Are you going to have a natural birth?

Mentally, I think the biggest thing I've gotten out of this 10K is that I've learned to kind of just shut my mind off during the race and not think about laps or pace.

Chris Solinsky, 10,000m American record holder

I have entered the phase of pregnancy where people (mostly women) ask me various forms of the question in the title of this post. And then they proceed to tell me their opinion on the matter, whether I ask them to or not. Most of the time, I do ask so it's fine. Sometimes, I just want to be like "Shut the F up".

Recent example of an unsolicited opinion:
Last night, my husband had to have a physical in our house for the life insurance policy he opened on himself. The nurse, Mary, was very nice even though many of her comments were driving me insane. (Side note: Yesterday was a rough one for me in a series of rough days). I won't go into every single comment she made, don't worry. She had to take a blood draw and my husband mentioned that I might want to leave the room and told Mary that I am not a fan of needles. "In fact, she is considering not getting an epidural because she doesn't like needles", he commented. Well that was all Mary needed to wax on about how I WILL need the epidural and that I would be CRAZY not to get it. I smiled and kept it together. There was no punching involved :)

So what is my answer to the never ending questions of will I won't I {get the epidural}? I continue to stick with my original plan - that is, my plan is to have no plan. I have NO FREAKIN' IDEA of what to expect during labor and how much pain I will be in or how I will tolerate it so I don't want to make a decision right now and then be disappointed if I don't stick with it. I would love to have a natural childbirth, but if it gets to be too much, then stick me with the drugs.

I am oppossed to a lot of medical intervention though, if it is unnecessary. Bottom line- i want my doctor to do what he thinks is best for my baby at all times. BUT if I can avoid getting induced or avoid getting narcotics, etc, that would be great. It is interesting reading and hearing about the varying degrees of opinions on this. As my friend Dr. B says, "Why ride a horse when you can drive a car?" meaning, why would you try to do it without an epidural when you can be more comfortable? Then there is Ina May who is all like, "women have been giving birth for eons and embrace your womanhood." I can see both points, which is probably why I'm a little go with the flow.

The reason I think I could do it without drugs is that I have a pretty rockin' hubby. During our childbirth classes and discussions afterwards, I told him that I was never concerned about the level of support he would give me through this whole thing - I knew he would be great through the ups and downs of pregnancy and know he will be great during the ups and downs of labor and delivery. I told him that I wanted him to make me laugh as much as possible because I think that is when I am most relaxed. Now, if we get into the situation and I realize taht I am in no mood for laughing, he will not proceed with that plan, ha ha ha. He knows that I want to try to do it au natural but I think will know when to push me to keep going vs. when I am being serious about "give me the drugs NOW".

The one thing I am adament about is that I want to hold my baby ASAP - I want him/her rolled up on me as soon as he/she is clear of the birth canal. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a whole host of running-related quotes that make me think of pregnancy/childbirth so I will be using them intermittently in the remaining 48 days.