My amazing twin vaginal birth!

I taught this amazing couple last year for their amazing twin birth. I loved their energy and their connection. I felt so privileged that they chose to do my classes and I was able to inspire them and help them to shape the birth that they desired.

When Em offered to send me the birth story of her gorgeous boys Sunny and Reef, I was so excited as I knew they'd had such a lovely birth that left them feeling empowered and happy. And this is way better than I expected. So grab a cuppa and enjoy this amazing birth story! - Nic x

I was 34+6 weeks when my waters broke late one Wednesday evening. I had just finished a yoga nidra practice (guided relaxation) and I was feeling calm & grounded – this would set the tone for my entire birth. My first call was to my husband who was at work and my second to the hospital. As it was a multiple birth and I wasn’t yet full term the midwife said I had better come in right away. Earlier that day I had been at the hospital for a routine ultrasound and had re-packed my hospital bag (talk about a mothers intuition) so on the car ride there I was feeling confident and prepared. We arrived at delivery suite around 10pm and because I was having twins I got the big room at the end of the corridor, my silver lining! The midwife put the fetal heart rate monitors on me and said I was having contractions, which at that point I couldn’t feel. I was 1cm dilated and uneffaced. We spent that night in delivery suite for monitoring and were told to get some rest. My husband slept like a baby (no surprise there!) and I managed to get some decent sleep through mild surges. The following morning we were told it could take days until I was in active labour but hospital policy was to keep me in under observation for 48 hours. I was transferred to the maternity ward as delivery suite was very busy that day to basically ‘wait and see’ what happens.

At this stage I was having slightly stronger surges spaced randomly apart with no clear rhythm. I can honestly say the surges did not hurt as I calmly breathed through them just as we had practiced in the hypnobirthing course. That day I remember going to the toilet alot to empty my bowels and having a slightly pink mucousy discharge which I now recognise as loosing my mucus plug. Surges were still not very painful and few and far between. I was told that until I had 3 contractions in the space of 10 minutes I was not in active labour, so I set myself up for the long haul. I used each surge to visualise my cervix opening like a lotus (just as in the hypnobirthing picture) and my two main mantras were ‘I trust my body’ and ‘each surge brings me closer to meeting my babies’. By about 4pm I was feeling a little uncomfortable in the maternity ward and decided to go for a walk to help relieve some of my back pain. Well I didn’t even make it out the door when I felt something fall out of my vagina! I called for the nurse and straight away I was rushed to delivery suite. It was my babies membranes filled with some amniotic fluid that had slipped through (thank god it wasn’t the umbilical cord) and the doctor did my second cervical exam since yesterday and informed me I was 9cm dilated, with my first baby at a -1 station.

I couldn’t believe it, my first stage of labour was so easy! Probably because I didn’t realise I was in it! With in half an hour I was 10 cm dilated, twin one had moved down to a 0 station and the surges were now coming on very strong and close together. It was time to push. I didn’t want anything to with the bed and wanted to be as close to the ground as possible. I found being on all fours or in a squatting position on a birthing stool the most comfortable. Actually sitting on the toilet helped too! An hour or two passed by and still no baby. I was pushing and pushing but I never had the urge to bear down and could not feel my baby pressing against my cervix. By now 3 hours had passed of stage 2 labour and I was becoming exhausted. I remember thinking at this point even if I can push this baby out I still have another one to go, I need some help! I asked for a epidural. As I was signing the paperwork for the epidural my doctor came in and told me twin ones heart rate was dropping and we needed to go to theatre for a potential cesarean. At this point I just wanted my babies out and I was prepared for whatever turn my birthing took.

An ultrasound revealed twin one was not in an ideal position (hence why I didn’t feel the urge to bear down) and with his brother wedged on top of him he did not have the room to adjust. I was given an injection to slow contractions and sent down to theatre. Up to this point I had no pain relief whatsoever – not even the tens machine! Instead of an epidural I was given a spinal analgesic which numbed me from the waist down. The team of doctors were really supportive of me having a vaginal twin birth so we gave it one last go of pushing on the theatre table. With the help of a episiotomy, ventouse and another 45 minutes of pushing our first baby was born! What a rush of relief when I heard that first cry. In an instant I become a mother. We were parents. I did it!

My husband and I balled our eyes out looking at our tiny baby boy in disbelief. He wasn’t with me long before being whisked away to his support team. With all the commotion and emotion in the room, I had to pull it all together and birth twin 2. Luckily he had stayed head down (the doctors were worried about him turning) and they decided to break his waters for delivery. When his waters broke his umbilical cord rushed out first and it was a cord prolapse. Emergency! I was told I had to get this baby out right now. With all my strength I pushed even more fiercely than before and my second baby was born. He came out white, floppy, not breathing and with a apgar score of 3. This was a moment I was truly scared. He was taken straight to his support team and within seconds my baby came to life. He opened his eyes wide, began breathing but did not cry. He looked kind of grumpy as if he didn’t understand what all the fuss was about! My babies were born 2.3kg each at 35 weeks gestation to the day. Being premature they spent the next 13 days in special care nursery where we learnt expert care from the lovely midwifes and nurses.

I am still so proud of how I handled the birth and that I managed to avoid a cesarean. Everyone just assumed that with a multiple pregnancy it would be an automatic C-section but we proved them all wrong! I cannot thank Nicole enough for being so supportive and offering me a different perspective on twin birth. With her expert knowledge and answering my millions of questions I felt informed and well researched with my choices on the day. I can’t recommend the Hypnobirthing Australia course more! Especially if you are a twin mamma and wanting to explore a non-medicalised approach to birth, it certainly is possible.