My Birth Plan

So, two weeks ago at my doctors appointment, amid discussions of ribs and pediatricians, I asked him about a birth plan. I asked if it was THAT important to have one, all typed out and copied 27 times, or if I should just have an idea of what I wanted. He tried not to laugh and said that as long as I had a general idea of what I wanted, we could discuss that ahead of time and go from there. He said if it made me feel better that I could write it down, but it wasn't essential.



His mischievous smile made me curious, so I asked him why. He started talking about these women who came in with six page manuals about how to deliver their child, and how that wasn't the most practical thing out there. Then he kind of backtracked, perhaps scared that I was one of those women. He asked if I had thought about it at all, and if I had a lot of provisions that I wanted to include. I laughed and said that no, my birth plan was to have a baby.



He was relieved. He said that that was the best plan, and that most of the longer birth plans included things like 'as few interventions as possible', 'as few checks as possible', etc... and that those types of things were pretty much common knowledge, at least among the doctors he worked with. So I teased him and told him that whatever, he loved waiting until a patient fell asleep and then going in to bug them. He laughed.



He also told me, while discussing something else, that he loved working with pregnant women because we're so much fun. Yeah...uh huh. We're chubby and hormonal, more than likely hungry and sleep-deprived. We're just a barrel of laughs. Uh-huh. Note the sarcasm there, doc.



Anyways, upon thinking about it, here is my modified birth plan so far:



Lynette's Birth Plan



-Have a baby

-In the event of a c-section, allow H to stay with the baby if he is taken out of the room for any reason. No visitors are to see the baby until after I have recovered and spent time with my baby

-Please do not give my baby a pacifier



And that's about it. The rest of the stuff are things that I have decided on, but I feel like I will have already discussed them with my doctor. I am going to have an epidural, etc. I pretty much trust my doctors experience and instincts to do what's best for me and for the baby. I guess my theory on birth plans is that I am not a doctor, and he is. He will do what is necessary and no more. If he says a c-section is needed, then it's needed.

We can handle whatever happens. True story.

Trust Your Instincts....

So, about a week ago, I went in for my 28 (!) week appointment. After the usual song and dance, my doctor took some time to examine my ribs. And by examine, I mean push and prod at them. Ow! But...the good news is...

My rib pain is NOT normal!

Dr. diagnosed me with costochondritis, which is inflammation of the cartilidge around the ribs. It is caused by all the pressure in there and possibly the positioning of the uterus and the baby. Now why is this good news? Because now I know, in my head, that this pain is not how pregnancy is supposed to feel. I am not being a wuss or a sissy, I am suffering a complication.

Now for the bad news... So how do you heal costochondritis? Well, when you're pregnant, you don't. Regular Tylenol doesn't do anything for the pain, so there's nothing I can take for the inflammation. The only thing that he was able to do was prescribe me Vicodin for the pain. And before you question my doctor's judgement, let me ask where you got your medical degree from. I am sick of people saying, "Is he crazy?", "You need a new doctor!", "No way! You can't take that!", blah blah blah...

He is a doctor. He knows what he's doing. Now, I wasn't really all that sure about it and I told him that I didn't think I would take Vicodin while pregnant. I personally don't feel comfortable with it, but that's my decision. When I researched it online, everything was very on the fence about the benefits and dangers of Vicodin while pregnant. So I stand by my original statement that I don't think I'll take it. But I have it just in case, I guess.

So... where does that leave me? In pain, but feeling relieved about it. I know what it is, I know it's not normal, I know that it will go away (doc said probably a couple weeks to a couple months after the baby is born), I know that it's not anything that could harm the baby, etc etc etc...

Other than that, nothing big to report.