Did you /will you have a birth plan?

[oceanbreeze]

This will be my first baby and i'm not sure i want a birth plan or not.

On one hand, I know that whatever will happen will happen during birth and the best laid plans often end up changing.

On the other hand, I would like at least to be able to say that there are things i absolutely do not wish to have, and things that i do. ...without sounding like a pushy, control freak.

So, did you have a birth plan?
So, will you have a birth plan?

If you've already had one, how did it turn out to what really happened. Were your wishes listened to & followed out (as much as they could be) or were they disregarded.

Or...do you think it's better to just not have one and just go with the flow?:shrug7:

[aCRaZyCoUpoNgiRl]

First, Congrats on having a baby! So exciting! My first baby did not go as planned. I was 2 weeks overdue and my water did not break so they had to do it in the hospital. I had a pitocin drip, that brings on labor faster. I was in severe pain until I had an epidural, that is where you are numb from the waist down. I was in labor for a total of 23 hours!!!

My second baby I decided to go pain free. No drugs, nothing. I walked to bring on labor faster and what also helped me was standing in the shower with the water full blast. I did that until I was almost ready to push. I had my son in only 5 hours compared to the 23 hours for my daughter. Also, having only 1 or 2 people in the room is better than a whole roomful! Yes, everyone is excited but when you are in pain and miserable, you don't want alot of conversation!

[MrsPinecone]

Congrats on the baby!

I have a couple of friends who are L&D or postpartum nurses, and in the nicest possible way, they kind of laugh at birth plans.

OK type of plan: a general idea of what you want (ie, "I want to avoid a c/section if at all possible")

The kind they mock: the 3 page typed out list of everything from what color scrubs they want the nurses to wear to what they want to happen to the placenta. (Exaggerating a little bit here, but you get my drift). Honestly, they say that they never get read.

My first baby was 8 days late, and I never dropped, effaced or dilated, even after 8 hours of Pitocin. Only a c/s managed to get my 10 lb, 22.5 inch long baby with his 15" head out of me. Didn't care, because he got here safely.

DD was a blissful scheduled c/s.

Don't be a martyr-- if you hurt, get some pain meds. They don't give out medals for how well you make it through childbirth.

So no, I had no birth plan either time. Don't have any unrealistic expectations, and you can't be disappointed.

[hrdlckwmn]

I did have one with my second dd, the only thing that saved/ made the experience what I wanted was having a supportive husband and a team of doulas backing us up. The dr could have cared less about what I wanted as long as I cooperated with him and his plans. Well, that didn't work at all.......

I hid in the bathroom with one of my doulas until I hit transition then I was a compliant lil patient. I delivered dd #2 with no drugs for pain, a moderate tear and DH will tell ya the funniest thing he ever saw was my water breaking.

I tried to have one with dd #1 but to no avail as I had some cardiac issues that the staff/dr weren't willing to play nicely with me on.

Birth plans are good things as long as all parties realize that they are expectations that may or may NOT be met. To me, they are more of a guide to the staff/dr that this is what I desire and I realise the most important thing is the health of baby and mom.

[taylordvd]

Making a birth plan was the one thing I did not do on my checklist before dd was born. What a blessing. Her birth was filled with complications. I think the more important thing is that you communicate with your spouse/so what you want and then they can put everything through the proper filter, hopefully. If I had had a birth plan with dd, I would have left the hospital so disappointed. Since I did not have one, I left feeling relieved that both her and I was alive and well. (Well, at least me on the getting better track.)

[RosieG]

I had my first child when the Lamaze method was first coming into prominence. (He was 40 in Sept) Gasp***

I went to the Lamaze classes and decided right away that an epidural freaked me out. My plan was no pain meds, no epidural. That worked pretty well until I was convinced that some pain med would make me relax and make the first delivery go better. All it made me do was throw up; of course, that could have been transition. Can't remember since it was a long time ago.

Long story short: I delivered my first 8 lb 3 oz child with only the one pain shot and my second 9 lb 3 oz with nothing. I was not a martyr; I just wanted to be in control of my body.

[cintinative]

I had one but everything went awry with it. My first came 4 weeks early because my water broke. I made it as long as I could without an epidural, but because we didn't have the stuff ready (tennis balls and bags of rice, etc.) it was not as planned.

My second came very fast so by the time they got me in a room at the hospital and gave me the epidural, I was 10 cm. dialated and ready to push. And my son was there because my parents were late to come meet us at the hospital and get him so dh wasn't able to help me with anything.

So I guess my advice to you is: do one, but be prepared if nature throws a wrench in the plans! =)

[ekoury]

IMHO, a birth plan is just a list of your wishes. It might not go your way, so the most important thing is not to ping it on the door of your room for every nurse and dr to read before they come in. Make it, have your DH read it, make him understand your wishes and remember them. Be in agreement with your DH on how you would like to handle things in the room. However, be prepared that it might not go that way.

If you want to go natural and have no meds, make sure your Dh knows about it and can stand up for you if you are offered the meds a little too often. You do not have to be your only advocate. Involve him or whoever is going to be in the room with you. This is all fine as long as there are no problems with the delivery.

I would not write out 10 pages of your wishes, but you can find multiple birth plans online and combine them into what you want. It's good to have as it lets you remember your choices and they are all in one place. With everything else going on, you might forget your own name, so having a list of your most important wishes for that day is always good.

[shaeharbin]

I didn't have a typed out birth plan but I knew I didn't want an epidural with my 2nd DD. Had one with my 1st DD but it didn't take because I progressed to quickly...so I made it through fine. I assumed it would be as easy the second time around. I had terrible back labor and the breathing was helping me control the contractions until they got so close together I couldn't keep up plus I had nurses asking me questions (looking back I wish I would have told them to shut up or get out!). So I finally decided to get an epidural. So point in case you can know what you want but as PP said be ready for change :) Good Luck!

[OsweetchildrenO]

I am due in June with my first and I will have a simple birth plan printed out - MAINLY for my husband so he is aware of what my wishes are and can vocalize them when I need him to. Because when the time comes ...he won't remember everything I tell him anyway.