Does anyone have a twin c section story?

[happymango]

I'd be interested to know:
1)How the actual surgery went - in planned and emergency situations
2) What the recovery time was like - pain/ ability to pick up your babies etc
3)How breast feeding went - and if the c-section had an impact on the success of b/feeding

My twin c section was planned at 37+4 weeks. I had an epidural and all went fine. DT1's face was slightly squished (probably where DT2 had been kicking her for a few months ) so she was kept behind by the paeds for a closer look, but they joined me in recovery within half an hour and I managed to breastfeed them simultaneously there and then. (should point out that they weren't my first babies, so this wasn't my first time breastfeeding).

I had a really bad cough at the time, which was painful, and made me feel like I was about to split my stitches every time I coughed, but it didn't affect my recovery time. The hospital I was at is quite draconian in forcing c section mums out of bed quickly so, having had the babies at 4.30pm, I was up first thing the following morning changing both nappies and getting them in and out of the crib. Prior to that, through the night, the midwives had picked them up for me if I needed them to.

I was home 4 days later, and was carrying my 20mth old around soon after. TBH my recovery was quicker from the c section than after my long drawn out induction, complete with episiotomy, ventouse etc with DD1 (stitches got infected that time...v. painful).

I breastfed for 5 weeks and the c section was nothing to do with me switching to bottles - DT1 had oral thrush and it simply became too painful and tiring for me. I wish I had known about mumsnet then though - there are a couple of multiple mums on here that I'm sure would have got me through the pain and tiredness barriers and helped me to feed for longer!

HTH

My pair were a transverse lie so I had to have a planned section.

I found the whole procedure rather cold and sterile (I know some people like that... I didn't).

I had an epidural. Breastfed them both for 18 months. I found that to breastfeed I had to remind the staff that it was perfectly possible to breastfeed twins.

I was picking both babies up immediately. Recovery went well but then I spent the time taking things slowly, feeding the DTs and going for walks. There was nothing else on my agenda.

May I ask....why are you asking?

I had an emergency c-section with a general anasthetic. The spinal was hitting a nerve on each attempt so I said enough was enough and wanted to be asleep. I'd already been in labour for hours by that point and needed a break.

Recovery was fairly horrific compared to my vaginal births where I was up and about as normal immediately. However, I had complicating factors, needed two blood transfusions, and my stomach ulcer flaired up and was agony.

The babies were born three months early so were in NICU but I felt too weak to even see them for two days and wouldn't have had the strength to lift them if I had wanted to.

I didn't breastfeed them so can't comment on that.

just want to say hi to gorgeous, gorgeous mars, and say i shall be daaaahn sarf in the summer and look at my new name !! mwah xx

Great story - generally sounds very positive. Think both of mine are kicking each other in the face too - so useful to be prepared for that having an impact on one or both of them when they're born.

Similarly, but for different reasons, I've had really long recoveries from my previous natural births. I've heard lots of scare stories about the recovery time from c-sections, so it's really heart-warming to hear that it can all go well.

Hi Geepers - sounds like you had a really hard time (previous comment was for tkband's story)

Hi Marslady. I'm pg with twins - due at the end of June. Currently have a low-lying placenta and the presenting twin is breech - so c-section seems to be on the cards. Also - had a major bleed a few weeks ago due to the position of the placenta - so it's all getting a bit complicated. Just want to be prepared.

sorry for hijack happymango.

from the sounds of things you're likely to have a c-birth. If, however, things change (placenta moving up and out of the way and no more bleeding) then you really ought to go for a vaginal birth if you can. I've been to lots of twin births and apart from being incredibly amazing, it would probably be better on you and your body.

Have you joined the "anyone pregnant with twins?" thread? You'll get more stories there and on the "d'y ever wonder" threads in multiples.

I hope you have a really uneventful, vaginal birth. Congratulations! Twins are wonderful!

Thanks MarsLady - that's really sweet of you.

will do , mars x

I had em c-section with my id twins at 34 weeks because my water broke. I think the surgery went fine despite all the moving up and down multiple wards. I was contracting at 3-4 mins interval at that point so the spinal was awesome. At one point my consultant asked me if I wanted to play any birth CD and I was like 'You've gotta to be kidding me!'. One thing I was not prepared for was to feel nothing below my breasts. I had read that on spinal/epidural you can still feel things moving, pressure etc but no pain. I felt nada. I think I had a panic attack as a result. You know kinda felt like I was dying. But this is very personal and may not be the case with you. I found the recovery time to be average when compared to other mums. I think the first 4-5 days were the hardest but mid-wives were great helping with the babies. Once home it took nearly 8 weeks to feel normal. But I had help in those early days.

