Now you're talking Dr Ted!

Wow.

Today I had my next OB appointment with Dr Ted Weaver. I rang this morning to make sure I WAS seeing him, not just a registrar. I was still dubious until he walked into the waiting room and called me.

He started off by asking how I was ect ect, then went straight in and re-capped our previous meeting 6 weeks ago, straight into telling me how as long as I hit 32-33 weeks and Baby A's head was down and we all had no other serious health problems, that he saw no reason why I could not birth these babies naturally.

A good start.

Then (he must have seen my 2 pages of questions in my hand) he sat and waited to be hit with questions. My wonderful midwife and I had sat down before the last appointment and really knocked out what I wanted to know. This morning, I went over those questions and wrote down my 'ideal' birth experience. Here it is:

1. labour starts naturally
2. ability to stand/kneel/sit throughout
3. not continuous monitoring - intermittent
4. birth standing or kneeling
5. hands off breech birth/s
6. no drugs
7. delayed cord clamping - if babies are healthy enough
8. skin to skin immediately - again - if babies are healthy enough
9. Daniel be allowed skin to skin whilst I'm birthing the others
10. how best to manage 3rd stage
11. Daniel to go with babies to Special Care Nursery if needed

Yes, I know it looks like a lot, but it's better to ask for more than less right? Here are his answers below:

1. Absolutely. He believes that my labour will start naturally and agrees that it is much better for us that way.
2. Throughout labour, yes. Much better for me to be comfortable and have the ability to move around whilst labouring. Which leads into #3
3. He said that monitoring was 'recommended' (he inserted the quotation marks), but in reality, almost impossible to do properly with 3 babies. He said we'd work it all out when the time came, but no, I will not be hooked up to 3 CTG monitors, which leads into #4
4. No. Probably the only real 'no' I got today. He wants me, especially for the breech birth/s to be upright on the bed. Ok, that's pretty much the same position as when I birthed the other 2 in the bath, so I'll compromise that one. Which leads into #5
5. His words: "Well, that's the way to do breech births." (in response to a 'hands off birth') Umm, ok, really?? He went on to explain that with all the extra room in their, they will most probably wiggle and move a lot after A is born. So, he will have someone place a small amount of pressure with their hands on either side of baby (on top  of my stomach), to keep them centered, then as baby is being birthed, he will not pull, like I was told from the registrar, he may have to rotate slightly to keep baby's chin from getting stuck. But if they are the right way around - anterior - he will not touch them.
6. The biggie. In the end - "it's completely up to you". I am completely shit scared of Epidurals. It's as easy as that. However.......I have a bit of a decision to make. Ted says it is highly unlikely that he will need to turn any of the babies (usually C if anything) internally. Yep. Hand up my vagina, through the cervix and grab a foot/head and bring the baby down. It has been done before, it will be done in the case of needing to get C out quick. But, he does doubt this will happen as my body has done this before and he is confident it will be able to do it perfect, even with 3. So, do I get the Epidural in case of this? As he said, as long as I know that if he needs to do an internal version, it will hurt. He said he has done them with another triplet mum, and some twin mums, who opted not to have the Epidural. They said they didn't care, and got through the pain. But the big BUT is: If something does go wrong, and they need to do a section, and I do not have an epidural line and drug in, I will need to be put under General Anesthetic. Scary. That means I will miss those first precious hours. The funny thing was, I was the one bringing up the 'what if's', he honestly thinks I'll be able to do this easy. It's nice that someone has the same faith in yourself that you do.
7. Yes, as long as they are ok. Depends on their gestation length as well.
8. See #7
9. Probably not. He explained (as have other people) that premmies need to be kept warm. #1 most important thing to remember. So, it's ok for me to have a few minutes skin to skin, but then they want them in the humidicribs keeping and staying warm.
10. Yes, this is a question more than a statement. With my history of long placental births, and the fact that loosing too much blood is a high risk in my situation, I'm happy to go with his recommendation here. I'll see what my body does for about 15 minutes, then re-assess. If the only drugs I have are at the end, that's ok. As he put it, "the last thing I want is for you to loose too much blood and then have 3 babies to look after. Not a happy ending at all"
11. Of course he can go with the babies, and then as soon as I am finished in delivery "I can walk there myself".

So in case you haven't guessed it, I'm pretty happy. Yes, no matter what the time or day, he will be there. They will get the staff they need there. He is so confident in me. That is the best. He knows my mantra of focusing on the natural birth. He understands that I know it may not go that way, and that I'll be happy with that outcome as long as we are all healthy. And unless I ask about possible other outcomes, he doesn't bring them up. He knows I've done my research, knows I'm strong, and believes in my body as much as I do. He's very happy with their growth. He also thinks that they will come out within 10-15 minutes of each other. Very cool.

Another scan and appointment in 3 weeks. Happy Days!