There are a lot of things I’ve planned: my wedding, my grocery list, our future Disney trip (down to every hour, I might add), etc. My birth plan? It looks like this: do what’s best for me and baby and have the epidural on its way before I even arrive.
Sure, you can come up with a birth plan. By all means, have at it. Just be OK when things don’t go as planned and baby makes other plans. Like when they have you thinking you’re leaking amniotic fluid at 33.5 weeks and you’re told to head to labor and delivery.
Yep, that was me this morning. I had three incidents in 12 hours where I thought for sure my water was leaking. I left a message for the on call doctor and quickly had a return call back from Dr. Blevins. She reassured me it was probably nothing but to head to labor and delivery to be safe and for testing. It was early in the morning so I left my husband home with my sleeping kids and got checked in.
I was relieved I had already been to my pre-admission appointment just a couple days before. When it’s early in the morning and you’re worried your not-yet full term baby could be trying to make an appearance, you don’t want to answer 1,000 family medical questions, wait for insurance information to be taken, go over hospital policies or discuss your breastfeeding and birth plans. Yes, all those things are very important; just make sure to schedule a pre-admission appointment at the beginning of your third trimester. I can’t imagine trying make those decisions while in labor. You’ll also get a tour of the labor and delivery floor! (Get a preview of your tour here!)
The nurse did a little swab test for amniotic fluid and then baby and contractions were monitored for about an hour. I am back home with the baby still safely in my tummy and keep laughing when I recall my sweet nurse saying, “yay, motherhood!” Because urine is not easily controlled after having a kid.
What an embarrassing one for the baby book (that will probably not exist).
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About the author: My name is Sarah and I’ve been a Kansas gal my whole life; born and raised in Manhattan but have been living in KC for 6 years. I have a degree in Family Studies and Human Services and I’m wife to Derek and mom to Collins (4), Brooks (2) and baby 3 who will arrive this Summer. We are big K-State fans and also cheer for our Royals and Chiefs. We are lucky enough to have a lot of family close by so we enjoy spending as much time as we can with them or doing all the fun things KC has to offer.