Breast fed for 4 weeks. I decided to quit since it was physically exhausting and I was not getting much sleep. My babies were prems so they were feeding every 2 hours at max and not always in sync. I think after 2 months I thought to myself that BFing is possible but I had quit 5 weeks ago. It was the best decision for me since it allowed me to recover quicker.

1. Not my favourite way to spend time- t'was an emergency after quite a long labour tho
2. Fine- up and about v soon afterwards
3. Fine

Good luck!

I had a planned C-section at 38+3 and it was great. I knew the midwives from my antenatal care, was allowed a visit to the operating theatre to see what it was like (less scary on the big day), and they were happy for us to bring our own music so we made a CD which everyone seemed to enjoy! We checked in just like at a hotel and were psyched up for the whole experience. The one thing I regret is saying yes to the student aenesthatist (sp!) trying to give me the spinal - he rummaged around and it was excruciating so eventually his much more experienced colleague took over .

A midwife told me once that recovery from c-section can depend a lot on how mentally prepared for it you are - i.e. it might be a lot harder to cope psychologically if you were dead set on a vag. birth or have been in a long labour before having emergency surgery and have to have a general. I'd had surgery before so knew sort of what to expect, which I think helped.

Having a private room with DH able to stay throughout 6 days in hospital was fantastic - try to get a private room if you can.

They make you get up and walk around the next day after the birth and that was the hardest part - shuffling to the bathroom supported by nurses for a shower was upsetting and painful and there was lots of blood. But there will be anyway, regardless of which way your babies arrive. And getting up really did make me feel beter so they do know what they are doing, it seems.

As for the babies, I could pick them up by day two or three without problems. I got all the breastfeeding support I could ever have wanted (more, even!) from the hospital consultant/midviwes. The HV was also supportive with BF but I gave up at 5 weeks on doctor's advice as I had a low supply and was mix-feeding anyway and finding it all too much. Formula worked really well for us as it helped get the babies on a routine.

After 6 weeks I was pretty much back to normal. Rosehip Seed oil (or so I seem to remember?) from Neal's Yard really helped with the itchy scar. Good luck!

Had an emergency c section at 34 weeks (although booked in for 1 at 36 weeks)
To be honest it was a relief when doc said section as I had had enough and couldn't push twin 1 out due to a funny cervix...

Had to stay on delivery ward for 20 hours after birth due to my high blood pressure not dropping immediately...I was the last person to see my girls as I had them at 8.30am but wasn't allowed to see them until early hours of next morning.
They were in neonatal and I picked them up the next day.

Recovery wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be...when you have a 4 year old at home and twins in the neonatal unit its suprising what you can do...

It's good to know what to be prepared for - and to hear that recovery time is quite similar for most people.

BlueEyedMaid - nice idea to get a private room. Don't know if funds will run to that - but I might find out at the hospital how much it costs.

Poorbuthappy - that's terrible that they kept you away from your babies for so long. That's that kind of thing that you just don't expect these days.

At my hospital private rooms were free and given out on the basis of who needs it most (I was told it was allocated to women who'd had a loss, who were very unwell or had unwell babies, or people with multiples, in that order). I think the midwives were delighted to have me out of the way with DH to help as it freed them up to get on with everyone else.

happymango, I also had a private room, which I'd booked and paid for in advance, but was told once I was there, that multiple births are always put in private rooms subject to availability - probably with the same priority as BlueEyedMaid's hospital.

It was great to be out of the way - particularly when both babies were crying at night. It also meant that DH could stay a lot longer than the other dads, as we were away from the stern eyes of the midwives at chucking out time. Most dads were unceremoniously thrown out at 9.30pm, but DH didn't leave before midnight the whole time I was in! The only downside was I was out of sight, out of mind when it came to the drugs rounds - and I needed and wanted both pain relief and cough medicine...so I just used to open my door at the appropriate time and shout if they went past me .

Unfortunately I simply wasn't well enough to be moved as my blood pressure stubbornly refused to drop and as the girls had to be in neonatal, it was a horrible situation but one that unfortunately had to be endured.

I also had a private room (once I made it onto the ward) and its because they don't want the mothers without babies (if you see what I mean, not without, just not with them) to be in the wards with the other mothers.

Looking back now I can laugh about it actually - my maternity notes were hysterical, each time they came round to check my blood pressure or give me painkillers etc I would be in neonatal and they would have to write "patient not in room" on my notes. Then they would rugby tackle me each time I appeared back on the ward...

