Hospital birth with twins - Page 2

[sept2008twingirls]

Hopefully you don't have to have a C-section, but mine was really normal except for a few things....

I got morphine along with my spinal tap and I vomited many times after they wheeled me to the recovery room. And then was dizzy for 24 hours. Of course you also have to lay down for 24 hours which is not fun. You have a catheter. And the pain getting up the first time was terrible. But recovery was pretty easy, no complications. I was taking care of my 2 year old and twins by myself after 1 week. I had some help, but was pretty ok pain-wise by week 2.

I was not happy with the nursing staff at the hospital though. I could have had the babies room in, but they took the girls the first night, since I was so sick. Since I didn't feed them as much, my milk didn't come in as fast as it should of...had a month of trying to get my milk to come in, pumping, etc. I was sick, but I should have roomed in with them. I was so tired that I couldn't fight the nurses. Make sure your partner/advocate knows you want those babies with you, if possible. I did end up breastfeeding exclusively after the first month and at almost age 2 they are STILL nursing! It was a real fight initially though.

Sarah Joy

[AuroraPolaris]

My boys were born at 35 weeks. Both head first, and no complications at all!
My two first births both took me about 10 hours from the first "yeah, this IS contractions" until they were born. My twin birth took me about 4-5 hours.
I`ve had a problem with bleeding the two first births, so heavy under my 1st that i needed blood transfusion.
But the twin birth was just so quick, easy, and no abnormal bleeding.
They spent 2,5 weeks in the NICU, and have been healthy and thriving ever since.

[LoisLane]

RE: What 11 people were doing in the room...

There was one OB, two nurses for me, an anesthesiologist, a nurse with him, a NICU doctor and two nurses for each babe... and my husband. Before hand, I would have thought it would bother me (and I also thought I wouldn't like birthing in the OR), but by the time it happened, none of those things bothered me at all. I felt like they were all on my side, rooting for me, when I thought of them at all. Mostly I was in that birthing zone, and it happened SO much faster than it did for my DS (3.5 hours of pushing).

Good luck! It all passes so quickly (says someone who suddenly has five year old twins!)

[MamaChicken]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Whoa. This is definitely something for me to ask about. One of the things I hated most about my previous hospital birth was people yelling at me about how to push. In my mind, the more people there, the more people who might try bossing me around. I hate that.

I think I got really lucky on that count. After the OB and anesthesiologist introduced themselves, the only people who talked to me (especially during the last few minutes of labor and through pushing) were the midwife and one of the nurses. All the nurse told me was "Umm, I really need you to lift your top leg or the baby can't come out"

It was cold and I was laying on my left side with my legs clamped together HARD. I just laughed when she said that and forced myself to loosen that leg up for her.

Everyone was really quiet and used gentle, respectful tones.

When I describe my experience to people in other parts of the country, they can't seem to believe how much faith the docs and staff in the hospital had for my body's ability to birth the twins. Maybe I live in the twighlight zone or something. My SIL swears that if I was in her area of Ohio, the would have forced a c-section the second time I was in the hospital - definately never would have let me walk out dilated 6 cm.

I hope you find a birth team that is perfect for you and your situation.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by •Adorkable•

i get driven nuts when i think about folks telling me to push or do things like that, i have the distinct feeling i may end up cussing a few folks right out of my room if they dont keep their mouths shut

Ha! I was just saying to DH today that since this is my last birth, I'm not going to worry about burning bridges, and if people start yelling at me during labor I might just have to cuss them out.

[aurinia]

Originally Posted by phathui5

I was able to be the doula this week for a natural twin birth. It took place in a hospital and the mom declined the epidural that her OB wanted her to have in case there had to be a C-section. Both babies were born vaginally with no complications.

I would highly recommend having a doula for a twin birth.

