Delivery Opinions!

Hi Ladies...I want everyone's opinion please!! I know it will come down to what I want...But I want opinions from those who've been there...

I'm currently 32 weeks, 2 days! Whoohoo!! :banana: A is head down and B is breech. After talking with the Dr. she said we need to come up with a "plan" for how we want to deliver. She said she honestly doesn't have a medical opinion in this case. She said I am young(27) and healthy-and calm too, so that would help with a vaginal delivery. She said that most of her patients are older(with twins) and opt for the c/s. She said if I wasn't 100% gung-ho on a vaginal delivery, then she would do a c/s. She said for vaginal...We would deliver A and then they would try their hardest to flip Baby B, or they could extract him by the feet. And if she did breech extraction, she would have one of the other partners in the practice help with the delivery because they are seasoned pros at it(they are older, when breech extractions were the norm).

I'm afraid of the recovery of a C/S. I will be home by myself after dh returns to work after 2 weeks. Then again, I'm afraid of a vaginal delivery and then a c/s. But at the same time...I want to experience a vaginal delivery(I think :blush: ).

Anyone else go through with a vaginal delivery when B was breech?!?! Thank you for any input!!!

P.S. They both weigh 4lbs 5 oz!!! :a_smil09:

 

I did c/s and it was fine... My fear with doing vag. was what if one gets stuck and I needed a c/s too? Then your belly is cut and your va j-j would be affected. I would opt for c/s and the meds......

 

QUOTE(Shannon @ Sep 6 2007, 09:33 PM) [snapback]396356[/snapback]
I did c/s and it was fine... My fear with doing vag. was what if one gets stuck and I needed a c/s too? Then your belly is cut and your va j-j would be affected. I would opt for c/s and the meds......


Totally agree here! I would not want to recover from both.. we are opting c/s.. one slice and they are out! :blush:

 

I was in your same situation until today, Baby A was head down, B kept flipping from breech to transverse. I had a long talk with my doctor about it and she said she would prefer to try a vaginal delivery, especially b/c I was young and Baby B was the smaller twin, she said that turning the baby or breech extraction was a pretty safe thing to do. Much to our surprise (and delight), Baby B flipped to head down at 35 weeks, so we are now gung ho on the vaginal delivery. I hope she doesn't flip back over!!

I would do your research but go with your gut, my personal opinion is that too many c-sections are done for uncessary reasons, and that a c-section is major surgery. But that's just my personal opinion, not a medical one.

 

I had a vaginal with Twin B being born foot long breech!

I was set on having a vaginal (C-section never really crossed my mind!!) and OB even at our first appt said if Twin A is in the right position AND the bigger of the two we could definately do vaginal. He just said that he would turn B after A was born if the baby wasn't in the right position.

Twin A ended up being the bigger of the two (he was 7.10lbs and she was 5.3lbs) As it ended up B ended up being pulled out by her feet by the OB 4 minutes after I had Twin A.

I did however end up with an episotomy as Twin A needed to be delivered with forceps.

The twins were also my first and second :winking0009: and I was 31 when they were born.

 

My SIL had a vaginal delivery with her twins. They were both vertex but B flipped transverse after A was born and had to be manually turned. This is why I don't quite get it when some doctors won't try a vaginal delivery unless they're both vertex -- when A is born, B WILL move and it isn't always in the direction you hope. Anyway, she said it was a bit scary seeing the big gauntlet glove coming at her and uncomfortable having him turned but her recovery was so much easier than my C-section recovery that I'd still encourage you to opt for vaginal if they'll let you. It would stink to have to do both vag & c but I don't think that happens often at all.

 

I had a vaginal birth with A head down B head up. Baby B turned and followed A down, just like he was supposed to. It took awhile (50 minutes to be exact), but that's because he was bigger (even though the ultrasound showed him as smaller). I have a good friend who had the exact same thing happen. In fact, if you read the books, most of them say baby B should turn and follow A down. Now, we all know that doesn't always happen.

So, I'm glad I went with the vag birth, even though they tried to talk me into the c-section. I had other kids and didn't want to have to deal with recovery from that, too. It's your choice, and good luck making it.

 

My OB said as long as A is down they will only do vaginal on me. My twin a s very far head down too. It feels like she is going to fall out right now. They have always told me that they could turn B if he is not head down when I go in to deliver.

