on the empty sac. The empty sac was larger than the sac with the baby in, it messured 15mm. When i went back at 8 weeks, they said the sac was definately empty, but had continued to grow. It had grown to 29mm 

We lost twin boys due to twin to twin transfusion syndrome in february last year, so this was hard for me to take in the fact that we had conceived twins again, but one hadn't quite made it. I'm so pleased my remaining baby is fine, and has a nice healthy heartbeat. We go back in 6 days for another scan to check the sac. I'm hoping it hasn't grown anymore as nothing can be done about it. At the EPU she told me my body could either decide to reject the sac which could cause some bleeding, or my body could just reabsorb the sac, or it may stay for the remainder of the pregnancy.


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## Eoz

mama2connor said:


> I'm so pleased i'm not alone in this. I also have had vanishing twin syndrome in this pregnancy. Our first scan at 6 weeks confirmed we had two gestational sacs, but only 1 baby and 1 yolk sac. The sonographer told me that my body would likely absorb the sac, but they wanted to bring me back 2 weeks later to check on the empty sac. The empty sac was larger than the sac with the baby in, it messured 15mm. When i went back at 8 weeks, they said the sac was definately empty, but had continued to grow. It had grown to 29mm
> 
> We lost twin boys due to twin to twin transfusion syndrome in february last year, so this was hard for me to take in the fact that we had conceived twins again, but one hadn't quite made it. I'm so pleased my remaining baby is fine, and has a nice healthy heartbeat. We go back in 6 days for another scan to check the sac. I'm hoping it hasn't grown anymore as nothing can be done about it. At the EPU she told me my body could either decide to reject the sac which could cause some bleeding, or my body could just reabsorb the sac, or it may stay for the remainder of the pregnancy.


Oh hun huge hugs.

My scan pic is my Avatar. You can see the 2nd sac x


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## mama2connor

Aww hun, you can very slightly see the second sac in my avatar but it's an abnormal shape, it's not the same shape as the sac with bubs in xx


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## Eoz

I can see it hun. xxxxxxxx


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## calilove77

I'm so sorry to hear of everyone's losses. Glad we are not alone. We are debating on when to tell our little one that she had a twin... any ideas?


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## acdmommy

very soory you had to go through that...
i looked it up online and talked to my OB/GYN and she said that 1 in 7 people were originally a twin so it does happen very often


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## Eoz

calilove77 said:


> I'm so sorry to hear of everyone's losses. Glad we are not alone. We are debating on when to tell our little one that she had a twin... any ideas?

I will when they are older.I'll probably tell them when they are asking how they were made.I will say that when I was pregnant there was 2 but god decided to take one way.An angel on earth and one in heaven x


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## Laura2919

I found out very early on it was twins and this was a worry espcially as I was told it happens so often. I was lucky but I felt for you reading this. I hope your daughter gives you so much joy!!!!


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## calilove77

Eoz said:


> calilove77 said:
> 
> 
> I'm so sorry to hear of everyone's losses. Glad we are not alone. We are debating on when to tell our little one that she had a twin... any ideas?
> 
> I will when they are older.I'll probably tell them when they are asking how they were made.I will say that when I was pregnant there was 2 but god decided to take one way.An angel on earth and one in heaven xClick to expand...

Yeah that sounds really good. My hubby and i were talking about it last night and said we prob would around age 8-10. I cannot imagine my mom telling me that news when I turned 18, I think it is best if she somewhat grows up knowing it instead of just shock. Although I am still torn, what if it happens again and both of them make it.....? I suppose when the moment is right we will just know.


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## mauds99

hi this happened to me i found out at 8w 1d i was having twins saw 2 sacs and 2 heartbeats on u/s went back for u/s at 12w 6d and they found 1 baby 1 heartbeat the 2nd sac that was there had shrunk and the baby inside had shrunk and was being absorbed back into my body i had a slight bleed at 7w which is why i went for a early scan im totally gutted that we arnt having twins anymore im still having all the signs of twins my uterus is high up im over tired and more sick than i have been with any of my other pg's i bought a home fetal doppler and hear my baby heartbeat everyday im so worried something will go wrong im 13w 4d now today i heard the heartbeat on one side that was 144 then caught a heartbeat on the other side of my tummy that was 152 it was like within 10 seconds of hearing the 1at 144 heart beat am i just being silly there couldnt have been 3 to start with and one just hiding ?? when i had my 1st u/s that showed twins i asked if there was twins and she said no at 1st then found the twin then was the same woman that scaned me 2nd time she didnt really look about in there found the 2 and stopped i think maybe its all wishful thinking i still havent dealt with the vts i have another scan in 8 weeks so will see what that shows up =]


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## angelstardust

I've not had any experience of this but I did want to comment. 

