Hi, Karlee! Boy, I wish your family (and his) would let you have an
easier time of it in these last few weeks. Sheesh! Here's my two cents:

Your delivery/your choices. My first son ended up being an emergency
c-section so it sort of wasn't an issue. With my second son who was a
scheduled c-section, unbeknownst to me, DH had given permission for
students to be in there. It was an awful thing to me. I view childbirth
in whatever form as a highly personal deal and that was taken from me.
Grrrrr....

Postdelivery, you plan sounds amazingly sane and farsighted. Wish I'd
thought of it. You have my wholehearted support in this and my
encouragement to not let family descend on you once you're home until
*you're* ready.

Lastly, I applaud your choice re the tubal. I had it done at 30 when my
second son was born. I *knew* that with our two little ones and my three
stepkids that I couldn't financially, emotionally, or timewise do any
more kids. I had planned to stop after our first son but didn't do the
tubal. Then Nic came and was a very happy surprise but the day I found
out I was pregnant, I knew that was it. No more. Maddeningly, Rich had
to sign a *permission form allowing* me to have the tubal since he was
my husband. AAARRGGH!

Karlee, hon, these are all highly personal choices and, while you might
ask for input from us or family or other friends, you and DH are the
only ones with the right to make the choices. And no one should judge
you for them.

Blessed be.

Shelby
Karlee in Kansas wrote:
Please don't label me as a horrible person for these things, but I would like the input of anyone that has been a "new
mom" (even and especially if you have been said new mom more than once).

I had a little spat with my mom again. She is upset because the only people that I will allow in the labor and delivery
room with me while I'm in the process of bringing Ellie into the world is hospital staff (kept to a minimum....i.e. *no
interns or students) and my husband.

Second sore spot with mom falls into the post delivery category. For my duration in the hospital, I only want my kids
and husband in there. I don't want a parade of people. Its time for me, baby, kidlet the first, and the new daddy. It
is my opinion that they can wait until we get settled at home before they come visit.

Again, mom has her nose out of place on this one. She wants to be there to hold Ellie hours after her birth like she
was for kidlet the first. I understand her want, but I am going to want to rest and get acquainted with the baby
without a three-ring circus going on in the room (Labor is NOT an easy job if memory serves me correctly). Last time I
was way groggy after the anesthetic and all people did was make noise and make it near impossible to rest. Staff would
not ask them to leave after I requested that they do so.

The last sore spot with mom (and the biggest I might add) is the fact that I am requesting surgical sterilization after
the birth. DH is going to get "fixed" as well. Both of us see how hard pregnancy is on me and neither one of us want
to go through this again. (I have a habit of pre-term labor that is NOT a barrel of monkeys) Both me and DH love and
adore children, but my risks of having harder and harder pregnancies increase with each one (according to doc, who btw,
is supporting my desire to have a tubal).

Opinions are being requested, but flames are not. I'm getting enough heat from my mom on these topics to last a
lifetime.

TIA,
Karlee in Kansas