Well, I had my son sooooo fast, that all of my birth plans went completely out the window. I'd bought lollies and stuff for my DH so that he would have plenty to keep his energy up in the expected hours long labour that never happened. I reckon I started labour in the second stage!! We ate them 4 days after my son was born because there just simply wasn't the time to eat them.

In the case that you happen to have a birth that isn't like the long one you're expecting I can tell you:

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY...........

Somebody on the line might be telling you that you are being "a bit over anxious". I listened to the person on the phone line thinking "well, they know what they're talking about. This is my first baby.... I know jigger all". Next time I won't be so forgiving. I'll definitely be listening to the signals my body is giving me....... boy!! are they BIG signals..... how I ignored them I will never know. The person on the phone line was soooo wrong and I think they realised that when I turned up to the hospital and they did the internal check - panic stations were suddenly hit. Don't ask how I made it to the hospital - that's a whole other story.

Be prepared for anything - birth is NOT text book.