Things to ask the doctor

katiebenes · February 2013

Okay. I checked FAQ and I didn't see a list of things to ask your doctor.

I'm getting geared up for my first post-u/s appointment. Ad I want to be well informed of my twins but... I am clueless what I need to know.

I have plans of natural birth (unless medical intervention is needed)

So any questions would be great

JordynLeighx3 · February 2013

Nothing much to add because I don't know what you already do and dont know but you may want to ask about hospital procedure when it comes to natural birth. My hospital won't even allow me to NOT get an epidural and if I want to attempt a vaginal delivery, baby A must be head down.

Also, you may want to ask your ob, if you're working, if at any point she'll ask you to cut your hours. Just so you can square things away with your job so it doesn't come as a shock to you both if she does.

MuseumMaven · February 2013

If you don't already know, find out if the babies have their own placentas or if they share one. Mono di one placenta twins need to be monitored more closely.

Ask your OBs experience with multiples.

Will you see a perinatologist MFM during the pregnancy for additional monitoring?

Ask about your doctor's and hospital's policies regarding multiple birth. Most doctors will only allow a vaginal delivery if Baby A is bigger and head down. Many require that both babies are head down.

Good luck!

gault530 · February 2013

I asked about my diet, do I need to change anything, how much more should I eat, take more prenatals or folic acid, are they di/di?

Gl!!

Corleyrae · February 2013

I would get a written "calander" of when appointments are expected to change. My OB rattled them off on my first appointment and I just smiled and nodded. Then I came on here and read more information and ladies throwing out dates and time frames and I had no reference. I would have liked to know my "altered" schedual compared to a singleton for peace of mind. I am going to make sure to get that this next week.

I too would ask about the vaginal vs c-section delivery. Even if you aren't 100% sure on what you want to do, it would help to know a head of time how cut happy or natural your OB/hospital is when it comes to twins. Mine seems to be a sitting opposite of the neutral line from me, but my next hospital is about an hour away and not worth it to change right now. I am learning more about c-sections then I planned in order to prepare.

Lurk on the board, it will give you a lot of information!

Ruthie04 · February 2013

Agree with PPs about c/s vs. vaginal birth procedures. My OB gave me a 10% chance of a vaginal delivery (Only if both babies are head down and baby a is bigger than baby b, and you go into spontaneous labor...), so I was fully prepared for a c/s. I was comfortable with my OB and MFM, so I was okay with this plan, but others may have wished to switch practices and I'm glad I asked at my first visit. If you prefer to labor and deliver without medical pain management, I would definitely ask about the requirement of an epidural placement. I also agree with asking about MFM referral, nutrition/ weight gain, ultrasounds/ testing recommendations, appointment frequency, and experience with twin pregnancies. I would ask how long they will let you go (my OB wouldn't let me go past 38w and wouldn't induce a twin pregnancy, so they had me schedule a c/s in the event I made it that far...I didn't, but had a c/s due to twin b's position). I would also ask about any philosophies on bed rest and work/ travel restrictions. For example, at my 13w visit, I asked about traveling to another state to visit my family. The OB would only let me go if I had a transvaginal u/s to check for cervical length one week before travel and he wouldn't let me be any further than an hour away from our NICU after 23 weeks.

Jen0204 · February 2013

I agree with everything others have mentioned (especially about their experience with multiples and if you'll get an MFM). I would also ask about the hospital and if there is a NICU and how good the NICU is. Multiples have a greater risk of coming early and it was important to me to give birth at a hospital with a NICU (and preferably a good one). I'm glad I did because they were born at 36 weeks and spent 9 days in the NICU and it was nice to be able to just walk downstairs while I was in the hospital.

Since a natural birth is important to you I would also ask about that. Many hospitals require multiple births to happen in an OR - even if it's a vaginal birth - because they want you there just in case there is an issue and a c-section is needed. I had a c-section due to their positioning (and at the end, due to my high BP) so I never asked but I would be concerned that if I chose no epidural and needed an emergency c-section they would have had to knock me out and I would have been unconscious for the whole thing.

I would also ask about classes - I've heard Bradley classes are very good for natural births. And if you haven't been told yet, what kind of twins you have (mo/di, di/di, etc.).

Good luck!

zombiemommy · February 2013

I would mainly ask what their monitoring schedule is for twins. In other words, what doctors will you see and when? How often will you have ultrasounds and what will they be looking at? I'd also ask them what type of twins you have (ie: di-di, mono-di, or mono-mono).

On the natural birth thing, you should definitely bring that up now. I didn't want to do it anyway, but my doc more or less said she wouldn't do it. The reason is that an emergency c-section is sometimes needed for the 2nd baby, and that's much easier to do if you already have your epidural set.

katiebenes · February 2013

Thank you! Beyond the "when's my next appointment" my head is one swimming mess of everyone telling me how awfully hard everything is going to be.

I will have these all written down Thank you thank you thank you.

I felt clueless when it was one kid. now that its two, I'm considering a dunce cap

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