Labor - induced v natural, how long was it?

HI, everyone! I searched through the older threads but I didn't see a recent thread dedicated to this question.

This is my third pregnancy and my first set of twins. My first two pregnancies were so easy I sometimes forgot I was pregnant. Labor and delivery - slept through most of it, then woke up to give birth within 2-3 hours. I was up and making waffles by morning. Of course, that was almost seven years ago. My children are 8 and 6 now.

I'm wondering how labor with twins compares to labor with singletons, or if there is just no way to compare them at all.

The reason I ask is that I can't seem to find a doctor who doesn't automatically think twins is a reason to schedule all kinds of intervention. I would love to show up and have my kids faster than they can prepare an epidural order (like I did the first two times) but I obviously can't count on anything being the same this time around.

 

I was induced with my son at exactly 39 weeks because my doctor thought he was already over 8lbs and was afraid he wouldn't be able to fit through the birth canal. I went into L&D in the morning, doctor broke my water at 7:30am, started petocin. I got the epi at 4 cm...and was pushing and he was born at 1:26pm. So almost 6 hours...it seemed like a breeze for me too. I was up and about walking around 3 hours later after the epi wore off.

Oh and my son weighed in at only 7lbs 8oz so the doctor was off on the weight, but I was glad to have it over with it.

 

QUOTE(boingerhead @ Sep 20 2008, 10:36 AM) [snapback]989006[/snapback]
HI, everyone! I searched through the older threads but I didn't see a recent thread dedicated to this question.

This is my third pregnancy and my first set of twins. My first two pregnancies were so easy I sometimes forgot I was pregnant. Labor and delivery - slept through most of it, then woke up to give birth within 2-3 hours. I was up and making waffles by morning. Of course, that was almost seven years ago. My children are 8 and 6 now.

I'm wondering how labor with twins compares to labor with singletons, or if there is just no way to compare them at all.

The reason I ask is that I can't seem to find a doctor who doesn't automatically think twins is a reason to schedule all kinds of intervention. I would love to show up and have my kids faster than they can prepare an epidural order (like I did the first two times) but I obviously can't count on anything being the same this time around.


I wanted to do it your way too, and really didn't want an epedidural. The compromise I came to with my doctor was he would put in the epidural but not the medication unless he had to. He said I needed one incase one baby came out fine and then had problem with second either having to reach in to turn the baby or may need c section.

As it turned out they tried to induce me for 2 days and I ended up with c section anyhow.

Good luck.

 

I can't compare to a single birth since the twins are my first, but I had a very easy vaginal delivery for the most part. My water broke at home at around 8:30 PM...they had me come in right away since twins are automatically "high risk." The contractions didn't get bad until about midnight. I told them that I wanted to try without medication so if I asked for it to make me wait 15 minutes. I did ask for it at about 2 AM (when I thought it was probably going to get worse)...they told me I was already 8 cm so it was too late. Aubrey was born at 3:45 AM and Edward at 3:58...no drugs! And I can tell you without a doubt that the second baby seemed like nothing after just having pushed out the first!

I was walking around the next morning and home with both babies two days later Everyone told me I was lucky, though...there were actually three other sets of twins delivered at my hospital that week (full moon) and I was the only one that didn't end up with a c-section. I guess it's like every other part of pregnancy...different for every person and every baby. I had a terrible pregnancy with 14 weeks of bedrest, but a great delivery. I guess it balanced out!

Good luck! I hope you have an easy time!

 

I think alot of it depends on how uneventful your pregnancy has been, and what "kind" of twins you're having. If your babies are sharing placentas, and/or sacs, there are so many more opportunities for problems, that the doctors go immediately to high alert. (Personally, I've been ok with "high-alert"-I'm a worry wart, as I've miscarried loads of times, and I know these are my last kids.) As I understand it, if your babies aren't sharing any gear, and each have their own stuff, there's no reason you can't deliver "normally" (whatever normal is.)

These are my first twins, but I was induced with my son, who weighed 12lb 8 oz, and I was pre-eclamptic. I hate to scare people, and I don't like sharing horror stories, but I have to admit, being induced was horrible. I remember telling my nurse, that "Pitocin is brewed in a big cauldron in Hell by Satan himself." Just simply because you get such hard labor immediatley-none of those cute little "Ooooo, that stings!" sort of pains for the first six hours. Noooooooooo. I endured it for 14 hours before I could have an epidural, so yeah, not a good experience for me. They gave me an epi as soon as they could, as I was so exhausted that I was literally falling asleep in the three minutes between contractions, and they were worried I'd be too tired to push. That being said, once I had the epidural I slept through most of the rest of it, woke up, delivered, and was on my feet in the shower two hours later, and home cooking dinner the next night. So, labor sucked, but delivery wasn't bad at all, seeing as how I was numb from the waist down. Yay for anesthesiologists!

 

As long as you go into labor naturally, you shouldn't have to deal with too many interventions. They will most likely want to insert an epidural and do some external monitoring once you arrive at the hospital though. You should be able to easily fight off any other interventions.

I was induced with the twins way too early for my body (but the babies needed to be delivered) so I was in labor 18 hours before a c-section became necessary. I was also induced with my singleton and was in labor with him for 2 days. If I could ever just go into labor naturally, I think things would go much more quickly and smoothly.

The fact that you have already had two children with smooth/quick labors definitely puts the odds in your favor. If your babies are di/di, then you are also more likely to be able to go into labor on your own since they aren't as high risk as mono/di twins. Good luck!

 

I was induced for both my singleton and my twins. My singleton was my first and from start to finish was about 19 hours. From start to finish with my twins I was only in labor for 6 hours and needed a lot less "induction" (only the gel as opposed to gel and pitocin).

 

induced after my water broke at 35.1 wks - maxed out on pitocin - yikes - then they gave me a rest and restarted the pit and my girls were bore vag 5 min apart. in all a 40 hr induction. you probably wont experience this because you have had fast births before and this was my first.

 

I also can't compare since the twins were my first pregnancy, but my water broke at home at 8 in the morning, I got to the hospital around 11, took a soak in the jacuzzi at 230, and was then given pitocin at 330 to move things along - I wasn't having strong contractions and was only dialated to a one. At 530 I was still at a 1 even though I was contracting every 2 minutes at that point. By 11 at night I was only dialated to a 2, so then they put in the epidural, to help relax me since I was getting worn out and wasn't moving along. More pitocin followed as well. At 11 the next day I was only dialated to a 6 and spiked a fever so they did an emergency C-section.

So, I started out naturally with my water breaking, but then was given several rounds of pitocin and an epidural to move things along, but after 27 hours of labor, I didn't move much at all. So I was a little of both worlds! Goes to show you you never, ever know what to expect.

 

I was induced before 36 weeks due to pre-eclampsia with both pregnancies. My first was not terribly painful, but I was in labor for 22 hours, pushed for 3. This is normal for a first delivery though and I don't think it had a thing to do with being induced. He was ready to be delivered weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz (yes, my dates were right). I had no pain meds.

The twins were induced at 35 wks and the entire thing was 5 hours start to finish (meaning IV placed to vaginal delivery of both). Also, the pitocin did not cause me to have horrible contractions, I was not in terrible pain at all.There was pain, but labor is never easy or painless. Also of note, epidurals do not work on me at all, so all my kids were labored and delivered with no pain relief. It wasn't by choice, but it turned out just fine. I know many women that seem to have terrible experiences with pitocin, but I was very lucky not to be one of them given that epis don't work for me! The twins were delivered 10 minutes apart, so the pushing phase was not difficult or drawn out.

I would say your twin birth should not be much more complicated than your previous births, but you really never know. Every birth is different and it has been a while since you delivered a baby. Delivering twins does not automatically make it more complicated. However, Doctors do not like twins to go the full 40 weeks due to placental insufficiency, so induction happens more often with twins as do c- sections. You seem to deliver quickly, so that is in your favor. All the OB's I've seen say susequent deliveries are faster as a general rule. Good luck and safe delivery!

Kelly