Natural birth or drugs what's your preferance

I am wondering what everyone's thoughts are on having a natural birth with twins if you get that far and don't have to have a c-section. I have always wanted to have a natural birth no drugs but now that we are having twins I am not real sure what the protocol is for it. What do you ladies have planned or what did you do if your babies are already here.

 

Is this your first pregnancy? I had read that with twins an epidural was highly recommended because if the doctor has to reach in to turn the second baby that it can be VERY painful. With my first two deliveries (both singletons) I TRIED and TRIED to have them without drugs but the back labor was so intense that I just about went insane. I was induced with my son, which was a very hard labor but I went naturally with my daughter. The labor was easier with her and I could have done it without the epi had it not been for the back labor. This time around, we aren't even going to try. We are expecting a vaginal birth with the twins but it will be in my charts from the get go to do the epidural. Not even going to mess around.

Good luck!

 

My doctor said it was easier for him if I had an epidural because if he had to manipulate the second baby from the outside (which he did have to to do - my twins are almost 30 minutes apart!! Little man didn't want to come out!), my muscles would be relaxed - otherwise my muscles would have fought him, and it would have been painful. My doctor also delivers twins in the OR (which I think is standard) and if you have to have an emergency C-section, then you are already there. I was on magnesium for 2 days before they were born because of pre-eclampsia, so I was grateful for the epidural. For this baby I am going to try for a birth without it!

 

I had talked with my Dr about it beforehand and she said I didn't have to have an epi if I didn't want one (we went natural with DS and wanted to do that again). I didn't have any pain meds with the girls until the c/s (Meg was breech) and was 10cms when I got my spinal. So I went through almost all of labor without pain meds for that birth too. I was a bit nervous about the end of labor with no pain meds this time around but it all went perfectly and was incredible!! I wouldn't change a thing. Talk to your Dr. - some are fine with not giving meds.

 

I did natural with my singleton and I would never ever do it again. It was so painful, I couldn't even imagine doing it with twins. Just my opinion though!

 

I think I would rather have the epi just in case there is a chance of having to have a c-section, like the PP had problems with baby B and had to have them manipulated into position.

Believe me, it's not how you have them c-section, vaginal, hatching them, someone else having them, it's that they're here and they're here safely that really matters. Right now you are just a mechanism to incubate them safely and get them to a point where they can live outside of you. (Once they're on the outside, things totally change!!) How they get outside is really not that important in the grand scheme of things.

 

Drugs...in my opinion, why suffer? I know many women want to feel that pain as a part of the bonding experience, but it just isn't for me.

 

Ya. If you've got the option.. TAKE IT! LOL.

If you're out in the wilderness.. suffer. Otherwise.. choice is clear for me..

 

Drugs...had an epi with both my pregnancies.

 

I met a girl one day who is in her first pregnancy, and she was not seeing a doctor, not getting ultrasounds, not birthing in a hospital, not having drugs, just going to have the baby at home with a friend.

Now, granted she was a midwife, but it's her first pregnancy. Being a midwife doesn't give you the actual experience... I would have been freaking out if I were her! But she was almost ready to pop, too. She was totally in it for the long haul.

I think it's great for people to have healthy normal pregnancies that allow them to keep ultrasounds and things to a minimum, but there is no way in hell I would pass up an epidural.
Just sayin'. I'm way too sissy for that!

 

i had an unmedicated vaginal delivery with my twins because i didn't feel the benefits of an epi outweighed the risks. generally speaking though, when having twins your OB will prefer you to have an epi in place for the reasons already mentioned - in my case, i preferred to labor without an epi & be given general anaesthesia if an emergency c-section became necessary & there wasn't time for en epi. it would be worth chatting with your doc about both the benefits and the risks of epis before making your decision. if you do choose to go the unmedicated route, i would strongly recommend hiring a birth doula - it is possible to cope with labor contractions without suffering, but it helps to have an educated & strong support team. GL with your decision!

 

There's a lot out there pro and con.

I was a first timer and had my twins without an epi. Granted, I have a high pain threshold, but I can say the pain really wasn't a big deal. I was WAY more afraid of the needle than I was of the pain, and am very glad I did it drug-free. Not that labor and delivery were easy, not by a long shot. Just that pain wasn't a big deal.

It helped too that my twins were 39 weeks and both head down.

Everyone has different preferences. I've heard epi horror stories, and I know women that swear by them. Looking back on the birth, for me, there's a lot that was better because I didn't have an epi. The #1 most important thing was that I got to move around a lot during labor and give birth from a more upright position. These were absolutely crucial for me, without them I can't say that I would have managed a vaginal birth. And the vaginal birth lead to a fast recovery, which helped during those sleep deprived newborn days.

Not saying drug-free is for everyone, but there's definitely reasons to consider it!

 

Hey, they don't hand out trophies for a drug-free birth, so I say DRUGS PLEASE! With that said, I had my DD au natural...had no choice, she just came too quick! She was less than 3 lbs and it HURT!! Not sure of the risk to the baby for and epi, but I myself haven't heard anything bad that I know of.

 

It's epidural for me all the way. I had to be induced 2 weeks late with my first daughter and they kept putting the epidural off for fear it would stop the labor. Let me tell you, I won't ever forget the labor pain during those 22 hours.

For my second daughter, the nurse asked me what my threshold for pain from 1 - 10 was because the doctor had made it big point to have them give me the epidural as soon as I go there. My answer to her: "negative 5, so if you could get the anesthesiologist in here I'd really appreciate it". I had the epidural 30 minutes after I checked in to the hospital and the doc broke my water (had to be induced too). Best decision of my life.

With this twin pregnancy, are you kidding? I'd self-medicate the epi if I could.

 

here's a good overview of the benefits & risks of epidurals for moms & babies.

 

I gave birth to the twins without any painmeds. both head down and at 39+1 weeks
In holland most births are at home so there are no painmeds given.
For twins you have to go to the hospital, but painmeds are only given when needed.
c-s are also only done if it's med. neccesary.

So it can be done!!!!!!

 

With my personal experience, I had to have an epidural because I was delivering in the OR and they wouldn't have any time to put it in should I have had to have a c-section. Both of my babies were head down and ready to go, but after 21 hours of labour, they came out via c-section and so I was thankful that I had the epidural.