Feeling sad after ultrasound:( Baby B breech

[JanineRivera]

So, I just had an ultrasound for anatomy measuring and was told that by the technician that she couldn't share with me the results because she wasn't a doctor.  It just felt so unfriendly and sterile.  I am sad because this is a reminder of what is to come by birthing in a hospital.  I had my daughter at a birth center and things were very different there!!  I am just so sad and scared about this upcoming hospital experience.  And on top of that Baby B is breech ... that is an automatic c-section:(  I truly hope she moves before the big day.  Anyone else with one baby breech?  What does your Dr. say?  Is there still time for her to move head down?  Thanks for listening.

[Ellie'sMom]

Hugs mama! My baby B was flipping up and down at least through 34 or 35 weeks. My boys were both BIG, so I have no idea how he managed it. Did they really say it is an automatic section for breech baby B? Many OBs will ok a vaginal birth as long as baby A is vertex, since B will often flip in labor or after the first baby is born. If necessary they can manually turn B after A is out. I had a homebirth, but my backup OB and his practice partners (who were pretty conservative high risk OBs) did not do an automatic section unless baby A was breech.

Mine were both vertex in the end, but I remember the stress of worry about baby position. Good luck!!

[Amanda Leigh]

My boys were vertex/breech. My doc (third provider throughout the pregnancy) was ok with a vaginal birth as long as A was vertex, however she really pushed for an epidural. Her reasoning was so that she could do a version for B after A was born, and if "something went wrong" we could easily go for a section. She also agreed to a breech extraction of B if the version didn't work and I was past 36 weeks (but I didn't make it that far)  In my looking for providers and reading from other MoT I have found that many of the older OBs are more comfortable with doing a version after the first twin is born or doing a breech extraction of the second twin.

Through a series of unrelated (to B being breech) unfortunate circumstances I had a section anyways, but we tried everything we could for a vaginal birth first.

I would advise you to remember a few things: (1) You have hired that doctor. If she/he is not giving you the support and options you want, you can find a different provider. Yes, it sucks to change in the middle/end of pregnancy, but your birth experience is important not just to those two girls but to you too. (2) My experience taught me that the birth is not everything. During the birth of my twin boys we ended up with almost every intervention we didn't want (pitocin, epidural, c-section), but at each point I had to weigh options and I was given the opportunity to make my own decisions. I'm sitting here now with my four week old twin boys and remembering their birthday and I'm really happy that we have two healthy boys.

I knew going into their birth (at 34 weeks) that I would not get the birth experience I had wanted, but I prepared by focusing on them. I threw everything I had into preparing to breastfeed (or feed them breastmilk through tubes, as it turned out), but that gave me a focal point of how I could do the best for them.

I wish you good luck with your pregnancy and birth and I hope that you can convince your provider to do the job you hired him/her for or you can find one who will.

[Molliejo]

:hug

There is still time. My Baby B was vertex and then turned breech around 34 weeks. She was that way until 38 weeks, when she flipped back to vertex and stayed that way. She really did not have a lot of room, either. She was over 7lbs and her sister was over 8lbs. 

Things can still work out. Don't give up hope! 

Good luck with everything. 

[kungfufugirl]

We are due close to the same time!  9/30 is my 40 week dd, but due to some very high risk factors we'll deliver on or before 9/9....hoping to go into labor naturally the week of...

My doc will have me push in the OR as long as BABY A is vertex, and she has had a lot of experience turning Baby B's who are breech.  I have been an OB nurse for 12 years and have noticed that this is more the norm in my area....provided the doc has the skill set....which is DEFINITELY important!  There is just so much that can go wrong between Baby A and B that you really want someone who knows what they are doing: even if both are vertex, Baby B can and often will easily flip to breech or vertex once Baby A is out, b/c then they have that giant uterus all to themselves and will make use of the extra room! 

That said...I like you amd preparing my mind for a c-section if need be.  Fortunately, I have consulted (as an IBCLC) with moms specifically about improving their breastfeeding success following c-section--moms that had so much trouble following their first c-section that gave up breastfeeding and wanted to do better with their second.  The biggest key to that is early skin to skin contact...get some amniotic fluid on you with some quick sts in the OR if possible--even breastfeed if possible (my hospital won't allow this) and if not, get them to your recovery room ASAP and have your family help hold them skin to skin with you, as you probably won't feel up to holding them in position right away.  Most often you will start seeing feeding cues well before 2 hrs.  Don't let them bathe the baby before the first feeding and when they do, don't let them wash their hands.  Most of this applies to vaginal deliveries, too....it is just that with an uncomplicated vaginal delivery they are less likely to interrupt this whole process. 

Also, when I taught Childbirth Classes I always told my moms that it is never too late to switch docs if you fear your doc isn't willing or able to provide for the birth you want.  Perhaps there is another in your area willing to turn your baby B?  Be sure he/she has done it plenty of times before....and take a look at the size of the hands.......

I would love to keep in touch with you since we are on the same schedule...pm me if you are interested.