I was just wondering if this happened at Crouse, by any chance? This is where I'll be going and I've heard they are the only hospital in the area who won't immediately try and push a c-section. So far my OB and midwife seem very supportive of me wanting a vaginal birth and are even somewhat willing to let me try it even if both babies end up breech. I haven't found out yet if they will try and require an epi or that I deliver in an OR...that's something I'm going to bring up with them at my next appointment. If you don't want to discuss it here, could you please PM me? Thanks!

[phathui5]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I really want one. As a matter of fact, it was my counterdemand when DH said he would not be comfortable with a twin homebirth. But unfortunately, I can't find one to in my area. Want to come down to Williamsport?

Anything for you, AM. How long is the drive?

This lady might come to your area: http://www.doulamom.com/#

I found a couple that might serve your area on www.doulamatch.net

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by phathui5

Anything for you, AM. How long is the drive?

Heck, only 3 1/2 hours. I guess I better have a plan B, LOL!

[SunshineH]

First a bit of background - DD1 and DD2 were both hospital, medicated births. DD3 and DS1 were then born unmedicated with a midwife in the hospital. The hospital/midwife births were an empowering experience - such a natural high! Each time, my labor length pretty much cut in half: 22 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours...The birth of my son (9 lb. 6 oz.) wasn't so easy and left me with some 'out of control' feelings. So, thinking of birthing twins in a short time made me a bit nervous!

I selected an OB from the same practice as the midwife I had seen for birth #4, since she couldn't continue seeing me. I had read birth stories here about all the full term births, but agreed to picking a 38 week induction date.

At 38 weeks, I walked in and found I was dialated to 7. My OB broke baby A's water - he was head down - about 8:00 a.m., and contractions started not too long after. I opted for an epi about 9:30 a.m. I was wheeled from a regular L&D room to the OR, and baby A was born in a couple of pushes at 11:07 a.m.. I got to hold him, then DH, then he was given to the nurse as we got ready for baby B. Baby B had been transverse, but they helped her get head down. She was also posterior and had her chin at a funny angle, so she got a vacuum assist and was born 40 minutes later. My OB had tried to turn her several times with no luck.

My midwife was at my birth, cheering me on, along with the OB, a nurse for each baby, nurse for me, a new midwife observing, and DH too. I don't remember it feeling so crowded or feeling pressured by anyone - they were all so supportive.

Looking back, I know I made the choice for an induction and an epi to help ease my 'out of control' fears. Thankfully, everything went well as I know both of those certainly can result in more chance of c-sections and NICU time for babies. We went home nursing 2 days later: DS 6 lb 11 oz, DD 6 lb.

I wonder now exactly when the babies would have been born if we hadn't started labor. Being I was dialated to 7 it doesn't seem like that long. I also probably should have read more about NICU babies and c-sections as I wouldn't have been really ready for either; I just plowed through pregnancy.

Good luck to all with making choices and hopes for healthy pregnancies and births. I am always amazed to read about the homebirths on here.

[Julia'sMom]

Well, fyi, DD1 was hospital birth that ended in c-section (and probably shouldn't have). So, with the twins I was attempting a vbac. I switched to a midwife group, headed by an ob. They were extremely supportive of a vbac and really didn't say anything against it. However, baby A (dd2) had different plans. She flipped positions my entire pregnancy. I had an appointment (37w 5d) the morning before I went into labor and the u/s showed her in complete breech position (sitting cross-legged over my cervix). So, when my water broke that evening I knew I was likely headed for a c-section. I stayed home long enough to shower and finish packing and then headed in. The contractions didn't start until almost the end of the car ride.

At the hospital I insisted on one more u/s to check on position before signing the consents for a c-section. My ob concurred. The u/s showed baby A had moved to a transverse position. Not good enough. With my water already broken she couldn't move anymore so we prepped for surgery.

