This week I have started thinking about the kind of labour and birth I want to have. I was thinking about it so much last night that I barely slept a wink.

I looked at the NHS Online Birth Plan but there was too much I did not know to complete it fully. I needed a site that would guide me better through my options. Having never attended antenatal classes or expereinced a third timester the best childbirth education I have had so far is my hazy memories of giving birth to Esther and William and watching One Born Every Minute!

Today I have been looking at birth plan information at www.babycentre.co.uk and I have found this to be much more detailed.

They advise naming your birth partner as point one of your birth plan. My birth partner will be my husband, David. I cannot imagine going through something so important and so intimate with anybody else. If labour is long and David needs a break then I would be happy for Michele, my best friend, to come and keep me company for a while in the early stages. If she is available and willing. I haven’t asked her yet!

I would want David to be with me through any and all procedures. We have no secrets and he has already seen things and done things for me that no husband ever should. I want him with me every step of the way.

The next thing to think about is positions for labour. In an ideal world I would like to remain active. I would like to be able to move around as I know that if I am lying down I will focus more on the pain. I like the idea of being up on all fours when I cannot be moving around. But I guess what will be will be. I delivered Esther and William in theatre, on my back. If this was my first pregnancy and everything was straightforward I would have loved a water birth, but for me that is not meant to be.

My first choice for pain relief will be gas and air as I had with Esther and William. I would like to try and give birth using only this if at all possible. If not then I would like to use whatever pain relief is least harmful to the baby and at this point I have no idea what that is. From what I have read it seems all drugs pass through the placenta to some degree. I am looking forward to learning more about my options with the NCT.

After the birth David is not fussed about cutting the cord when I ask him now but I would like him to be given the option at the time as he may feel differently then. We are 99% certain that Matilda is a girl, should that turn out not to be the case then I would like David to be the one to tell me. I would like our daughter (or son!) to be delivered straight onto my tummy and I want to breastfeed them if I can.

So that is my birth plan so far. I bet the reality will be nothing like the birth I imagine but I hopefully have a few weeks yet to enjoy the dream, or experience the nightmare.

My main question that I cannot find an answer to is will labour me so much more painful at full term than at 27 weeks? That is what I really want to know.