Those are two great articles! We had a birth plan going in, some of it happened and some of it didn't. I think the value of a birth plan is that it forces you and your partner to discuss these things and be on the same page. You can't be too stubborn about it though, because the best laid plans can fly out the window during delivery.

I wanted to be free to walk the halls during labor, but my IV only allowed me a ten minute walk every so often (induction)

I wanted to push in a squatting position, or in a way that used gravity, but all of these positions caused baby's heart rate to drop.

I wanted the cord to stop pulsing first, but he came out with the cord so tight around his neck that it had to be cut while he was still inside.

I wanted kangaroo care immediately but he had to be taken away because he wasn't breathing.

My husband wanted to cut the cord, but delivery was so intense that he needed to sit down and a nurse had to bring him some orange juice.

I did get my epidural-free birth, and the hospital was pro breastfeeding and rooming in was the norm.

In retrospect, even though things didn't go the way I planned, I have a healthy baby and I trusted my medical team to do the right thing.

Oh jeez, I wrote a freakin novel here!

Here's a topic that was started previously that has some feedback in it for you. Got lost in the topics as the last reply was 2 weeks ago lol

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/751511-midwives-and-birth-plans

What is your hospital's practices? I was pleasantly surprised that the hospital I plan on delivering at likes to keep baby in the room the entire time...except for a few tests. They encourage the kangaroo care and want you breastfeeding within an hour of birth. They also encourage women to use different breathing and positioning techniques during labor. I don't have birth plan per say but i kind of have an idea of how I want things, but like others said you just have to see what happens!

For my first child (girl), I had a very basic birth plan - try to go without an epidural and no pacifier, essentially. My hospital was pro-breastfeeding, so I wasn't concerned with the bottle issue.

In reality: after 2.5 days of non-progressing, induced labor at 36 weeks, I ended up with a c-section. I had the epidural (instead of a spinal) and didn't get to hold her until at least a couple hours after surgery because I was so shaky from the drugs wearing off/exhaustion from the long ordeal (I didn't trust myself to hold her in those conditions). I did get to try nursing right away (once I could hold her), and there weren't any pacifiers in the room, so that worked out.

In the end, it's like the others said - be flexible. The main thing we all want is a healthy baby when all is said and done!

PS
For my second pregnancy, I had twins, so it was a repeat c-section and I again didn't get to hold them for at least an hour. They were in a totally different room during that time (my husband got to be with them, though), in fact. But I'm thankful we weren't dealing with the NICU or other complications that are all-too-common with twins.

I think everyone has good advice...the only thing I would suggest thinking about is possibly having the baby sleep in the nursery some rather than your room. It's completely up to you, but a lot of women suggested this to me...they said "You'll want the baby in your room because you just had it, but then you'll wake up at every slight noise. This is the time you need to rest up before you go home/are on full time responsibility for the little one. So take the rest while you can!"

I totally took their advice, and I don't regret it. I made sure the nurses knew I wanted to feed her every few hours- I did NOT want her having formula, so they would bring her in when it was time to eat (overnight) and then during the day she was with us. It was nice to get a lil' more rest before that first dreaded week at home! Just some friendly advice, but I understand if you want that precious baby as close as possible:)

I just spoke with my midwife this morning about my plan.

The only thing I'm requesting is that the cord stops pulsating before they cut it. My midwife is very easy going, so what I do during labor (eating/walking/etc) is really up to me.

Other than that, I've decided to be flexible about anything else. This is all about the baby, so if they need to do something medically necessary for her, I'm all for it.

Thank you all for the input!! I really appreciate it i talked to my dr at my appt yesterday about some of the things i wanted and he was totally on board so i feel good

Yay for you!