The Birth Plan

So, now I'll tell you about my birth plan discussion with my doctor. (Sarah, I'm seeing Dr. K at Women's Health for Life. I'm thinking that's who you had for your last birth. I've also seen the newer Dr. C there.)

I printed out a simple birth plan from BabyCenter and just marked some things that are important to me. I'm a pretty easy-going person, and I understand that birth requires some flexibility. I'm good with that. But there are some things that I would really like to have happen. Some because I missed out last time, and others because I feel they are important.

With my first pregnancy I was induced at 39 weeks with elevated blood pressure and knowing I was having a large baby. I had a pretty good birthing experience. There were a few things that I missed out on, that I'd rather have had. I found out before I had Zachariah that the doctor would not let me hold the baby after I delivered. He would pass him off to the nurses to clean and assess, then eventually give back to me. That's just the way he did things. He was very sterile/surgical about delivery. It was probably 10 minutes or so before I finally got to hold my baby after only having a brief glance at him.

Discussing this with my current doctor went really well. She agreed that I could have the baby flopped on me right away. She said we could hold off on all cleaning and major baby checks for a while. We would have plenty of time with the baby right then and could even breastfeed immediately.

Getting a great start on breastfeeding is really important to me, because I had a difficult time before. Zachariah was born with an infection, which lead to a week long stay in the special care nursery. This started off a bad nursing relationship. He was too sick at first to try breastfeeding. And my supply never really came in good. It was a battle for months.

I'm hoping by more bonding time with the baby right away, we can get off to a great start. And my doctor is all for that! Hurray! I'm also feeling better, because I tested negative this time for Group B Strep. I did have GBS with Zachariah, and that's likely what caused his infection even after receiving antibiotics during delivery. Because I had this happen before, I will be treated with antibiotics as soon as I arrive at the hospital for delivery. But I feel better about our chances of having a really healthy baby by testing negative this time.

The doctor agreed that I can push as I need to instead of being told, unless circumstances are different. She's willing to let things progress naturally as possible. After experiencing labor through pitocin before, I'm hoping everything can happen as naturally as possible this time.

Then after discussing all this, she said she would even be OK with letting me grab the baby as he's coming out and pulling him up onto myself if I'd like to do that. I would love that. I told her that would be great. Assuming I'm feeling decent as he's being delivered that may be a possibility. How neat! I never even thought about that possibility  And since Matt doesn't want to cut the cord (the thought grosses him out), she said I could do that too. I'm a little concerned that the baby may come out quickly, and I wouldn't be able to grab him. But that's OK. I won't have my heart set on it. I just know Zachariah came out quickly in one push.

I can't wait for this birth experience  I'm sure hoping that I'll go into labor on my own, so I don't have to think about being induced. At this point she thinks I'm good to go to about 41 weeks. I have already made a little progress too. At 36 weeks I was thinning and baby's head was right there. Last week I was almost 1 cm. This week I was definitely 1 cm, 80% effaced, and baby's head was right there. The baby is definitely down. I'm hoping with this progress, when I do go into labor it will go quickly.

I think I'm more ready to have the baby after this last appointment than I was before. Plus I've gone into major nesting mode in the past two days. For now I'll wait and prayer for a good delivery, healthy baby, and great breastfeeding with this baby.