As I creep up on 30 weeks (holy cow) I'm becoming more aware of all the things that are left to get done before the big D-Day!
Recently, I've heard the term "Birth Plan" being used, but again being the naive mommy-to-be that I am I didn't know exactly what a birth plan was. You don't either ? ... well check this out: Birth Plan.
Needless to say, I began asking my mommy friends and fellow pregnant women whether they had one or were planning on writing one. I got differing responses. It seems that having a written birth plan is a fairly new concept - my own mother said she gave her doctor verbal instructions on what she'd like but nothing formal. At first the idea seemed almost silly to me, but as I googled it more and found multiple versions of birth plans I began thinking perhaps it's not a bad idea. While it's not written in stone, at least my doctor will have a better concept of what I'd like my labor & delivery to be like.
I'm not going to share my birth plan here, because I feel that it's a very personal document, but I can say my anxiety around the birthing process has lessened now that I've written it.
One of the things I think it led me to do was to think more about the entire delivery from start to finish. I have been of the mindset (as you know) that everything will just fall into place as it's supposed to. Well, in writing out my birth plan I began to realize there were things I hadn't thought of ... for example - whether I'm comfortable with students/residents in the room while I'm delivering; do I want music in the delivery room; will I be using/bringing my own birthing apparatuses. Tell me - have YOU thought of these things? I certainly hadn't.
It also brought to light a much more serious (and darker in nature) thought - what happens if there are terrible complications during childbirth, do we want my doctor save the nugget first or me? This was never something that would have occurred to me (I don't think) unless I'd been formulating my birth plan. It was a very difficult conversation to have with Brian, and we still haven't come to an agreed upon answer. He adamantly feels one way and I am leaning more in the opposite direction. This question deserves an incredible amount of thought and I don't think many parents-to-be are comfortable in the possibility (which I totally understand), but I do feel as though it's a conversation every couple should have.
I haven't yet shown my birth plan to my doctor and ultimately I may not, but at least Brian and I have reviewed it and we both know what I would ideally like to have (or not have) during my delivery.
As with anything pregnancy related, remember your decisions are just that - YOURS. No one can make them for you, but doing your research and knowing what options you have is a very powerful thing!
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