vaginal births

if you had a vaginal birth, can you share your experience? TIA

Re: vaginal births

Although my twins were head down from 17 weeks and didnt turn the whole time, I had to have a c-section due to pre-e.

BUT i know that lesliemike had a vaginal delivery with her twins.

Good luck!!!

vaginal births

i had vaginal at 36 weeks 3 days.

they were head down from 22 weeks on- and stayed that way.

i took a 24 hour unine test at 35+5 because i was very swollen and it turns out that i had proteins in my urine.

The day the results came back, my doc called me after i left work (i was shopping at homegoods) and told me to go to the hospital for further testing.

They decided to keep me over night for blood pressure readings. The next morning they determined that they wanted to induce me.

i took a shower and blew out my hair, did my makeup and and put on my pink push gown that i bought (lol.)

they induced me with pitocin around 10 am and the contractions started. they were not that bad imho. i have experienced way worse with my period.

once they got a little more intense in the afternoon, i asked for the epidural and that was wonderful. around 5 pm they broke my water then i kept getting checked for dialation.

by 930 pm i was 10cm.

at 940 i did 3 practice pushes in the hospital room with the nurse and she said she saw Teddys head so it was time.

They wheeled me into the OR, mike got into his scrubs, and in 2 pushes Teddy was out @ 952 pm. 4 lb 11 oz. They were worried Reagan would flip with all the new space so the nurse held her in place in my belly. I pushed a few times and she didnt want to come out so the DR took a 10 minute break to discuss next steps and i heard the word "vacuum." My big fear was the double whammy- vaginal for baby a and c/s for baby b so I felt a big contraction come on and i said i wanted to push....i was determined not to get the double whammy!

I pushed with all my might, miss reagan came out at 1024 5 lb 4 oz.

No pain AT ALL during delivery. It was wonderful. And I felt them come ojut- but it didnt hurt. It was just a feeling of relief.

Afterwards I was very tired and famished and they put the babies in the nicu for observation.

Then something bad happened. Around 1 am, the nurse said that the epi should have worn off and asked me to empty my bladder. She walked me to the bathroom and i sat on the toilet. She walked out and the door closed.

While sitting on the toilet i passed out. I woke up on the bathroom floor with people around me and smelling salts. It was so scary. I was so tired and out of it by then that i didnt even have the desire to go to the nicu to hold my babies again.

The next day i was ok, just in some pain down there, and couldnt wait to see my babies again.. They gave me ice pack pads in my underwear, and those helped. I was also on percoset and motrin.

I went home the following day. I was exhausted and in pain but it was bearable. The babies could have come home too, but i asked that they stay one more night in the nicu. So i went back the next day and picked them up and brought them home with us 4/22 (our 6 year anniverssary.)

By 4-5 days later I was feeling good. Two weeks later i was feeling awesome. By 7 weeks the bleeding stopped and i was back to normal.

If your babies are head down and you can do vaginal- do it.

Re: vaginal births

both babies were head down drom 20 weeks on.
At 27 weeks I was put on bed rest. I was being monitored every 2 weeks. At 29w6d I had a positive ffn and my cervix shortened more. I had also been contracting and didnt know it. They sent me to the hospital for monitoring and steriod shots.
at 30w 5d baby A's water broke at 7am. We went to the hospital (southside) where they decided to transfer me to northshore. (still not feeling the contractions). They gave me Mag to slow things down. After a few hours at northshore it was evident that we were having these babies that day and they took me off the mag. Thigs really picked up and became more intense. They asked to to hold off as long as I could for pain management. well, I missed the opportunity for an epi. A wonderful team helped/coached me through delivery. Baby A arrived after 20 min of pushing. The dr pounced on me to keep baby b in position. They broke baby B's water and 4 min later, baby B was out.

baby A3lb 7.5 oz
baby B2lb 8oz
they each spent over 5 weeks in the nicu gaining weight

Re: vaginal births

My Dr said he would deliver if one or both heads were head down. They were both head down until week 26. I was worried about a breach delivery but at 32 weeks, Baby B turned back around and went head down again, even began to nudge her way past Baby A to get into first position!

At exactly 35 weeks my water broke. No contractions. Went to hospital and they induced me at about 11:00am. The contractions began and at some point I had the epidural. At 2:00pm I was only 3cm. It took until after 11:00pm to get to 10cm. They wheeled me in around 1:00 am and Baby A was delivered at 4:03am. I began to push for the next baby, but was getting nowhere. Baby B's sack was still intact. They did not want to break my water from Baby B because she moved back up the birth canal and didn't want the umbilical chord to drop down and block the opening. I think I was lucky this was right around the time of a shift change at the hospital believe it or not. They sent me back to the L & D room to deliver Baby B as a single birth. Unfortunately, I closed back up to 6cm and they had to re-induce me. I delivered Baby B at 2:39 pm that afternoon. She came out sunny side up which put her through some trauma and she didn't cry right away. Thinking back, I suppose they could have jumped the gun and delivered B by C-Section, but they let me deliver her so I didn't have to endure both vaginal and C-Section. But they were born 10 hours apart. Baby A 4lbs 14 oz & Baby B 5 lbs 2oz.

12 days in NICU for A and 16 days for B.

