The Birth of my Twins *very long*

This is a bit of an old story as my twins are now 2, but I was not a member of this forum at that time and I thought you guys might be interested :D I apologise that it is so long but I have included some of the planning that I went through in my pregnancy as it is relevant to the birth.

I was 20 weeks pregnant with my third child and had just arrived in Scotland after four years in Australia. Initially I had not wanted any scans during this pregnancy but during my booking appointment I was persuaded to have one as I was having a home birth so this would prevent any surprises.

At 21 weeks when I had my scan the midwife said the words I will never forget “there’s two wee babies in there”. At this point I went through so many different emotions, but I remember saying “bang goes my homebirth” to which the midwife agreed and said I would be consultant led from now on.

Over the weekend I let the news sink in and did as much research as possible on twin births. I phoned a twin club to ask what would happen, and was told I would most likely have a caesarean. If not then there would be a variety of interventions that would likely be recommended such as
• Epidural (just in case)
• CTG
• Paediatricians present at the birth
• Birth in theatre (just in case)
• Cannulation (just in case)
• ARM and synto for second twin

I also read many twin birth stories and discovered that a lot of them were just regular birth stories, with the exception that two babies came out. I decided there and then that I would not be bullied into anything, and that barring medical complication I would treat my labour as a normal low risk labour.

When I met with a midwife the next week she took one look at me and asked if I had spent the weekend thinking how nice a homebirth would be. I actually had decided that due to the distance my home was from the hospital, and considering the higher risk of a twin birth, I would prefer to be in hospital. But I decided not to let this be known so I had something to barter with.

The midwife discussed the possible complications with me, such as transfer time to hospital, etc. I said I would consider her points.

My next appointment was for a full anomally scan with the consultant (as my previous scan had ended early as the midwife did not routinely scan twins). By the end of the scan I asked the doctor if he had time to discuss the birth. I explained that I wanted midwife led care, with no interventions, and a waterbirth. I said I would prefer a homebirth but that I would come into the MLU if he would prefer. He laughed and sad that was blackmail, but agreed, and I therefore was allowed to birth in the unit I wanted.

I had another scan at 36 weeks. At this I presented the consultant with my birth plan and he agreed he was happy with it, so I asked him to sign it (which he did). Shortly after, at almost 37 weeks, I had a meeting with the consultant midwife to discuss my care. The midwife added another page to my birth plan with details such as my agreement to having blood taken in labour, and my refusal for routine cannulation.
The only thing I backed down on at this point was the waterbirth. The midwife said she was concerned about the 2nd twin being born in water and could I get out for the 2nd birth. My instinct was that after delivering one baby I would not want to move, and that if the midwives were nervous then I would be affected, so I decided to agree to use the pool only for labour.

At this appointment my belly was palpated and it was discovered twin 2 was breech. I was offered a scan to confirm but saw no point in this as I knew twin 2 could easily turn during labour.

On Sunday 20th 2008 at about 3pm I started to feel very tired so took myself off to bed. When I woke about 2 hours later I had a really weird sensation and a rock hard belly that seemed to last about 5 minutes. I remarked to my husband that I thought maybe twin 2 was turning from breech to cephalic. We then sat down to dinner but I felt a little strange and couldn’t really eat.

By bedtime I was still feeling quite unusual and starting to have some mild contractions but this was not the first time I went to bed contracting so I just tried to sleep figuring if it was labour I would be thankful of the rest. At 2am I was woken by three contractions 11 minutes apart. The babies felt funny, like they were acting in a new way. I decided to get out of bed and had just stood up when my waters broke all over the floor. I woke my husband and we called the hospital who asked us to come straight in. I was exactly 38 weeks pregnant at this point.

We arrived at the hospital at about 4am. I had agreed to having bloods taken upon admittance so this was done. A palpation confirmed that twin 2 was now cephalic (clever baby!) A VE showed I was 3cm dilated and I moved to a birth suite.
Contractions started coming thick and fast at this point. They would stop if I sat down but as long as I remained upright I was getting heaps of really great ones that felt like they were really getting me somewhere. I had my HypnoBirthing CD on and I really felt in control, but unlike my previous labours I also felt alert between contractions and was chatting away.

At about 8am I had a massive contraction which I couldn’t breath through. I felt like I was hyperventilating and I burst into tears. I started feeling the urge to push so everyone got very excited and delivery kits were unwrapped, gowns were put on, etc. And then everything stopped. My urge to push went after a wee while and the contractions seemed to slow down to nothing at all. After a while I was given a VE which showed I was only 8cm. This was really disappointing as I had been amazed at how easy this labour was up to this point, but now I was starting to get tired.

The midwives suggested a little help to strengthen the contractions, so one of the midwives on the ward made me up a massage blend with lemon, lavender and black pepper. I had to rub this clockwise on my belly every 15 minutes and combined with standing up again things started moving. However I was really tired by now so requested to get in the pool as I felt I needed more help to relax.

So we moved to the pool room and boy was it the right decision. The water was deep and warm and as long as I stayed on my knees the contractions kept coming thick and strong but I was relaxed again and finding them easier to breath through with minimal pain (none at all for many). As I was not going to give birth in the pool the massage blend was applied to my shoulders at intervals and again this really helped keep me relaxed. I actually managed to get some sleep in the pool but by this point was really exhausted. I said to one of the midwives that I could understand why some women would opt for a caesarean (half joking – I was REALLY tired) but then the consultant midwife came in and told me off for swearing! This actually kept me focused as I could remind myself that the exhaustion would end and my babies would be all the better for me having gone through a normal labour.

After a while in the pool I got out to go to the loo and asked for a VE to see if it was worth climbing back in, but another contraction hit and I NEEDED back in the pool so back I went. I couldn’t have been back in for very long when I got an urge to push and had to pant to stop the baby being born in the bath (not safe by now because of the oils in the water). I managed to get out between panting through the contractions and got onto the mat on the floor, leaning on the bean bag on all fours. Everything seemed to stop again and I asked for a VE, preparing myself that all the hard work had still not fully dilated me, ready to be disappointed. But before anything could happen the urge to push came back and I could not have fought it if I wanted to. One more contraction like that and twin 1 was crowning. I thought I was going to vomit / poo / give birth all in one breath and out came baby really fast. I picked up my baby and turned over to take a look at him, then got the shock of my life when I realised I have just given birth to a girl! (Although I had not known the sex before birth I had just assumed I would have two boys). So now I had Scarlett and she was just wonderful.

I now sat with my back to the bean bag holding my beautiful baby. The cord stopped pulsating and was clamped and cut. My belly was felt and twin 2 was confirmed to be lying longitude. However afterwards my husband said that that there had been some worried glances at this point and the word “transverse” had been mentioned so I think my 2nd twin may have been enjoying all the space and doing somersaults in my belly!
Anyway a VE found a head so we were on for another cephalic birth. Then the contractions for twin 2 started up and I handed Scarlett to OH for some skin to skin so I didn’t scare her with my pushy noises. The contractions came with real strength and I was making a lot of noise. Then my waters for twin 2 broke. Unfortunately one of the midwives was standing between my feet and got hit with the full force (Ian said the waters shot out about 7 feet!)

Immediately I was given a very painful VE to check for a cord prolapsed. I remember begging the midwife to stop because I did not see the urgency having not been aware of the baby’s earlier somersaults. Thankfully though there was no prolapsed and my 2nd 2nd stage continued.

I felt like it had only gone on for a few minutes when the urge to push came on really strong. Twin 2 crowned and then the contraction stopped. I have to say this was the most unpleasant sensation as I was sore from Scarlett’s birth and here was another baby trying to get their head through! I remember repeating “no no no” loudly and being reassured that it was not going to feel nice but that it would soon be over. I think I was just afraid if I relaxed the head would slip back in and I would have to do this part again!
Thankfully another contraction came quickly and out slithered my 2nd baby of the day! I picked up the baby and found I had a son, gorgeous little Drew. I was gobsmacked when the midwives told me he had been born almost 50 minutes after Scarlett, as it really had felt only like 15 minutes. Both babies had apager scores of 9/9. Scarlett weighed 6lb2oz and Drew was 6lb12oz. It was 13.38 by the time Drew was born so I think my exhaustion from 8am onwards was pretty much justified.

My clever babies had fused their placentas together so I only had to deliver one more thing which took a short while as I was having a physiological third stage. Then it was all over and we were left to bond with our new babes.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful birth story.

Regards,
Dianne

congrats on such a beautiful birth of your bubbas

WOW!! Thankyou so much for sharing such a beautiful birth story, you had me in tears, and made me giggle when you realised you had a girl, I could picture a real look of shock :)

Congrats on birthing naturally and being in control of your delivery, and doing it your way.

:hug:
xxoo

Thankyou for sharing your wonderful birth story! It sounds like you had some amazing care providers there!

If I ever had twins I would want a birth story just like that! Very inspiring!!

Congratulations and thankyou for sharing such a beautiful story!

Wow, what a breath-taking story! I loved reading it, you did such a fantastic job! Thanks so much for sharing your story :D

What a fantastic story! AN absolute inspiration for women expecting more than one baby :)
I have a friend whose daughter vaginally birthed twins last week and now I extra appreciate the efforts that must have been made by her and her doula to achieve this outcome. I am just so inspired by this.
Clever babies, clever mummy!

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story

What a great story thanks for sharing, well done for sticking to your guns and getting the birth you wanted...

Wow!!! Awesome story and amazing birth!

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed reading that :)

Congratulations. Beautiful story. :D

oh wow! what a great birth story! and good on you for finding the voice to get what you wanted from the birth experience!

:clap::clap: what an amazing story :clap::clap: congratulations :dance: thanks for sharing

So inspirational, well done for having the birth you wanted :D

A belated Congratulations :D

wow that was a beautiful story
congrats

Well done and thanks for sharing your birth story!

I have a gf who birthed her twin girls vaginally as well, but without being able to go completely natural the way you did (agreed to an epidural and cannula). It's great that these stories are out there, it hopefully inspires more mothers to give it a go.

Thanks for the lovely comments everyone :) I am so glad you were not all just bored silly by my novel of a birth story:lol: