Pregnancy #4 — When My Birth Plan Became a Thesis

It’s 2017 and I am no longer playing defense.

I wrote 348-page laminated birth plans signed by me and the doctor.

Categorized. Indexed. Color-coded.

Bindered for each staff member like a conference packet.

I was gestational-diabetic this time (a condition that never left afterward),

(though diet-controlled and unmedicated of my own volition, thank you very much)

but even so — the new hospital treated me with respect.

Let me labor naturally.

Honored every line of my birth plan.

My fourth son arrived full-term, wonderfully overdue, and beautifully ready at over 7 lbs.

It was the most collaborative medical experience of my life.