Having a birth plan, particularly a natural one, seems to be a punch line.  Only naïve, first time moms would ever pretend to have a document that lays out how you want what is perhaps the single most significant event in two (at least!) people’s lives to go.  Having a birth plan is cast as demanding, foolish, and maybe just a little much.  Well, I had one, I was passionate about it, I did everything I could for months to increase the odds of things going the way I wanted them, and I got it, in all the ways that mattered.

From that moment on and with each breath and blink that follows, you will be more and more you. More and more responsible for your own happiness, your own destiny, your own success and failure. Of course I will be here.  Of course I will do everything in my power to give you a good foundation, to teach you what I can, to be the best example I can be.  But it will be up to you.