Re: vaginal births

I delivered my girls at 37 weeks 2 days.
The girls were head down at 30 weeks and never moved. My water broke at home on Thursday night, my mom drove me to LIJ where my husband met me. I wasnt dialated at all nor was I complaing of any pain/discomfort. Friday morning I got the epi at 9am- when I was 3cm. Around 11/noon I really started with contractions- again nothing too unbearbale. Around 1ish, I was full dialated and ready to push- started pushing in my room, however I was then transfered tothe OR, just in case something might go wrong or if I needed CS. AT 2:10pm on Friday I delivered Grace weighing 6lbs 80z, 20"in long. At 3:39 I deliverd Lauren weighing 5lbs 1oz, 18 "long. At no time was I or my girls in distress or any other complications. I went home on Sunday- 2 days later.

The only thing- I wasn't really prepared for the HUGE gap of time inbetween the delivery times. Baby B just didnt want to come out and was advised by my Dr not too stress and just concentrate and keep trying. The Dr I had was GREAT! It wasnt my regular Dr, it was another one I never met before that shares the practice. ALso, I have to say the nurses at LIJ were amazing!

I was encouraged to deliver them vaginally- there was no reason not to try.

Overall, not a bad experience. I would give it a shot!

Message edited 7/23/2012 9:50:48 PM.

Re: vaginal births

I love reading your stories ladies! Thanks for sharing.

Re: vaginal births

I delivered my first dc vaginally, & desperately wanted to do so again with the twins. First, baby B's head was up. She finally turned at 33 weeks. Then they thought my placenta was too low. A perinatologist said it was fine at 36 weeks. I was induced at 39 weeks 3 days. They broke my water & started pitocin at about 10:30 am. I got the epidural at 1. I awoke at 2:30 with tremendous pressure. Realized I had to push, but my dr wasn't there yet! He didn't arrive until 3:30. Was immediately wheeled into OR. Baby A was born at 3:44! BUT Baby B turned & they did an emergency C to deliver her. Ugh.

Double whammy!

Best of luck to you!!!

Re: vaginal births

Re: vaginal births

vaginal births

Delivered my DD vaginally and wanted to do so with my twins. Baby A's head was down and stayed that way since 26 weeks. Baby B was always changing positions. My doctor was going to schedule a C section if both heads were not down. Around 36 weeks I was really having a hard time with the weight gain and size of my belly. It was getting hard to walk and get around, but I pushed through it. I had appointments at LIJ and then my doctor on the same day, I was 37 weeks. At the hospital appointment I learned that Baby B was head down, so they were both in position and a vaginal birth was possible. I then went to my doctors office and asked them to check me and I was already 3cm dilated. Right away they called the hospital to see if they're were any rooms available and told me to go in that night. I arrived around 9pm that night and I was 5 cm. They said things were progressing naturally and no need for any meds. They broke my water and I started to feel sharp painful contractions. Eventually I got an epidural around 12am. Checked me again around 3:30am and I was 10cm and 100% effaced. They said when I felt the urge to push we would go into the operating room for delivery. They wheeled me in around 3:40am. I pushed for around 10 mins and baby A was delivered at 4:04am. We then waited for baby B to make his way down - around 15-20 mins, pushed for another 10 minutes and he was out at 4:34am. baby A 6pounds 6 oz and baby B 6pounds 14oz. No NICU necessary, my DH held Baby a while I pushed out baby B. I was wheeled out of the operating room with both babies in each arm on my bed and taken back to the delivery room. My Mom, FIL and cousin were waiting for us and they all got to see and hold the babies before they were taken to the nursery. My pregnancy and delivery had no complications, I am so grateful to have had that.

Re: vaginal births

Re: vaginal births

Message edited 7/26/2012 10:01:28 AM.

Re: vaginal births

Re: vaginal births

vaginal births

I delivered my twins one day shy of 36 weeks. I went in on a Friday to have blood work done because dr was concerned about preeclampsia but it turned out I was having contractions too. I did have something for the pain Friday night which slowed things down but since my platelet count was low, they decided to induce me on the Saturday and I was ready to push within hours. They thought it was better to deliver sooner rather than later which is why they induced. Both babies were head down so I had decided to try to deliver vaginally as long as my dr felt comfortable with it which he did though he warned that a C-section could still be needed.

I did have to push for almost 3 hours with Baby A. He was laying on my spine with how his position was so it was pretty painful. He did need vacuum assistance coming out because of that, but once he was out, Baby B was a breeze to push out...he came out 7 minutes later. I was so relieved once I delivered the both of them! They had to stay in NICu for 2 days for low blood sugar which is pretty common.

Unfortunately afterwards I developed a blood clot at the episiotomy site which was more painful than the actual delivery until they drained it and re-stitched me up. I ended up having to get a blood transfusion too from losing so much blood. So I did have a longer recovery and longer healing time, but in the end, I did recover 100% and everything seems pretty much healed to me. If I had a C-section, I could have still had a blood clot and if I healed slower from blood loss, that could have been bad news with such a big surgical incision. So I don't regret doing it one bit. I think the doctors probably would have found a C-section much easier than what I went through but still don't regret it. I'm glad if I had complications, it only happened once they were safely outside of me.