how did you deliver your twins?

I really want to deliver vaginally but I've heard horror stories of it being more dangerous with twins. I'm curious how it worked for all of you. On another board I ran this poll and out of 40 women who answered only 6 were vaginal...hoping for different results here.

Any other input you want to give is appreciated too!

 

I was induced at first and was in labor for 29 hours. Between stubborn babies and Magnesium sulfate I just couldnt dialate past a 4. I wa at at a 4 for 15 hours and the Dr finally said it was time for a C-section. Although when pregnant I didnt want to have a C-section I creid when he finally said he was going to give me one because I was so tired. Wish you all the best and hope you have a plesaent delivery.

 

I am going to move this over to First Year as the majority of our Expecting members have not delivered. In years past with polls like this it has been about 45% vag, 45% c-section, 10% best of both worlds but recently a poll was done and I think the tables did turn a little more towards c-section.........if I remember correctly it was more 60% c-section, 30% vag and 10% both..........I will be interested to see how your poll turns out.

 

I highly recommend a vag birth, if your situation allows. I was up and watching my husband bathe the babies the same day as their birth. My OB was willing to try as long as Baby A was head down. It was my dream birth! I highly recommend a doula if you opt for this route. Mine was AWESOME. I was allowed to labor in the tub and didn't have to have any meds (not even an IV, though I did have a Hep Lock).

Good luck! A gal from my church just had her twins 2 weeks ago. Also a vag birth and she said it was awesome. She did have an epidural (doctor's orders).

 

QUOTE(Dianne @ Jul 8 2007, 11:20 PM) [snapback]322494[/snapback]
I am going to move this over to First Year as the majority of our Expecting members have not delivered. In years past with polls like this it has been about 45% vag, 45% c-section, 10% best of both worlds but recently a poll was done and I think the tables did turn a little more towards c-section.........if I remember correctly it was more 60% c-section, 30% vag and 10% both..........I will be interested to see how your poll turns out.



Well that makes sense...duh! Thanks so much for doing that. I'll check there...

 

I wanted a vaginal delivery but twin A was a stubborn breech all the way through, so we scheduled a section but ended up with some placental abruption at 37 weeks so an Emergency section it was. Overall we had a GREAT experience...I love our local hospital and staff, I was the ONLY patient in the whole hospital that day (super bowl sunday) except for the long term care patients so we got LOTS of attention!!! The experience went much better than expected and I recovered pretty quickly, partly I think because I knew that I was going to have a c-section and would be breastfeeding...positive mental attitude goes a LONG WAY!!! Good luck with your upcoming delivery

 

Any delivery has its risks - both my babies were head down, so we did vaginal (with an epidural), delivered within 7 hours of my water breaking, had to have forceps on baby B.

Erica

 

I was induced but, within hours my blood pressure escalated and my platlettes dropped severely so we went into an emergency csection.

 

We delivered at 38 weeks 3 days. My husband and daughter were in the hospital C-Section room and would have had to leave if anything bad happened. There were like 8 hospital staff and us. After 3 pushes Bree came out, Zack turned around by himself and after 2 more pushes (one to open up again) Zack came out. That part was really easy. It was the part after they were out that was hard. No sleep, figuring it all out, tandem nursing, did I say no sleep?

 

I did put down that I had an emergency c-section but really it wasnt like a hurry up and get her in....it was a week before my scheduled one so i would have had one anyways. I went into labor but had to wait for the room to become open before i could actually have the c-section so they prepped me and stuff and by the time that was done, the room was ready. So i delivered by c-section which i was originally supposed to due to my health issues but i didnt deliver on the day i as scheduled to.....does that make it an emergency?

 

QUOTE(Eyler07 @ Jul 9 2007, 06:18 AM) [snapback]322615[/snapback]
I did put down that I had an emergency c-section but really it wasnt like a hurry up and get her in....it was a week before my scheduled one so i would have had one anyways. I went into labor but had to wait for the room to become open before i could actually have the c-section so they prepped me and stuff and by the time that was done, the room was ready. So i delivered by c-section which i was originally supposed to due to my health issues but i didnt deliver on the day i as scheduled to.....does that make it an emergency?


I don't think that's technically an emergency c-section. I've read it's great for your baby(ies) to be delivered when the mom is actually in labor even for a c-section because your labor hormones help the baby(ies) to be ready. (Unless, of course, the mom or babies have medical situations that make labor dangerous). I have a friend IRL who had her twins a month before mine and she planned all along to go into labor naturally and then go in for her c-section (both babies were breech).

I think emergency c-section is more when you planned a vaginal birth, but problems came up requiring surgical birth. Or, a scheduled cesearean where an emergency came up beforehand, putting the mom and/or babies' lives in danger.

It would be interesting to have two poll choices for emergency c-section. One for a planned vaginal birth turned emergency c-section and one for a planned c-section turned emergency c-section. That way, you would know how many planned for the vaginal birth, but couldn't have it.

 

scheduled c-section - I was shocked that we made it to our scheduled date but we did!! 38wks 4 days!

they told me that it was safer to deliver them by c-section - so we scheduled it - when it came down to it baby A
was breech and B was transverse so chances are we would to have needed the c-section anyway!

 

My water broke at 36 weeks and I deliverd the girls vaginally (with an epidural!) 12 hours after it broke.

They were 7 minutes apart.

I'm so glad I had them vaginally, as my Addison needed life flighted to another hospital and I was able to go see her the next day.

 

I voted emergency c-secton. I was sent the day of my last appointment because of high BP/pre-e.

 

We were induced and had a vag delivery with an EPIDURAL went in around 7am and baby A was born just before 5pm and baby B was born just after. Both needed the vacume to help get them out as they both got stuck a bit. My birth experience was awsome accept for the hemorroids (sp?)
You can read my birth story on our web site if your interested.

www.grazia-ma.com

 

I had a vaginal delivery and there is no reason you can't with twins as long as baby A is head down. My girl was head down, my boy was breech and they were both born vaginally without any problems. Labor & delivery was fast and smooth. I would have never done a c/section unless the position would have been wrong and/or a medical reason would force me to have one.

 

Wow, if the poll ended now my prediction would be fairly close 60% c-section, 35% vaginal, 5% both. Where are some of the other best of both worlders to help out my prediction :winking0009: ?

 

My doc was really pushing for a c-section but since both babies were head down I wanted to try a vaginal birth. She was on board as long as no complications arose. I labored in a regular room but was wheeled down to the OR to push. It was an odd experience because there were so many people and the room was so bright and chaotic but I wouldn't have done it differently. They were both born fairly quickly and easily, I was very lucky.

 

Hi! I was induced at 38 weeks. I went in at 7:30 AM, they started pitocin, I had Maggie at 7:33 PM & Sophie at 7:56 PM. They were both born vaginally. The OB said as long as baby A (Maggie) was head down we could go vaginal. She was head down, so we went for it. Baby B (Sophie) was also head down at delivery. The only reason she took so long to come out was her umbilical cord was wrapped around her foot a little. We had a wonderful experience. I would go vaginal again in a heartbeat in my situation.

 

Oh, & I also had an epidural with vaginal delivery & we needed no vacuum or other assitance for birth. GOOD LUCK!

 

C-section as DS was breech. We were going to be scheduled but my water broke at 34w3days so we instead had a C-section and they arrived that afternoon a minute apart.

 

I was scheduled for an induction and after 13 hours of pitocin and labor I was only dialated a half of a cm. I could have continued to try but I was looking at probably another full day of labor so I opted to just go ahead with a c/s. I had originally wanted to just have the c/s but at the last minute felt that I should at least try for a vaginal delivery. I am really glad that I tried, and every thing worked out for the best.

 

I voted both. If I had to go back, I wouldn't change a thing...it all worked out and I had 2 healthy little girls! I would have liked to have had both vaginally, but the ob didn't even attempt to hold Bell in position. That's the only bad thing about my delivery that I wish were different.

That being said, if there weren't such a size difference, they would have allowed Bell to be born breech. But she was 2 pounds heavier and didn't want to risk it. Lily (baby A) was 7.2 and Bell was 9.1!

It wasn't an ideal delivery, but when the outcome gives ya 2 precious miracles..ya get over it quickly!!

Best of luck!

 

My water broke after 35wks 3days, just coming off of medication to control my contractions. Baby A had been head down for months. Baby B was stubborn and took 2 hours to come out - after the dr. turned him around (he was sunny side up), and he came out with his hand by his head. Also took long enough for my epidural to wear off. :huh:

 

I ended up being induced at 39 weeks, which lucky for me just meant having my water broken. I was in labor when I went in for my induction but didn't know it since I had been having contractions off and on for awhile. I had both babies vaginally w/ epidural in case I ended up needing a c-section. My babies were 12 minutes apart, DS was first, DD needed vacuum to get out b/c she was tangled in the cords, but all was well and really fast which is why my dr wanted the induction b/c we kind of knew I was going to have a quick labor.
Good luck see in FY soon!


Alyson

 

I voted both! I was induced at 38 weeks. Both babies had been head down most of my pregnany. Baby A came out in 2 easy pushes at 5lbs 15oz. After that Baby B decided to flip since he had so much room and was now breech. We tried to deliver breech but he was caught up on the placenta and his heart rate started dropping so C-section for him.




DD-11-06-02
faternal twin boys- 10-02-05

 

I voted emergency c-section, but it was not actually an emergency. I was all set for a vaginal delivery and was induced at 38 weeks, with both babies head down. I progressed quickly on the pitocin and went to about 5.5cm before having the epidural. That's when things started to go south <_< . I still dilating to 8.5, but then got stuck there for 6 hours and my contractions became "unproductive". We were nearing the 24hr mark, and my doctors were concerned about infection so they ordered a c-section.

I was pretty upset. It was like, "I've done SO much work and now you're just going to go in and snip them out in 5 minutes!). Oh well, the surgery was pretty easy and I recovered very quickly. Both boys were healthy and came home with us. I would definitely attempt a vaginal delivery again, possibly au natural, as I hated the epidural experience.

 

Thank you for sharing your stories. These are good odds. I would like a vaginal and have been made to feel like it's really rare. According to this poll it's just as common as a scheduled C.

 

I voted scheduled c-section, but it wasn't really scheduled. My water broke at 10:30 at night, and because Baby A was breech, had the c-section just after midnight....no sense waiting around!

 

Induced and had a vaginal delivery here. Both were head down, Baby A came out fine head first...Baby B turned after Baby A delivered and had to be pulled out by my OB footling breech. She was experienced at births like that so it wasn't a big deal and there was only 5 mins inbetween their deliveries. I felt great after my epi wore off....was an easy birth compared to DS #1 who tore me up!

 

I actually checked planned c-section because I thought emergency c-section was more like in the middle of vaginal birth you had to be moved to the OR. I was scheduled for a c-section at 38weeks, but at 36w3d I was having pre-term labor and because I had stopped taking the medicine to control the contractions, the doc said we should just go ahead with the c-section that night. So I'm not sure if i checked the right box!

 

Yeah, I'm not sure I checked the right box, either! I checked emergency c-section. I was scheduled for a c-section, but after coming off mag, I went right into labor, like really fast. With preeclampsia and whatnot, they wanted to have the surgery right away. I'm not sure if that counts! Fun poll, though!

 

i was going to have a c-section and i can honestly say that i was scared to death of it and so i changed my mind 15 minutes before i was to be wheeled into the OR. both of my girls were head down and my water for Baby A was broke at 7:40am. within 2 contractions i went from 5 to 10 cm and was ready to push. my first was born at 8:01am and my second was born at 8:12am. 31 minute labor for me. not bad--but the fastest labor that i will ever have. i had my girls on a saturday and i got the tubal done on monday. both of my girls had very little problems with breathing but my dr. said that he preferred that women went natural because the babies get their lungs cleared more than when they are delivered by c-section. it is a natural process for the baby to pass through the birth canal, and i don't get how it would be unsafe for a vaginal delivery. some women just can't do a vaginal birth. i have had all 5 of mine vaginally and i wouldn't change it. this last time was even drug free. they gave me pitocine but it didn't take effect until after they were already delivered, so it basically helped shrink my uterus back down.

Lots of love!
Meshell

 

QUOTE(witmuch @ Jul 10 2007, 08:47 PM) [snapback]325312[/snapback]
some women just can't do a vaginal birth.


actually, the female body is amazing and was built exactly for vaginal births, as women did unassisted for thousands of years before the development of the c-section.

That being said, many docs will not let you attempt a v-birth unless both babies are head down. Even then, complications can arise in which a c-section is simply safer for mom and/or babies. Mine were both head down when i was induced at 34w 1 d day due to pre-e. 12 hours later, though I had progressed, my liver enzymes were declining rapidly, putting me in imminent danger for seizures and other more serious complications. So I had an emergency c-section and honestly it wasn't as bad as I'd pictured.

Either way, the important thing is to be ready and to accept whatever happens - you are not a better woman and no more a mommy for having given birth vaginally versus via csection. You don't get a medal if you have them one way or the other. Your 2 miracles, which you get either way, are your best and only rewards!

 

I scheduled a c-section for 38 weeks and 5 days. I did not even have an inkling of any PTL and walked right on up to the operating table and "hopped" up. Baby A was head down but had his cord wrapped around his neck twice. Baby B was tranverse. I decided that I wanted to take as much of the risk away from my boys as I could. I LOVED the c-section and my recovery was very easy. I ws up and moving around just hours after they were done. I must say the hubby took GREAT care of me afterwards!!!