Birth Plan

Birth Plan

Mikaila and Stephen Hanold

August 2012

Mikaila’s doctor: Dr. Jonathan Pugmire                         Baby’s doctor: Dr. Michael Marlowe

Assuming a normal labor and delivery and a healthy baby, we would like to deliver our child with minimum intervention which is consistent with safety.

Mikaila is allergic to Penicillin. Mikaila’s blood type is AB negative.

Labor

·        I would like to labor at home as long as I am comfortable, while still allowing a safe amount of time to drive to Salem Hospital.

·        I want my husband (Steve) with me at all times and if he cannot be, I want my mom (Angela) to be with me.

·        I would like to allow my water to break naturally.

·        Please do not offer pain medication. I know medication is available, but I am striving for an unmedicated labor and delivery. If I decide that I need an epidural or other pain management, I will ask for it. I understand that options may change as labor progresses.

·        I would like to utilize many different positions during labor, possibly including a squat bar, a birth ball, the bathtub, etc. I welcome suggestions for positions that may work for me.

·        I may choose to use music, focal points and/or active imagery during labor. I welcome suggestions for other relaxation techniques.

·        Since I would like to maximize mobility during labor, please keep monitoring to a minimum, using internal monitoring only in an emergency.

·        If for some reason I need an IV, please use a saline lock so I can be as mobile as possible.

Birth

·        My husband, my mom and possibly my sister will be attending the birth.

·        Please allow me to choose my own delivery position based on what has been working for me during labor.

·        I do not want an episiotomy.

·        I would appreciate some coaching on pushing in the beginning.

After Delivery

·        Please place the baby directly on my chest for immediate skin-to-skin contact and nursing.

·        I do not want Pitocin before, during or after the delivery of the placenta.

·        Please allow Steve the option of cutting the cord (he may or may not want to).

·        My blood type is AB- and I would like the baby’s cord blood tested before I receive the Rhogam shot. If baby’s blood type is also negative, I will decline the Rhogam shot.

Caring for Baby

·        We do not want our baby to receive eye ointment. We will sign a form declining this if necessary.

·        Our baby will not receive the Hepatitis B vaccine in the hospital but will receive it at a later office visit.

·        We want our baby to room in with us.

·        Please do not offer our baby water, formula or a pacifier. Our baby will be breastfed.

·        I would like to be present for all procedures concerning our baby and if I am not able to, I would like Steve to be present.

·        I am interested in meeting with a lactation specialist.

·        If myself and the baby are healthy we would like to go home as soon as possible (possibly after 1 night).

35 weeks

The baby is still pushing very hard from the inside! I sometimes try to push back because it can get sort of uncomfortable, but mostly I enjoy her moving around. She still gets the hiccups pretty often.

Aslan had her baby this week! She delivered him at home and all went well until a few hours after his birth when she was still bleeding way too much. They had tried everything and she ended up being taken to the hospital for surgery to remove clots (and do whatever else they do). She was able to go home the next day and seems to be recovering well. Her little man, Sam, is doing fantastic and is oh, so cute! I am now the next of my friends to deliver. :)

My feet continue to be very sore and I think I bruised the ball of one foot this week. My fingers are still a little puffy during the day but VERY puffy at night. Pushing myself out of bed can actually be more painful in my hands than anywhere else. ;)

I am very ready to be done with work. The days feel long and tiring and it is extremely hard for me to maneuver through the office the bigger I get. Some days when people ask me how I am I just want to say "cranky!" Two more weeks!

Here's a fun little picture of my feet after work one day. ;) Keep in mind that I had been wearing supportive shoes all day and that my socks are not tight at all on a normal day. It will be interesting to see if this gets worse before I deliver.

(I did a baby shower post! I posted it in chronological order though, so it's a few posts back. Click here to see it.)

34 weeks

I still have a lot of pelvic pressure, especially when I move certain ways (and especially during the night). I imagine this is a symptom that will not go away before delivery. ;)

Acid reflux is still killing me. I take an OTC heartburn med for it and that does help a lot, but I do not enjoy that burning feeling. :(

My joints are very sore and achy all the time now, especially in my hands.

I can't sleep in anymore! On the weekends I am usually awake by about 8 or 8:30 and have trouble going back to sleep because I'm uncomfortable.

I'm still wearing non-maternity pants (elastic waist with a drawstring!) which I'm a huge fan of. I don't find maternity pants to be all that comfortable. Part of that may be due to being pregnant during the summer. I find them restricting and hot. (Pants with a wide band that sits below my belly are much more tolerable for me.)

The baby is kicking less and shoving more. As she runs out of room I have noticed less "jumpy" and sharp movements and more pushing movements. She will shove her butt outward really hard, or jab an elbow out to the side, creating a hard spot on my belly. :) Jordan thinks this is funny.

(A TMI symptom that I am recording just for myself... my nipples leak a lot now. I sometimes wear breast pads to deal with it.)

