My Big Step

I haven’t really talked a whole lot about my pregnancy, or the issues surrounding my pregnancy, on this blog. For one, I didn’t want the pregnancy to overtake our family life, or our blog! And for two, not everyone likes to hear about everything that happens to a pregnant woman! However, lately I’ve made some pretty big decisions and changes and want to share them with you all, if you would like to hear, not only because it has consumed my life for the past three days, but it was big step and I want to remember how hard I fought for something I believe in. I feel like by sharing, hopefully all of you will be able to be an encouragement to me, some of you may be able to share similar stories with me or maybe some advice too, and also you will be able to pray specifically for some of my concerns, especially closer to when Skogen arrives. Like I said, I know not everyone is interested in a topic like this, so if you are one of those, you could just stop reading here for today. However, for the rest, I just want to say thanks for hearing my periodic rants and raves, and for not judging me when I write about things like being depressed or how much I miss Erik, or how smart Maida is, how much I love Barkley!, and so on an so forth. I know that I get pretty personal sometimes, but in a way, I feel like this blog is my little corner of the world, my little place to speak what I feel. Anyway, all that had nothing to do with my pregnancy, I just felt like I needed to get it off my chest and mostly just say thanks. We hit about 100 readers everyday and I have no idea how we even know 100 people, but it’s pretty cool to think about that many people caring about what actually goes on in my life!

On to the good stuff… the pregnancy is going great and there are no complications concerning the pregnancy itself, however, ever since we found out that we were pregnant and decided to go to an OB for our prenatal care, I have been uneasy with the decision. At first I saw the need, because I had a previous c-section and we had no idea if I would have to have a repeat c-section or go for a VBAC. However, after meeting with our OB now for a couple months, we already know that (1) I’m a good candidate for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section) and (2) it’s a healthy baby (according to the ultrasound). So, from here on out, I really feel no need to stick with our OB, especially since I have been doing some research and have decided that if I’m going for this VBAC, I’m going all-out for a natural birth, since that was my dream with Maida (which obviously never happened).

For the past several doctor appointments with our OB, I have slowly been questioning him about his practice and his ideas. Very interestingly, I found that as much as he said he supported a natural delivery and a VBAC, there will still issues that we clashed on. For example: I went two days over my due date with Maida, therefore I feel like there is more reason to think I will this time too. However, my OB didn’t want to let me go over my due date and in fact, suggested just scheduling a c-section the week before my due date if I hadn’t gone into labor yet. Also, our OB couldn’t guarantee that he would be at our birth because the only time they attend a birth is if they were on call. So, I was supposed to prepare for a random doctor coming in and delivering my baby because the chances of that happening were higher. Not my ideal birth situation.

After attending a few prenatal classes over the past two weeks and discussing my feelings, emotions, and options with other pregnant women and moms, I decided that I needed to search out someone new for our prenatal care. With the support from Erik, I decided to see who else was out there, knowing that maybe there was chance I wouldn’t find anyone who fully supported my birth plan. However, while doing some searching, I realized that I didn’t need to go very far! Our Family Practitioner (“FP” for short) who we have been seeing with Maida since moving here, seemed like the perfect candidate for me. She is a wonderful woman, friend, mom, and care provider who I am completely comfortable with having deliver my baby. However, I had no idea where she stood on certain birthing issues that were important to me (like the ones I mentioned above).

Yesterday I decided to go out of my comfort zone and give her a call. When I called the clinic, I got put on hold right away and while sitting there listening to the music, I did some good hard thinking. Was I doing the right thing? Was I being unreasonable? What would people think of me? Just before the secretary picked up, I almost hung up. Good thing she answered when she did! I left a message for our FP and since she was out of the office yesterday, the secretary told me she’d get back to me the next day.

This morning Maida and I slept until 10:00 and at 10:05 my phone rang. It was our FP!! I had hardly had time to open my eyes and had horrible raspy morning voice. However, our conversation went well and I felt totally comfortable telling her everything that I wanted out of my birthing experience. She was very understandable and very agreeable. I had time to tell her Maida’s birth story and she went from there. She explained that since Maida was only two days late and was a pretty big baby, she would only let me go a week after my due date. She also said she would totally support the natural birth and she said the best thing I’ve ever heard… she told me that since I progressed so well in labor with Maida and made it as far as I did, that I would be a great candidate for a VBAC. Wow, what a confidence booster!

Before totally convincing myself that switching doctors was a good idea, I really wanted to see the Birth Center at St. Luke’s to see if that would be a place where I would want to give birth. (My OB delivered at a different hospital.) So I called up and scheduled an appointment for today. Erik had school and I had to bring Maida along, but I didn’t care. I was on a mission! At 1:00 today Maida and I toured the Birthing Center. I was impressed! It was nicer than Abbott (where I delivered Maida) and a lot smaller. I felt comfortable there and could see myself birthing there. I asked the poor nurse a lot of questions, but she was okay with that, and I even ran into four of Erik’s classmates doing rounds, which was fun.

So, to conclude, I have decided to switch doctors and hospitals. Tuesday I will meet with a Nurse Practitioner at our OB’s office to explain why I will be transferring and I’ll get all of my medical records and then we’ll go from there. This was such a hard decision for me to make, especially since it was one that I needed to make on my own, which forced me to step out of my comfort zone. Erik’s been a great help in this decision, along with my friend Megan and my friend Cameron. I couldn’t have gone forward with it without them. Now that it’s over, I’m back to the books. I’m learning everything and anything that I can about childbirth. I may be going a little overboard, but at least I won’t be able to say I didn’t try.

Do any of you 100 readers (which I still can’t believe) have any advice for me or for Erik on our upcoming birth? Or do you have any good books that you recommend I read before the delivery? I’d love to hear your thoughts, your experiences, or your advice.