The c-section went smoothly. I too had high body count in the room, but really only my ob and the anesthesiologist talked to me. The others, ob #2, two nurses for each baby and a nurse for me, I think, stayed in the background. What I did like about this c-section was the spinal, which was easier than my previous epidural. Also, the light fixture above the operating table was exceptionally shiny, so I was able to use it like a mirror and was able to watch the birth of my babies. Baby A stuck her hand out first to wave but was then pulled out butt first and Baby B stuck his foot out first. That was tucked back in until they could located both feet to pull him out.

Baby A (dd2)(6 lb 5oz) (the one who's water broke) was in great shape. She was able to come to me in the recovery room and I nursed her there even before I was moved to the mother/baby unit. Baby B (ds1)(6lb 11oz) unfortunately was kept in the nursery due to gurgling noises. His x-ray came out with clear lungs, but he was then sent to the NICU because he wouldn't eat.

DD2 roomed in with me except for when I traveled the halls to see DS1. Then she went to the nursery, where they respected my wishes for no bottles or pacifiers. The NICU did call me for every feeding for DS1. I was able to attempt to nurse for a short period before giving him the bottle and then finishing the feeding with the ng tube in his nose.

Recovery for me was ok. I too had some excess bleeding in the recovery room and ended up with cytotec in the rectum as well as pitocin and some other stuff to control it. I was also under a heated inflatable blanket, however I felt fine. The one thing I wish I had avoided was the drip pain medication they gave me. The kind where you press the button to administer it yourself. It made me feel awful! Completely dizzy and out of it such that I couldn't even focus enough to choose a name. I didn't realize it was that drug until they took me off of it and put me on the standard pills. Much better.

The hardest part was leaving the hospital with DD2 and leaving DS1 in the NICU. Luckily he came home only 2 days later, but it was tough to balance. Good news, it took him 4 months, but DS did eventually learn to nurse and since 6 months both babies have been exclusively breastfed. So, even with struggles, it is definately possible, even after that much time. I never would have believed he could if I hadn't had so much encouragement.

[Julia'sMom]

One other thing with recovery. The initial recovery was fine and my scar healed excellently. However, it did take me a lot longer to heal from the twin birth than the singleton. I was bleeding for a full 8-10 weeks and every time I'd try and do it alone, the bleeding got heaver. So, I did need help for a while just because my body was not up to doing what my mind wanted to do. Not horrible, but a surprise for me.

[DanelleB]

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id...d=121048753283

I had read that you're *supposed* to bleed less with a c-section--not with me, I bled a full 6 weeks.

Mophine did nothing for me, and Mag made me sleepy (almost drunk). Oh, and the Dr put Reglan in my IV for nausea, but it also worked well on my milk supply.

[poppan]

I planned for a home birth but unfortunately my water broke at 32.5 weeks. I was on hospital bedrest for 2 weeks and agreed to an induction at 34.5 weeks. So you can tell that things were not good from the start.

The morning of the induction, I started in a L&D room with the pitocin drip. 2 hours later I was at 9cm which took everyone by surprise. I was immediately wheeled into the OR and had a "just in case" epidural catheter placed but not dosed. My labor stalled. For the next 4 hours I sat there on an uncomfortable, narrow steel gurney in a freezing cold, scary looking OR with my husband, RN and midwife and made no further progress. I remember the nurses laughing at the sight of me hopping on and off the steel operating table by myself and wheeling my IV pole to the bathroom, then coming back under my own power again. I guess it was an unusual sight because people in the OR don't normally walk in and out on their own power.

After four hours they put me back in the L&D room to see if the change of surroundings would get me to 10cm. No dice and they couldn't turn up my pitocin drip because one of my twins was already showing signs of stress with every contraction. In the end I was wheeled back to the OR for an "emergency" c-section because I wasn't getting fully dilated and DS was showing stress on the monitor.

