Now, if you chose to have your baby at home or in a birthing center, you won't need to worry about that at all.
But if you are in a hospital, be it for personal reasons or insurance reasons (as was our case ... sigh), you will have to face being trapped. Whether you are asked to stay in bed or not, all hospitals prefer to have quick access to those veins of yours. Hospitals are always trying to prepare for the worst, and so will want to be able to shoot whatever they need to into your body at a moment's notice. Having several nurses in my family, I know that opening up a vein is not always the easiest thing, and so is preferably done before any emergency pops up.
So, will you need to be stuck to a pole with tubes running into your arm?
Not necessarily.
Ask for a "heplock".
It's another one of those compromises ladies wanting a natural birth in a hospital will likely need to make.
I have to say that I LOVE that you put "they won't attack you to anything". HA HA I felt attacked at the hosp rather than served. Yea for homebirth!
ReplyDeleteI so wanted to have just the heplock--but since I ended up having to be induced I was on the IV. They said they'd take it off once real labor started...but they didn't. Maybe there just wasn't time in that hour between them breaking my water and Ellie being born. :)
ReplyDeleteNext time, maybe I'll be able to do it without that pesky IV.
Megan thanks for the heads up on the typo! But it did make sense in an ironic sort of way ... perhaps my subconscience took over?
ReplyDeleteAnd Becca, yes there are ALL sorts of reasons to be strapped to an IV. It seems to be the first and most common intervention. It's not a deal breaker for most women, but it certainly is annoying.