What are your birth plans? - Page 3

[NishaG]

I am planning a HB.  This is DC #3, and both sons were natural hospital births.  I have an appt with my midwife next week.

[noeonend]

This one will be either a homebirth, or due to the crazy issues going on in NC right now, if my midwife can't practice in the state I will go just over the border to SC and rent a hotel room.  Not ideal, but I won't go to a hospital unless there is a true need.  My first was a pretty rough vaginal hospital birth, and our second was a wonderful homebirth.  I'm not a very happy preggy person, so I'm just excited about getting to birth again!!

[ablepearl]

I have no clue.  My desire is a home birth, and I have many reasons why this is the best choice.  THe problem is we would have to pay out of pocket for a traveling midwife, and I am not sure we can afford it.  I really need to find out what it is like to birth at the hospital here before I decide.  I have had three births without any pain meds, but only one without any real interventions.  I want a gentle, intervention free birth.  Where that happens isn't as important, but man birthing at home would be great!  My daughters both came rather quickly once labor started for real.  Less than 4 hours total.  So, being we live about 40 mins form the hospital on good roads, and it will be icy then, I worry.  I don't want the baby born in the car when it is -40F!!!!

[lisakisses]

My last three births were HBAC, and of course I plan on having another homebirth this time!  Birth is my favorite part, I'm really excited I am blessed enough to do it again!

[Conchobhar]

Originally Posted by lisakisses 

Birth is my favorite part...

Yay!  I'm glad there's someone else out there that thinks that way!!!  My last pregnancy was rough, but the birth made up for it, tenfold!

[Conchobhar]

I honestly don't know where to ask this question, so I apologize if this is in the wrong place.  And honestly, I don't even know if I'm asking the right question, or if it's a question at all...

So they say the labor for the 2nd kid is generally faster.  With my first, I went from 0 to complete in 45 minutes, then pushed for 15 minutes.  So in all, my labor was an hour.

The concern I have is technically, I don't know if what I felt was a natural progression, or if I only went that fast because they had inserted a cervix softener.  I never had pitocin or any other drugs.

My other concern is I only had 2 contractions before pushing, where I couldn't talk through them (Or move at all, really).  The earlier contractions felt less than what I get on a monthly basis with menstrual cramps, so I wrote them off, I guess?

I guess, for those with multip kids...  should I be prepared for a quicker birth or is it more of an old wives tale?  I know everyone is different, etc.  I'm not concerned that they'll suggest I get induced at 39 weeks, just to avoid an emergency, because I'm at a birth center that doesn't induce.  Do I tell them anyway that my first birth was fast or do you think it was all due to medication and I'm really not that awesome?  Do I head to the birth center at the first twinge of a cramp, or do I wait until the usual sign of not being able to talk through a contraction before I go?

The birth center, in good traffic, is 7 minutes away.  I should hope that I wouldn't having a kid on the side of the road within 7 minutes, but I did tell my DH that he should be prepared.  We took Bradley classes for our 1st, so DH is ready to catch a baby, should we end up with a surprise unassisted HB (though I really don't want to clean up after one).

I know it's super early to be talking about this, but it is something that's been on my mind.

Edited by Conchobhar - 5/18/11 at 9:03am

[lisakisses]

Originally Posted by Conchobhar 

I guess, for those with multip kids...  should I be prepared for a quicker birth or is it more of an old wives tale? 

My last few labors did not go faster at all, nor did the pushing part.  The labors/ births that were quicker seemed to be the ones where baby was just in a great position.  My "worst" labor/birth was due to a little guy that had his head in an odd way, and refused to get into a good position.  My last labor, baby 7, we had some position issues and again, was not one of the more smooth births. 

