homebirth twins

[mauri456]

I'm 15 weeks pregnant with twins

I've gone from planning a HB to a hospital birth for the twins. However, in my heart I still want a HB. I feel like I am going to up against such odds in the hospital. I know that pretty much every hospital makes you deliver in the operating room........... ugh. I can't imagine. The thought makes my skin crawl. I just feel like that makes it so easy to say, things aren't working out, time to section. i can't imagine pushing in stirrups. i dont want a million people staring at me.

but if my babies need that, i will do it.

Anyone care to share their birth experiences with twins? I do want to hear it all, the good and the bad.

[RadTwins]

I'm 28 weeks pregnant with twins and went through the same feelings you're having. Originally I wanted to do a MW birth in a birthing center attached to a hospital, but the two nearest to us (1.5 hrs away) won't do twins. So I've met lots of OB's (four) and gone through a whole range of emotions about how the birth will go. Now I'm okay with whatever happens. I'm still hoping for a vaginal birth. My new OB says "no problem" as long as both are head down, but any other way he thinks it's safer to do a c-section. Again, I'm not thrilled about it, but have reconciled with this approach, as a healthy outcome for all of us is what matters most.

If you check out the thread "Epidural for Safety?" that I started, you'll see some great answers/advice/stories about this whole issue.

Just wanted to say I'm with you and I hope you find a birth plan you're comfortable with. Several people have had home births with twins, but I'm a little too chicken for that at this time. Good luck!

[LoisLane]

There are lots of mamas here who have homebirthed twins, and many who have had great hospital births with twins (even in an OR). You might want to do a search, or read the sticky of birth stories, for inspiration and ideas.

FWIW, I was VERY worried about the whole delivering in the OR thing, and the huge number of people being there thing. But by the time it came to deliver, I didn't care. I had a great labor, just me and my DH and an awesome nurse checking in occasionally. When it was time to push, I was so in the zone, it didn't bother me one bit! Weird, but true.

Congratulations on your twins! It's quite a ride!

[verycozy]

Is there any chance you could go to tennessee to birth at The Farm (Ina May Gaskin's place)? If I had to do it again, that's what I would do. I had a homebirth with DS1 and was planning a homebirth for my second pregnancy, but then I found out I was having twins and risked out of a homebirth. I wound up having a c-section for dubious reasons (Baby A was head down but Baby B was breech and since B was measuring bigger than A they wouldn't do a vaginal birth). It all turned out just fine, and I have two wonderful happy healthy babies and I recovered easily from my c-section, but if I ever get pregnant again I'm pretty sure I'll wind up doing UC because they don't allow home VBAC here and I really hated being in the hospital... That's just my two cents; obviously lots of people have really positive hospital birth experiences.

[*J*]

Don't know where in VA you are, but there are CPM's who will do twins at home in some areas. I'm in Richmond, and none of the midwives here would do twins at home. I spent weeks trying to convince myself I could be ok with the hospital OR. We ended up finding a fabulous birth center with MW's who aren't afraid of twins, and switched to them at 20 weeks. It's about a two-hour drive for us, but SO worth it. I'm feeling so much better about our birth plans now!
The birth center is pretty new, although the MW's are experienced. It's Marshall Midwifery and Birth Center in Marshall, VA. I'd be happy to talk more with you about it, and my investigations into the various options in Virginia. Feel free to PM me if you'd like.
Whatever you end up doing, good luck and congrats!

[3 little birds]

My twins were born by unnecessary c/section because I didn't inform myself well enough during my pregnancy. My surgery went relatively well and the babies were fine-although I believe they were born too early and would have benefited from some more time in the womb. In hindsight, I would have done things much differently-in my state it is illegal for midwives to attend twins, so if I were expecting twins again I would interview MANY OB's and ask direct, tough and numerous questions until I found someone I could trust. I would remind myself that they can't section me without consent, etc.

Or maybe I would go to the Farm. (I've had 3 HBAC's since the twins, so going back to a hospital sounds like torture.)

