Birth Plan!

We finally finished our birth plan – it took FOREVER. We knew what we wanted pretty quickly, but actually writing it up to sound nice and look good (and fit on one page) took a long time!

Our doctor’s office was getting impatient too, which was annoying. They almost sent this soon-to-be-mommy into a tail spin last week when they called and left the following message on the answer machine (keep in mind that I had had a doctor’s appointment that morning) – “Hi, this message is for Melissa. This is *** Obstetrics and Gynecology. Please call us as soon as you get this message and ask to speak with a nurse.” Naturally, when I got the message after I got home after work (and couldn’t call them because the office was closed!), my mind immediately went into panic mode. My test results from the morning must show something is wrong! Our baby is in danger! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! Plus, I was feeling sick (starting to get my cold thing) and I thought maybe that was affecting Elijah too somehow. Jon managed to get me calmed down (he’s good at that!) and I managed to not freak out too much as I waited to call them on Thursday morning.

When I finally did call and get a hold of a nurse all they wanted to tell me was they would like a copy of our birth plan for the doctors to review. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YOU CALLED AND LEFT A PANIC-INDUCING CRYPTIC MESSAGE TO GET ME TO SEND YOU A BIRTH PLAN?! Missy not happy. And of course, this was as I was getting more sick by the minute, so we ended up missing our birth class that night – the one where we were doing our birth plan. Doh! So, no birth plan for the doctor’s office.

With being sick and our other commitments, Jon and I didn’t get a chance to actually sit down and compare the lists of preferences we had each made up separately until Wednesday night. We agreed on everything and our lists overlapped a lot, but writing up the actual phrases was a real pain. We had copies of birth plans that I had found on-line and it still took most of the night. We showed it to our teacher on Thursday night and got her input and then came home and revised the plan again so it would be ready to give to the doctor Friday morning. When we actually gave it to him this morning he seemed cool with everything and said it didn’t look like anything was going to be a problem. Yay! Anyway, I know you’re all wondering what is in this crazy plan now, so I cut and pasted it below (the formatting will probably be wonky, sorry!).

Birth Preferences for Melissa and Jonathan Schneider

Dear Doctors and ***Hospital Staff,

We have chosen you to attend the very special event of our son’s birth! We trust in your expertise and in your sensitivity to our needs and wishes. To prepare for our birth we have practiced the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth, and are looking forward to as natural a birth as possible, free of unnecessary medications and interventions. We consider the following to be our “ideal” birth, but understand that circumstances can change quickly, and that not all of our preferences may be possible. Thank you in advance for your support and encouragement!

General Preferences

• We wish to remain together at all times during labor and delivery.
• Melissa would like to wear her contact lenses. If necessary, they can be removed quickly.
• We would like Melissa to be able to have light food and drink during labor.
  

First Stage Labor Preferences

• We would like our birth to proceed on its natural course, without time constraints.
• Should labor augmentation be necessary, we would like to try natural interventions first. If Pitocin must be used, we prefer the minimum possible dose.
• We would like to keep vaginal exams to a minimum.
• We would prefer to avoid manual rupturing of the amniotic sac, unless medically necessary.
• We prefer fetal monitoring to be limited to external monitoring on an intermittent basis, if possible.
• We are looking forward to having a natural childbirth. Please don’t offer us pain medication; we’ll let you know if we need it!

Second Stage Labor Preferences

• We understand that different positions and movements for birth are allowed. Suggestions will be gratefully accepted!
• We would prefer to be free of time limits on pushing, and be allowed to push instinctively, rather than being told when to push.
• We wish to avoid an episiotomy; Melissa would prefer to tear naturally rather than receive an episiotomy.
  

Third Stage / Post-Delivery Preferences

• Jon would like to cut the umbilical cord.
• It is very important to us that the cord not be clamped or cut until after it has stopped pulsating.
• We are hoping to deliver the placenta naturally, using breastfeeding if possible, without the use of cord traction, medication, or manual manipulation.
• We would like our son to be placed skin-to-skin on Melissa’s abdomen immediately following birth.
• We are looking forward to bonding with our new son, and ask that any non-urgent procedures be delayed to give us time to get to know one another.

Thank you for taking the time to read our birth plan. We appreciate your help in getting our new family off to a great start!