33 weeks

Week 33 was a big one because we went to our childbirth/parenting class. I had originally tried to sign us up for the 4-week course (one evening a week for a month) but it filled up while I was waiting to hear back from a local midwife about a more private class, so instead we took a Friday/Saturday class. The class (in Salem) was 6-9pm on Friday evening and then 9-5 on Saturday. I didn't mind having all the information crammed into two class sessions but I did mind the chairs! They were typical hospital classroom chairs with straight backs and no way to adjust them. Luckily we had to bring two pillows to class, so I utilized the heck out of ours. ;) They also had birth balls on one side of the room and I sat on one of those at our table for awhile instead of in a chair.

They had everyone in the class line up in order of due date. There was one couple (the token "weird" couple in the class) due August 25th, another couple due August 27th and we are due August 29th. We may end up seeing them at the hospital! (Two couples were due after us, both in early October.) We learned that the couple we shared a table with lives just around the corner from us and they are also delivering in Salem because of their insurance. :)

I had been extremely un-excited about delivering our baby in Salem, but after our class I felt MUCH better about it. I enjoyed the tour they took us on and was left feeling like the nurses and staff on the L&D and maternity floors are really interested in giving you the best experience they can (more so than Corvallis). I was happy to learn that they regularly use (and encourage the use of) birth balls and squat bars and the jetted tub (as well as lots of different labor positions). In Corvallis I get the impression you really have to ask hard for these things and they have ONE tub for the whole floor. In Salem each room has its own tub.

One interesting thing we learned in class had to do with pets. They said this is a good idea for cats or dogs. When you get home from the hospital, give your pets the baby's hat and receiving blanket that they used for the first day or two. Let them do whatever they want with it (lay on it, chew it, bury it). This is their way of getting used to the baby's scent. I never would have thought of that. :)

I left the class feeling much more prepared and excited than I had been feeling before.

Other symptoms this week:

Sore back. The middle of my back gets really achy and uncomfortable if I'm sitting in an uncomfortable chair for a long time or just by the end of the day.

My fingers and toes are swollen by the end of the day, too. During the night my fingers get REALLY swollen and when I get up to use the bathroom it actually hurts to bend them.

I can't walk around the house for long periods (especially on the linoleum) without shoes anymore. My feet ACHE after a short period of time. I have to remember to put my Tevas on before I make dinner or do the dishes or I will regret it later. (Steve is getting much better at food rubs and I have to beg a little less now to get one.)

I take cold showers in the evenings sometimes now. And my morning showers are warm at best, NOT hot (I usually rinse with cool water before I get out because I get overheated easily after my shower). Forget blowing my hair dry with hot air - I hold that cold button down the whole time. ;) And I have to let laundry cool down after drying before I fold it (I used to fold it straight out of the dryer) or my fingers just puff right up again. I wash dishes in hot water and then rinse them in cold. And I rarely sleep with covers at night anymore. My drinking water pretty much has to have ice in it. ;) (But I don't like to crunch the ice, I just like the water to be cold.)

I crave fruit all the time, and it's usually fruit with high water content (cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, cherries, peaches, berries. I also crave ice cream all the time.

I experience a lot of pelvic pressure with bending and squatting.

My clothes don't fit! I really hadn't counted on outgrowing my maternity shirts! I have actually started setting aside a couple of shirts for the "after baby" phase because my belly is too big for them now.

I take a nap almost every day. Usually it's in the early evening (after work) and I often don't wake up until after 7pm. Some days this makes it hard to go to bed at night but other days I fall right to sleep around 10:30 or 11 at night (normal for me).

32 weeks

When people ask me when my due date is, I have stopped saying "the end of August" and have started saying "in 8 weeks." It makes it seem much shorter. ;)

I have developed a numb spot at the top of my belly, just under my breasts and mostly on the right side. Apparently this comes from nerves being squished (or moved around) and I find it incredibly annoying. :) (Sometimes it's also tingly, like when your hand or foot falls asleep.)

I am not liking the summer heat AT ALL! I know Oregon has seriously wussy summers and that it's not really that hot, though we did have a few days in the low 90's this week. I have a hard time staying cool and sleep with fans pointed at me. You know, when I sleep. ;) I take naps most afternoons but don't sleep very well at night, tossing and turning a lot (and still getting up to pee every morning at 3am).

I have begun eating smaller portions more often because my stomach is running out of room! Still having acid reflux and still taking OTC meds for it (and they're still helping).

I eat Starbucks caramel mochiato ice cream pretty much every single night. I limit myself to 1/3 of a pint. ;)

I started getting Braxton-Hicks contractions this week, though I didn't realize that's what they were until I had been having them for a few days. I would describe them as uncomfortable but not painful. Some days I don't have any and other days I have a dozen or so. The baby is active after one finishes.

Steve is SURE the baby will be here early and when I say we have 8 weeks left, he "corrects" me and says we have 6. In some ways this is funny but in others it's not because if I get my mind set on having 6 weeks left and then she's not early (or is late!), I will be upset. ;) I'm trying hard to ignore his sure-ness in her being early. ;)

My fingers and toes are still swollen at the end of the day, though not visibly noticeable most of the time. They feel puffy and fat and hard to bend. I try to soak them in cold water and I find that I ALWAYS wash my hands in cold water now. I do the dishes in hot water but rinse them in cold. I take warm showers but not hot ones (I never run out of hot water when I shower after Steve now!). I drink ICE water most of the time (which I didn't used to like because it hurt my teeth). I prefer cold meals to hot ones. :)