[cameragirl]

I'd love to give birth at our local birth center, but I don't think it will happen.  The first time, I had a c-section because I had a large baby and low fluid.  With a good midwife, I probably could have birthed her without complications.  I wasn't as concerned about a natural birth then as I am now.  I was not happy with the hospital experience.  My daughter had trouble transitioning, and was taken to the NICU for an hour, give or take.  I had the shakes BAD from the morphine and ended up very drugged up.  I gave birth the same day the hospital somehow had 10 sets of twins, and it was packed.  My roommate brought in stinky food and ate before she was supposed to, so she was hogging the bathroom while she was sick.  (Meanwhile, I got chastised for waiting too long to pee by the nurses.)  I ended up bawling the next day because I didn't sleep that night because of the roommate, or the night before  because of nerves. The nurse sent a social worker assuming that I was depressed, and I had explain that I was just freaking exhausted.  I ended up having an autoimmune reaction and stayed for five days.

This time around, I'd really love to do a VBAC.  I have a muscle condition that causes rigidity and spasms of the voluntary muscles, though, and the recommendation is a c-section.  I checked with my doctors prior to trying, and nobody had any real concerns aside from the medication.   Right now, I'm stepping off the medication and it's rough.  I'm switching OB's, too, so I asked for a recommendation from my neurologist.  That being said, I am going to explore my options as much as possible this time.  I will be delivering at a smaller, newer hospital with individual rooms.  God willing, I'll be able to nurse asap.  I also would like to postpone the antibiotic eye goop until after I hold and look into my baby's eyes. 

[lactatinggirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conchobhar 

I honestly don't know where to ask this question, so I apologize if this is in the wrong place.  And honestly, I don't even know if I'm asking the right question, or if it's a question at all...

So they say the labor for the 2nd kid is generally faster.  With my first, I went from 0 to complete in 45 minutes, then pushed for 15 minutes.  So in all, my labor was an hour.

The concern I have is technically, I don't know if what I felt was a natural progression, or if I only went that fast because they had inserted a cervix softener.  I never had pitocin or any other drugs.

My other concern is I only had 2 contractions before pushing, where I couldn't talk through them (Or move at all, really).  The earlier contractions felt less than what I get on a monthly basis with menstrual cramps, so I wrote them off, I guess?

I guess, for those with multip kids...  should I be prepared for a quicker birth or is it more of an old wives tale?  I know everyone is different, etc.  I'm not concerned that they'll suggest I get induced at 39 weeks, just to avoid an emergency, because I'm at a birth center that doesn't induce.  Do I tell them anyway that my first birth was fast or do you think it was all due to medication and I'm really not that awesome?  Do I head to the birth center at the first twinge of a cramp, or do I wait until the usual sign of not being able to talk through a contraction before I go?

The birth center, in good traffic, is 7 minutes away.  I should hope that I wouldn't having a kid on the side of the road within 7 minutes, but I did tell my DH that he should be prepared.  We took Bradley classes for our 1st, so DH is ready to catch a baby, should we end up with a surprise unassisted HB (though I really don't want to clean up after one).

I know it's super early to be talking about this, but it is something that's been on my mind.

My first was an accidental home birth. It wasn't as scary as I was of it. Really, we all ended just fine. The whole experience of being taken to the hospital and basically being ignored for all of my opinions is what made me decide to have a planned home birth this time. Anyway, my point is that if you do accidentally birth at home, then I'd say don't let them take you to the hospital. We were treated like an emergency. Like my house was a sewer. If I would have known I could, I would have told them to go away and called a home birth midwife and asked her to come help me. 

[Conchobhar]

Originally Posted by lactatinggirl 

Quote:

My first was an accidental home birth. It wasn't as scary as I was of it. Really, we all ended just fine. The whole experience of being taken to the hospital and basically being ignored for all of my opinions is what made me decide to have a planned home birth this time. Anyway, my point is that if you do accidentally birth at home, then I'd say don't let them take you to the hospital. We were treated like an emergency. Like my house was a sewer. If I would have known I could, I would have told them to go away and called a home birth midwife and asked her to come help me. 

Thank you!!!!  That actually made it clear as to what question I need to ask my midwife about the situation - Ask her what their policy is, should I end up with an unplanned home birth!  Thank you!