Ironically, if we hadn't have had really great insurance, I probably wouldn't have had a section-at least until it was really an emergency. None of my friends on medicaid have had c/s's including one mom who had 2 set of twins.

If homebirth is legal with twins in your state, I would definately look into it. You have plenty of time-I changed from OB to midwife at 5 months when I found out he would induce at 38 weeks cause I was a VBAC. (DS was born at 42 weeks, 8lbs 14oz).

Also, my friend's mom had two sets of twins at home-once in the 70's-they didn't know it was twins until baby B was born and once 16 years later surrounded by all of her children.

[Intertwined]

My twins were born at home at 39 weeks gestation. We went into labor with a breech/breech presentation which all involved were comfortable with as I'd had four rather larger babies previous to that birth. Baby A was born mostly complete/somewhat footling breech and then Baby B flipped posterior vertex as his sister was born and followed 30 minutes later. All went very well. I had more interventions into that birth than my previous home births but I was fine with it. I trusted my midwife implicitely. As it was her first set of twins she called in a more experienced midwife to assist and we also had an additional assistant (so one for each baby and one for me) and two students to chart and learn. It was quite the crew once we added in a birth photographer, my doula, her daughter to help with my children and my husband! Totally worth it. They all stayed out of my space while I was laboring and only converged on me when it came time to push.

I was very pleased/comfortable with my care. I had double the normal prenatal appointments and four sonograms to check on them-the last to check positions the day before I went into labor. I took my nutrition and supplements very seriously. I went on modified bedrest for 3 weeks to help calm an irritable uterus. We had a good transport plan in place. I never felt that we "risked" anything or that I was "brave" (I get told that alllllll the time). I had a constant stream of communication with my midwives. Baby A was born a bit "wet" from a fairly rapid birth and Experienced Midwife worked on her right there next to my head while I gave birth to her brother. Then I nursed them in turn while the other had a newborn exam. I felt pretty worn down from the pregnancy but recovered quickly from the birth itself. VERY happy with my experience. However, I will say, everything that needed to line up-did. My twins were DZ, healthy, growing well, my body handled the pregnancy well, I didn't have any complications that required further care, etc. Even with the footling presentation at the last minute-I had a strong, intact bag of waters, I was able to resist the (overwhelming) urge to push until I was complete, I have a very strong determination to do what needs to be done when in a tight situation and so didn't freak out.

Good luck with your search!

[Valerieg]

I chose an OB that would let me deliver vaginally as long as Baby A was head-down and that would let me labor before deciding on a c-section. I ended up with a c-section due to transverse babies but I'm so glad that all three of us experienced the hormone changes, water breaking, and contractions prior to them deciding to do surgery.

The OR was nothing I had expected so if I had to do my pushing in there I would have been okay with it. Maybe you can see about doing a tour that'll at least let you look in the window. The OR wasn't much different from any other room- it just had more equipment and lights. All of which my OB was willing to do away with. He was okay with me using a regular bed, turning the lights off, even playing music.

[magentamomma]

I had my twins at home. So did a very good friend of mine. I had a wonderful experience. They were my first birth and when i was told that I was guaranteed a csection, by the OB practice in my area. It is Standard practice in many hospitals to do csections for twins, or at the least to induce at 38 weeks, which does not make sense since low birth weight is one of the biggest concerns with twins. I would not do it any other way, unless there were signs of bith defects or twin tansfusion syndrome. Good luck, you have awhile to decide, maybe you can find a lay midwife to help you.

[michellyn]

I had our twins at home. I'd had two hospital births with my sons; after the second, I was tired of fighting the doctor during birth. Due to ultrasounds (2 total during the pregnancy), we knew they were in separate sacs, which decreased some risks. They both settled into head down positions, and their birth was fast and easy.

