changing your birth plan

[EllieorOllie]

hi, this is my first post on mumsnet, you all seem lovely and supportive!
i am currently in early labour, and have been contracting strongly since monday. in the early hours of this morning dh and i went to the hospital as i wasn't coping at all with the pain and the contractions were coming every two minutes. of course i was only dilated 2 cms and was told to go home (having called the midwife a sadist - oops!!).
howevever, they said they would have been willing to admit me and put me on pethidine had it not been for my birth plan, which emphasises my desire for a natural birth. i tried to explain that the shock of the incredibly painful contractions had made me rethink my ideas but they seemed to think i was hysterical.
back in the cold light of day i still wish to change my birth plan and have decided that i would like an epidural once i am in established labour. i really want to enjoy the birth of my child and i don't want it marred by memories of intense unbearable pain. how do i get the midwives to believe me about this? i get the impression they just think i'm being a total weed... any suggestions on how to convince them that i'm still in my rational mind?

how's it going?

I have already said it but I echo what mears said.
Like I said I was really struggling to think that labour would get more painful than it already was but when I was examined and told I was nearly there I was so proud of myself for getting there. I did need the injection at that point but it was a far cry from the epidural I had thought of for a fleeting moment.
I was trying not as well as Mears to say go up the pain relief ladder start with the gas and air and water and then keep going as each stage comes.
I never had a birth plan with my 1st as labour was a whole new experience so I decided just to take it as it came and go with whatever I felt I needed at the time.
Hey for all we now know you could be in hospital having that baby by now lol.
Hope you are well can't wait to hear your news.

A week later and I'm finally back home with a beatiful little girl called Verity (not Ellie!).

Went for a scheduled stretch and sweep a few hours after talking to everyone on here and got packed off to hospital instantly by my community midwife as I was 5 cm dilated anyway...

6 hours of active agonising natural labour later and I was still 5cm dilated. At which point the birth plan DID get torn up (by the midwives!!) and I gave in to the full works. The epidural was a massive relief but it still took another 8 hours on a hormone drip for me to dilate fully. Ended up with a ventouse delivery and it turned out that baby was back to back and had the cord wrapped round her neck. It was all a bit touch and go for about 10 minutes after the birth and we had to stay in hospital under observation for quite a while but baby is now fighting fit and feeding like a demon!

Anyway, thank for all your advice. I'm pleased I tried to do it naturally to start with, and I'm pleased I had the epidural when it was suggested! Next time I'll definitely be going with the flow...

Congratulations on the Birth of lil Verity, what a pretty name and unusual without being weird
Glad you are now both safely home