It's so interesting to me how birth/having children affects all of us so personally and individually. When I was pregnant with my first, I did so much reading and so much research; I really thought I understood everything about labor and birth! I was pretty set in what I thought was right, and I have to admit I was kinda judgey towards people who didn't share my opinions.

However, birth with DD didn't really go as planned, and it took me a little while to get over that. I think that experience really opened my eyes to the fact that there is no single "right" way to have a child. All of the options are valid and it really comes down to personal preference on what is the right way to deliver a baby. Having DS, I find myself even more accepting of differing opinions; I made some decisions with DS that I didn't make with DD, and it made me a lot less likely to judge others' choices.

I also have a good friend who had such a terrible labor/delivery experience; everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and she still feels horrible about the whole thing. I think her birth experience has actually made her feel more strongly about her original opinions. She's much more defensive now about about her opinions, whereas I don't think she was quite as vocal, before.

What about you? Did birth make you more open-minded or confirm your original thoughts/opinions? Did your birth go as you expected, or was it different than what you had planned for?