Anyone give birth to there twins med free?

?Future?Mrs?Fast

I have had both of my children without meds, and have considered it this time as well as long as babies are head down, but I will be honest I'm a little afraid to consider it. It was extremely painful both other times and I often wonder if I can handle it with twins. So if you have done it I could sure use some encouragement. TIA

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ask your OB - most will not deliver without an epidural in place b/c if you need to have a c/s for baby B they want you ready to go - they will just turn up the epi.

dulcinea03

We talked about it before it became a moot point when Twin A went stubbornly breech. I would have had to have an epidural placed, but they would have withheld meds from it had I chosen to. Like Goldie said, that way if an emergency arose and they needed to do a c/s, all they would have had to do is start the meds.  I also would have delivered in an OR rather than a birthing suite for the vaginal delivery.

?Future?Mrs?Fast

They placed an epi with both of my kids also just in case something went wrong they just didn't pump the meds. I'm just afraid of double the pain ya know? It was bad enough to have one med free little lone 2 haha I'm chicken

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?Future?Mrs?Fast:

They placed an epi with both of my kids also just in case something went wrong they just didn't pump the meds. I'm just afraid of double the pain ya know? It was bad enough to have one med free little lone 2 haha I'm chicken

so why bother trying to go med free then?

?Future?Mrs?Fast

I guess because I know it is better for them & it's a easier recovery, I just wonder what the pain difference will be, because if it really is about the same then I know I can do it but if it is a whole lot worse then I don't know if I can or not.

MamaCrystal

I had a bad epidural experience with my 1st, then went completely IV-free with my 2nd (had a line placed in my hand, but never used it).  I wanted to go med-free with the twins but docs wanted a line placed with meds turned down low.  My labor progressed so fast that it never kicked in anyway and my labor ended up feeling the same as my med-free 2nd.  I really prefer to labor that way... it goes so much better when you're aware of what your body is trying to do!!  My nurse and doc weren't ready because I went from 5-6 cm to pushing in about 10 mins.  Luckily I knew the girls were about to come out, was able to tell hubby and he called them in just in time!

GiGi1221

I went med-free for the twins.  I opted to not have an epi placed.  I would have just been put out in the case of an emergency c-section.

I pushed for three hours and that was pretty painful but other than that it was just fine.  I did have a little nubaine (sp) for the stitching up portion.

leviandlandensmom

There are plenty of women out there who do drug-free births with twins and nothing goes wrong. I am planning on a natural hospital birth with my twins and will just go under general in the rare event of an emergency. I don't think maybes and could happens are a good enough reason to get an epidural.

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leviandlandensmom:

There are plenty of women out there who do drug-free births with twins and nothing goes wrong. I am planning on a natural hospital birth with my twins and will just go under general in the rare event of an emergency. I don't think maybes and could happens are a good enough reason to get an epidural.

but if there is a need for a c/s- you won't be awake for the birth of your kids. Are you OK with that being a possibility? All I know is that I see tons of posts online from women who were knocked out for their child's birth and it still haunts them and upsets them- years later.... I know I'd much rather have an epi in place than risk not being awake for the birth of my kids.

leviandlandensmom

I am okay with it. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. I know that there is a very minute possibility that that may happen. For me it's still not worth getting an epidural for. It impedes my body's natural birthing process and could end up causing unnecessary issues that may result in an emergency cesarean. I have had a birth with an epidural and I pushed for 45 minutes with him and couldn't feel a thing. With my three home births I pushed three times and they were out. I pushed when I felt the urge to push, not when a doctor was telling me it was time.

Having said that, I think that every woman has the right to have the kind of birth they desire. A birth they are comfortable with. I have a cousin who elected to have a c/s after two births with fourth degree tearing and I know had it been me, I would have had a c/s after the first if it was that bad.

MamaCrystal

leviandlandensmom:

I am okay with it. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. I know that there is a very minute possibility that that may happen. For me it's still not worth getting an epidural for. It impedes my body's natural birthing process and could end up causing unnecessary issues that may result in an emergency cesarean. I have had a birth with an epidural and I pushed for 45 minutes with him and couldn't feel a thing. With my three home births I pushed three times and they were out. I pushed when I felt the urge to push, not when a doctor was telling me it was time.

Having said that, I think that every woman has the right to have the kind of birth they desire. A birth they are comfortable with. I have a cousin who elected to have a c/s after two births with fourth degree tearing and I know had it been me, I would have had a c/s after the first if it was that bad.

I, too, had an epidural birth with over an hour of pushing that I couldn't feel (including having to look to my nurses for them to tell me when to push).  Our other 3 babies were all born in 3-4 pushes because I was completely aware.  Such different experiences!

With our singleton boys, I had 3rd and then 4th degree tears.  It did cause me to consider a c/s with the twins because those tears messed up my body for so long.  Luckily, my doc convinced me that I was a great candidate for a vaginal twin delivery and I'm SO glad she did!  I had minimal tearing with the girls and an easy recovery.

The problem with severe tearing at this point is that it's not talked about much or given the attention it deserves.  Women who experience 3rd and 4th degree tears have a horrible recovery compared to minimal or no tears.  The University of Michigan pages an experienced obstetric surgeon to repair all severe tears immediately following delivery, and I truly believe this would make a world of difference in the recovery process.  (I didn't deliver there, but had a much better repair with my 2nd son and a much better recovery, even though I tore worse with him.)  Women should not be so scared that they would rather choose a c/s than a severe tear recovery.  I really hope we make some progress in this area soon!!  We need doctors who are more qualified to make these repairs, and who understand the effect it has on their patients if they don't do their absolute best.  The muscles that are included in 3rd and 4th degree tears are not muscles that you want stitched up poorly!

macchiatto

I think it's really hard to say what the pain difference would be. Since you've already done two vaginal deliveries, and your twins will most likely be a bit smaller (unless your older LOs were also delivered early), chances are it will actually be a bit easier on you than your previous deliveries. But of course there are SO many scenarios, e.g. like in my case where I pushed 3 hrs to get Baby A out ... and then found out that Baby B had flipped to breech so I had a breech extraction. That would have been VERY painful without an epidural! But if I'd just pushed Baby B out, it really wouldn't have been a huge difference. I think the average length of time between twins' delivery times in vaginal births is about 15 minutes, IIRC, so you can factor that in to your decision. I do think my 3 hrs of pushing might've been less but in retrospect, my epidural was turned up too high for pushing. I couldn't feel the urge to push at all and the nurse really had to coach me through it.