had scan and oh my goodness...(unearthed from the archives)

[LIN'sNotDIM]

((((Nurseymum)))) I really hope you don't feel pressured into anything you don't want to do. If it helps at all I had an emergency Caesarean Section with Dylan and it was actually not as awful as I expected. I suppose a planned one would probably have been even less of an issue because the shock element would have been taken away. Anyway, they were very good about passing him straight to us (DH held him first and then they lay him next to me while they started stitching me up. They did wrap him in a blanket but I imagine if the Caesarean Section had been planned and I had been a bit more lucid I might have been able to ask for skin-to-skin for DH and me as we'd wanted. I hope you don't end up having to go down that road, but I just wanted you to know that you can still have some of the experience you hoped for.

I am pretty shocked by the attitude of your sonographer.. twins aren't THAT rare, surely? She must have come across them before! It's just one more baby for goodness' sake.. it's not like you're having octuplets!

[Nixxie]

Congratulations!!! I am so jealous I have always wanted twins! My brother has a set, and I've about 3 cousins with sets. They're so amazing. All will be fine, you will cope

[Nixxie]

Oh and NM, regarding natural births - my cousin has 10 children, she's had twins twice and all of her babies have been born naturally in hospital. Hope you can get the birth you want.

[monster]

My plan was to have baby delived straight on too my chest, cord left uncut breastfeed as soon as baby wants etc etc

If for some reason an elective c-section is scheduled, you may still be able to have all of those, assuming you will have the opportunity to discuss your desired birth plans. I have heard of someone here in NZ who had planned a home birth and when circumstances led to an elective c-section, she was able to negotiate a 'lotus c-section' (placenta removed without cutting the cord) - since nothing else was going to plan and there was no emergency, they could still manage that!

[fourweewonders]

thanks everyone

The 'special' midwife is going to love me when i eventully get an appointment with her i've alreddy got a huge list of question and by the time i've finished my birth plan it'll be as thick as war and peace.

I spent most of christmas night with my headin the loo, too much, too rich food for a pregnant lady i think.

The house (my mums not mine haha) is piled high with presents, bins full of packageing, cant imagine what next christmas will look like when we've gone from 2 to 4 kiddies.

[Svea]

The house (my mums not mine haha) is piled high with presents, bins full of packageing, cant imagine what next christmas will look like when we've gone from 2 to 4 kiddies.

next year they wont need any presents yet, the little ones. too small to notice.

generally i think the more kids you have, the fewer toys they need. presents for us (4 girls) used to involve a lot of clothes and books/CDs after a while. and board games. you need board games with a family of 6

[ches]

nurseymum I think healthcare practitioners appreciate educated patients. Rather someone with a load of the right questions than someone looking at you like a deer in the headlights or like you're the Messiah.

[fourweewonders]

your probably right ches, my previous midwife has always spoken to me healthcare professional to healthcare professional, I like it that way!!!!

[MumtoMonsters]

Wow!

Everything's in your favour for the birth you want. Your history (and determination!) will really work in your favour. So long as you can avoid being induced you have every chance of a natural labour and two natural births. Check out how recent the information you're finding is. Round here they now prefer to induce identical twins at 36wk and non-identicals at 38wk. They also try to encourage mums to birth naturally. Unfortunately not to the point of HBs or Birth Centres.

My friend was induced with identicals at 36wk (assisted birth) and mix fed (FF and EBM) for six weeks before exclusively FF. Another friend went into spontaneous labour at 38wk with non-identicals and EBF.

Get in touch with your local Twins and Multiples group, they'll have all the information you need. Also get your MW on board. Take control of your pregnancy - don't let anyone force you into anything without a damn good reason.

Anyway. It's far too soon for all this nonsense. Get on and make the most of being a family of four - before you become a family of six!

[Woodsies]

My aunt had twins, vaginally but in hospital, 20-odd years ago. It was her 3rd pregnancy and she had 2 under 3 already. She said at the time that the hardest thing was having to be on bed rest towards the end (she went full term and delivered two of the biggest babies the hospital had ever seen ) when she had 2 toddlers. Have you got family nearby? I know my aunt was eternally grateful for the support her parents gave her, and her friends.

Also, for the babies' arrivals, her friends and colleagues clubbed together and literally bought a million Pampers - cloth nappies was just one step too far for her, the other two had been in cloth nappies, it was the early 80s after all, but having the boys in them was just too much, so don't feel bad if that's the case for you.