My midwife had a list of conditions (in twin situations) that would risk you out of homebirth. I was glad she had that; I didn't want a midwife who thought every twin birth could be a homebirth, but I felt confident about the remaining risks (she was well prepared and told me how she would handle certain situations if they arose). In my situation, it was wonderful!

[Gena 22]

I second the PP'ers recommendation of the Marshall Midwives. I didn't birth with them, but emailed with Lori, one of the midwives there, a lot when I was making the decision to HB my twins. I live in DC, so she couldn't help me, but gave me the confidence I needed to make the choice to go with a CPM from Pennsylvania. Sounds like a wonderful place.

I loved homebirth. Or if you could make it to the Farm, that's even better.

Check out the stickies for good stories, and here's my birth story on another great twins site:

http://www.naturallyparentingtwins.com/drupal/node/139

[rachel65655]

Here is the link to my birth story

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...twin+homebirth

[nummies]

My twins were born at home on their due date.

Here is my story.

[voicegrrl]

My second pregnancy was twins and they were my second homebirth. I didn't use any care other than a midwife so it was 23 weeks before I got an U/S to confirm twins.

I went into labor at 38 weeks (on April Fool's Day, so fitting) I labored through the day and went from 5 cm to 8 1/2 cm then my contractions petered out like they do in all my labors. So we waited a week, twin A kept moving and wouldn't keep her head pushed down far enough. Finally she was in a good position, I'd stayed steady at 8 1/2 cm for the week and we decided to use herbs to induce labor. I'd been contracting the whole week but nothing would turn into anything steady. By 39 weeks I was exhausted, not sleeping because the babies were so big and I was peeing every 5 minutes! We started the herbs early in the morning then broke baby A's water, she slipped out pretty quickly. I gave birth to her standing up holding onto my bed.

This is when it got interesting. I nursed baby A for a little while and had no contractions so we had to come up with a plan to get things moving for baby B. She had been in a horseshoe position over baby A for weeks so we figured she would be breech but she came head down. After an hour or so of waiting for her to come we decided to do more herbs and break her water. All in all it took 6 hours and 40 minutes for her to be born. Probably the longest 6 hours of my entire life and to be honest not something I would ever want to do again. It was very, very stressful and constantly wondering what would happen if I needed to transport. Midwives are currently illegal in our state. She finally came and sucked up some fluid in the process. Had a hard time getting started but was totally fine once she got some air pushed in.

I've had all of my children at home, my 1st dd, the twins, my 4th dd, so I'm definitely a homebirth activist. I'm pregnant with my 5th (hopefully not 6th also) and I will be homebirthing again, but I've often thought would I have twins again at home? Here's what I've decided about that. I would never induce at home again. I think if left alone they would have come on their own within the week and it would have gone a lot smoother. I carry babies longer, my first was 5 days past dates and my 4th was 41 weeks so I would most likely have twins at home again but do things differently. I think that knowing that I was 8 1/2 cm was the reason that I pushed to get them out but it really shouldn't have mattered.

I hope you find this helpful and that you are able to make the right decision for your babies and your family. I know what a hard one it is.

[mauri456]

Thank you all for your awesome replies. You don't even know how helpful it is for me to hear all different perspectives.

I have an appointment this week with my midwife. She is really awesome, but if I stay with her, it will be in the the hospital. She won't actually deliver the babies, her OB will.

The good news is that my friend is a labor nurse at the hospital the OB would deliver me. She plans to be my labor nurse whenever the time comes. She said if I can get the OB to agree with the no OR aspect that she will be sure that is respected. She said she will do everything in her power to make it as noninterventional as possible. I'm so grateful for her.

I havent ruled out a HB. Im going to talk to the midwives who are about two hours from my house.

My hubby has also said that if all fails he'd be totally willing to go to the Farm.

I'm trying to just focus right now on the positive.... these kiddos are going to be smaller, they probably won't go late (like my daughter did)

[homebirthing]

My twins were born at home in the water at 40 weeks. My birth story was published in Mothering last fall in the Sept/Oct edition. Amazing and NORMAL birth!