any twins born at home? - Page 3

[Elyssia]

thank you, thank youuu verrry much (my best elvis-in-print)

thanks for your responses
i do love talking about it

[YoursMine&Ours]

Originally posted by hotmamacita
I didn't see that your twins were transverse. It was in small print above your post.

How was THAT? Where you extremely uncomfortable the last trimester? I am amazed that you went to 37 weeks with two sideways babies... I can't imagine your belly shape.

Did you do a belly casting, by any chance?

I understand your decision for a hosptial birth. Transverse was one of the positions that we all agreed would require a C-birth.

1 plus 2 is right....2 babies on the second day of the second month in the year 2002. THAT IS COOL!

So what time were they born?

Sorry it took so long to respond. I haven't had much computer time lately.

To answer your questions, they were transverse and wouldn't turn for anything. I'm only 5' 2", so it was extremely uncomfortable the last few months. Kaleb's head was under the right side of my ribs, Alex's head was on the opposite side just above my left hip. They were facing each other at every ultrasound and formed a head-toe, head-toe circle in my abdomen.

I was on bedrest for the last three months (Well, as much bedrest as you can get with 5 other children!..lol)

At birth, Kaleb weighed 7lbs 2 oz and Alex weighed 5lbs 6 ounces.
And, yes, we hit the "Twos" on the time of birth, too. Alex was born at 2:05 pm and Kaleb was born at 2:07pm. LOL EVERYTHING came in "twos" that day!

I didn't do a belly casting, though, and I was very upset about it, too (and still am! ) I did take TONS of pictures, though, and will never forget the experience. Like I said before, I'm 62 inches tall and my belly measured 58 inches around at the biggest point. When the babies were moving and stretching inside, I measured 63".

I went into early labor at 34 weeks and was hospitalized for the weekend given breathine, surfactant, etc. Then sent home on the breathine. I started laboring again on my other son's birthday 1/31, the contractions became regular by 01-01 then the C-section was done 02-02-02.

It was an amazing experience, even though it was a C-section. I would have preferred to have them at home with a good midwife, but with them being transverse, it was just not an option.

I hope I answered everything..lol

What amazing stories you all have! You Mamas are such an inspiration!

Blessings,

Angela

[Mindyleigh]

We too.

I'm so EXCITED to find this thread! It hasn't happened yet that I've met any twin moms who birthed at home.

After 40 weeks of gestating (equating to an 80-ish pound pregnancy weight gain!), the twins began their journey out of the womb at 7:30 Sunday morning. The labor progressed quickly, with strong contractions right from the beginning. I walked through our home during this time, groaning and leaning over our birth ball during the contractions. My hubby Alex filled up our birth tub and also tended to Wolfgang, feeding him breakfast and taking care of all the things that happen in a household in the morning. I also called Brenda, our midwife, and Kari, our close friend who we had asked to be at our birth to help out with an extra pair of loving arms.

After an hour and a half of contractions, I headed to the bathroom and knew that one of our babies was descending into the birth canal. Our midwife hadn't arrived yet, which came as no surprise---she was driving in from 3 hours away and the labor was progressing faster than a drive that far possibly can. We felt very calm about that, however, since we had faith in the process of birth to occur normally if left untouched and had planned a UC until meeting her very late in the pregnancy. By 8:55 in the morning, Psalm was born into my arms with his daddy and big brother Wolfie close by. He came out head first and cried just enough to let us know he was okay, but otherwise was very quiet and peaceful as he breathed and adjusted to his new environment.

I clamped Psalm's cord after 15 minutes or so with our only two cord clamps and cut it so that Alex could wrap him up in blankets and take him from me, as I felt our second baby preparing to be born. Kari thankfully arrived between the two births to help with Psalm and to take the pressure off Alex, who was tending to Psalm and Wolfgang and filming the birth all at the same time! I reached in to feel a foot descending, and Zoya was born at 9:22, a footling breech with her feet and legs born first, followed by the rest of her body in less than a minute. Unlike Psalm, she made her presence known with a big show of blood and a lot of robust yelling as I held her and we met her for the first time. We clamped her cord with shoelaces and shortly thereafter birthed the placentas, which had fused into one with two cords emerging from it.

The whole labor lasted 2 1/2 hours. Psalm weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces; Zoya weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces.




I know this is getting long...thanks for reading with me this far. GREAT FOOD IS VITAL!!! We are a vegan family and believe it is so essential to eliminate refined sugars, toxins, and partially hydrogenated oils from the diet, and to focus on high quality proteins and fats during a twin pregnancy. I ate tons of rice, beans, and good fats like avocados and flax oil. I ate a lot of veggies and greens and paid a small fortune for a wonderful food/protein powder whose name I'm trying to remember...grr. What was it??? I will try to get back with that.

Now, re: homebirth v. hospital birth...you need to give birth where you feel safest. I know I probably wouldn't have been able to make any progress in my labor had I been in a hospital. I was so scared of interventions and surgery, and with her being a footling breech, it would have been a big issue.

Birth so much relies upon an environment of safety. We found one midwife who would help us but she seemed fearful of the process and insisted on other midwives to be with her, as well as a student assistant...that just wasn't what we felt comfortable with. Too many hands in the pot, so to speak. The midwife we asked to be there was extremely trusting in the process and did not even believe in turning breeches, which I felt aligned with. She was right for us. It is such a personal process of finding the right people to support you.

By far, the most empowering part of the process was doing it myself (with God ) I loved reaching into my vagina and feeling Zoya's foot descending. It took a moment to figure out what it was. And then to catch each of my babies...wow. I'm so thankful we did it the way we did.

[mum2lillie]

I love your story and it's very inspiring. I'm 35 1/2 weeks now so it won't be long for me. I was also planning to UC, but felt more comfortable with extra hands once we figured out we were having twins! I have a wonderful midwife who very much respects my wishes to be hands off and also has no problem with breech. Right now, I'm having a hard time getting through the day and night with all of the discomfort so it's great to hear these inspiring birth stories to help me make it through this tough transition before birth. Thank you for sharing and I can't wait to post my birth story here in a few weeks!

[Elyssia]

thanks for the story mindyleigh!!! so awesome
i remember seeing you before on storknet
(unless there is somebody else with a wolfie)
great job w/ your diet!
i'm a wannabe vegan
and during my pregnancy i was really worried about
getting enough protein w/o eating a bunch of meat
and feeling icky about it
--i ended up doing fine w/ the pregnancy
but did eat more meat and eggs and stuff
than i really wanted to

mum2lillie
hang in there momma
it will be done before you know it
at 35 weeks your babies are doing great
and even if they are born tomorrow
they will be healthy and big enough
just keep them in another week
and they'll officially be full term
soon after they're born
all the water will start leaving your body
you'll be able to breathe again
and be totally occupied w/ figuring out how to nurse them both
it is unbelievable to me
that my babes are going to be 1 shortly

[mum2lillie]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[hotmamacita]

mindyleigh-- OH, boy do I LOVE your story.

I have great memories of my son's foot popping out.

His sister, older by an hour and a half, 'crowned' and it was THEN that we realized that that was NO head but a bottom. As soon as we realized it...out came a golden stream in between contractions. She was peeing while waiting for the next contraction.


I hope our paths cross one day!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mum2lillie---oh, i feel for you. I remember being miserable form that point on. Is there anything you need or want? Will you PM me and I would love to send you a care package.

Peace,
April

[Mindyleigh]

Thank you, sisters.

It's very empowering to spend time with women like you on the web. I hope our paths cross as well.

To pregnant mamas, yes, it is so vital to fill your mind with positive and empowering birth stories, rather than the scare-stories so easy to find. That was my biggest difficulty but greatest reward of the pregnancy. In fact, there was so little information in the mainstream on vaginal twin births that I was only able to find what I needed at the unassisted childbirth websites and this other great site called www.birthlove.com. A simple search for "unassisted childbirth" will prove a great resource.

Best wishes!

[hotmamacita]

[mama_at_home]

[4daughters]

Originally Posted by hotmamacita

another friend, like you, almost died after bleeding excessively because her doctor not only pulled the baby out but later intentionally yanked on the cord ripping it from the placenta in an attempt to get the placenta out quickly so that she could go on her way. it was a huge mess. we were afraid that she was going to die, even one of the nurses said that to her husband and her daughter was taken to NICU because of the doctors premature decision and developed breathing problems as a result. the hosptial later admitted wrong doing and apologized.

I had bled excessively during my first birth, because of the doctor in the hospital, he did the same to me as your friend and after pulling the baby then he pulled and had me push my placenta, ahhh. I kept passing out after that and was a very scary experience. It took me a whole year to recover! I wish I knew about MDC back then --I would have been more informed. YOu guys are the best

[earcher]

Thanks Gamelos!