[kungfufugirl]

PS--I would lean more toward finding a doc experienced in baby B versions before convincing my current doc if he/she was uncomfortable with it...simply because if they lack the skills and knowledge, you could end up with both a vaginal delivery and a c-section (which is still a risk...but can be reduced by choosing an experienced doc) or worse.....much much worse.

I have noticed that a lot of OB's prefer sections because they are simpler and easier given the situation....and because they fear the possible litigation if something goes wrong with a more complicated delivery. 

[JanineRivera]

Thank you so much ladies for the kind words and encouragement.  I was just so excited about seeing my babies today and then was greatly disappointed to find out that I wouldn't learn anything and on top of that finding out Baby B is breech.  I am guessing that I am also just hormonal and feeling overwhelmed by everything.  I am going to talk to my doc next week about his experience with breech deliveries.  The thing is, I did quite a bit of research before choosing a doctor and chose this one because he allows for labor and delivery in a L&D room rather than the OR and he does not require an epidural.  He has many years of experience with delivering twins so I felt safe with him but this whole breech thing is throwing me for a loop.  I am going to be hoping that Baby B turns and that we can move forward with a vaginal birth.  Thanks again for the advice:)

[J's Mombee]

My twins are 3 months old now, but Baby B was breech, and my doctor agreed to work with me for a breech vaginal birth.  The rule was that if Baby A was head down, it was a go.  Baby B turned vertex right before delivery (at 38 weeks 2 days), and my doctor agreed to try and turn him once Baby A was delivered.  I pushed for 9 minutes with Baby A, and Baby B turned around immediately after Baby A was out.  6 more minutes of pushing and the babies are here.

I hope that Baby B spins for you, but if not, would your doctor be open to discussions of allowing a breech vaginal birth?

[Katie063008]

You know, I was really down about the birth for my whole pregnancy.  Both babies were breach untill I was about 5 months pregnant and then baby B flipped vertex.  This did not really help my situation.  See, in the hospital in my city, you have an OB ( and I was also lucky enought to have a midwife team too, but they could only help not actually deliver the babies) but that OB works in a team with I think 5 other OBs.  You get whoever is on call in the hospital at the time to deliver.  I was told that my OB would deliver my babies vaginally  if they were both vertex, but maybe only one other would. THe others delivered twins as a C-section routinely.  And I had no option to switch OB etc.  So I was really down and planning for surgery.  Then Baby A flipped vertex (at about 30 weeks) so I thought I had at least a one in three chance of no surgery.  Then I went into laboour and we went to the hospital right away as instructed.  I was in the observaton bed and things were moving really quickly.  The nurse checked when I first came in and I was 5 cm so she wandered off (they're really busy and I was not in too much of a hurry yet) but then things started moving and when she checked me again I as 9cm. So they quckly wheeled me down to a labour and delivery room.  The OB took a while to come but the midwives told me to prepare for surgery as the OB always did surgery with twins.  Truthfully, I thought whatever, just make the pain stop lol.  But the the OB came in and I was almost ready to push and she said let's go with it.  So I had my vaginaly birth despite constantly fretting over it and trying to talk to no listening OBs about the good outcomes of vaginal births with two vertex babies.  And this was the OB first vaginal twin birth so now there is another OB in my city who will vaginally deliver twins.  Win, win! I vote, don't worry too much about position, flipping, and the birth. It will happen and it will be OK no matter how much you frett and you'll just make yourself stressed with worrying.

[hamilali]

My original OB wasn't comfortable with Baby B being breech and wanted to automatically do a c-section.  I thought, if he's not comfortable delivering a breech baby, I'm not comfortable making him try.

I switched and found an OB who would deliver the 2nd baby breech if need be, but was more interested in trying an external version of Baby B during labor.  Like others have said, they did want me to get an epidural.

While Baby A was being delivered, a couple nurses worked the switch-a-roo and got Baby B head down so he was all prepped for his grand entrance.  It really couldn't have gone any better.  Honestly, I was really happy I had the epidural.  I think it would have been very hard trying to focus on pushing during the external version on Baby B and it really needed to happen all at the same time.

[ShanaV]

My doctor's practice was to do vaginal as long as Baby A was vertex, as many pp's have said. Didn't matter what Baby B was. 

For most of my pg A was vertex and B was breech. In the last couple of weeks they both turned vertex. 

Don't fret, Mama!

[lesliesara63]

nak

all 3 babes were vertex until a few days before. B turned breech. A was vertex,barely pushed for her. B was breech extraction and C turned and was also a breech extraction. The dr who delivered said i was a good candidate b/c of my two previous deliveries and the fact that the babies were small (3.5, 4.2x2) at 32w6d

[Red Pajama]

I had a breech baby B as well. At the time, the doctors recommended a c section.  Due to a multitude of other factors, I agreed to the section.  With my second pregnancy, in a different state, I was giving my history to my new doc. He was actually surprised that they didn't want a vaginal delivery with a breech twin, saying breech twins are an excellent opportunity to practice breech deliveries.