Moms! How did you decide if you wanted a vaginal birth or a C-section?

@komdiarect I gave birth vaginally and baby B was breech. I do not envy anyone that's had a c-section...you sunroof mamas are Rockstars because healing from that AND caring for 2 newborns is next level.
 
@komdiarect Baby A was head down and baby B was transverse, they said I could do a vaginal one, but described how they go about flipping transverse babies and I decided a c-cestion was for me
 
@komdiarect Vaginal because I had 2 singletons via vaginal birth already..... When my twins came I ended up 1 vaginal and 1 C-section. 10/10 the vaginal birth was sooo much less complicated, less pain. Csection mamas are champs 👀
 
@komdiarect I just couldn't handle the idea that I could end up possibly having one baby vaginally and then still have a c-section for the second. I just really really didn't want that, so I went with a c-section. I did somewhat regret it though because the recovery was awful.
 
@komdiarect For me, I wanted a vaginal birth all the way. However, I compromised on the epidural part for a number of reasons. (1) Baby B was transverse in most of our scans so if I had an epidural, the doctor said they could do a manual extraction that I otherwise couldn’t stomach without an epidural. Avoiding a c-section in that scenario. (2) if I had to have an emergency c-section, the epidural lowered chances of me having to be out to sleep for the procedure. I wanted to be present.

Vaginal was my preference but I ended up getting a cesarean because of a prolapsed cord. The epidural was the thing that changed my experience most of all.
 
@komdiarect I asked my doctor what delivery method would be the safest for my boys. We had TTTS and laser surgery at 21 weeks so I didn't want to take any additional risks. We planned for a C-section and I was glad for it. I ended up PPROMing at 33 weeks and when we were prepping for the C-section, baby A dropped his heartbeat. The C became emergent and he was resuscitated at birth. I had already had my spinal so I was able to be awake for the birth, who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been prepped? Every birth is different - talk to your doctor and choose what you feel is the best decision.
 
@komdiarect Honestly it was a journey for me to even decide. At first I wanted a vaginal birth as I wanted to experience 'childbirth', but after talking to family and my best friend, I ended up deciding that C section was the way to go for me.

This conversation also happened between my OB and myself. Originally when we discussed it, she looked worried when I mentioned vaginal birth. My twins were also very active and would switch positions all the time and ended up being one on top of the other so C section was the best option for me.

Hubby and I also spoke about it and he said, "Why be hurt in 2 places when you can just have one place that needs to heal?"

It's true and I don't regret my birth experience at all.
 
@komdiarect We were going to attempt a vaginal birth because they were both head down. My body had other plans and at 32+1 they were delivered via emergency c section under general anesthesia. The recovery was hard for me because they messed up my order of pain medication and I had to go the first 48 hrs back home without it.
 
@komdiarect I was told I could do vaginal because I had a prior singleton pregnancy/vaginal delivery with no complications. However, A didn’t want to flip and we had to schedule a c-section…

3 days before I was scheduled to go in, I went into labor and A had flipped. It was late on a Friday night by the time we were in a rush to make a decision but I was lucky to get a hospitalist with many years of experience who was comfortable delivering B breech. I don’t know what he did but I know the anesthesiologist was even better than with my singleton and I didn’t even feel the need to push. Both babies came out fast and only a few minutes between each other. A doctor who knows what they’re doing and handles pressure well makes a huge difference.
 
@komdiarect I didn't. My doctor did while I was giving birth lol. But in all honestly, I would try for vaginal again even with my traumatic emergency c section that I did have. I would just do some things differently (which would be not letting them break baby A's sac because that was what set off the spiral of doom that led to the emergent CS).
 
@komdiarect My hospital encourages vaginal if possible. When my water broke at 31 weeks, twin A was head down and B wasn’t quite in position yet. I delivered A no problem and then they had to go in and turn B. After giving him time to drop I also delivered him vaginally. There’s a 51 minute difference between them.

Same when I went back 18 months later to deliver my 2nd set. Twin A was head down and B was still doing cartwheels. They broke his water and manually led the way for him. There’s a 38 minute difference.

With both deliveries I was up & about in no time
 
@komdiarect I was at my weekly OB visit, my MFM visits were on Tuesdays and OB either Thursday or Friday. I guess my MFM wrote in my chart they recommended I have the babies before 38w as my blood pressure had been high for a few weeks.

OB said “let’s schedule” so called the hospital. Hospital told my OB they “didn’t have time for a twin vaginal induction” this week and so I was given a few day options for a C-section.

That was it.

All to say, good luck. You can plan all you want. We watched for weeks for baby B to get in position. Both babies were head down. I should have been able to do a vaginal delivery or at least attempt one. I wasn’t given the opportunity.
 
@komdiarect I stressed over this decision too. Like you, I asked people about their experience. I also spoke to medical people (OBGYN & midwives) and attended a birth class that covered vaginal and c-section.

In the end I created a birth map, not a birth plan. I didn't have to decide until it was 'go time' (i.e. week 38, I went into labour, or medically needed to), so the decision would be based on the situation.

For me that included how confident I felt with the OBGYN in charge, the position babies were in, if I went into labour 'naturally', etc.

If I'm honest with myself, I wanted a vaginal birth but I was TERRIFIED of it. Now that I'm on the other side, I think a vaginal birth would have been significantly easier than my c-section recovery.

In the end I didn't really have a decision as they needed to be whipped out quickly with a c-section. But because of my birth map, I was able to do things that made it really special anyway - like immediate skin-to-skin, delayed chord clamping, etc.

Overall it was a beautiful birth. C-sections definitely can be. If I went again, I'd probably try harder for a vaginal birth but that's only with hindsight.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing; I hope you have a beautiful birth x
 
@komdiarect I’m a FTM to twins here. I chose to do the c-section to avoid having to recover from vaginal one baby and having to have an emergency c-section for baby B. It removed the unknown/variables. I like having time to mentally prepare for what’s going to happen and decided earlier rather than waiting to see if the babies position changed or not was easier mentally for me. They ended up both being breech so a c-section would have had to be the way anyways.
 
@komdiarect I had vaginal births with my three singletons and really wanted that experience with my twins. Baby B was transverse for most of my pregnancy, so I had lots of time to adjust to the idea of a scheduled c-section. My OB found a fellow doctor who was a twin specialist and was willing to help us with vaginal delivery, but that doc caught COVID as I was hitting my 37 weeks cutoff. So c-section it was. I didn’t like my c-section, but it was fast with both babies born within a minute of each other! There are pros and cons to both methods, and I have two amazing healthy babies and an easy recovery. So while I know it’s hard, I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about it. Keep an open mind and make decisions as they come!
 
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