Are you guys writing birth plans? If so, have you done it yet or are you a procrastinator? What is most important to you about your birth experience?
DH and I are working on ours. I hope to be able to give it to my MW and doula this coming week. I'm not going too detailed I don't think, but I want as little intervention and medication as possible so I want that to be clear and to stress that I'd rather not be offered drugs until I ask about them, etc.
Anyway, I was just curious what others are up to and thought maybe some of you might like to discuss birth plans a bit.
I'm sort of posting and running, sorry, but I'll be back in a few hours
We didn't do one per se. We just told our doctor the few things I cared about. I try not to get to wrapped up in controlling things because most of the time, it usually doesn't work out the way I want it to. My OB said the same thing. My biggest issue was that DH is not to leave my side at any moment. Everything else, I'm pretty flexible with.
Post by thejollyrancher on Jan 22, 2015 17:26:06 GMT -5
No, I think it's better to keep an open mind as anything can happen leading up to and during labour. My midwife has gathered info from my previous birth plus my preferences to get an idea of what we're looking at, or rather what were aiming for. I'm happy with my hospital's policies on a lot of things so I'm lucky there (skin to skin, delayed cord clamping, early breastfeeding, etc). Side note- If I change my mind about my mom being in the room we have signal lol!
Post by valentino2013 on Jan 22, 2015 17:35:20 GMT -5
My DH and I have talked about things that are important to us (ie: trying to go as long as possible with no meds) but don't plan to put anything in writing. As long as he and I are on the same page, he can help me express myself. There are 6 doctors in my practice and any one of them could be on call when I deliver so there is no point in creating a "plan" with a doctor only to ave to re-explain to the one there on D-Day.
I did a "Birth Preferences" for DS & this LO. Nothing crazy & lines up with hospital policies.
My wish list (assuming all medically possible, health/safety of mom/baby): -no episiotomy, prefer to tear naturally -prefer Nubain/Stadol (analgesic) if needed but would like to not have epidural this time -skin to skin/kangaroo care- includes doing Apgars on my chest instead of taking baby to warmer to clean/assess -allow cord to stop pulsating prior to DH cutting it -want to EBF --> no pacis, sugar water, formula w/o parental consent -if boy, want circ (ok to use EMLA cream, sugar water here)
Post by mom2xover2002 on Jan 22, 2015 18:52:14 GMT -5
I did a basic one for DH and our friend who's basically going to be our Doula/keep DH calm/bouncer at the hospital. (DH can't stand hospitals after all his back surgeries as a kid) Ours has: -pain relief prn would rather not like an epidural -lights low and not a lot of talking -move around as much as possible -kids are first to see LO after we are all cleaned up -shower for me before seeing anyone including kids -DH to cut cord if he wants
That's it for now, plus it has my medical dx's on it like high bp, baby's name so DH spells it right, I have contacts/glasses
My DH and I have talked about things that are important to us (ie: trying to go as long as possible with no meds) but don't plan to put anything in writing. As long as he and I are on the same page, he can help me express myself. There are 6 doctors in my practice and any one of them could be on call when I deliver so there is no point in creating a "plan" with a doctor only to ave to re-explain to the one there on D-Day.
This is why my MW is encouraging me to do one, they put it in my record so that whoever is on-call and the nurse we end up with can review it, or if an OB needs to come in, rather than us having to explain. Plus my support people and I can be on the same page so that they can advocate for me and help me make decisions if/when things go differently than hoped.
I did a basic one for DH and our friend who's basically going to be our Doula/keep DH calm/bouncer at the hospital. (DH can't stand hospitals after all his back surgeries as a kid) Ours has: -pain relief prn would rather not like an epidural -lights low and not a lot of talking -move around as much as possible -kids are first to see LO after we are all cleaned up -shower for me before seeing anyone including kids -DH to cut cord if he wants
That's it for now, plus it has my medical dx's on it like high bp, baby's name so DH spells it right, I have contacts/glasses
Yeah, I think this is about the level of detail I'm going for. I don't want to control everything, but I would like to communicate what will help me give birth best as well as a couple preferences if we do end up needing to induce or have a c-section.
My office encourages you not to write a birth plan. So we never did. They do encourage us review the pain relief options and interventions they may offer during labour so you aren't hearing them for the first time in between contractions. So thats what we did and we discussed between the two of us what route we would take if we had to consider any interventions.
Post by allonsy221b on Jan 22, 2015 19:23:30 GMT -5
I am trying for a VBAC so while I wanted no epidural, if I don't get one and then need surgery they have to put me under and I don't want that more.
