c-section v. vaginal delivery?

[dsptwinmom]

Hello, I am expecting my twin girls to arrive sometime in early April. Right now, baby "B" is in a breech position but A is not, and my obstetrician says I can go for a vaginal delivery. He would just have to take baby "B" out by the legs, which he has done many a time. I have full confidence in my dr. and it seems the decision will be up to me.

So--my question is, if given the choice, which would you do? I delivered my four-year old son vaginally and although it was not ideal (12 hrs with pitocin to assist--different doctor than I have now!), I could do it again. I am interested to see how many of you delivered one twin vaginally and then had to have a c-section. If you had a c-section for both twins, are you glad you did? Is there anyone who has given birth by both methods at different times, and recommends one over the other? My dr. doesn't think there will be much risk of needing a c-section after delivering the first vaginally, but I am still interested to hear about others' experiences. thanks!

[Supermom]

I'm expecting my twins in June, so I didn't deliver them yet, but my Dr. also said that at times he can take 1 out vaginally if it's in the right position, but if the other one isn't he can try to manually turn it the right way. If it's still breech, he'd do the 2nd one as a c-section.

[gatorsmom]

I unsuccessfully labored with my first pregnancy and ended up with a c/s. I've had all scheduled c/s since then, including this last one with my twins.

Here's my only input on the subject- I would HATE to labor and be sore and possible torn down there from vaginally delivering one but then sore on my stomach from deliving via c/s the second baby. And then going home to care for those 2 babies with all those wounds. Ouch.

[hez]

I have several friends with twins. Four sets delivered by c/s (two moms had complications, two moms made the choice before going into the delivery), one set delivered as a VBAC (I think that's kinda neat!), and one set delivered both ways-- vaginally for the 1st twin, c/s for the 2nd.

The last mom of the set said if she had it to do over again, she'd have both babies via c/s. She said it was difficult to recover from stitches in so many places all at once. The moms who delivered via c/s at their own choice had nothing but positive things to say-- but they also went into it having already made the decision and knowing exactly what they were getting into.

That said, my friend who delivered hers via VBAC wouldn't change her choice for the world. She thought her recovery was much easier than that with her c/s with her first child.

Good luck!

[ahrimie]

i'm a first time mom due in may (single, not twins), but i'd hate to go through all the labor and only get one baby out vaginally and have them do surgery to get the other one out. like the previous posts said, it seems your recovery will be much double hard + double babies.

seems like a c section would be better if you already know you have to have one.

[thomma]

I gave birth both ways and I wouldn't recommend it...for many, many reasons.

I was a planned c-section but baby a/ds had other plans. He was born vaginally without an epi. Baby b/dd was transverse and the theory was that they were going to turn her and get her out. Didn't work out that way so she was born via emergency c-section under general anesthesia (sp?). Also they had difficulty getting her out and had to "T" cut my uterus so I woke up to a boat load of pain and the doctor telling me I can't ever have another vaginal birth.


I would've preferred the c-section but I am grateful that I got to experience giving birth to ds naturally.

good luck-
Kim
ds&dd 5/03

[smakching]

I was in the same position with my twins. Baby A (dd) was head down and Baby B (ds) was breech. I managed to deliver both vaginally. They didn't try to turn ds around after dd was born. I also had minimal tearing, but it may be because they were both around 5lbs. I also wrestled with the decision about whether to do a c-section or not. Since they were the same size, my OB felt ok with me trying to deliver vaginally. It is hard to predict what will happen during labor. Just trust your instincts. Good luck.