Qns for MoMs who had med-free births

ZaIrery · September 2009

This also applies to MoMs who had vaginal births that were not necessarily med-free.

DH and I are not taking childbirth classes for many reasons, so I'm researching as much as possible about breathing techniques, etc, to help us through a vaginal birth (right now, they are both transverse so I may still end up with a C/S, but it does not hurt to be prepared).

So, my questions are:

- Did you have a mantra/breathing technique/visualization technique that helped you through labour & delivery?

- Is there anything that you wish you did differently?

Thanks in advance!!

KMB7 · September 2009

I had an epi. I tried breathing, but the contractions came so hard and quick that I just couldn't do it. (once I was at a 5) The breathing worked great for me up until that point.

I delivered DD vaginaly and DS was an emergency C a few min later.

I would focus on your Plan A, but have plan B and C ready. I think many people only have a Plan A and are devistated if it doesn't happen. Have your goal delivery way planned out and then be open to what is needed for safe babies.

macchiatto · September 2009

I definitely think it's good to be prepared for a med-free vaginal birth if that's what you're interested in. That was my Plan A. I ended up needing an induction though. I tolerated the Pitocin contractions fine just using breathing, relaxation, walking around, standing and rocking with DH, and a little effleurage, but after the OB broke my water (at 5 cm; I had only progressed 1 cm after 5 hrs on Pit and I didn't want to be in labor for days

) the contractions came so hard and fast that NOTHING I did could touch them. There wasn't even enough time in between for me to regroup, so I went ahead and got an epidural. In my case that turned out to be a really good thing; both babies were vertex going in but after A came out, the OB did a u/s and discovered that B had flipped to breech (yet again; he flipped a lot in the last 7 weeks) so he had to do a breech extraction. If I hadn't had an epi that would have been torture!

mrscalkins · September 2009

Definitely talk over the techniques with your OB if you aren't taking a class. Something to strongly consider is that no matter what position they are in prior to birth, all bets are off once Baby A is out. There is no way to guarantee that Baby B will stay in a favorable position once there is more room in there. We were going for a breech extraction of Baby B and I was warned that there was a damn good chance of the double whammy of a vaginal and a c-section. The pp's are right that while it is good to have a plan A, be very open to a plans b and c. Or at least don't get too disappointed that you might not get the expereience you were hoping for and focus on the end result, healthy babies. Good luck!

Melin086 · September 2009

I ended up with an epidural. I was induced due to high blood pressure. I got to 9 cm without an epidural, but I had really bad back labor and decided that since I had to go at least another hour before pushing and then having to push 2 babies out that I wanted the epidural. Going into the hospital I was still undecided whether I wanted the epi or not. I had my older son without an epidural, so I knew what it was like. I'm definitely glad that I got the epidural since there was an hour between the births of my two little guys. I got the epidural around 4 am and had Kaden at 6:09 am and Nolan at 7:14 am. There was an hour between the births because my pitocin got turned down too far and my dr didn't realize it at first.

KMB7 · September 2009

macchiatto:
I definitely think it's good to be prepared for a med-free vaginal birth if that's what you're interested in. That was my Plan A. I ended up needing an induction though. I tolerated the Pitocin contractions fine just using breathing, relaxation, walking around, standing and rocking with DH, and a little effleurage, but after the OB broke me water (at 5 cm; I had only progressed 1 cm after 5 hrs on Pit and I didn't want to be in labor for days ) the contractions came so hard and fast that NOTHING I did could touch them. There wasn't even enough time in between for me to regroup, so I went ahead and got an epidural. In my case that turned out to be a really good thing; both babies were vertex going in but after A came out, the OB did a u/s and discovered that B had flipped to breech (yet again; he flipped a lot in the last 7 weeks) so he had to do a breech extraction. If I hadn't had an epi that would have been torture!

Same here, I was fine till my water broke.

Polofsky · September 2009

My OB has pretty much told me I would have to go with an epidural and I'm going to be delivered in an OR. Even if Baby A comes out ok, there's still a big risk that Baby B could flip over or something else could go wrong, I want to be ready to get that c-section if that happens, I don't want to have to wait for the anesthesiologist to skip down the hall or have the panic of a general should it come to that. I figure the breathing would be good though, to get me to that point that I can get the epidural

ZaIrery · September 2009

Actually, my Plan A is to get these kids out safely by whatever means necessary, whenever they are ready (hopefully not too soon).

I am certainly not dead-set on a vaginal birth, but out of all scenarios, that is the one I am most concerned about - not the pain, but the uncertainty of everything, which is clear in many of your responses, too.

Thanks for the input! I can't believe how close we're getting.

mrscalkins · September 2009

I just saw you are 36 weeks, great job making it to full term! Yeah, the uncertainty of birth and what all can happen on top of having multiples can be really nerve-wracking. I don't know if there are differences in hospital policies for births (multiples or otherwise) for Australia vs in the US, I would just make sure your OB is aware of your wishes regarding pain management, etc for birth. Things can get crazy, sometimes nurses can push you about things and you might get stuck with an OB on call who isn't familiar with your wishes. Best of luck!

Oh to the other poster, it seems that delivering in the OR, whether vaginally or by c-section is standard. I know it was my hospital's policy for all multiples births. Also an anesthiologist was on standby.

macchiatto · September 2009

mrscalkins:

Oh to the other poster, it seems that delivering in the OR, whether vaginally or by c-section is standard. I know it was my hospital's policy for all multiples births. Also an anesthiologist was on standby.

My OB actually let me deliver in my LDR room (they gave DH scrubs just in case and had an OR team prepped and ready to go waiting out in the hallway from the time I was ready to start pushing until Baby B was safely out--the OR was just down the hall) but from what I've heard, that's not that common. I actually did a poll about it on another multiples board (www.twinstuff.com) and it was something like 25% of the MoMs delivered in a regular room rather than an OR, which was more than I expected.

MawrtyrB · September 2009

We had taken the Bradley classes for the birth of our DD. I was nearly to the point of giving in and asking for drugs for 2 reasons. #1 I was having ridiculous hard back to back contractions and yes most of the relaxation didn't help #2 I was getting very nervous becuase I thought I had hours to go but it turned out that no one had checked me and I was basically ready to deliver much to everyone's surprise, so if we have a similar type birth with my twins, at least I'd have a better mindframe to deal with it. I think it was the emotions that nearly broke me last night.

For the twin birth, well I'm definately torn...Having the epidural makes it easier to transition into a C-section if one or both of the babies end up needing it, but I'm the type of person who would have complications from an epidural which is one of the reasons we opted to go med free for DD. Without an epidural, and needing an emergency C, they may have to fully put you out to do the C, which I dont' like either especially since I want to breastfeed. So yes, there is a Plan A, B and C. Not entirely sure which is which yet, except I'm desperately trying for my natural birth even though they insist on doing it in the OR.

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