Could I have lost a twin?

[thehappypixi]

When I was about six weeks pregnant with my first, JP, I had a bleed and thought I had lost my baby. An early scan showed a heartbeat, and a shadow where the bleed probably originated. They neither confirmed or denied this could have been another foetus.
Now reading about stress not favouring girls; I am brought back to that day when I bled. I show my dogs competitively, and that day I had driven 150miles to Scotland where my dog beat all the others and got Best In Show... my adrenaline and nervousness was through the roof. It was at the end of the day, just before a long drive home I started bleeding.
What if I lost a female twin?!
I didn't have any pain, so it's probably me just over thinking things, right?!!

[rainbowflower]

I guess that's a possibility, but you might never know the answer. I've never had an early MC, but my 12-13 week one was incredibly painful.

where did you read that stress doesn't favour girls? every study I've seen about stress says the opposite..? and it's boys that are most likely lost during times of war/bereavement/stress, etc.

[thehappypixi]

Maybe I misread it, I thought it was the other way round!

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, that's very possible. Both myself and another person on here who lost a twin had the same situation - the doctors would not confirm the existence of a twin without a lot of prodding on the issue.

The "stress not favoring girls" is BEFORE conception, not afterwards. Stress like what you describe is not great for babies of either gender BUT the thing is, typically what happens is that the pregnancy was not destined to work out anyway. Something was already going awry, and it may have happened that day or it may have happened the next day when you sneezed or in a week or a month's time. It wasn't your fault, it just wasn't meant to be.

[atomic sagebrush]

Maybe I misread it, I thought it was the other way round!

Baby boys are more fragile and need more nutrients and even oxygen so stress after conception can be harder on them.

Prior to conception, types of stress where you're overcoming obstacles and having success can sway blue, while stress where you feel victimized and overwhelmed can sway pink. Chronic, longterm stress can tend to sway pink because over time your body gets tired and can't produce testosterone any more - the constant stress hormones wear you out.