I decided to go with a different OB for this birth. I LOVED my last OB I had with Michael, but the hospital she is affiliated with is not supportive of VBAC's. This policy was in place when I was expecting Michael, but my OB and I both made a silent agreement to go ahead and ignore the hospital policy and come into L&D when I was in active labor and have my baby vaginally. Basically, a hospital cannot deny a pregnant women medical care if she is considered "nontransferable." A women in labor is "nontransferable" and cannot be sent away, so the hospital would have no choice but to "allow" me to deliver there. I was grateful for a supportive doctor, willing to buck the system to make sure I got the birth I wanted. I came into the hospital exactly as planned, completely dilated and ready to push. I felt that was too close for call, however! Even though the birth was uneventful and went as planned, I can't guarantee that this birth will have the same outcome. Nor can I guarantee that she would be willing or able to work with me like this again. In addition, I was never comfortable giving birth in that hospital. After all, the policy for not allowing VBAC's was based on the inadequate emergency staffing (OR staff and 24/hr anesthesiologist). If I were to need an emergency c/s, how could this hospital guarantee the best services if they aren't prepared for it? Frankly, the hospital should provide a mandatory 24 hr OR & Anesthesiologist staff for all pregnant women, regardless of their risk factor. I am choosing a hospital that supports VBAC's to reduce my concerns and experience more comfort and ease around the time of the birth. I feel more comfortable with a hospital that I am welcome any time, whether in active labor, or not. One of the stipulations my last OB made with me was that I had to go into labor before my due date. I felt pressured into inducing labor, instead of letting my body go naturally. I made a choice to have my membranes stripped and drink castor oil in order to induce labor. Having my membranes stripped is very invasive and painful. I will never do that again! The castor oil works very strongly and I went from no contractions to full blown labor in no time. The diarrhea and constant cramping associated with the castor oil is unrelenting and gives me horrendous hemorrhoids. My previous labors with castor oil have always led to precipitous labor with uncontrolled pushing and horrible 1st and 2nd degree tears. This time, I plan on doing everything on my terms and not be forced to do anything that isn't medically unnecessary. So, I am driving the 40 minutes to each of my prenatals and to the hospital when I go into labor. The hospital is also much nicer and provides a quality of care the other hospital cannot match.
On Tuesday, I completed nearly of a four-part prenatal appointment. The first part consisted of a nice chat with the head nurse, Brenda, where we went over my pregnancy and health history. I was pretty impressed that I could remember all of my children's birth weights. It was a lot of fun to chat with her. She even shared some of her birth stories with me. Her children are all grown and it has been several decades since she last gave birth, but no matter how many years have gone by, giving birth is a lasting memory.
The second part of my appointment was my ultrasound. I was secretly hoping for twins, but we only saw one little baby and his/her large yolk sac/ blob looking thing. The heartbeat was 166 bpm: healthy & strong! The baby was sitting on his/her head at first. Then, the ultrasound tech said that the baby flipped onto his/her bottom when she returned to take another peak after she finished the scan of my uterus and ovaries. I was surprised that the baby was measuring younger than I was calculating. I am certain when Chris and I had sex and it seems highly improbable for his sperm to survive for over a week. The baby was 7 weeks 6 days, instead of 8 weeks 4 days. The due date was changed from January 10th to January 15th. The ultrasound picture was odd, to me. There is a baby and a blob next to it. The tech said it was the yolk sac, but it doesn't have a spherical shape. Weird. The gestational sac look huge, to me, as well. I don't remember any of my other ultrasound pics to looking so odd. I just have a strange feeling that something was amiss in that ultrasound. I will be going back for my NT scan in four weeks, so hopefully I will see more of baby and put my uneasiness to rest.
My third part of the prenatal appointment was lab work.
I was supposed to complete the final portion of my prenatal; the physical and pap, but the nurse had to cancel due to a family emergency.
So, today, I completed my final part of the prenatal and met a wonderful nurse, Jane. My next prenatal appointment is scheduled for July 3rd with my OB.
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