Charlotte and Analisa's Twin Birth Story

Well, it certainly has been a little busy around here (which may be the understatement of the year). But I am slowly getting back into the groove here, and managed to write this post as well as one on my favorite Christian Christmas gifts HERE.

I am so sorry to take so long to finally post about the twins' birth. I know there are two camps of people: those who LOVE to read birth stories and those who could care less. So please, if you are in the second camp, feel free to pass on this post! But for those of you who, like me, love all the details, here you go!

I started having prodromal labor with my twins around 36.5 weeks. This is commonly referred to as false labor, but it is real labor in that all contractions are real and very much the same as labor contractions, but prodromal labor tapers off without progressing into a birth. I'd have episodes of 6-8 hours of regular, long labor contractions, only to have it stop and leave me totally frustrated and feeling stupid (I mean, I've had a baby before! Shouldn't I be able to tell "this is it"?).

All of this prodromal labor made me hopeful they would come early, even though I had mentally prepared myself to go to my due date because my singleton had cooked until 41weeks 5days. I was waking every night for a few hours of contractions that went nowhere, and I had two bouts of pretty serious labor at 38 weeks and 39 weeks, but still no babies.

39.5 weeks

Then my due date came and went, and still no babies. 

To say I was antsy was an understatement. I just wanted them out! But I don't believe in induction without a medical indication for it, and babies and I were all looking great.

So time went on. I felt like I was on the edge of labor for the last week, feeling very crampy and having intense contractions here and there. My midwives almost never do membrane sweeps, but at 40+4 they agreed to do one on me because I was so miserable. This was about as much of an induction as I was willing to do. When they did it they reported I was dilated to a 3, baby A was "right there", and I would probably go into labor right away. I ended up having lots of contractions, lost my mucus plug and had bloody show the next day, but still no babies.

Finally, at 41 weeks on October 29, I started having steady contractions around 6pm. It felt the same as my prodromal labors, but the contractions were staying steady at 5 mins apart. I went to bed hopeful I'd wake up in full blown labor (but let’s be honest, I was pretty sure I’d be pregnant FOREVER at that point). I was still having contractions but they definitely weren't the super strong ones I remembered from my first baby. I woke up at 3am to contractions that were slightly painful and very steady. I got up and started moving around, and the contractions stayed 4ish minutes apart. I decided to call the midwives and tell them to come over. They arrived and checked me and found I was dilated to a 7. Woohoo!

I labored and labored but never felt like it was getting super intense. I was still able to talk and joke between contractions, I was eating.... everything stayed about the same for hours. At 8am I decided to go lie down because I was feeling tired and hoped the relaxing would help move things along.

I napped for 2 hours and woke up to the same contractions plugging away. The nap seriously helped my energy levels, and I was ready to get these babies out (as if I hadn't been ready for weeks!). I walked up and down the stairs hoping to rev up the contractions. But time passed and my contractions didn't really seem to be getting to that next place.

I talked with my midwives and we all decided to break my water to hopefully get my labor to the next stage. The only reason I decided on this was because my mom had told me that with every one of her 4 pregnancies her labor stalled for hours at 7cm until they finally broke her water. My midwife broke my water and we discovered I was dilated to an 8 when she did that. I got into the tub after they broke my water and within a few minutes I was experiencing the tougher transition contractions that brought tears to my eyes and had me praying it would be over soon. And while those contractions truly stink, they did make me excited that it would all be over soon.

After only a few of those contractions I felt the pressure change that signaled baby A had moved down, and I felt the urge to push. I was already positioned facing the side of the tub with my arms propped onto the side and my husband holding my hands. I started pushing and baby A was out within a few minutes at 12:27pm. I labored with my first pregnancy in the tub but didn't give birth there. This time baby A was born into the water and I pulled her up onto my chest. I immediately noticed that Charlotte Sophia was smaller than Victoria had been, but she was still big and strong for a twin at 7lbs 6oz.

I had a few minutes to cuddle her, during which my midwives had me sit on a birthing stool in the tub to help baby B descend (and we hoped to prevent her from flipping out of her head-down position). It wasn't long before contractions started again, and my midwives urged me to push a bit to help baby B descend. We soon realized the birthing stool just wasn't working for me. My husband took Charlotte from me for some skin to skin time and I moved back into the position leaning on the side of the tub that I had used before.

I remember thinking "I am going to get this baby out in as few pushes as possible so this can be OVER!". So I bore down as hard as I could during my next contraction and felt the baby move down. She was still in her sac when I got her head out, but it broke as I birthed the rest of her. I got her out in just a few big pushes and was so relieved that labor was over and I could just snuggle my babies! Analisa Iris was bigger, at 8lbs even! That means 15lbs 6oz total of just baby! 

I came away from this labor in embarrassingly good condition. I felt 100% back to normal within a few weeks, and I've been able to get back to my Body Combat work outs by 6 weeks. I actually felt better after this birth than I did after Victoria's birth. I am so grateful for this, since this pregnancy was tough on me.

I attribute the super fast recovery and lack of "damage" to:
-Having a water birth
-Waiting for the babies to come when my body was ready
-Being in much better shape during and before this pregnancy

More photos and updates on what has been happening here to come (and soon, I promise haha).

Charlotte (left) and Analisa (right)

More photos and updates on what has been happening here to come (and soon, I promise haha).