Things that surprised me... even with the "emergency" c-section it took them 45 minutes to get everything set up. I shook and shook and it felt freezing cold, my teeth literally chattered. I was terrified because DH was not allowed in until they were all set and ready to cut. And I was totally loopy/outright unconscious from about halfway through the operation to hours afterwards. I was sad that I didn't get to see my placenta or keep it. My husband said there was blood everywhere and my stomach was on the table. He's exaggerating but I guess they take the uterus out to sew it back up? I wish he had taken a picture of that because perversely I later wanted to know exactly what happened and what it looked like.

[Kikibell]

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...056&highlight=

[Katie063008]

When I found out I was pregnant I was really excited. My first daughter was a hard birth. She was large, took a long time and eventually was born with forceps...lots of tearing and stitches. I got back in contact with my midwives and we planned a home birth. The midwife scheduled an ultrasound to check my dates since I was a little unsure of my last period.

At the ultrasound they found twins! Exciting and scary. I went back to the midwife and found out that they wouldn't keep me on with twins and was transfered to an ob. I started to worry. Everyone has lots of stories about twins...they'll come early, you'll need surgery for sure, they'll be really small. I was told I would have to deliver in a hospital and almost certainly in an ER.

My huband and I decided that we wanted to move closer to family since we would have 3 under 2. We moved and I was transfered to another OB who said I would most likely have surgery since only 2 doctors out of six in the practice would consider delivering twins vaginally. The doctor oncall was the one who would deliver me, so I had no choice.

When we moved we found out our neighbour was a midwife. I told her the story that midwives couldn't deliver twins and my disastification with the two OBs I had seen. She said that the midwives here would take me on, but as shared care. I was very relieved. The vists withthe midwives were much more informative than the 10 minutes with the OB. I still had to go to the hospital and would still more than likely be recommended for surgery even though both babies were vertex and without complication. I hoped to get one of the OBs who would deliver twins.

My water broke at 37 wks 2 days. We went to the hospital and paged my midwife. When we got there I was 4 centimetres but not really contracting. The nurse hooked me up to the monitors. Soon the contractions got really strong. The nurse eventually decided to get a labour and delivery room ready. I was in a lot of pain and they wanted to put in an epidural. I still didn't know who was on call.

When I got the the labour room the midwives came. They said the doctor on call always delived twins by c-section so I should be prepared for that. The OB came in and checked me and I was 9 centimetres. She wanted to try a vaginal birth even though she hadn't done one with twins before. I was very happy to hear that. She insisted on the spinal so I had that done, and within a few pushes my son was born. My daughter came 10 minutes later! It was a great birth! Although, as other people have mentioned there were a lot of people in the room. We even had a co-op student lol! But I planned for the worst and ended up with a great birth, even though it was in the hospital.

[annettemarie]

Thanks everyone! I'm still reading and taking it all in...

[DoomaYula]

I thought I had mine written somewhere on here, but I couldn't find it.

7.5ya so the details are a little hazy but --

MZ twins with TTTS; I was induced at 34w due to IUGR for several weeks (as seen in u/s) in baby A. I had a lot of u/s and NST and BPPs during the pregnancy due to TTTS. I was on bedrest from the day I found out I was having twins -- with TTTS, no less -- at 18w til the day I gave birth.

I was induced with cervidil; I never needed any pit. The cervidil put me right into labor and they were born about 8h after it was inserted. Not bad for a 34w primip! I'm so grateful that the labor was fairly short.

I labored in a room on the "high-risk" floor -- basically it just meant I was hooked up with continuous EFM and there was no birth tub or anything cool like that. I had a fantastic doula who helped hold the monitors in place so that I could stand upright -- I stood up for most of the labor. I am very grateful to her. I'm not sure I could have had a vaginal birth in the hospital without her.

I got off the monitors as frequently as possible to pee. I remember that being hooked up to two fetal monitors and one ctx monitor was REALLY annoying. It was hard to keep them in place. Luckily the nurses left me alone for the most part.

