Planning an UC for my twins

[a-o-t-e]

Hi everyone Am fairly new to the forums (usually lurk tbh) and was doing a google search for UC twin births that were PLANNED and got sent here So thought I'd share where I am at.

I have 2 kids C and T. C (dd) was a homebirth transfer (prolonged painful self induced labour in the U.K in their hospy homebirth programme) and a vaginal birth in hospital. T (ds) was a planned unnasisted waterbirth and lotus birth in Australia.

I am now 31w pregnant with twins. I have had no scans this pregnancy, and indeed no external antenatal care. With C I had 3 scans and all the routine care except weighing With T I had one scan (which I still regret, but did it to keep my partner happy) and just bp, hb and fundal height checks. I had all my care through a GP because the hospital I booked at were awful!

We just had a wonderful doula at ds's birth, and I regret not organising some kind of back up that I could trust because I tore with him (not too bad) but then developed an infected bartholins gland, so went into the hospital when ds was 24hrs old. I was met there with the usual crapola, had to have ds fully checked and weighed and they all freaked out. I didnt tell them I had planned to freebirth, just that he came out fast, and all was well so we stayed home (he was also 16 days over my due date, and I had self induced again). They lanced the gland and stitched me up and sent me home, but I feel so sad breaking my baby moon.

Anyway, this time round I have learnt from past mistakes and regrets and have decided to really think it all through and choose wisely . We have moved house and now live 2.5hrs from the doula we had with ds, but she has said she will try and get here anyway. I havent been to see a doctor or midwife at all and appart from some heavy processing at 12 and 20w (- when they scan you in Australia) have felt comfortable with my choice. My mum got me some urine dip sticks from work so i can test my wee, I have been doing my own palpating, and we bought a dopler from ebay so my partner and the kids can hear the heart beats. I have also got an independent midwife involved to do an hb check on me at 34w, and come in the first 24hrs should I need suturing and also to do the newborn screening test on the babies. She knows it is twins, and is happy to support me as I wish which is great!

So now I am just at the getting ready stage. Have contacted a herbalist i know to make me up some styptic herbs following the birth, and also a TCM practicioner to make me up some postnatal herbs. I am feeling well and growing bigger every day it seems. We borrowed and watched a dvd on Twin water/home/lotus birth (the malcom Twins) which has helped clarify some things and also given us other questions!

Anyway, hope to learn lots from those of you who have birthed 2 babies unassisted, and to eventually share my tale!

[southernmommie]

I haven't but there are a couple of moms here who have. I hope they chime in today for you. Good luck!!! I can't wait to hear your birth story when those babies decide to come!

[MamaRabbit]

I UC'd twins 3 years ago. Definitely a life-changing and challenging time!

How do you know it's twins? I suspected mine at 12 weeks and did do a scan. I did most of my own prenatal care with a couple OB appointments mixed in in case I needed to transfer.

Also, you regret scans, but are you aware that a doppler is more powerful than a scan? You might want to get a fetoscope instead.

[mama naturale]

Very interesting in this. How did you know it was twins? Do you feel the pregnancy is more challenging than with a singleton?

[homebirthing]

Personally, as a mom who homebirthed twins, I would want to make sure that they were each in their own seperate sacs before birthing at home. That would be something I would do absolute.

[a-o-t-e]

Thanks for the 'welcomes' all. mamarabbit, I have known intuitively that there was 2 from not long after conception, then came the awful nausea and tiredness and the well early movements and the measuring ahead, alot ahead. Now at 32w not only have we heard 2 seperate heart beats, but also i can palpate 2 seperate babies I do have a fetoscope but my dw cant use it, has tried many times, and neither can my 2 kids. I've read much on scans and doplers, and have come to the conclusion that an occasional listen for less than a minute each baby is way less invasive/harmful than a good old 20min scan. Also my choice to not scan is because I wouldnt do anything with the results, regardless, so see it as a pretty pointless test.

mama naturale, yep, it is more challenging than a pregnancy with one. All the usual symptoms for me are magnified. I am EXHAUSTED now and need to just sit and rest alot more than with the others 2 singletons. I am also alot bigger, which slows stuff down.

Thanks for your oppinion homebirthing. Like anyone who has chosen to birth UC I have done my research. Apparently monoamniotic twins occurs in 1-2% of IDENTICAL twin pregnancies, and their survival rate to term is 50-60%. My chance of concieveing identical twins in one sac only is extremely small (no twins in the family, history of PCOS so more likely to be 2 eggs rather than one that split), and IMHO not worth the risks and damage to my unborn babies of scanning to be told what I already feel to be the case. Also in Australia, you cant just get a scan (not sure about the USA), and our homebirth scene here at the moment is pretty sad, they are taking away midwives rights so fast. If I did have a scan, it would mean entering into the 'system'. I have no desire to do that, nor to put my babies in that system. Finally, am pretty sure each has their own placentas as they are usually positioned facing their placentas, and those positions make me feel pretty confident that they are not identical, and therefore have their own sacs.

Each to their own huh, and each will have a different cut off point for risks and scenarios they are willing to accept

[Jacksonmom]

[mama naturale]

Thankyou so much, that is all very true (about Australia ) and helpful.
I have been getting some pressure to get a scan jic its mo/mo twins but I also figured it would be rare. I am very concerned that one scan would lead to a monthly scan then a cs as twins are seen as risky no matter what type you are carrying by obstreticians and others(who are often not aware of the differences) .

[Chula13]

nm

[dayiscoming2006]

How exciting! That's all I got for you. I've never had twins so can't offer any other advice.

[Almi]

I'm so happy! Wanna be my pregnant buddy? D:

I'm currently 28 weeks with identical twins (each have their own sacs, but one placenta), and planning a UC. I've been getting regular prenatal care with an OB/GYN, and so far there are zero complications. At my 20 week scan, they referred me to the perinatologists, and they then proceeded to try and scare me into believing that I needed a scan every two weeks! I was just like, no way, and never scheduled another appointment with them. My OB asked if I did or not, and I said I didn't feel it was necessary, and he didn't care. Lol.

My biggest concern is having CPS called on us...I'm also scared that I'll go into labor or have my water break while I'm at an appointment or something. Other than that, I'm so excited - my first birth ever!

[Chula13]

Originally Posted by Almi

I'm so happy! Wanna be my pregnant buddy? D:

I'm currently 28 weeks with identical twins (each have their own sacs, but one placenta), and planning a UC. I've been getting regular prenatal care with an OB/GYN, and so far there are zero complications. At my 20 week scan, they referred me to the perinatologists, and they then proceeded to try and scare me into believing that I needed a scan every two weeks! I was just like, no way, and never scheduled another appointment with them. My OB asked if I did or not, and I said I didn't feel it was necessary, and he didn't care. Lol.

My biggest concern is having CPS called on us...I'm also scared that I'll go into labor or have my water break while I'm at an appointment or something. Other than that, I'm so excited - my first birth ever!

I'm having a homebirth not a uc but we are having identical twins too and I also had to deal with the scare tactics of the perinatologists , so sorry that you had to go through that as well.

[a-o-t-e]

Would love to be your pregnant buddy Almi How exciting that youre 'getting it right' the 1st time round! I love hearing 1st time mums planning a home birth, and so cool that youre going UC too.

Wow Chula13 and Almi, sounds like the US system is even worse than ours ....although I kind of knew that I dont think they send you to perinatologists here, but if twins were diagnosed it would be full on management from that day onward, lots of scans and inductions or c/s if one of the babies was breech (sometimes as early as from 28w) which is rediculous as I am now 33w and one baby spends all of 'her' time flipping between breech and cephalic (I can feel her hiccups either up or down lol). Crazy journey huh!

[Almi]

So nice to have a pregnant buddy finally. Seems like it's hard to find someone else that's having twins on other forums. Interestingly enough, people on other forums also seem to have absolutely nothing to say to me. I feel like a complete alien in those forums where women are slaves to their medical providers. No one even so much as comments when I mention homebirth, let alone birthing unassisted!

Haha, I'm definitely one of those people that has to do things "right" from the get go. Also, I've kind of always known that I would want a homebirth, even before I started TTC and before I began researching it, that's actually what made me research in the first place. :3

We're also a very anti-civ couple, and we both know how corrupt the medical system is. I'm only getting prenatal care because it's free through Medicaid! Otherwise I'd be UP as well.

