Vanishing Twin Syndrome: Women Expecting Twins End up Delivering One Kid
- Anne Njeri and Jane Nungari both had babies 'disappear' from their wombs before birth
- The two said that in early pregnancy, the scans detected two babies, but the follow-up scans detected only one
- The two said the doctors told them that this is caused by a rare condition called the Vanishing Twin Syndrome
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Were it not for scans, Anne Njeri and Jane Nungari would not have known of the existence of their babies, who later 'vanished' from their wombs before birth.
Source: UGC
Anne Njeri's story
In February 2017, Anne Njeri was very excited to discover that she was pregnant. This was her second pregnancy after going through a heartbreaking miscarriage.
Njeri said that in her early months of pregnancy, everything was normal, with usual mild nausea.
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"For some reason, I had a very big appetite and would always have my lunch as early as noon," she told Briefly News in an interview.
At around the 10th week, Njeri went for a scan to see how her pregnancy was fairing as her big appetite had suddenly disappeared.
"In the scanning room, the radiologist announced that I was expecting twins. I was so happy to hear this," Njeri recalls.
However, the radiologist's facial expression changed, and Njeri quickly panicked, thinking something had happened to her babies.
Two babies, one heartbeat
The radiologist then explained that the machine could only detect one heartbeat.
"Looks like the other twin stopped growing about two weeks ago. Things changed fast. At first, I didn't expect the twins' news even though in my spouse's family, his dad was a twin, second, I had never had anything like that before," Njeri told Briefly News.
In her quest to seek answers, she went for a second opinion at another hospital and was told the same thing.
After a lengthy chat, the doctor explained that she could be experiencing a condition known as Vanishing Twin Syndrome.
It is rare but happens to pregnant women, though to many, it may go unnoticed, especially if they fail to have an early scan.
"The doctor explained that the baby vanishes by itself with no bleeding, he said the tissues incorporate themselves in the other surviving twin and the mother. True to his word, in my next scan, there was no baby," Njeri narrated.
Adding:
" Somethings are God's mystery doctors sometimes might not have answers for everything."
For Njeri, the rest of her pregnancy journey was full of anxiety, worry and concerns. However, everything went well, and in September, she delivered a bouncing baby girl after a 10-hour labour.
And she named her baby Taraji.
Njeri said that her baby is full of energy and completely healthy. She, however, cannot help but think of her vanished twin and wonder how life might have been if the baby had been born alongside the sister.
Jane Nungari's story
Jane Nungari did her scan at 10 weeks and was informed by the sonographer that she was carrying twins.
It was very exciting for her, and she couldn't wait to tell her husband all about it. She, too, has a family history of twins from her dad's side. However, this was her first pregnancy.
Everything went well until she went for the 20-week pregnancy scan, and she was shocked by the results.
She was no longer pregnant with twins; only one baby could be seen in the scan.
"I was surprised to hear that I had experienced the Vanishing Twin Syndrome," She told Briefly News.
The other baby just ceased to exist.
It was confusing for Nungari to grieve her lost twin without wondering whether she was ungrateful for the surviving one.
Baby ceases to exist
She then delivered a healthy baby boy. Nungari also remembers her subsequent pregnancy had a bit of similarity. When she went for a caesarian section, doctors informed her that they also found tissues indicating that there might have been a second baby who also ceased to exist.
According to Healthline, vanishing twin syndrome is a condition that happens in early pregnancy. It is a form of miscarriage where a pregnant woman is expecting twins, but the scans can no longer detect one of the twins later in the pregnancy.
The baby stops developing and vanishes over time. The twin who doesn't develop is then called the vanishing twin.
Reactions as man stuns lady who delivered twins, drives her home after paying hospital bills, splashes cash
Earlier, Briefl News reported that a man took a woman who recently gave birth to twin boys by surprise by settling her hospital bills and giving her money to start a new business.
The kind man, Chidiebube Okeoma, a PUNCH journalist, who is known for his philanthropic deeds, had learnt of the woman's situation at the hospital and appealed to well-meaning people on Facebook to support the cause.
Source: Briefly News
Stefan Mack (Editor) Stefan Mack is an English and history teacher who has broadened his horizons with journalism. He enjoys experiencing the human condition through the world's media. Stefan keeps Briefly News' readers entertained during the weekend. He graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010 with a Bachelor of Education (BEd), majoring in History and English. Stefan has been writing for Briefly News for a number of years and has covered mainstream to human interest articles.
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