[Biddy]

You can use those eco-disposables! Nature Babycare, cheaper than Pampers! They're compostable material except for the tabs (but unfortunately you can't actually compost them coz of the dangerous stuff in poo). I've had to resort to them as I couldn't cope with washing cloths on top of everything else I have to do (DH has old-fashioned views on "women's work" so I have to do every single thing in the house by myself, barring rare occasions when he's feeling helpful, and I'm NOT a skilled or efficient housewife ) Ahem...ranting a bit there, sorry! Anyway, I'm so happy eco-disposables exist or i'd feel awful.

BTW congratulations!!!!!! lol. Sorry, forgot to say that first. Fantastic news

I HATE HATE HATE the attitude of hospitals towards any slight difference to an ordinary single baby birth. It's oh so incovenient for them. There's no reason at all why you shouldn't have the twins at home with your birth history, it's daft. I've heard of women giving birth vaginally to twins when one or both of them was breech, it's perfectly possible. Our bodies are designed to deal with these things. It's often some outside stress which affect us psychologically and causes us to be physically unable to naturally deliver a breech baby or twins...or indeed a right-way-around single baby! stresses like stupid obstetricians telling us our vaginas will explode if we even attempt it.

Do you think you could afford a private midwife? I know they're expensive but it could be worth the cost, having someone who'll support what you want and encourage you positively, especially if you get your homebirth?

Or even just hiring a doula to be at the hospital birth as extra support and someone to fight your corner if they try to make you have a cesarean?

When I was pregnant last time I was reading books by Ina May Gaskin, an experienced natural birth midwife in the US. Good if you want some inspiration and positivity about birthing any kind of baby naturally. She's got a few books but I think but if you read 'Ina May's Guide to Childbirth' it covers most of the stuff in the old books. I just found it really inspiring to read about women achieving "impossible" births, such as natural delivery of twins and breech babies, without drugs and without episiotomies.

[Pecarino]

WOW nurseymum, that is just soooooo exciting!! A friend IRL had the same thing - had twins when she had two already. I've seen her a few times and she seems very in control. I guess once you've had two kids then you can take anything thrown at you

And what Biddy said re reading Ina May. It's a shame that your hospital doesn't sound v positive re natural birth for a twin pregnancy. Hope you get a nice MW who answers all your questions properly and doesn't try to fob you off. Worth having a read of Maternity MAtters to gen up on your 'rights'.

GL xxx

[fourweewonders]

I really should stear clear of the bounty twins forums shouldnt i. They've got me convinced that my best hope is a 'natural' birth is induced, monitored in a theater on an epidural 'just in case i need interventions'. Thats just sounds like begging for failure, laid on you back numbbed from the waist down, strapped to a theater table with wire in every avaiable hole, you'd struggel to pass a marble in that position let alone two babys. I feel i'll get more sane advice on the tamba forums but it takes 48 hours (and much longer over christmas it seems) to process your application.

Haha also got advised on the that i was lucky that b will be nearly 5 and big enough to feed e (then 21 months) for me when twins arrive. Even b who was purree weaned was feeding himself by that age. Some people!!!! Though the person who advised me that started her post with 'my twin girlz are two n a harf'

[Noir]

'my twin girlz are two n a harf'

Doesn't it take longer to write like that than normally? I'm dreadful at reading stuff like that- I tend to just switch off instead. I mean, I'm appaling at spelling and I don't exactly write in a flowing manner I'll be the first to admit- but that just does my nut!
Anyhow...I really hope that you have a nice midwife who is happy to fight your corner about not wanting everything under the sun to stop you actually feeling the birth! I can see why you feel a loss for your plans- but I just don't get why they seem to call for sections as soon as they know there's two in there! Stick to your guns- you should not be told what to do, only informed of your options and left to make your own decisions. It may seem silly but I felt incredibly empowered when I refused to have an induction with A just because it was their routine thing to do. My midwife seemed a bit confused by it- I don't think anyone had ever said a point blank no bloody way before. I rather liked it . I hope you get the same chance to tell them to bugger off because you know your own body far better than they do.

[TinLIN]

A friend of mine wanted as natural a birth as possible, but in the end went with an epidural with her twins because she was told if she had an epidural and a natural birth, and there was a problem with the second one that required an emergency section, they could just top-up the epidural and do the section with her awake, whereas if she didn't have an epidural in already, they would have to put her under completely so she wouldn't be conscious for the second birth.

In the event though, she delivered both vaginally, even though the second one turned itself after the first was born and was therefore delivered breech.

As others have said, don't be bullied into anything and don't assume you have to give up completely on what you want, maybe just compromise a little!