VBAC With Twins

by Lysa

Well our story begins with a positive pregnancy test at the doctors office. We have four girls and we were hoping to have a boy this time around. I went to my doctor for a routine 2 month sonogram. The whole two months my husband had said we were having twins and he even gave them names, Lydia and Landon. So it was a big joke within our family, never even imagined it to be true. So the doctor was performing the sonogram and I saw a look on his face, I asked what was wrong, thinking the baby had past away, he turned the screen towards me and there it was three big black spots. The doctor said I think it is triplets, I said "your kidding right," then passed out. They called my husband on his cell phone and said "I think you need to come and pick up Lysa" and then reassured him that me and the BABIES were okay. My husband said, "BABIES, like in more than one?" and the doctor told him maybe three.

We went home to our four girls with these little pictures of the babies. I kept looking at them and looking at them and saying I cant do it, I cant do it. I had had toxemia, preterm labor, gestational diabetes, large babies and two c-sections with the others, and I was scared what was going to happen this time.

Well, the pregnancy progressed and they could not find a third baby so it was just twins. I had little weight gain, no sickness, no complications at all. Around the 8th month they prepared me for the fact that I could deliver the babies ( a boy and a girl, per the 100 sonograms!) a month early. I was so excited and we made sure we were prepared for the delivery.

I had been seeing a doula, she was great. We used hypnosis and I swear it worked wonders! Well, the month came and went and still no babies. I was 36 weeks measuring 40 weeks and so miserable. I started to develop toxemia and my legs swelled up so big, I could barely wear shoes anymore. I started having contractions every 5 minutes - 2 weeks before my due date and I was sent home at 4 centimeters because the contractions stopped.

Both babies were head down and the OB and midwife agreed I should have the babies VBAC (vaginal birth after C-section.) Only me, pregnant with twins and 2 days before my due date walking around 4 centimeters. I was lucky though to have no serious complications and to be able to take care of my four girls and still do most of the things around the house I normally did. We had to go to the hospital every other day for a sonogram and a NST (non stress test) to make sure the babies were okay.

It was a Friday and we got a babysitter for the girls and went for our stress test at the hospital and then went to lunch. I was so stressed to have not started labor yet. We had tried everything to get labor progressing and nothing worked. After we returned home my mother had called from Florida to check on me and she said, "I have a feeling I need to come there tonight" so she packed up her stuff and got on the plane. I felt bad because it could be weeks till I went into labor and I didn't want her to have to stay here that long if not necessary.

My husband had to leave at 7:00pm because it takes a while to get to the airport and her flight was getting in at 11:00pm. I really didn't want him to leave me, but I knew he had to. When they arrived at the house at 12:00am I was at the door ready to go to the hospital. I was finally gonna have these babies!

When I reached the hospital I was having contractions every 2 minutes, 60 seconds long and 5 centimeters. I had been telling the midwife and the OB that I wanted to go natural (to me natural meant vbac no c/s). They took it to mean no drugs, no epidural nothing. So as the contractions started getting worse and worse I was begging for something to help with pain. Of course, thinking I would regret it later, they said to hang in there. I was in so much pain. The hypnosis helped but It was getting hard to pay attention, by then I was to tired and wanted an epidural.

You don't contract the same with twins as you do with one baby. You have two sacs and the contraction doesn't start in the back and come forward, you contract all over in different degrees of pressure. And, in my case, both heads were fighting to come out first, so there wasn't steady pressure on the cervix. I went from 4 to 10 in the matter of a couple hours. By then I thought I couldn't go any further and they checked my cervix, I was 10 and complete. Yeah, time to push! I had had a epi with all the other babies and I had never felt the pain in your back as the baby comes around the turn, I thought I was going to die. Well, they said no epi, it is time to push. I had a hard time pushing because my legs were so swollen and sore from the toxemia (+4). It was hard to pull my legs up. I pushed and pushed and every time the baby was about to come out he went back up. They determined that every time I pushed Baby A, Baby B was pulling him back in. So I pushed for hours and I finally said, "I want an epidural now!" and the midwife said, "no way you cant have one now the baby is coming out". I said, "then I wont push," the midwife said "your body will make you push." By now my cervix was so swollen and I was so tired I screamed thru 4 contractions and the midwife agreed to let me have an epidural. I got my epidural and it was heaven. I actually went to sleep for a bit.

It was 10:00am by now and I awoke to find my husband, midwife, and nurse asleep in the chairs. I proclaimed, "I am ready to push now"! They all awoke and started scattering. I then had a vacuum inserted to help hold the baby's head there while I pushed. Baby A came out one push later, A boy named Christian, 7lb 8oz. One minute later Baby B came out in a splash, water bag and all. His name, Landon, 5lb 10 oz. We think he just didn't want to be left there all alone. I said, "I was supposed to have a boy and a girl, as every sonogram had shown". Well, my husband was grinning ear to ear, now he wasn't so outnumbered!

We are so grateful to have such a wonderful delivery and a very patient doctor and midwife. So many people said you cant have twins after 2 c-sections, but I proved I could and they were really big for twins. I also carried them till one day before my due date with no complications. It felt so good to get up and take care of my babies instead of healing from surgery. I honestly believe if I didn't get that epidural and rest I wouldn't have had the outcome I had. So anyone who really wants to have a VBAC delivery, the first step is a confident doctor and a lot of knowledge on your part. Hope you enjoyed my birth story.