I had an epidural (by choice; I wasn't into natural birth back then!) and felt the urge to push when baby A's water broke (spontaneously, fairly soon after the epidural). At that point I was rushed into an OR and could only have one person with me. I chose my mom (I was a single mom of twins, so it was just between my mom and my doula).

There were at least 10 people in the room. OB, MFM, nurses, Neonatal doc, two NICU nurses -- and for all I know there was a freakin' orderly cleaning up in there, or a student, or a person reading time off the clock. I didn't really care, except that they were all YELLING at me, different things coming from different people. That was kind of scary, plus the urge to push was INTENSE. I felt overwhelmed.

Baby A shot out without crowning. He was the donor, only 3lbs 11oz. Baby B's water broke about five minutes later and his foot slid out. At that point, the team really started to yell at me to push. I did, and out he came. He was 5lbs 10oz.

I'd been told that because there was a size discrepancy, and because B was bigger, it might be hours between them, but it was only about 10 minutes, if that. As soon as they were out, I thought, "I can totally do this again!" and I did, twice more, at a birth center and at home. And planning another homebirth with this one.

[RSG]

I posted my story a while back... but here's the short version: At 39 weeks I had a appt. with the midwives in the am, was checked and had some bloody show (yay!) and membranes stripped. Had no symptoms until about 4pm after a walk. Contractions started coming regularly, went to hospital at about 6pm. Was progressing nicely, had good support from my aunt (a professional doula), my mom and DH. At about 9pm, was checked and was about 7cm. Midwife suggested she break my water, but warned me the contractions might get 'more intense'. I choose to have some fentanol(sp?) administered in my pic line - which I had to have due to hospital policy. The placing of the line was bad - but I'm needle phobic and kind of a wienie... we requested the anesthesiologist place it as the nurse messed up twice. The meds provided a nice reprieve and allowed me to labor comfortably for two more hours. At 10cm, I was moved into the operating room. This was hospital policy too, I thought it would be a bummer; but I really didn't care at that point. I got to stay on the same bed, everyone came with me, and the room was nice and cool. The doc on call had talked with us about an epidural - I think she felt like she had to make sure I understood all the possible scenarios; but she was respectful when I told her no way. The midwife delivered baby A with the doc next to her; and then baby B about 20 minutes later. I am told that the doc was manually keeping my cervix open - but I don't have a memory of that. I was really internally focused and in my own labor land. There were a lot of people in the room, but they didn't say anything to me and I was surrounded by my chosen people, so I felt protected. As soon as the babies were wrapped and weighed we were able to hold them and have skin to skin contact. We were never apart after that - even co-slept in the hospital bed. I feel really fortunate that my hospital (a baby-friendly co-op) was able to provide me with what I wanted and that even the 'policies' were things I could deal with.

[kittywitty]

I have not had twins, though a friend did. She ended up with a c-section due to both being breech, though. You said something about preventing a pph ahead of time. The only things I know of are taking Vit K and iron to build up a good blood supply pre-birth. I would say RRL but with an increased chance of premature labor with twins, I don't know if I'd swing that one.

[~bookcase~]

32+3 weeks, baby A oblique breech on arrival (4-5 cms dilated) section recommended, got onto all fours, PRAYED!!!!!!!! swung my hips, baby A started descending before they knew what was happening baby A got taken away from me way too abruptly (i would beware of that next time, have my birth partner on the ball for that bit. tell them to leave the cord, have skin to skin even if i just touched a hand)

everyone then started shouting for me to turn round so they could palpate twin B. i ignored them mercifully twin B then descended and was born within 4 minutes. same with immediate cutting of cord but i did get a quick cuddle with her before they then whipped her off and she didn't need ventilating as her brother did which i swear is down to that initial contact.

we had to wait 40 mins to hear what was happening no one was allowed down i'd address that too next time

but we got a double breech vaginal birth and i was soooooooooo grateful for that as i needed to do a lot of walking the week after to make sure they got their mama milk

that's the quick story!!