Birth Plan

I've had a lot of confusion on how and where to have this little baby boy! Before I was even pregnant with Judah I had this fascination with Amish people (random, I know). I checked out all the books from the library about the Amish and one of them just so happened to be a midwife to Amish women. She wasn't Amish herself, just their midwife. I LOVED her philosphies. Everything was completely natural, she never induced, she only transferred to the hospital when completely medically necessary, there were no "convenient" interventions, and she never, ever did episiotomies. I knew that when I got pregnant I would definitely use a midwife.

When I found out that I was pregnant with Judah we kept it a surprise for quite a while, so I didn't ask anyone for referrals on who to go to. I just randomly called some midwives and made an appointment. I liked them quite a bit, but wasn't completely set. After we did tell that we were pregnant a coworker's bestfriend told me about the midwives that she went to for all 3 of her girls. She, also, works with them at the hospital. This hospital was not the one that was only a few minutes away from our house, but instead was about 20-30 minutes away. It was well worth it, though, because this hospital is so much nicer! You have huge, private rooms that you labor, deliver, and stay in. There is a chair that converts into a bed, so your husband can stay right with you. There is a tub that you can labor in. Or, you can have a water birth right in that same room.

My birth experience with Judah was so great! Because I had been dilated so much and not gone into labor, my midwife had me come up to the hospital to be checked. When I got there I was dilated between 4-5cm and 80% effaced (if I remember correctly), so she decided to insert cervadil. Then she told me to go to lunch and go walking. Eric and I went to this really cute little cafe, then walked for over an hour. I went back to the hospital and was between a 5-6. I still wasn't having any hard contactions, so at 10pm she decided to break my water. They started the tub, I got in and the warm water felt so good! After a few pushes, and what Cheryl says was one of the quietest deliveries she'd seen, Judah was born at 11:14pm.

With Samuel, although I liked the experience with Judah, I decided I didn't wan to be induced. I still wanted to labor in the water, because at that time, they weren't doing waterbirths. I, again, was dilated a lot super early. I think I was at 5cm 2 weeks before Samuel was born. So, because my body had done so much work in advance, when labor came it was quick! I woke up at 1am and Samuel was born at 1:58am just a few minutes after we got to the hospital. That time my midwife was Janice and she didn't even make it in the room until after his head was out.

So, this time I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I love my midwives and I love the hospital that I have delivered at. I didn't really want to be induced because it just didn't feel 100% right to me. I didn't really want to go to the hospital down the street because there's always the possibility that I would have to share a room and Eric couldn't stay. And, you can't have waterbirths. It's just not as nice. One of the midwives suggested that I have a homebirth. I know some people think it's crazy to use midwives and even crazier to have a homebirth, but personally, I love the idea! I never was (and still am not) concerned about complications. I have had really easy labors/deliveries thus far, and even more so, I completely trust God to protect my baby and I know he will be safe and healthy. So, I called the one that I'd heard of, but she lives in the town 20-30 minutes away. That kind of defeats the purpose, because what if she didn't make it to my delivery? I called the other lady and met with her. I really, really wanted it to work because I wanted to have a waterbirth, but I just didn't feel right with her. First, she seemed...uhhh...new-agey? Is that a word? Also, she doesn't bill insurance, so we'd have to pay in cash. And, the clencher, she said that during our appointments she wanted to "get to know me" so they'd last between 1-2 hours. That first one did last about 2 hours and I definitely do not have the time for that. One of the things I love about the midwives is I'm usually in and out in about 20 minutes. Especially being my 3rd pregnancy I don't really have any questions.

So, my next option was an ob here in town. I knew him from where I worked before Judah was born and I liked him as a person. The reason I say, "as a person" is because being an ob, he has a much higher rate of c-sections, inductions, and episiotomies than my midwives. All things I wanted to avoid. So, I called and made my appointment. I was scheduled for noon, but they told me to come in at 11:30am to do my paperwork.

Because I wanted Eric there to talk to him about the questions we had (he'd already met him through my work) I asked my mom to watch the boys during her lunch break. She got there a few minutes before 11:30 and Eric met me at the office right on time. As I was doing my paperwork he walked right through the waiting room. Eric said, "I wonder if he is doing a delivery?" To make a really long story short, I finally left his office almost 3 hours later. Eric had to leave to watch the boys, so my mom could go back to work. I totally understand that as an ob things happen and sometimes you have to leave. That wasn't what made me decide against him. He asked about previous pregnancies and I told him about my boys. He said, "Has anyone ever told you about birth control?" Maybe he was just trying to be funny, but that seemed really unprofessional. One other time he mentioned birth control ("We'll definitely be talking about birthcontrol in June") and even asked if I wanted to get a tubal after delivery. I told him about my deliveries (the cervadil with Judah) and how I wanted to go to stay in town because I didn't want to be induced. He said he would never use cervadil, instead he thought I should be induced with pitocin. Although it makes deliveries longer and harder, "if you want to have a baby you use pitocin." Another thing I didn't care for was just how sterile and cold the whole office is. I guess this isn't necessarily a bad thing, some people might say it's more professional. While I was in there a woman who looked, at least, 8 months pregnant came in and she had to tell them her name. When you walk into the midwives office it's so warm and inviting. Not only do they greet me by name, but Eric and the boys, too.

So, last week I met with Cheryl my favorite midwife. She suggested that at 36 weeks she'll see how dilated I am. At 38 weeks we will talk about using cervadil to start labor. I really want to have a waterbirth again this time, but because of policy changes I probably wouldn't be able to if they broke my water. I've decided to stick to the midwives I love, the hospital I love and trust God with the rest. Maybe my body will go into labor on the way to the hospital, maybe with the cervadil and they won't have to break my water, or maybe they will but it will be fine. I know that no matter what I'll have my perfect baby boy and that's all that really matters. That's what I've resolved myself to!