If medically possible and safe for mom/baby DH only until ready for guests after birth Epidural No episiotomy Delayed cord clamping/cutting EBF Skin to skin circumcise
We were told to have an idea but not write anything down. Good thing too because now that we are delivering at CHOP everything is different. Being induced before I have a chance to go over, no skin to skin, no EBF.
Are those things because of complications, or is the no skin to skin/EBR Chop policy?
Not writing it down, but: Room with the labor tub if possible (there is only 1 and you can't give birth in it, just labor in it) No epidural for as long as possible. We'll see how that goes No Epistiotomy! Hospital does Skin to skin right away, so I don't have to ask for that, which is great. If for some reason I can't do Skin to Skin, DH gets to No mirror. Cover that ish up, I don't want to see I'd rather DH not be "in the action" so to speak and more around my head.
I did, it's pretty brief I just filled out the form that our hospital uses. It's nice and open, like any of these things I'm okay with, these I'm not, and they keep it in my file. This time I feel especially relaxed about because I've given birth with them before, last time I had more things to talk through with my CNMs in my appts beforehand - which helped me realize that their hospital policies were the same as a lot of the things that were really important to me like delayed cord clamping and kangaroo care.
Because they knew I didn't want pain meds they knew not to ask, and never did. The CNM doing my delivery also know I wanted to labor in the tub and recommended that I wait as long as I could before getting in because she said it works really well, but only once, so save it for when you need it. And it was awesome, I loved that tub, it was magic.
For me, though I wanted to add in that I want my mom there with her harp (she's a music therapist) so because it's written down they know to expect her, and in fact they know who is allowed in and not. I also felt like it was really important to go over my wishes with DH because he's the one who will be having an easier time speaking up for me, and my mom. And if for some reason anything happens and LO has to leave my side I want DH with him the entire time.
I really just printed out the one from TB (which I'm now referring to as "That Banned") website... it's a decent outline and had me thinking of things I wouldn't have ever thought of before... of course my ultimate birth plan is "Get this baby out" so I understand that it could likely change when all is said and done...
My OB wants to discuss this at my next appointment and write it down for me. Basically, the plan is to get the baby out in the safest way possible. I am open to whatever type of pain relief I feel is appropriate at the time, although I'd like to go as long as possible without. Also I need to put a reminder about them making sure to take a sample of the cord for the pre-eclampsia study I've been taking part in.
Only thing I am kinda worried about is my back pains though. I have these weird back pains that come and go that feels like someone grabbed all the nerves in my upper back and just twisted. I had this before getting KU and the doctors can't figure them out. It can happen 10 times in a day or not at all for a month. When it happens, the pain spreads to my jaws and sometimes to my chest, making it hard to breathe. I don't know how I'll be able to cope with that if it happens during labor...
Post by kaydee0402 on Jan 23, 2015 11:13:27 GMT -5
I haven't written one yet, but the office I use prefers no meds/low-intervention, so since we're on the same page, I don't feel a need to write something out either.
But my "plan" is basically:
No epidural To be able to move around, use my exercise ball and walk for as long as possible NO episiotomy. Just...no. Skin to skin for one hour after birth (at which point my husband will then get his turn for skin to skin) No visitors until I've showered and anything bloody/gross has been cleaned/tossed out Delayed cord clamping
Luckily my office already does delayed cord clamping (unless there's an emergency), immediate skin to skin, encourages you to move around while laboring and does not do an episiotomy unless absolutely necessary. But obviously, if everything goes to hell, the plan is to get Little Man out as safely and as quickly as possible.
Post by Irishcurls on Jan 23, 2015 11:30:06 GMT -5
I have a checklist thing I can use, but I might just simplify it into a few bullet points since almost all of my preferences align with the hospital's normal policies anyway. The only reason I plan to have *something* written is for the rotation of MW's on call--they encourage you to have one in your chart so they can glance at it when they come on.
Post by reneamac313 on Jan 23, 2015 13:39:25 GMT -5
I'm not writing one. My plan is to go in with as little expectations as possible. I only want what will be the best for baby girl and myself, whatever that may be.
Other than that, the only things I had in mind that I really wanted to happen where things for after her birth. I wanted to make sure we had time for skin to skin and trying to get breastfeeding established. It turns out that my hospital is already very for both of those things so no worries on that end.
I filled out our hospital's form. Basic things to have on file, really.
Delayed cord clamping. (They're very into trying to convince you to blood bank.) Susceptible to chronic UTIs No eye gel antibiotics. Only visitors listed are approved.
Post by AppropriateChocolate on Jan 23, 2015 16:58:43 GMT -5
No birth plan per se.
Delayed cord clamping The hospital already does kangaroo care as well as happy hour (no vistors are allowed in during the 1st hour after the baby is born)
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