This is something I read up on quite a bit after finding some information on cleavage of the developing embryo. It surprised scientists that a fertilised egg can split into twins far far more often than they thought possible. They did some experiments to try and document the moment when a cell split and were shocked at how easily it happens, they had theorised that it was rare as multiple births are rare. 

So they then looked into it some more and discovered the VTS was actually pretty common. 

It's always made me wonder about the ethics of modern early pregnancy scanning. Of course if there is a problem then a scan is needed, I am in no way disputing that, but I was thinking more routine early pregnancy scanning, for no medical reason other than to confirm a pregnancy. 

Some of you ladies who never had any bleeding or any signs that you lost a twin, do you feel that it is better to have known about the twin or not?

In another pregnancy would you request an early scan if you didn't medically need one knowing that it may show VTS or would you prefer not to know? 

I apologise if I am coming across as unsympathetic or if I have upset any of you.


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## calilove77

angelstardust said:


> I've not had any experience of this but I did want to comment.
> 
> This is something I read up on quite a bit after finding some information on cleavage of the developing embryo. It surprised scientists that a fertilised egg can split into twins far far more often than they thought possible. They did some experiments to try and document the moment when a cell split and were shocked at how easily it happens, they had theorised that it was rare as multiple births are rare.
> 
> So they then looked into it some more and discovered the VTS was actually pretty common.
> 
> It's always made me wonder about the ethics of modern early pregnancy scanning. Of course if there is a problem then a scan is needed, I am in no way disputing that, but I was thinking more routine early pregnancy scanning, for no medical reason other than to confirm a pregnancy.
> 
> Some of you ladies who never had any bleeding or any signs that you lost a twin, do you feel that it is better to have known about the twin or not?
> 
> In another pregnancy would you request an early scan if you didn't medically need one knowing that it may show VTS or would you prefer not to know?
> 
> I apologise if I am coming across as unsympathetic or if I have upset any of you.


You know, I am really not sure. I am sad that we lost it, however I feel so blessed to have had it for the 6 weeks that I did and I would not have known about it if I had not had bleeding. As sad as it is, I am glad that we found out there was another one in there and i guess next time around I will prob want an early US to find out again, not 100% sure though.


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## angelstardust

Thanks for answering. I suppose it's an unfair question, you do know about your baby and to imagine not knowing is just not possible. 

Best of luck with your pregnancy, hope it all goes well.


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## mauds99

i think i would have pefered not to know then wouldnt have been as bad i wouldnt have just got used to the idea of having twins and then just as i got used to it found out that it was no longer twins if i had another pregnacy after this i wouldnt want an early scan just to find out if it was twins i only had an early scan as i had a slight bleed


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## Kitty23

calilove77 said:


> Eoz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> calilove77 said:
> 
> 
> I'm so sorry to hear of everyone's losses. Glad we are not alone. We are debating on when to tell our little one that she had a twin... any ideas?
> 
> I will when they are older.I'll probably tell them when they are asking how they were made.I will say that when I was pregnant there was 2 but god decided to take one way.An angel on earth and one in heaven xClick to expand...
> 
> Yeah that sounds really good. My hubby and i were talking about it last night and said we prob would around age 8-10. I cannot imagine my mom telling me that news when I turned 18, I think it is best if she somewhat grows up knowing it instead of just shock. Although I am still torn, what if it happens again and both of them make it.....? I suppose when the moment is right we will just know.Click to expand...

My mum had vts with me and just randomly blurted out I was a twin. It was a big shock and I've always felt there was another one of me if that makes sense. I think you should tell the children that they had a twin so its not such a shock when they are older. 

I lost one of the triplets ( now twins) before 8 weeks. I will be telling the twins they were triplets from day 1 so its not such a big issue. xxx


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## Las78

I had this too hun, only found out at 13 week scan, by 20 weeks the twin had been absorbed. I went from week 5 to week 18 with bleeding on and off, my body was miscarrying and carrying - to think your body can do such contradictory things at once! My surviving twin is also a girl and I know I will always wonder what her sibling would have looked like. I already have 2 children so twins would have been hard work but I really would have loved to have them both. I agree with you, it is an emotional rollercoaster, you are grieving one while being so grateful for the other. I also get the are you sure there is only one in there comments and honestly it kills me when people say that, if only they knew!


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## aurora

This happened to my mom with my brother 23 years ago, but she didn't know until he was born!


