WHERE DID YOU BIRTH: hospital
HOW FAR ALONG WERE YOU: 39 weeks, 2 days
WERE YOU INDUCED: no (believe me, it was offered, and encouraged!)
ELECTIVE C-SECTION: no
REASON FOR INDUCTION/C-SECTION: elective c-section was offered while I was in labor because Twin B was breech. I opted out and the baby turned vertex after his brother was born.
SIZE OF BABIES: 7 lbs (baby A), 7 lbs 11.5 oz (baby B)
TYPE OF TWINS: monochorionic (mo/di) MZ twins
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR DECISIONS: I feel okay. I was not happy about the pressure to "hurry up and deliver" after I got to 37 weeks. I wish I had gotten more information about the impact of cutting twin A's cord before B was born (for twins who share a placenta.) I also wish we had paid more attention to their hemoglobin levels during the first weeks, and checked their ferritin, too. We ended up with one severely anemic twin (albeit a non-clinical presentation, so nobody could quite believe what the labs were telling us, when we looked at him) at 7 months, and the explanation was an undetected slight twin-to-twin transfusion that had depleted his iron stores from the beginning. At birth, one's hemoglobin was at the high end of normal and the other's was at the low end, but both were in the normal range and could not be called polycythemic or anemic, so acute TTTS was not diagnosed. I am not sure where I stand now, concerning the risk of acute TTTS and birth with mono/di twins. There are big question marks in my head, around what I would consider "right" or "safe," and I think my "ideal" wishes for birth (home, non-interventive) are a bit in conflict with what I'd consider an acceptable risk for mo/di twins. But even that isn't for sure....the question marks. I wanted the spontaneous, unmedicated, vaginal birth SO BADLY, and I got it, and I'm definitely happy about that, but I wonder some if there's a bullet that we just barely dodged and don't realize it. Anyway, I just am trying to convey that despite my overall satisfaction with the labor & birth, I have slight niggling misgivings about the validity of the things I wanted so much.