(Editor’s note: For Part I of Clare’s story about giving birth to twins at home, нажмите здесь.)
Finding out we were pregnant with twins wasn’t the only surprise from our first ultrasound: we were given two different due dates! Baby A was due June 30, Baby B was due July 3. I thought this was because of the size difference on the babies, but my midwife speculated that it could have been because of the babies being conceived on different days. (You can read more about the fertile window and the phenomenon of double ovulation here.)
June 29 arrived, and a friend of mine called me with an invitation to walk around Ikea. “Where can we take Clare to walk where it’s cool?” she laughingly asked me, as it was the middle of a humid Ohio summer. We brought our kids and made a day of it, hoping the exercise would induce labor. As an extra effort to get things going, this same friend bought us spicy Thai food at a new Asian restaurant in our area. We had a great time, but alas, no contractions.
I woke up on the first due date feeling the same as I had done for weeks, like I had exchanged a bowling ball for my belly and my hips were sore from the weight of it. “I guess these are going to be July babies after all,” I told my mom on the phone. It being Sunday, we went to church in the morning as usual, and put our kids down for naps in the afternoon. That’s when I started to notice some pressure increases along with faint contractions.
Labor begins
Finally, at 6:47pm, I texted my midwife that I had noticed some minor contractions now and then. She encouraged me to rest, and I went about my evening getting the kids ready for bed. Two hours later, I texted her again because I could feel increased pressure and occasional contractions. I still wasn’t confident it was the real thing, but she said she would start to head my way (she was a good hour and a half away). Soon after, I asked my doula to come over as she lived only a few minutes away, and that’s when things really started going.
By the time the doula arrived around 9pm, I was pausing during contractions and pacing the room. I found that bending over the edge of the bed was the most helpful. The doula helped my husband get the birth pool inflated and filled. Twinkle lights bathed the room in cozy light, peaceful praise-and-worship music played softly in the background—everything was ready.
I got into the regular bathtub while I waited for the birth pool to be filled, and the midwife found me there when she arrived at 10:53pm. They all helped me transfer to the birth pool, where things started to get much more intense and I was grateful for the soothing tranquility of the water. I remember saying over and over as I got into transition, “There’s so much pressure!”
Ready to push
My eyes were closed, but I could hear my midwife quietly reminding me to breathe through the contractions instead of clenching my teeth and pelvic floor. I started to feel “pushy” and wondered if it was only my reaction to the pressure because I wanted to do something about it. I felt like I hadn’t been in the pool for that long.
But sure enough, during one contraction, I started to feel myself yelling, that guttural, animal roar in response to an instinct deeper than we know. “I think the baby’s coming,” I gasped out to the midwife, and she deftly checked me from her position beside the pool (another reason to love midwives—they rarely ask you to lie on your back for checking dilation and baby’s position!).
But sure enough, during one contraction, I started to feel myself yelling, that guttural, animal roar in response to an instinct deeper than we know. “I think the baby’s coming,” I gasped out to the midwife, and she deftly checked me from her position beside the pool (another reason to love midwives—they rarely ask you to lie on your back for checking dilation and baby’s position!).
First baby’s birth
The pushing began. I don’t know how long it lasted, but it wasn’t long. My midwife reminded me to keep my sounds low and my jaw loose, my husband softly whispered encouragement by my side. Finally, with another yell, I felt myself drawn out of this animal world I had entered by the words, “Clare, reach down and grab your baby!” Somehow surprised, I looked down at the baby in the water below me and snatched her up.
Intermission
I felt utter relief at feeling her outside of my body instead of inside, but in the midst of this oxytocin-induced glow, I also felt unfinished. And that’s when the midwife said to me, “I need you to get out of the water.”
Second baby’s birth
My son was born “on land,” as they say, on my back on the bed—a position I was unexpectedly grateful for in the very real moment of bracing myself for birthing a second baby. When I got on the bed, with my doula on one side helping me hold Baby A, and my husband on the other side, the midwife began looking for Baby B’s heartbeat inside me. She was having trouble finding it, and I could tell she was beginning to be concerned. She said to me, “If I can’t find his heartbeat soon, we may need to transfer to the hospital.”
As if in response to what she had said, I felt the biggest urge to push that I have ever felt in my life, and I went with it. He was born very quickly, and from what my husband told me later, he came out looking a bit blue from the shock of it. But our midwife quickly and calmly stimulated him and did what she needed to do to revive him. Very soon, sooner than I could have hoped, he was placed on my chest and all was well.
Cue baby glow number two. As I rested, feeling that mix of surprise and relief when it’s all over, I realized something.
My twins were not only born at home, they were also born in different months!
“What time is it?” I asked the midwife.
“12:01 AM,” she said to me with a smile.
“Wait a minute,” I said, “that means he was born at midnight? So they have different birthdays?”
“Yes,” she said, “and even different months.” For indeed, Baby A was born on her due date, June 30, and Baby B was born a few days before his, on July 1. I think they will enjoy this fact about themselves as they get older.
For my part, I had minimal tearing, and no hemorrhaging whatsoever. It was overall a fast birth, comparable to my other two singleton births, and of course, it was my twin birth at home that I had hoped for.
For my part, I had minimal tearing, and no hemorrhaging whatsoever. It was overall a fast birth, comparable to my other two singleton births, and of course, it was my twin birth at home that I had hoped for.
What I hope other moms take from my story about giving birth to twins at home
Twin home births have made recent news with the publication of a исследование published in December 2024 showing good outcomes for one hundred sets of twins born at home [1]. The study’s TLDR? “A community birth with midwifery style care under specific protocol guidelines and with a skilled practitioner may be a reasonable choice for women wishing to avoid a cesarean section—especially when there is no option of a hospital vaginal birth.”
I hope my twin homebirth story will be likewise empowering and hopeful to women, especially those who feel that birth at a hospital with twins means an unwanted C-section. Hopefully it is clear that, oftentimes, twin births are simply just a variation of “normal” birth, and that every mother deserves to have woman-centered care that truly supports her well-being–no matter where she chooses to birth. I pray my story will play a small part in making this a reality.
Hopefully it is clear that, oftentimes, twin births are simply just a variation of “normal” birth, and that every mother deserves to have woman-centered care that truly supports her well-being–no matter where she chooses to birth. I pray my story will play a small part in making this a reality.
Дополнительное чтение:
Итак, вы собираетесь рожать в США... Какие у вас есть варианты?
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