Thanks for posting the link to that video….I haven’t been able to find a free version of it! Incredible! I am still pretty clueless at this point…..all I know is that I don’t want to be induced AND I want to avoid an epidural if at all possible (in addition to the safety of the baby and slowing of labor, the idea of not being able to move my lower half during the process is fairly panic inducing for me….control freak in me I think). Since I am due less than a week before Christmas, I bet the docs will be drawing straws to see who will be on call for our heavenly birth! Ha!

Yes, wasn’t this an amazing documentary?! It really blew my mind. I keep thinking about the epidural, and it seems like being confined to a bed and making my body work against gravity is not a good thing for anyone. (I plan on a gravity-assisted delivery!) I look at it this way—if you can get through weeks upon weeks of morning (and noon and night) sickness, then you can surely get through a day of labor! Honestly though, the pitocin scares me more than the epidural. It makes me sad to think about the poor little baby being squeezed by those hard contractions and having its oxygen supply compromised. Yikes. This is of course not to say that there are not appropriate circumstances to use these interventions (there certainly are). Actually, a friend of mine who I am so proud of, recently delivered her son without pitocin or an epidural. She was dealing with preeclampsia and really needed to get that baby out—they gave her some prostaglandin gel, her water broke, and then she labored without any other augmentation or pain medication. I was so proud of her! She had the odds stacked against her (there was a strong possibility that she would have to get an epidural to keep her blood pressure down, but she ended up not needing it.) She was also lucky to have a supportive midwife who laid out the options and the very real possibility of needing interventions, but who also gave her the opportunity to try things on her own before intervening. I think that is the way medicine SHOULD work. Involvement of and respect for patients!

I totally agree about the pitocin! Scary stuff. From all I’ve read it only makes the pain/contrctions WORSE and the epi/pit combo is a viscious cycle. With that in mind, I am in the early stages of formulating my birthing plan. If its not too personal, what did you include (and EXCLUDE) from your birth plan? Are you going to be in a birthing center or hospital or home? I am going to be @ a hospital w/ an OB (gasp…LOL) but plan to labor at home for as long as possible before ‘heading in’. I am still exploring available options at the hospital, my OB group seems to be very laid back and to use intervention only when needed. A friend delivered natural w/ this group for her first and via cs for her twins bc of placenta brevia/low lying placenta that covered the cervix. Anyhow, any info/inspiration would be appreciated. 🙂

I actually never wrote a formal birth plan. I requested access to a birthing tub and signed an informed consent form for water birth. Other than that, I don’t have anything in writing about my wishes. I trust the midwives I’ve been working with to help us achieve a birthing experience that is an intervention-free as possible. I am delivering in a birthing center that is part of the local hospital. They have midwives and OBs working together at this birthing center, although I wouldn’t actually see an OB unless I needed some sort of surgical intervention.

That’s good. I am also going to at least labor in a birthing tub but am undecided on the water birth aspect. Our hospital boasts crazy stuff lke feng-shui birthing rooms….LOL. I think I’ll stick w/ the tub and support from husband and mom. I hope everything is going well and that baby joins you soon!