Hey, healthly mother and healthly babies: that's what matters.

PBH's experience v similar to my own - esp the bit about 'patient not in room' as I was always off in SCBU! I'd forgotten about that PBH - really brought back memories and made me laugh! My 2 were born by section at 34 weeks as I had pre-eclampsia and cholestasis. It had to be a c-sec as they were both breech plus I was pretty poorly by then so doubt I'd have been up to a v birth. It was fine if a bit surreal. We'd just gone in for a check up (I'd left hospital after a week's stay a few days before on the condition that I went back every day for checks) and then they said actually we'd really better get these babies out. They were doing really well still but I was v ill which made me feel v guilty for a long time. The spinal was nowhere near as bad as I expected. Certainly not a nice experience but I had been terrified at the thought and it was OK really. At one point I said to them very nervously 'I can still feel my legs' (in a kind of fuzzy wrapped in a big soft blanket way) and they said 'I'm sure it's fine as we've already started'! The room was full of people as I'd expected but nothing really prepared me for them whisking my babies off before I'd held them (wasn't capable what with all the wires and drips and things tho DH did get to hold DD2 but DD1 had to have breathing assistance) and then not seeing them until the next day. I had to stay in recovery for 48 hours as too ill to be moved. They allowed DH to bring DD2 to me the day after the surgery as she was well enough but I had to wait 24 hours before I could be taken up in a wheelchair to see and hold DD1. It was pretty shitty really. I'm not saying all this to scare you but it might be something to consider and maybe even talk to the hospital about beforehand? I'm sure (hope) it's pretty rare. When they moved me up to the ward I was put in a room with other mums and babies which made me feel like a bit of a freak! After 2 days I cracked and they finally put me in a room with no other babies which was also much closer to SCBU. In terms of recovery, getting over the op was fine and in fact I think I was moving around pretty quickly (apart from the first 48 hours when I was too ill but that was nothing to do with the surgery). I guess I had the incentive of getting to my babies so I was running around all over the place. It was most painful on about the third day but really only a bit sore and tight - I was surprised at how little it hurt. Laughing was a bit painful (amazingly DH and I did a LOT of that, although it was often a bit hysterical) and it helps to hold your tummy with both hands when laughing or sneezing. Other things I was v scared of was having the catheter removed - totally painless - and the stitch removed(it was one long stitch with beading)- completely fine, just felt a bit like a tiny papercut! In terms of BF'ing I think it was the smallness of the babies that made it harder and the fact they were tube fed in SCBU and we were separated etc rather than the c-sec. Once the nasal feeding tubes were removed and we brought them home I mixed fed from the start, DD2 getting breast feeds every other feed and DD1 getting expressed breast milk as we never got a successful latch. I think if I had had more professional support I would have managed but the first couple of months are such a blur that when we switched to formula I was relieved although I still feel very sad about it and a bit cheated in some respects. I would say that if breastfeeding is something you feel you want to do then seek lots and lots of support and keep on asking. I hope you get the experience you want for the birth of your babies but please remember that even if you don't it will make not one tiny bit of difference to your bond with them. I had no skin to skin, didn't get to even hold them for a day, was apart from them whilst they were in SCBU for 2 weeks (they didnt feel properly mine until I brought them home) and didn't manage to breastfeed as much or for as long as I wanted. All of these things caused me a huge amount of grief and disappointment. And yet here I am 14 months on with the two most beautiful and happy little girls any mum could want with a life that is often busy and tiring but is also pretty wonderful. I really do feel very blessed.

poorbuthappy and twinmam you both have ICU and SCBU stories similar to mine. Can I talk to you directly? I can be reached at anjlix at yahoo dot com or you can send me a CAM message. Thanks (and I hope you are reading this)

Hi Anjlix. I don't know how to send a CAM message as am an imbecile but am going to email you directly. I would truly love to talk about this with someone who has been through something similar

Went in twin 1 normal delivery, twin 2 emergancy section, tranverse lie and wouldn't turn.

All very calm relaxed, they played Metallica and Nirvana for me. Picked up 18mnth old that night and gave her a cuddle. Just be sensible and listen to your body. Take the drugs they offer when you need to and don't over do things.

Breastfed fine, although milk didn't come in for four days so bottle fed to begin with till milk there. Just latched babies on till they realised nothing happening then fed them from bottle. DT1 refused to latch on so I expressed for her.

I have a friend who had a toddler and then had a section with her second and she drove herself home from the hospital because her husband had left her and she had no family in the area. This was 10 or so years ago but she said she just had to get on with life but everything was fine.