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Home › Stories › First Baby › Multiples > Twin Homebirth: Unplanned, Fast, One unassisted, One with a Midwife

Twin Homebirth: Unplanned, Fast, One unassisted, One with a Midwife

By Theresa

About six months into our marriage, my husband and I learned I was pregnant. I was 21, my husband 23. Our original plan was to wait a couple of years so we could become more financially stable. I guess Mother Nature had other ideas. We welcomed the pregnancy and we looking forward to having a baby.

I'm not going to lie. The first trimester was hell. I was sick all the time. I couldn't eat anything without throwing up 10 minutes later. The mere thought of food made me nauseous. Funny thing was, the baby continued to get bigger. I didn't know where the nourishment was coming from, but I was still happy my belly was getting bigger.

My midwife assured me everything looked normal, and I should start feeling better by the 4th month. Thank God she was right.

So morning sickness was gone, and I could eat again. I didn't have the "I'm eating for two" attitude so I wasn't eating a lot, but my stomach was huge. By 25 weeks, I looked like I was getting ready to give birth. As a safety precaution, my midwife sent me to the hospital for a routine ultrasound.

The doctor read my file and said everything looked fine. He had me lie back on the table, exposed my belly and began the ultrasound. He moved slowly, examining every part. I lay there holding my husband's hand, afraid to look in the direction of the screen. After what felt like forever, the doctor turned off the machine and started cleaning me up. He said, "Both babies look totally healthy." We were expecting twins.

Now I felt like I had to change my course of action. We'd planned on delivering naturally at home. Now that it was twins, the first thought that popped into my head was Cesarean section. When I asked my midwife how to go about scheduling it, she said there wasn't any need to do that and we could still opt for a vaginal birth. I was surprised because I thought all multiple pregnancies had to be delivered surgically. I was wrong.

The following weeks were spent closely monitoring the babies. My husband and I now had to make sure we had two of everything. By week 36, both babies were in the "head down" position, and Baby A was presenting first. My midwife estimated they were both weighing about 7 pounds each. Knowing that twins often come early, we were expecting I had about one week left before the big day.

Week 37 came and went, as did weeks 38 and 39. I reached my due date, and still no babies. I saw my midwife on Friday. We scheduled an induction for that coming Monday. Saturday, I started feeling what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. Nothing big, so I went to bed thinking nothing of it and the pains continued here and there.

I woke up in the middle of the night in agonizing pain. I woke my husband up first; then I called the midwife and told her I thought I was in labor. Since she lived almost two hours away, she told me she was on her way, and she'd meet me at the house.

The contractions were insane. They were coming so quickly and strongly I couldn't stay on top of them. An hour and a half after I called the midwife, I was lying in bed, a sheet covering my legs and wearing nothing but my bikini top (I'd just gotten out of the shower). I felt a strong contraction that was unlike the others. My body was telling me to push.

I felt inside, and could just barely feel Baby A's head. I wasn't sure if I should push, though, because I didn't know what 10 centimeters dilated felt like. My husband told me to wait until the midwife arrived. I tried, but with each contraction, I want to push even more.

Ten minutes later, I was spreading my knees without even thinking about it. I couldn't fight my body anymore. It wanted me to push the baby out.

I felt the burning "ring of fire" as my husband removed the sheet. I screamed so loud I scared myself. He said the baby was coming. I grabbed my legs and pushed as hard as I could. I felt so much better. After three pushes the head was out.

I rested while waiting for the next contraction, which only took about 30 seconds. I pushed with all my might, but something was wrong. The baby wasn't coming. It was stuck. I asked my husband what to do, like he actually knew. He said just to keep pushing. I pushed and pushed even without contractions. The baby wasn't budging.

Finally my husband cupped his hands around the baby, and started wriggling it. After a couple minutes, it finally came loose and slid out the rest of the way. It was a boy. The midwife walked in almost immediately afterwards. We told her what happened. She checked the baby over thoroughly and said he was fine.

Not 15 minutes later, my contractions started up again. They felt stronger than before and I instantly had the urge to push. The midwife quickly put a glove on and checked me. She could feel the head coming while she was checking me. She told me to give a strong push. I didn't have a lot of strength left after trying to birth the other baby. Thankfully one push brought the baby's head out all the way. She told me to breathe while she suctioned. A contraction came and my body pushed the rest of the baby out without any effort on my part. We had another boy.

Christian Michael and Jackson Levy were born March 16, 2008. Christian weighed an even 9 pounds. Now I know why he had a hard time coming out. Jackson came in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Both are happy and healthy.

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