Questions about twin pregnancy

[shelbyrn0214]

Have any of the twin mommies been told an acceptable amount of weight to gain in the first trimester? Also, for those of you who have already gone to your OB, have you been informed as to whether a C-section is standard for twin deliveries?
Thanks. I don't get released for another week or two from my RE and I was just wondering what to expect.

[JG_379]

Hi Shelby-
mjay and I are both having twins on the May 2010 babies board and we both like the book "When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads" by Dr. Barbara Luke. It give you a ton of information about weight gain and diet for multiples and how much you should gain in each part of your pregnancy. The book really stresses gaining weight early and they say it relates to healthier baby weights, and longer pregnancies, both big concerns for moms to be of multiples. Unfortunately, in my first tri, I was sick (still am) and only gained a couple pounds, but I hope to make up for that soon when i start to feel better!

As far as c-sections go, I was just talking to my doctor about this because every episode of "A Baby Story" I see with twins is a c-section. Each doctor is different, as far as their policy goes on delivery of multiples, but my doctor says that both babies need to be head down in order to deliver vaginally. My doctor said that many times her twim mommies opt for a c-section even if both babies are in position because sometimes the labor and delivery of the first baby can be very stressful for the second (and the cervix can even start to close before the second one is born!), so sometimes she ends up having a patient deliver the first baby vaginally and the second baby by emergency c-section. That was the part that sold me, there is no way I want to have to recover 2 different ways from giving birth, yikes! Not to mention the fact that i'd be so scared about the second baby, that I just don't think I want to have to worry about it. I'm opting for a c-section (and before my discussion with my doctor, I was all about delivering them vaginally), but that's just me. Ask your doctor though, they'll let you know what their "policy" with delivery is.

[kellym]

Hi Shelby,
I am the mom of 14 month old twins! Congrats with your twin pregnancy - having twins is awesome!!
My doctor didn't mention weight gain at all during the course of my pregnancy. He didn't ever tell me what was 'normal'. I think his theory was, I'll let you know if you need to worry about it (too little or too much) and other than that just enjoy the pregnancy. It was nice not having to focus on the scale very much. That being said, they weighed me at every appointment (every 2 weeks) so they definitely monitored it, they just didn't raise it - I guess I was within the normal range.
As for c-section. My doctor is actually doing a world-wide study on whether twins can be born vaginally or should be born via c-section. He is only part way through his research so I haven't seen any conclusions yet, but after giving birth he did say to me that if you are going to deliver vaginally it is recommended that you do so in a hospital that it ready for an emergency c-section if one were needed. I guess when Baby b is in distress, it is important to get him/her out fairly quickly so the hospital has to be set up to accommodate that.
I was one of the 'unlucky' ones who delivered baby A vaginally and baby B by emergency c-section - but I was very lucky to do it with a expert twins OB, in an OR (my hospital delivers all twins in the OR, just in case), with a surgury team standing by ready to go. Baby B is fine, but time was of the essense with him (to get him out fast). My babies were born 6 minutes apart so you can imagine how quickly they reacted to his distress - that included knocking me out!
I don't mean to scare you, but just know what your hospital's capabilities are... just in case. I don't regret my choice to deliver baby A vaginally, in fact I'd probably choose it again if I were to have twins again...
All the best!!!

[bjones22]

Shelby - As you know I already have twins, so I thought I would add my 2 cents. My husband and I took a pregnancy class offered by the hospital here that focused on multiples. During the class, we learned about complications, watched a video on c-sections, and toured the neonatal unit. There was little focus on breathing techniques or anything about labor because we were told that multiples generally have to be delivered by c-section and that they are usually early. Out of all of the people in my class, there were 7 couples expecting twins and one couple expecting triplets, none of us delivered vaginally. Every one of us delivered early and all of our babies had to stay in the NICU. I was SO THANKFUL that I had toured the NICU because before it happened to me, I didn't think it could happen to me.

I am not trying to discourage you or scare you, but I really suggest any multiples class you can enroll in.

[shelbyrn0214]

Thank you all for your replies. I will definately look in to the multiples class. I'm pretty sure that I will try to convince my OB to go ahead and do a C-section. All the great points you ladies mentioned just back up the feelings I already had. I don't want to stress either baby if I can help it. Thank you!

[mjay]

shelby- don't have much to add since jg gave you the name of the book we are reading and the other mother's here have been so helpful. i will say that it is scary to think about whether to deliver vaginally or by c-section. i have watched lots of the baby shows and i have seen both now. i am in total agreement with jg though; i do not want to deliver both vaginally and by c-section so if i'm forced to pick, i'll pick c-section. my dr. just wants to wait and see how it goes though, so i won't know until it's time. as for the weight, i weigh two pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. however, i'm tall and not skinny so i don't think my doc is too freaked out about it.

[beachbaby]

hi, firstly congratulations.

I have twin boys who were born at 38 weeks 2 days and wheighed 6lb4oz and 7lb1oz. born by c-section after a failed induction. Unfortunately for me i had complications and had 3 further surgery's and ended up in intensive care, i am not trying to scare you all but it is a major surgery and has a long recovery time, I still wish i had been able to deliver naturally.
Once again this is not aimed to scare you all i just want you to be aware that surgery is not the easy option.

regarding food intake, i just ate normally and made sure i ate a balanced diet and as you can see my babies were good weights. I never needed any extra supplements either.

good luck to you all and enjoy your pregnancy

[lw918]

I would like to also chime in and refer you to the book mentioned before. I bought it when I had time to kill between an ultrasound and doctor's appointment and it offers so much information. I especially like reading other people's stories in it. The doctor has put a lot of research into what she is doing.
That being said, she recommends a LOT of weight gain in the beginning and her studies show that is is very benificial to babies. What I able to accomplish this? No. HAHA! As others said, I was sick sick sick. I am 19 weeks tomorrow and have gained 9 lbs, where I think the book says 20 lbs by this point
The last visit I had gained 4 lbs and 2 weeks and I think my doctor was pleased with that, but it kind of freaked me out in 2 weeks I almost doubled what I'd gained in the 17 previous weeks.

My doctor brought the idea of a c-section up to me. She just asked what my feelings were on it. I told her I'd heard a lot of horror stories as a nurse and I was really leaning towards the section. She said that her threshold for vaginal deliver of twins is very low. She said both would have to be head down, certain weight, etc. etc. I now have a placenta over part of the cervix that doesn't seem to want to move so that is grounds for a section anyway.
On the other hand, my SIL is having twins shortly and one is breech. Her doctor wants to go ahead and try it anyway and hope the baby flips after the other is born. He always wants to try the vaginal route because of the lower risk to mom afterwards.

[mom2luke]

i am currently pregnant with twins. regarding weight-i am in the normal range for weight not pregnant so 3 different doctors told me that 25-35 pounds was sufficient weight gain for the whole pregnancy. thats lower than what that book recommends but i just eat what i want when i'm hungry and so far have gained 25 pounds at 32 weeks. and my babies are measuring big. my OB said she would let me know if my weight became a problem (ie. not gaining enough) but so far no problems for me.

about delivery: baby "A" is head down and my OB said as long as he stays that way we can deliver vaginally. baby"B" for most of my pregnancy has been breech but my OB said i still can deliver vaginally and they are just hoping "B" flips herself when "A" is out. she said if "A" had been breech i would have had to have a c-section but otherwise we can attempt vaginal. and she said in her 20 years of practice she's only had one mom deliver twins were one was vaginal and the other c-section. i think there is always a greater risk at delivery with twins so i think you have to deliver however you will feel the most comfortable. (not that delivery is comfortable, but you know what i mean )

hope this helps
mindy