 

Thanks for the replies so far! Good to know what everyone has been through! A is very low the Doc said as she was checking me...He better not get any ideas!

Now I don't know if I mentioned it before-but B has the bigger head...And it's about a week ahead of A. So she said if the head continues to grow that way...Then it might be a mute point and we will do a c/s anyways because the bigger baby isn't coming out first...

 

with all you ladies having a vag birth with a head down and then the dr turning babe b or coming out breech, did you have pain med, if not did it absolutely kill to have baby b turned?

 

I had a vaginal delivery where baby b was breech... It was a very successful delivery they were two minutes apart from each other...the doctor delivered the second baby breech reached in and pulled her out....so in my opinion things will be fine but if you are scared and dont think you can go through with it opt for the c/s

 

I had the same type situation. A was head down adn B was breech. I had to have a c/s though. My OB would not deliver the twins vaginally unless they were both measuring at least 4 1/2 lbs. At the point I delivered, only baby B was measuring that and A was smaller. Her second thought...she does not deliver twins when B is breech AND bigger than A b/c it's harder to extract a larger breech baby after the smaller one has passed though. so, I had a c/s.

Baby A ended up being 3#14oz. and Baby B ended up being 4#8oz.

My delivery and c/s recovery were a piece of cake! I had no complications or problems and was getting around just fine in a day or two.

 

I had a vaginal with Emily, but c/s with the twins. My OB said as long as Baby A was head down then we would go vaginally...well, she was never head down. Plus Baby B was a pound more than A....so that would of made it difficult too. I am so glad I had the c-section. I like it over the vaginal...even the recovery was not bad at all. It was nice not going through labor with the twins. My epi didn't work with Emily so I felt EVERYTHING!! Glad I didn't go through that again. Everything just seemed easier with the c-section. I look at Carlie's head and think, "Man I am glad you came out the way you did b/c that head was not coming out down there!".

April

 

My doctor's office told me that they would do vaginal if baby A was head first and if baby B was not head first, they would do a breech delivery (there is a doctor in the office who is an expert on breech deliveries). Now if baby A is not head first, they said then they do a c-section automatically. In their opinion it all rides on what baby A is doing.

 

one of my friends put it to me this way (about why a c-section is better): afterward, you don't need to pee and poop and bleed from the general area. i had to laugh at that, b/c everytime i went to the bathroom for weeks after delivery dd, i was freaking out about my episiotomy. the friend who said this had endured a third degree tear, so she experienced the worst of a vaginal delivery.

either way, i have stopped worrying about it, and am just letting the universe do it's thing. if both babies are in position, it'll be a vag, if not it'll be a C. (my OB's malpractice won't allow them to turn a breech baby, so both need to be head down). the recovery will be whatever it is and i'll live through it, somehow. it's not typical of me to be so blase, but this is just out of my hands....

 

My peri said as long as Baby A is head down I can deliver naturally.

 

This country is doing way too may c/s and this is a perfect example of an unneccesary one. If you have doctors who are experienced with breech extractions, go for it. I've heard so many people who are not even allowed to do a vaginal delivery with this scenerio. I think that's crazy however it makes sense because not all doctors are trained to do breech extractions so therefore they'll claim it's safer to do a c/s (which it is if they're not capable and experienced enough).

Anway, I had the same scenario and they did tell me that B could flip after A was out. So after A was out, quick u/s ... still breech, reach in (epidural necessary), grab feet, pulled him out. He was born 4 minutes later. Slightly lower Apgar (5/9), he had some breathing problems but was fine within minutes. No special care, came home with me ... back on my feet within 48 hours (second delivery for me).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?c...pt=AbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?c...pt=AbstractPlus

http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/ajog/abstract...#33;8091!-1

As long as your babies do not have LBW (under 1500 gram) it's a safe and quick route to go. My doctor won't even try an external version since it's usually not successfull and it's quicker (and the same outcome) to do a breech extraction (see second article as well). My twins were very big and similar size, and I had a vaginal delivery before (she was over 9lbs).

If your doc is experienced, and it sounds like that's the case I would definitely recommend it. And you may get lucky that Baby B flips when Baby A is out.

Good luck!

ETA: My hospital, one of largest and best in the Midwest requires epidurals in case they need to perform an emergency c/s on baby B. And they recommended it for the breech extraction ... her arm went half way in ... no thanks! I had no pain whatsoever!

