So today we step into the final three(ish) months of our pregnancy! :D
We have about 15 weeks to go until our Princess joins us, and to be honest I am feaking out! It's only just dawning on me that I have to push a watermelon-sized baby out of my body... :-O I don't know if I'm ready for that.
It wasn't anything that particularly bothered me before but at my last midwife appointment Miss J asked if I had written out my birth plan and packd my hospital bags yet. This soon?? I didn't think I needed to do that until the final couple of weeks, but I've now been told otherwise as our baby could potentially come at any minute. That's a scary thought right there.
So I sat down last night and went through my birth plan:
How do I feel about labour and birth?
unanswered for the moment, I'm still not quite sure...
What are my expectations?
also unanswered...
My environment for labour and birth?
May use music to keep me focused, would like soft lighting (more flattering, right? lol), may bring our own snacks/drinks to keep me energised.
If everything is straightforward, how do I want my baby's heartbeat to be monitored during labour? With a hand-held doppler.
How will I cope with pain?
(Badly most likely) I would like to remain active, walking, changing position, using birth ball. If this doesn't helpI would ike to use the birth pool with gas and air. Would consider pain injection so long as I can remain mobile. Absolute last resort is an epidural.
How would I like to give birth?
Whatever position feels comfortable at the time. I do not want to be lying on my back.
After my baby's birth?
I would like skin-to-skin contact. Vitamin K injection also to be administered.
That's pretty much the gist of it, but it got me freaking out about labour while I was actually thinking about what I wanted. This is going to be painful... but totally worth it in the end. I just need to keep reminding myself of that while it's happening.
Are you totally sure about having a natural birth, or have you considered C-section? Post something else about all the reasons why you would pick one birth type over another...xoxo
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted a natural birth, there's no need for drug intervention when I know my body is purposely built for giving birth. Yeah, the pain will be bad, but I know I'm strong enough for it. Plus so many women say that you forget the pain when you see your baby, and I think it's true. If it wasn't, then nobody would have more than one baby :)
ReplyDeleteThe NHS only elect you for a C-section if natural birth was not possible due to risk factors (such as pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes) or a baby that was too large to fit through the birth canal. It's only the rich and famous who are "too posh to push" that can go private and request a C-section. Even if we were in that position, I would still want to go natural.
xoxo