urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:duniabest Quest for Inner Fire One Woman's War On Terror Rude D 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:duniabest:57582 Birth Plans (Planz? Should it be hip?) 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z golf course fountains In my latest bout of pregnancy insomnia, I trolled the message boards on UrbanBaby.com to see about people's experiences at the NYU&nbsp;hospital, where I am to give birth in November and with my OB/Gyn, Downtown Women's OB/Gyn.&nbsp; <br /><br />What I read was mostly positive.&nbsp; The one thing I kept seeing was stay home until the surges (using the hypnobirthing term) are 3 minutes apart to avoid a lot of medical intervention.&nbsp; This is the one thing I think I would have changed about Simon's birth, which became an emergency C-Section after his heart rate dropped dangerously low.&nbsp; I'm still on the fence as to whether his heart rate dropped because I&nbsp;wasn't moving enough or if it would have happened no matter what I did.&nbsp; I never dilated completely either.&nbsp; There were other people there who will remember better than I will.&nbsp; I suspended time and memory during the birth.<br /><br />I went to the hospital when my contractions were 5 minutes apart.&nbsp; What's funny is that I was able to bear the contractions for most of the time without pain killers.&nbsp; They were very uncomfortable and I definitely could not sleep through them, though I tried. &nbsp;&nbsp;They eventually slipped me some morphine after I continued to refuse an epidural even after pitocin.&nbsp; They put me under for the c-section.&nbsp; I think I&nbsp;could have moved around more, but I thought it would be better to completely relax.&nbsp; This time I think I will use relaxing movements like cat-cows and child's pose and leg stretching type poses.&nbsp; I've been having Braxton-Hicks &quot;practice&quot; contractions since the very beginning and am teaching my body to relax through those as they get a little longer and stronger.&nbsp; <br /><br />The important thing to remember for me is that hospitals are made for intervention.&nbsp; So I have to be steadfast in my desires and extremely self-sufficient.&nbsp; And keep moving and breathing slowly.&nbsp; Tension-free, drug-free birth.