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## quaizer

I couldnt read and run. You ladies are all so brave and I genuinely wish you all the very best love and luck for your pregnancies xx


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## panasher

Hello, I should be 6 going on 7 weeks pregnant and on friday I had a huge blood loss with some clots in there, I feared the worse as I've already had two miscarriages in the past year and half. I couldn't get in for a scan until today.
The scan showed two sacs, and I was told that one of them was filled with blood. The other one was much smaller and she said that it was only measuring at 5 weeks so couldn't tell if it is viable yet due to the size. Has anyone else been through the same and gone on to full term? 
I have to have a re scan next Tuesday and hope and pray that there will be a heartbeat.


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## Lucky.M

Hi I saw this thread, and felt I had to look, you see I should have had a twin! My mum bled and found out she still was having me when they thought she had miscarried, it wasn't really heard of back then, but my twin vanished. I am so sorry for all of your losses, but hope the rest of your pregnancies are healthy ones x


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## Alaska_twins

Hello Ladies,

I haven't dealt with VTS but I am mum to 13 month old twins. It would be interesting to know if the surviving twin is a lefty. I saw on tv (I think discovery) that a person who is left handed was a twin. I am curious if that is the case. My mom thought she was pregnant with twins with my middle sister (bigger than normal) but had a singleton, she was orginally a lefty. It is so fasinating how your body responds with multiples. Fetus' that are a multiple is more development in the womb than a singleton. The reason for it is cause your uterus is larger than normal so your body thinks you are further along in your pregnancy. Another discovery channel documentry. I just that I would share the last part. Good luck to you moms.


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## Eoz

My daughter is a lefty and i believe she was VTS.As for my other 2 I can't say as a bit young yet although my youngest shows signs of left handedness x


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## kermit4

Hi ladies,

I've been fascinated to read through this thread.

I fell pregnant with my first baby in July last year. I had pretty much continual light bleeding/spotting throughout the first 10 weeks. It was my first pregnancy and I spent most of my time reading pregnancy books and managed to explain away the bleeding with the reassurances I found in the books. I felt I would be bothering the doctor and they would think I was a hysterical first time mum so I just worried away at home. The bleeding stopped and everything pretty much settled down. 

At 12 weeks, 2 weeks before I lost my little boy, I had a really heavy bleed and passed something. (*TMI*>>> about the size of the palm of my hand, perfectly round and a mixture of pinkish whitish and reddish colour in a vein-like pattern) I was convinced I was miscarrying at that point. I phoned NHS 24 and the midwife I spoke to there thought so too. I cried all night. When I was scanned the next day, my little boy was there, heart beating, arms waving. The midwife I spoke to said it must have been a large clot I had passed and gave me no further explanation for the bleed.

Anyway, sadly I went on to lose that little miracle boy I saw waving at me that day. I eventually called hospital as I was noticing a little brown bleeding and they called me in for a scan which showed that my wee man had died. He died just after that first scan two weeks before. Whilst I was delivering him I passed lots of clots. None of them looked like what I had passed 2 weeks earlier.

I guess I'll never know for sure whether I lost a twin. I'm not sure there is really anyone I can ask who will be able to tell me. I'm the only one to see what I saw. I think the question will be with me from now on.
What breaks my heart is that I should have gone with my instinct and got checked out early on for the bleeding. If I had had an early scan I might have known whether or not there were two there to begin with.

I can't bring myself to discuss it with my husband and I am worried my doc or midwife will think I'm imagining things!

Thought you ladies might be able to give me your opinions. Do you think it's worth asking my docs about... will they be able to tell me anymore?

I'm currently 17 weeks pregnant with my second wee one... definately only one in there and absolutely none of the weird symptoms that happened last time.

So should I be thinking about two little lost souls or just one?

Thanks for reading,
K.x


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## Eoz

Aww hun that must have been hard and i can't really say for sure.But what you described was exactly how it was when i lost my 1st twinny and also when i had a single m/c.I saw the same as well.

Its lovely you are 17 weeks into another pregnancy.Congrats x


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## kermit4

Thanks Eoz for your reply,

So sorry for your losses. It's such a heartbreaking thing to go through.

Hope this pregnancy is going well for you,

Much love,
K.x


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## calilove77

So sorry for your loss Kermit. It sure does sound like it was a twin, although nobody will ever know for sure. Praying that it doesn't, but, if it happens again, you can always save what came out and take it in for them to run tests on to find out for sure. I really had a hard time accepting everything at first and seriously thought about some counseling. I did not have any, however, I wish I would have as I am sure it would have made it much easier for me to say goodbye. 

So happy that you are 17 weeks along now. That is wonderful news!! A happy and healthy rest of the pregnancy to you!! :) :) :)


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## Faerie

I'm sad for everyone's losses, but glad to see awareness of this being raised. My Aunt, cousin and sister have all had confirmed VTS. 