 

You've gotten some great responses, and it sounds like you have an OB that is wise and humble enough to ask for help outside of her area of expertise.
However it goes, I'm sure you'll do great!

 

Personally I'd go for vaginal...especially knowing your doc will have other docs on hand who are pros at breech extraction. A c/s carries lots of surgical risks..most people don't realize what can happen during surgery... obviously vag delivery has risks too, but much less for the mom than a c/s. The other consideration is whether or not you will have more children... it's not becoming easier to find pro-vbac docs...so I'd try to avoid the c/s in the first place. I'm going through the vbac process now, and I really wish that I could have avoided all of this. If my baby A were vertex I would have done vag delivery...unfortunately she joined her brother in going transverse...ugh... so I couldn't avoid the c/s.

 

Meg, I think if Baby A is head down and you are ready for it as well as your OB, I would attempt the vaginal. I had two c-sections and I recovered fine from both but I would also trust my OB and her opinion. Good luck! You are soooo close now!

 

QUOTE(Sofiesmom @ Sep 7 2007, 11:26 AM) [snapback]397043[/snapback]
This country is doing way too may c/s and this is a perfect example of an unneccesary one. If you have doctors who are experienced with breech extractions, go for it. I've heard so many people who are not even allowed to do a vaginal delivery with this scenerio. I think that's crazy however it makes sense because not all doctors are trained to do breech extractions so therefore they'll claim it's safer to do a c/s (which it is if they're not capable and experienced enough).

Anway, I had the same scenario and they did tell me that B could flip after A was out. So after A was out, quick u/s ... still breech, reach in (epidural necessary), grab feet, pulled him out. He was born 4 minutes later. Slightly lower Apgar (5/9), he had some breathing problems but was fine within minutes. No special care, came home with me ... back on my feet within 48 hours (second delivery for me).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?c...pt=AbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?c...pt=AbstractPlus

http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/ajog/abstract...#33;8091!-1

As long as your babies do not have LBW (under 1500 gram) it's a safe and quick route to go. My doctor won't even try an external version since it's usually not successfull and it's quicker (and the same outcome) to do a breech extraction (see second article as well). My twins were very big and similar size, and I had a vaginal delivery before (she was over 9lbs).

If your doc is experienced, and it sounds like that's the case I would definitely recommend it. And you may get lucky that Baby B flips when Baby A is out.

Good luck!

ETA: My hospital, one of largest and best in the Midwest requires epidurals in case they need to perform an emergency c/s on baby B. And they recommended it for the breech extraction ... her arm went half way in ... no thanks! I had no pain whatsoever!


My ultrasound doctor is one of the authors on the third article! Exciting.

 

Is having a vaginal delivery important to you? It was important to me, so I opted to have a vaginal delivery as long as baby A was head down. My OB had down many breech extractions on twin B when an attempt at turning the baby failed, so I felt comfortable with this decision.

Katelyn (A) was head down and very low-zero station-for two months. Jessica (B) kept on moving since she had plenty of space. She was breech then transverse at my 36 week ultrasound. When I went in to be induced, both were head down and we were good to go for a vaginal delivery. I delivered Katelyn with the help of vacuum extraction. Once she was born, the OB did a quick ultrasound to check Jessica's position. There were ultimately some complications with her cord prolapsing, so I had to have an emergency c-section to deliver her. Even with both babies head down, I ended up having what someone on Twinstuff coined a "double whammy" delivery.

My point is that you really cannot predict what is going to happen. I had complications from both deliveries but am glad that I got to have the vaginal delivery I wanted. My recovery from the vaginal delivery was much faster than the c-section. I am also a candidate for a VBAC if we have another child and would not be if I hadn't delivered Katelyn vaginally per the policy of the only hospital in my area still doing VBAC.

Good luck with your decision!

Angela

 

My OB also said if baby A was head down, I could have a vaginal delivery. Unfortunately, he's decided he'd like to come into this world butt-first, so I'll be having a c-section (which I *really* didn't want) in two weeks.

If it were me, I'd opt for the vaginal delivery. I've had both and my vaginal was by far better than my c-section. The only advice I'd give is to do the research and go ahead and prepare yourself for the possibility of a c-section. And I only say that because I honestly think it's better to have that idea in the back of your mind than to have it sprung on you in the middle of giving birth.

