You asked for stories of good hospital birth experiences, so I thought I'd share mine of a couple weeks ago (my girls were born Feb. 17th)--perhaps it can give you some hope, even if it didn't go exactly as I had planned!
Our twins were my second pregnancy, and I had hoped to birth at a birthing center, but couldn't when we found out it was twins (illegal in AZ). The birthing center referred me to a doctor who is more naturally minded and will deliver twins vaginally. She turned out to be wonderful--supportive of my wishes, clear about what might not work, and willing to fight for me against hospital policies (within reason) if need be. My girls were mono-di, but thankfully A turned vertex and stayed that way throughout the third trimester. B was a bit smaller and regularly moved from vertex to transverse to breech and back and forth. In the end, she settled in a transverse/oblique position. My OB was happy to deliver her breech and really didn't make me fear I'd need a c-section based on B's position.
So the birth itself: my OB wanted to induce at 39 weeks because of medical studies that show better outcomes for mono-di twins delivered a little earlier. I wasn't entirely sure about this, but at 38 weeks I was already 4 cm dilated, and by 38+4 I was 5 cm dilated. It seemed like labor would be quick once it started. I agreed to have my membranes stripped at my appointment at 38+4 and then again the next day, hoping that would kick me into labor before the induction date. It didn't. So we scheduled induction for 38+6 (a Sunday, when the hospital would be less crazy and my OB would have more time to just spend with us).
We arrived in the morning and were blessed with a wonderful L&D nurse, who had already read our birth plan (forwarded over with my papers from my OB's office). (My OB had said she'd hand-pick the nurse if possible, but it turned out we were assigned the one she would have picked. :)) I had agreed to a heplock, but wanted to delay placement of the epidural port as long as possible. Both nurse and OB were fine with this, and my OB had even given me hope that I could avoid the epidural port entirely if I dilated fairly quickly to a 10. I could labor in the tub as long as I didn't have the epidural port, and everyone was fine with intermittent monitoring (though I ended up being on the monitors a bit longer than I liked). Overall, our plan was to labor in the L&D room as long as possible and then, as per hospital policy, move to the OR for pushing and delivery.
My OB broke my water after we arrived and got settled at the hospital. My membranes were still pretty thick, apparently, and she didn't break through all of them on the first try. I'd certainly forgo the couple attempts to break the water if I had to do it again! Based on how dilated I was, my OB expected breaking my water would start labor pretty quickly. Well, my cervix was still pretty high, and while my BH contractions picked up a little and got a little crampy, nothing else happened. We spent a pretty boring 4 hours using the tub, labor ball, moving around the room, etc. trying to get labor to start. Then they wanted to start me on pitocin--which I knew was a possibility, but I was hoping to avoid it. My OB and nurse gave us (my husband and my mom were with me) time to discuss, they answered any questions, and really weren't pushy. In the end, we agreed to start pitocin on the lowest dose and not up it unless we were consulted again. That "little bit" of pitocin worked wonders and kicked me into transition within 20-30 minutes. Unfortunately I had to be hooked up to the monitors constantly and, of course, had an IV in, so I couldn't move around as freely or labor in the tub. The nurse did try to accommodate me with some moving around/different positions, but pretty soon I had contractions one on top of the other and felt like I couldn't move.
The OB arrived about 45 min. into the pitocin and they turned it off, seeing that I was in serious labor. She wanted to check me but I kept saying "no," thinking I had hours to go (based on my first labor) and feeling like I couldn't stand a cervical check with the contractions. She told me to tell her when I felt any pressure. I didn't--and then I moved, and suddenly I had to push (about 1.5 hours after the initial start of the pitocin). Baby A crowned so fast that we didn't have time to move to the OR (yay!). My OB was great and stayed cheerful and in control as she orchestrated everything for the quick birth right there in L&D. Our Lydia was born with about three pushes and they put her right on my chest. We had to cut the cord (which was pretty short) before it stopped pulsating, but I did get to try to nurse her a little before my OB broke my water for Baby B. She tried to turn B vertex externally, but it didn't work--little B stuck her foot out. So the OB delivered her breech, feet first, reaching in to pull out legs and arms and pull her chin down. I didn't get the hard pushing contractions with B, so pushing was harder, but B (Abby) was born nine minutes after A (Lydia) and it really wasn't terrible. I never lost confidence in my OB's expertise in delivering breech--it just seemed normal for B to come that way, since we had talked much about this possibility beforehand. Baby B (Abby) was a little limper when she came out, but she pinked up and cried pretty quickly, and they placed her on my chest, too.
The nurse turned the pitocin back on to help me deliver the placenta and help the uterus contract down--those after-birth contractions weren't so fun. I tore a little and needed a couple stitches, but I've healed up much more quickly than after my first (singleton) birth. We got to stay in L&D for several hours (with my son it seemed like they rushed us out of there and into a tiny recovery room as soon as they could--different hospital, though). Because my "real" labor was only about 1.5-2 hours long, and the pushing was so short, I felt pretty good overall. I wanted to take a shower a couple hours later, but the new nurse didn't want to let me. :) Both girls latched well right away and started nursing, and we really haven't had trouble with nursing since (they're two weeks old now).
Whew--sorry that got so long! In summary, I think these are the really important things that made the birth go so well overall, despite the fact that it deviated a bit from my ideal:
-God was in control the whole time!
-I trusted my OB and she supported my wishes (after the birth she said, "You got what you wanted--you didn't have to go to the OR!" I think she was secretly pretty happy we didn't make it there, too:))
-My OB was competent and handled the hospital staff well
-Our L&D nurse was calm, kind, informed of our wishes, and just great overall--I think the nurse you get makes a big difference in the experience. (I'm so glad our OB was willing to pick a nurse for us, if need be.)
-We had a clear birth plan, and I had two advocates for me (my mom and my husband) who were great at supporting me in labor, too
-We were willing to deal with needed changes to our birth plan as long as we could talk them through, ask questions, etc.
Anyway, all that is to say, I got the unmedicated, vaginal delivery I wanted--with a couple interventions I didn't exactly want--but overall, my hospital birth experience with twins was a good one.
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