Pregnant with twins

I see...Thank you very much!

Gotta. Thanks a lot!

Sure. Absolutely.

Q: Say, if my wife ultimately requires a C-section, would you say it'll be better to use general instead of spinal (or epidural)?...she somehow prefers general, we don't exactly know why but she is more comfortable with general.

 

Hey There!!

Just replying back, no I was never put on bed rest, but I had to keep it easy. I was very swollen before the birth in my legs and my feet. ( I had severe sausage feet!!) But as far as doing day to day things wasn't a huge deal for me.

I would rather choose the epidural,or spinal. If they give you general anesthesia you will miss out on those first cries, and the busy nurses and Doctors in the OR, plus you want to be "with it" so you can enjoy the moments of the birth. Seriously, you can't feel anything, or hear anything. It goes by so fast, you really don't pay any mind to the things that you think will weird you out.
Because my Baby A was breech for a little while, I was prepared for a C-Section. On the moning of my labor I had another Ultrasound, and the tech told me she had turned head down....but I though he was full of it. So they let me labor for an hour and a half....oh the joy!! Then repeated the ultrasound, and said she was infact breech.
Because Baby A's water broke, she was fine at birth. Baby B's water never broke until "birth", and she swallowed some of her water. Baby B , had what is called Transient Tacipnea (spelling), basically....something that came and is on its way out. It caused breathing problems, that were very temporary. She is a vibrant, very energetic little squirt now. They both are!! She came home 6 days later. They pretty much had to keep her oxygen sautration up, and keep an eye on her. Not to worry!!
You may have a perfect pregnancy, perfect delivery, and they will both probably will go home with you. Try not to worry about the stories that you will hear. I know I have been in your shoes, and there are tons of Q's, and worries. I know that it will go by so fast for you.
I would strongly recommend not getting the general , you will be groggy, foggy, and probably get sick from it,.. As for spinal/epidural... you can enjoy those first very important moments with your lil' buggers as you welocome them!!
As I said before...please feel free to e-mail me!!

Take Care!!!

 

Many womyn are really afraid of being awake during a surgery. You really don't feel anything, and the recovery is MUCH easier. (I've had other surgeries, not sections with general, and I hated it) They put up a sheet, so the mother sees nothing. You can get to work hearing the baby cry (like the poster above me said) and then hold the babies soooooo much sooner.

Maybe she could do some more research, in books like "The Birth Book" by Sears and Sears so she will know she will be better off if she is awake. Some doctors (my doctor, in fact) doesn't give you a choice, because general gets to the baby in higher concentration, he ONLY uses a general in very scary cases where seconds count, if you are a "regular C section" you get a spinal or epi.)

 

I see...nonetheless, you still carried your babies quite close to the full term.
Thanks!

OK.

Perhaps attempted labor also helped in alleviating breathing problems...

I see...Actually, we are primarily concerned about the *safety* of an anesthesia choice. If spinal or epidural is also safer than genaral, both for the mom and the baby/ies (concerns about punching about the spinal brain...) then of course spinal/epi are the way to go...Gotta. Thanks!

 

My wife has just had her hemoglobin result and it is 12--the low limit.

What can she eat to boost her hemoglobin level? I know red meat is good, what else? She is finishing her first trimester.

 

As a midwife, I have two main pieces of advise:

1. Twins CAN be exclusively breastfed! Don't let anyone tell you that they can't! Supplements will only drop supply.

2. Twins in separate sacs don't have to be a C-section. Find a doc or midwife who will allow a vaginal birth, considering a C-section only as a last resort. It makes for a much easier and safer birth and a quicker recovery, which will be very important when taking care of two babies.

PM me if you have any questions for someone in the field. Congrats!

 

12 is a lovely hemoglobin! In pregnancy, hemogloin is lower than when not pregnant, due to the expanded blood volume. I'm happy if my ladies are 11.!

 

Thanks! Useful advice.

I see. Even if the second baby is not head down but labor progresses normally...Ok.

Really?! I thought 12 relative to 11 was only statistically significant, if at all...Good to know. Thanks.

 

Yes, a 12 is fine. No one has a high normal non-pregnant hemo during pregnancy. I see a lot of moms with a 9 or a 10 who recover quite quickly. Mine was always there, and my OB never considered me "anemic" only "pregnant." I only took iron supps with one baby, (as I had had two births and a miscarraige in 2 years and had a low hemo) and she was my ONLY jaundiced baby. As the infant liver can't process a lot of iron, usually supps shouldn't be used, unless the mama is really clinicall pregnant anemic. (Brighid would know those numbers, they are much lower than a non pregnant anemia hemo.)

 

How do we calculate the length of a trimester, say a first one?

I thought when a woman said-I am 3 months old-she would mean that 3mo had passed since her likely conception date...but various due date calculators count the time since her last period, NOT her likely conception date? In other words, there is a time span of about 2 weeks?

 

Counting starts at the first day of the last period. If a woman has irregular cycles, but knows when she conceived, they go by that but still "add" two weeks. So when sperm met egg, she was two weeks pregnant. Isn't that silly?

 

minkajane
Thanks for clarifying this. That's really interesting... That probably is the legal definition of conception) Anyway, it's important to know because that's how doctors get an expected due date.
Thanks!

 

My wife was telling me that she could feel as if the babies, twins, were moving inside her belly and that she could feel their hearts palpitating. She is into her early second trimester (conceived around Jan 17)...Can this be true? Too early, or is it normal? She was really excited...

 

Most women start feeling movement around 16 weeks. I personally couldn't feel my son's heartbeat, but it could happen with twins because they're pressing against her uterus more because there's less room in there.

 

With my twins, I felt them move (fluttering) around 10 weeks gestation. So yes, it's definitely possible for her to be feeling movement (not the heartbeats, but the movement)!

 

It is so awesome to feel twins move for the first times!! I remember so well! What you feel is them dancing around and fluttering. I am pretty sure it is not their actual heartbeats that you feel, because they are so small, and in a lot of fluids. It is just them having a grand ol' time growing and moving !! Just wait until they get hiccups....those are fun. And wait until they have no more room to kick around...that is also fun!!! Good Luck!!

 

My last pregnancy, I felt movement at the end of the first trimester. Nobody beleived, me, not even my doula freinds. It is nearly impossible to feel the heartbeat, but babies often move rhthymically, so it may feel like a heart beat. A fetus this age has a heartbeat of about 160 beats a minute, or more, which is pretty quick. (Right, Brighid? I think I got that right.) But, she may well have felt movement with twins, as they have less room, and will be bumping against the uterus wall sooner, and the wall will thin out quicker, also.

Can you feel them with your hands yet? The first few weeks of movement, every time my dh put his hand on my belly, the baby would stop. Eventually he caught them. It freaked him out the first few times. By about 8 months, the he was being kept awake at night by a little one kicking him.

 

Thank you all!

Maggie Sugar
I put my hand on her stomach...I was both scared and excited and I think I felt something but not completely sure. But, I've heard that when you put your hand on the stomach the heat will attract the baby and s/he will stop moving or sth I guess we'll have to wait and see how it develops. My wife told me that this was going on for the three days in a row and she only told me this on the third day when she had a track record and it became more noticeable, lol.

Thanks guys!

 

Yesterday and today my wife noticed on her daily pads that she has a slight white discharge; it's whiteish in color and doesn't smell much and doesn't cause itching either. However, this has not happened since her early pregnancy days. She is into her early second trimester and started feeling the babies moving inside her a couple of days ago for the first time. Is this normal? Can this be her waters? Also, she said she just switched from Carefree pads to Everyday pads about the same time when she noticed this discharge...she thinks this can also be related to a pad's new absorption capacity perhaps...(Infection is highly unlikely, we both tested and are infection fee and have always used a condom since conception as an added protection.)

 

I had a lot, and I do mean a lot, of discharge when I was pregnant with my twins. I remember being worried and calling my doctor because at one point I was convinced maybe it was my mucuous plug. But it was just due to the normal pregnancy hormones, especially with expecting multiples. I definitely had more of that with my twins than with my singleton baby.