 

Both of my babies were head down most of my pregnancy but I was still worried about delivering two babies vaginally. The whole pregnancy I just wanted a c/s and to have both babies out fast and safe. Well the last week I was pregnant I started feeling like maybe I should try vag. because they were both in the perfect position so I scheduled an induction for 37 weeks. My doctor told me that if at any point I changed my mind they would do the c/s. Well I went in at 6:00am and they started pitocin well 6 hours later I hadn't progressed at all. So they gave me pain meds and cranked up the pitocin, my little guys were so active that they had a really hard time keeping them on the monitors and because they couldn't trace them they couldn't increase the pit as often as they should have been. Well 7 hours later I still had only dialated a half a cm. So I opted to have the section. It was still an amazing experience it was definitely a little scary being numb from the boobs down and not really knowing what's going on but DH was right by my side and when I heard those little babies cry 1 minute apart there was nothing like it. Dh was able to help get them cleaned up and take tons of pictures and they let me keep my babies with me in the delivery room until I was done being closed up and in the recovery area for a little while before they went to the nursery for their 2 hour observation. That's about how long it took to get my pain under control and for them to finish with me and get me upstairs to the postpartum floor anyway. Then they came back to the room for a while and then I sent them back to the nursery so I could sleep. My recovery was not easy and it took about two weeks before my belly didn't hurt anymore but it wasn't terrible. I would say if you do have the section just try not to do everything when you get home make sure you get your rest too. If poeple offer help, take it! Good luck.

I also want to add that things really did work out exactly how they were supposed to. If I had kept going with the pitocin the following day I may have had some serious problems. I blew up like a baloon from all the pit. and ended up back in the hospital 10 days post op because of congestive heart failure from all the fluid. I would try for a vaginal delivery and trust me, no matter how it turns out it won't matter once you have those babies.

 

Wow, I'm surprised to read that some of your docs told you how you would deliver rather than solicit for your input. My OB said that since I was having twins, they would leave the decision up to me. The way she figured it was that I was probably freaked out at having twins and all the unknown there that how ever I wanted to deliver was up to me. I was very surprised to be told that...

It turned out that baby a was vertex and baby b was transverse - my concern was that of stitches in two places... However, once I got there and my water broke in front of God and the admissions staff at L&D and my doc did an exam she decided on a section due to a small arch (?).

I think I would have prefered a regular delivery, I hear the recovery is much easier. I had an infection in my incision that I would rather not have had to deal with. But, the bottom line is that my girls got here safe and sound. Go with your gut and whatever you feel comfortable with.

alexis

 

QUOTE(Shannon @ Sep 6 2007, 08:33 PM) [snapback]396356[/snapback]
I did c/s and it was fine... My fear with doing vag. was what if one gets stuck and I needed a c/s too? Then your belly is cut and your va j-j would be affected. I would opt for c/s and the meds......


This is also what I'm going to do, unless both babies are head down I'm having a C Section. My mom worked labor and delivery for 25 years and she said she's seen too many breech babies get "stuck" and that scared me, even though I know it doesn't always happen.

 

I had an uncomplicated c/section BUT I would for sure have preferred a vaginal delivery. After 2 days of trying to induce me they had to go with the c section. Ihad baby a head down and b transverse, so we were trying for the vaginal option.

good luck with ur decision

 

I loved reading what everyone had to say and about all the diff experiences-it was so interesting and eye-opening-thanks for bringing this up and sharing...
My dr told me I could absolutely go for a vag delivery since both babies are head down...I am also preparing that things might not go as planned and have to have a c/s-I feel like you never know what can happen and how your body will go into labor so it is best to be prepared either way. Also-I think you should totally have a say in your delivery options-it is your body.

 

Wow! A lot of responses! Thanks ladies! It's soooo hard to decide! But my Dr has said that it would be up to us to decide if one was breech. She has faith I could deliver vaginally. Which is fine. I honestly don't have expectation on either...Meaning how it's all supposed to play out, or what I REALLY want to do. I think I may go with the vaginal delivery, and then if a c/s is necessary-know it's the right thing. The only thing worrying me is the attempt to get Baby B to turn...It's all in God's hands and as long as they are healthy-I'll take whatever way out! Although...I wish there was a "magic" way for them to come out! :lol:

The Dr. and I will be having longggg chats in the coming weeks!