The reason I was sent to the perinatologists was because the woman who was doing my 20 week scan could not see the membranes between the babies (suggesting they may be monoamniotic), and she said after looking at "Baby B's" heart, she thought she saw a soft marker for Down's Syndrome!

So while we're sitting waiting for the perinatologists, we're freaking out. I had two scans that day, which lasted for at least an hour each. The one from the perinatologists was a lot better though, I must admit, and they confirmed right away that my twins were monochorionic, but NOT monoamniotic, and that they didn't see anything wrong with "Baby B's" heart, and even if they could see anything, it would be nothing since they are identical. It was just all of the things they listed off that, omg, COULD go wrong that was annoying.

All-in-all, I wasn't too overly impressed, but I am glad for ultrasound technology, because it is REALLY nice knowing I'm having twins. I wouldn't have figured it out because I've never been farther along than 7 weeks in a pregnancy, I never would have thought about it, and I'm not huge (people say I don't LOOK like I'm having twins). Also, once we found out we were having twins, we definitely wanted to know if they were identical/mo-mo. Our first fear after we found out we were having twins is that we wouldn't be able to have the birth we wanted.

So far, though, all is well. Babies were both head down at 24 weeks, and based on what I've been able to feel, they don't seem to have changed position much, just rolling back and forth. Also, I'm healthy, and so far they are measuring just as they should...that is one reason I wanted to get prenatal care. I wanted to make sure everything was going fine, especially since I've never experienced an entire pregnancy before. But I think, most importantly, I'm very confident in my body's ability to do what it's supposed to, and in my ability to handle birth. I'm actually very excited for it!

[mama naturale]

Almi - that is great to hear you are planning an UC for your first 2!. I hope I can follow your journey. Have you told your OB about the birth plans?

[a-o-t-e]

Wow Almi, that sounds intense with your scans. Must have been an awful wait to get the 'right' result

I'm on a good Aussie board, and there is one woman in my due group who is also expecting twins, but she is not even homebirthng, but the rest of the women are (although only pregnant with singletons) and some even UC. I just wanted to come somewhere others are UCing twins too....pretty hard to find. Even most of the birth stories of UC twins on the net arent planned UC, but more planned UC for singletons and a second baby pops out! So it is nice to meet another mum planning an UC for her twin birth

My doula is comming on Saturday to see our new house (we moved since she was our doula for my last birth) and check out the long drive, we live 2.5hrs away from her now as opposed to 10mins!

[MamaRabbit]

I hear you on the planned twin UC. There were 3 of planning UC with twins due around the same time, and my pregnancy was the only one that worked out birthing that way. There are accidental twin UCs but very few planned.

[Almi]

Mama naturale - Haha, hell no! My OB is [what looks like] a sixty year old man that would just try and talk me out of it, or worse, call CPS on me. I can tell you right now that NO hospital or anyone in any of the hospitals near me would support me. We're planning on saying that it was an accidental homebirth. Lol. Only my friends and family know we're planning to birth unassisted. (Actually, technically, my mother, who has given birth to three singletons and one set of twins naturally/vaginally, will be "assisting" us. )


I'm not surprised that not many people who are having twins have planned UC. Many women are afraid that their bodies (and babies) don't know what to do, and there are, after all, slightly higher risks with giving birth to twins. But most twin births go just fine.

[mama naturale]

So inspiring to hear.

I have had a few people say I need to get a scan and a dr to look me over. Yanno just in case...

[Almi]

If you feel like you need a scan and a look-over, go for it. But if you know that everything is going fine, are confident, and feel it's not necessary, don't let anyone pressure you into it.

I personally like the prenatal care and having a few scans to make sure everything is going okay, since I'm a pregnancy noob (and since, like I said, there are a few more risks with multiple gestation).

Even if you do end up with a "problem," it is still up to you to decide whether or not you want to birth unnassisted/at home or not. For instance, two breech babies (or even one) in a hospital would be instant c-section. At home? They'd probably come out with no problems.