I'm all into natural birth too, but I'd still want to be in a hospital just for peace of mind. I'd rather have a midwife than a doctor, and have at least the practice picked out. I want DH there for sure (he has no choice ) and want to avoid all the drugs and the epi and stuff, but I've never given birth before, so who knows, maybe that resolve will last until the second round of contractions... I'm pretty whiny about period cramps, but I imagine I'd be a better sport when there's such a great reward in sight .

Gosh, I really haven't thought much about that yet. I used to always think woman were crazy to give birth without meds, but it is sounding more and more appealing to me. I know that I will want to be in a hospital and a regular ob dr., but am seriously starting to consider trying to do it with out pain meds. I guess I will just have to wait and see

My friend is doing a water birth in October, and I was always interested in that, so she got me some brochures, and I told her I want to hear all the details! No meds, allegedly no pain, and gravity is on your side. Sounds good, anyways.

I gave this topic a little chuckle as I saw it. Nothing ever goes as planned, especially with something like this. I had my daughter's birth all planned out and went to 2 different labor classes and I KNEW I was going to do it natural and use all kinda of laboring techniques....well "Labor Day" happened (actually started the night before with a fever of 101.1, and a trip to the hospital to get that checked out) Next morning my water broke and they had us immediately go to hospital since I had a fever the night before...well 8 hours after walking in circles still no contractions so I got started on the pitocin (yes I could have had a choice to put this off longer but with the fever and not knowing why....)

So instead of showering and doing all this cool stuff i was hooked up to the damn bed for my antibiotics, pitocin, and blood pressure being taken every 10 minutes....8 hours on pitocin and i finally caved and got the epi...12 hours later Natalee was born...lol I did not plan on being at the hospital 28 hours before she was born LOL but nothing can go exactly as planned and I am much happier to have a healthy girl than to have everything go as I had planned

I know what you mean, mabnng! I chuckled a little bit, too. I had everything planned out with my son. I had a birth plan with my Dr and was ready and determined to follow it to the letter! HA! So much for that. My Dr was on vacation when I went into labor so I didn't even have my own Dr. I was 3 days past my due date when I started contracting. I had such bad back labor that I gave in and got the epidural. But a nurse "accidentally" pulled my epidural out of my back when she was removing my bra. The next epidural hit my spinal fluid and I had to get a shot to avoid the horrible headache that usually comes right after that. The 3rd epidural did not even touch the pain. After 21 hours of labor they finally figured out that my son was turned around and was not coming out (hence the back labor). I had a C-section after 21 hrs of labor. Then I was in the hospital for 5 days after my surgery because I got some kind of infection and ran a fever for 3 days. But my son was healthy and I survived! LOL! It was all worth it in the end. My advice to new moms would be to make your birth plan but keep an open mind that it could easily change based on your safety and/or the baby's safety. Try not to be too disappointed if this happens because the end result is what ultimately matters the most. You and your baby healthy!

I've never really given thought to this, but recently my dh and i were discussing this, since his aunt is a nurse/ mid-wife we thought maybe we'd have her with us at the hospital to deliver the baby. I have a huge pain tresh hold so maybe no meds. We'll see. (All the planning and I'm not even sure I'm pregnant yeT)

We never had a birth plan. But I did know that I wanted an epidural. I was 1 week early. At 2:30am my water broke. Went into my Dr's at 9:00am, I was 2 centimeters dialated. So by 9:30 I was admitted into the hospial. Started on Pitocin by 10:30. Around 3:00 got an epidural. It lasted for about 2-3 hours. By 6:30 I was 10 centimeters and my son was born at 7:31pm. So it was about a total of 17 hours. We never went to any birthing classes. I did fine witht he breathing and pushing. I ended up fracturing my tailbone from pushing. And had a episiotomy(sp). The next time around I want to go for classes just to experience it. And hoping to not fracture my tailbone again. That was the worst part because I couldnt sit!!!

~Mary~

How on earth did you frature your tailbone? Were you bouncing on the floor trying to coax him out lol?

OUCH!!!! (

Pushing to hard I guess. I remember feeling a pop during the time when I was pushing. But heck I was'nt going to stop!!!
Plus I think it stems from childhood when someone got off the see-saw and I went flying down to the ground.
It took a good 2-3 weeks before I could really just -sit. Sucked though!!
~Mary~