Second time's a charm?

It's no secret Husband and I are trying for baby #2.  Lately I've been paying close attention to those around me who have gone through this "miracle" (I use quotations because I personally find it gross and weird) more than once.  There is a definite difference between "first baby advice" and "second baby advice".

When I was pregnant with Girl, I didn't feel like I got much advice...  I think the general consensus is "don't scare the newly pregnant person".  Now that I've been through it once and people know we are not adverse to trying it again, the floodgates have opened.  I find the difference between first and second babies to be very interesting.  No matter what the first labour was like it seems as though every mom wants to do it  differently.  This is especially true in cases where there is a bad first labour experience.  I don't really know what constitutes "bad" since it's not really a picnic no matter how you slice it. 

I have heard a variety of changes "everyone" should make.  They run the gamut, from pelvic exercises to midwifery, to home births to doulas.  I didn't have a wonderful labour experience myself, but that was mostly because I was insanely late (15 days) and induced.  Girl's head was borderline too big and she was wrapped up in her umbilical cord so tightly that they were getting odd heartbeats with each contraction.  Therefore, I was induced, and trapped in a bed with heart monitors for a good 36 hours.  It wasn't fun, but I really don't think there was anything that I could have done to change it.  I tried every method known to man (or at least the internet) to get labour to start earlier on it's own...  to no avail.  I couldn't really control Girl's head size or the need for heart monitors.  Personally I'm glad to have had surgeons around in case she really needed to come out quickly. 

I often wonder about making changes.  Is it really the new methods that make life easier?  Or is it more the experience?  I'm sure there is less anxiety the second time around, since you kind of know what you're getting yourself into, and can plan a bit better for what you need.  I personally don't feel the need for a midwife or a doula, I don't need any emotional support that Husband can't provide for me (in fact, with my inappropriate sense of humor, I'd rather have people there who understand me... which not everyone does).  I actually found that my OB-GYN was a little too "hand-hold-y" for my taste, and was glad that someone else I didn't know ended up delivering.  Miraculously the nurse who was with us for 18 hours seemed to get us completely and I credit her constructive advice for Girl coming out without the need for a single stitch.  If there was anything I could request, it would be her.  If only I could remember her name.  (The nurses I got for the last few hours were more cheerleaders than helpful, which annoyed me)

I think my plan thus far is to not change anything.  I'll still hope to go into labour naturally, purely so I don't end up in the high-risk rooms again, but that's more because I prefer the idea of a private recovery room (granted, if I AM high risk, I'll pay the extra $80 for a private room anyway...  I think the worst part of Girl's birth was living in a room with a crazy person for 2 days).  So there you go.  I have a plan. 

I guess I'm kind of putting the cart before the horse, but when you have an idea for an opinionated blog entry, you just gotta go with it.  Now "all we have to do" is get those first parts moving and we're off to the races.