Did you /will you have a birth plan?

[honeybear1]

I didn't write out a birth plan with either of my sons. Going into my first, I just wanted to see what labor was like and how I could handle it. With my second, I knew what I could do, and more of what I wanted.

Both labors were very different, but normal by the books. First labor, I was 41wks and I was sched for induction the next day. Went into labor naturally the night before- in timable contrax for 12-13 hours, got to the hosp at 5-6cm. Pushed for 40min.
Second, I was in pre-labor for the entire day, nothing was happening until that night- started timeable contrax at 9pm, baby was born at 341am. Everything went a LOT quicker and was more intense.

I had two beautiful boys, 8lbs2oz and 8lbs 12oz with no meds and with as natural of birth as a hospital allows. I was never offered any meds... just looked at like a science experiment.

I did have an iv both times-- first b/c I didn't know better and the second time, I got the heplock in but 15 mins before 10cm they put an iv in-- at that point they could have cut off my leg and I wouldn't have cared.

Have an idea of what you want, and hopefully you have a doc that has the same idea of childbirth that you do.

[MamaCas]

I'm pregnant with our first, due in April. I'm the type of person that can plan something to death and get very upset when things don't go according to plan, so I'm not even bothering with a birth plan, because I know it won't go according to plan. There's just too many "what if's" and things can change in the blink of an eye. The uncertainty surrounding when I'll actually go into labor stresses me out enough, because I just know it'll happen at work! lol! (And all the bosses at work even have a plan in place for that, lol)

What I have done is told my "support team" (DH, mom, sister) my general wishes surrounding the day I go into labor, which is only really 3 things. Other than those 3 things, we're just going to go with the flow. :)

[foggierbard9]

I didn't have a birth plan with my first and won't have a written one with this baby either. I don't think they would have listened to me the first time anyways. This time I know more of what to expect, and I know what I would like, but if it doesn't go as planned, I don't want to disappoint myself.

[amylynne01]

With my first, my birth plan went out the window when I was induced because of pre-e. At that point, my birth plan was to have a baby!

With my second, I had a much stronger idea of what I wanted. I talked to hubby and my nurses about it, and it went just as I expected. I wanted to labor peacefully by walking, sitting on a birthing ball, using the jacuzzi, etc. I wanted few medical interventions (as long as baby was okay). I wanted meds if I wanted them. I ran my labor, and my nurse was supportive and helpful, never pushy. That being said, if something suddenly went wrong, I would rely more on the knowledge and experience of the medical staff to protect myself and my baby.

I think it's important to have a plan but be prepared to modify it depending on what comes up. Most importantly, be educated on all birthing options, all pain relievers, all techniques so you can use what will work at the time of a contraction.

[Pendlemom]

We did the Bradley Method and i wanted as close to a natural birth as I could get. The birth plan was extremely important to us. We did a 1 page bulleted document with a summary at the top thanking the nurses and the hospital. We let them know that the most important thing to us was a Healthy Mommy/Healthy Baby. We included that we knew complications may arise but if everything proceeded without complications we would like XYZ.

My water broke and labor did not start for 24 hours. During that time my plan was honored. I had no IV, no meds, no continuous monitoring. Because my labor didn't start on my own we had a discussion about options and i elected to have pitocin. At that point I had to have an IV and monitoring. I chose a hospital that had telemetry monitoring just in case. I did not have to be stationary during labor. The nurses continued to honor my birth plan. I made it through 8 hours of pitocin without any pain meds and I would do it all over again.

It was important for us that we have time with our son immediately after birth. He was placed right on my chest and did the crawl to breastfeed. The Dr even let the cord stop pulsating before he cut it. It was awesome. Because my water had been broken for 36 hours at that point we compromised on 30 minutes of time together before they took DS to the nursery. The plan had been for an hour. They delayed the eye ointment, vitamin K, and did not do the Hep B shot at our request.

Our plan was honored perfectly even if everything didn't go "according to plan". The nurses and doctor respected it. When a complication arose we discussed options and I was in control to make the choice. You do need to be flexible in case things do not proceed "normally" but you don't have to give up your wishes. If I had a nurse who disregarded my plan and laughed it off I would have immediately asked for a new nurse.

Educate yourself and make sure you have a doctor who will respect your wishes for whatever type of birth you desire. Ask them a bunch of questions before you get into the delivery room. Whether you want to go natural, have a planned C-section, or get an epidural the second you walk through the door--its good to know your doc is in your corner.