:hugs: to you all xx


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## Hispirits

Hi everyone. this chat has been really helpful to me. i'm so sorry for all of yuor losses.
i think i may be experiancing the same thing. firstly me and my mum are leftys!
i had a m/c in october last year, and new i had lost my baby.
i'm 6/1 today.(sat)
last friday morning i got my 3+ on the clear blue igital. i though it was a bit early to be honest, but was pleased anyway, and i jokingly said to my husband , it might be twins :happydance: that evening began to get really bad pains in my tummy, like harsh period pains.
the next day i started to get a brown gooey discharge when i wiped.i repeated the digital test and to my horror it had gone down to 1-2!
i was concerned so i rang the early pregnancy clinic and they booked me in for a blood test to check my hormone level. which had to be repeated 48 hours later. 
so i had the test tuesday morning and got the results by lunch my hormone lvel was 260, quite low, but not out of range for 5-1/2 weeks. 
well that evening the brown discharge turnt to brown blood, like what you'd get in a period.
i went to A+E they took some blood, gave me fluids and i got to see a gynocologist. he refused to scan me after i had told him what my hormone level had been earlier that day but said he would examine me. 
i didn't look but it felt like a smear test. my poor husband saw it all! quite a bit of blood and clot. the gyno said it didn't look good, but i hadn't miscarried yet, it could be 'on going', what ever that means. he insisted i repeat the hormone test thursday.
i came out of A+E excepting the fate that i had miscarried.
reluctantly thursday i went for the blood test. hour and a half later the lady was on the hone she said good news, your hormone level has risen to 480.
i was like err so i haven't miscarried? 'not yet' she said, although hormone levels can rise during a miscarriage. so i have to go back on monday for another test. ( preg test is still saying po:help:sitive)
when i had my m/c in october last year, i knew it was over straight away. i haven't felt like it this time, i said to my husband i can't deny all the signs and symptoms are saying miscarriage, but i don't feel like i've lost anything.
i'm still bleeding, but its more like blood from a cut, than menstraul bleeding. and its only been like that since they gyno had a route around, and he was quite rough, i am concerned he's done a bit of damage to be honest. but i'll not know til monday. but all my senses are telling me i've had VTS.
can anyone who has experianced this relate to any of what i'm going through?


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## calilove77

That really does sound about like what happened with me. I too had clots and etc. I wish you the best of luck today! Let us know how it goes!


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## Hispirits

thats good to know! i hate to think that i'm reaching on to any conclusion!
my hormones went up today to 980, its still quite low. but it didn't decline! i'm maybe wondering if i ovulated late/egg implated late which has got my dates muddled up and i'm not actually as far gone as i think.whch would account for the low hcg.
scan on wednesday. with levels this low i don't expect to see a heart beat yet, but some definate answers i do expect! i'll keep you posted, thanks for your input.much appreciated. x


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## jenmc226

I started having major bleeding around 6wks with my first pregnancy. Heavy spotting, bright blood. I had a 6wk ultrasound and everything looked OK. Then around 8wks I suddenly/instantly lost a lot of blood. It just came pouring out of me. Soaked through my panties and pants and was all over the place. Along with the blood I passed a large golf ball sized semi-solid mass. I was sure I had just miscarried. I went to the ER later that night to get checked out. When I told them about what happened but explained that I had experienced no pain they said they weren't sure I had miscarried and advised me to make an appointment with my OB. So the next day I saw my OB and had another ultrasound. And not only did I not miscarry but it was discovered that I was carrying two babies! From then on I had light spotting for the next couple of weeks. When I went in for my regular checkup at 10 1/2 weeks I had another ultrasound. Despite just finishing the best 2wks of my pregnancy so far they found that I had miscarried one of the twins. They could only find one baby and an "empty space" where the other used to be. 

So what I thought was a miscarriage was not. And when I experienced no real issues I found out that I had miscarried.

I did have more spotting throughout the pregnancy. And had 2 more times where I lost major amounts of blood in a short period of time. (The solid mass I had passed at 8wks was a blood clot and I continued to pass these throughout the pregnancy though not quite so large). I delivered my healthy baby boy at 34wks via emergency C-section. 

I later found out I have a unicornuate uterus - which was why he was early and breech. The losing of the twin was unrelated. Really my uterus can barely handle one baby, twins may have been too much for it and I could have lost them both.

The Doc also told me losing a twin early on is very common. Because it occurs so early on most women who do lose a twin probably are never aware that they were ever carrying a second baby or that they lost it. If I hadn't had those early ultrasounds I never would have known about it.


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