After my twin birth, when I was told a lot that I shouldn’t come up with a very detailed birth plan because it would likely be disregarded, I didn’t really come up with one for Grant’s birth either. 

Knowing what I know now, however, there’s no reason I couldn’t have a birth plan for the twins. For Grant, it would have been moot, since he was born so quickly. 

With the twins, I thought a lot of how the birth went was attributable to the pitocen being pumped into me (to induce labor), but even with Grant things went very quickly. 

My big plan this time was “get to the hospital in a reasonable amount of time, labor in all sorts of cool and trendy ways, then decide based on how I feel if I want an epidural, and proceed accordingly.” Obviously it all went out the window with the “get to the hospital” bit – we didn’t nail that part and the entire rest of the plan (such as it was) basically went to hell at that point. 

One thing I will say, after experiencing an epidural birth and a non-medicated birth, is that I was much more present for the twins’ birth. The sheer exhaustion and frustration and fear of Grant’s birth really wiped me out. Here I am within 5 minutes of his birth:

We both look like the other feels. With the twins, I was tired but nothing like Grant. In my case, the epidural helped me be more alert and more aware of the process. 

I’m not having any more babies, but I really think if I were, I’d choose to have an epidural again. I know that’s not the popular choice exactly, but I think it’s the better choice for me. 

Here’s a bonus photo of me and Grant now, at 12 days old: