Originally Posted by
swissair81
I personally go to the hospital early anyway, because my labors are 3-4 hours long & I don't want to have the baby on the way. My 1 GBS+ baby, the results weren't even back from the lab yet. I didn't even get an IV, she was born so quickly.
I would for sure go if your water broke, because the baby could be exposed to the infection then.
As for your birth plan, as you meet the partners I would discuss it with them. Unless you give them a copy in the office, they won't see it & they usually give all the orders to the nurse over the phone. I'm lucky that my Dr only has 2 partners, so I will get to see all of them more than once. My Dr knows my wishes, he was at my last delivery. I discussed my labor wishes today with one of his (two) partners. She agreed with intermittant monitoring, heplock only unless i am GBS+ (and then I would only be hooked up for the duration of the medication), showering, jumping around the room if I feel like it & pushing in any position that i feel comfortable in. She knows my wishes even without a birth plan, because we discussed it. I plan to do it with his other partner. I don't anticipate any problems because their philosophy is similar to mine. This may work better in a small practice like mine, especially because I know they have similar philosophies.
As for the vaginal exams, do you have to have them? My Dr's offices usually give me a choice. Dilation before labor means nothing anyway. Unless you can trust the person doing the exam, you really have no assurance of anything. Even then... I trusted my dr not to give me an episiotomy with my oldest. He gave me a huge one, for a 6 lb 5 oz baby. I was so annoyed.