Birth Plan (and more about Lamaze)

On Sunday H and I met with the doula for two and half hours. We went over our birth plan and she asked a lot of questions to better understand us and get an idea of what will and won't work during labor.

The whole meeting made me even more confident about my choices (in hiring her and trying to have a natural childbirth) and she even calmed my fears about delivering an eight pound baby. I told her that was my only real fear and she calmed my nerves by telling me that she once attended the birth of a Korean woman who had an 11-pound baby, naturally! If a tiny Korean woman can do that, then I feel comfortable with an 8-pound baby.

Yesterday I went over all of my preferences with one of my doctor's partners (I have to meet each doctor in the practice in case they are the one on call when I go into labor) and she was okay with most everything. Our next step is to write a one page birth plan that we can give to the doula, our doctor and the hospital staff. This will help them understand my wishes during labor and (hopefully) prevent them from insisting on interventions that I didn't ask for.

I'm glad that I'll be at Roosevelt Hospital as they are much more progressive than most of the hospitals in the city. Women have many options and aren't just forced to lie in bed with an IV. From what I've learned, this makes a big difference during labor.



Also on Sunday H and I went to our second Lamaze class and, honestly, we find the whole thing a little silly. We educated ourselves early on through movies and books and so a lot of what is discussed in class are things we already know. The instructor did introduce some coping techniques, such as different types of massage and breathing, but we don't need to commit these to memory since that is what the doula is for. Therefore, this class is pretty boring to us.

To make matters worse, while we're learning how to breathe and focus (a very serious exercise), H is making me laugh! He will swear to you that he didn't do anything, but when we were told to look into each other's eyes, a small smirk crept onto his face. So I'm cracking up laughing and everyone else is concentrating on thinking of that "special place." (You'd laugh too, wouldn't you?)

The best part of Lamaze is the other couples. Some are amusing and others are strange. There is one couple who announced that they plan to not diaper their baby - they want to try a process called "elimination communication" and claimed that they consider this an interesting social expirement. The basic idea is that infants are aware of their elimination needs from birth and parents can learn their signals as to when they need to go to the bathroom. When it's time to go, the parent holds the baby over a toilet, bathtub, sink, etc. and they go there. Supposedly, babies potty train much earlier. I wonder who thought of this. When did someone decide not to put a diaper on their baby and that they would be able to tell when it was about to pee or poop (or both)? How many soiled clothes and how much ruined furniture do you think these parents endure? What happens if you are stuck in traffic when your baby signals that he/she has to go? Or on an airplane? I don't think I'd want to be invited to this couple's house for the first year or two of their baby's life. The whole idea just grosses me out.