I had been debating putting somethings in my blog, but decided that I'd probably want it documented for later reflection. So..here it is:
Little miss girl and I are doing wonderfully. I am so thankful for this, as I skipped 2 prenatal appointments due to lack of insurance. I had my first appointment since November 16th on the 26th of January. I was scheduled to see an Obstetrician and expected the visit to go smoothly. I went in, did all the usual things...peeing in a cup, weight, BP check, no biggie. Then Dr. "Douchecanoe" (Thanks Kel) comes in, with barely a hello, how are you, I get a lecture. I'll spare you some of his dirrhea of the mouth, but basically he was overly concerned about the fact that I have Cerebral Palsy. Big deal dude, nobody has a problem with it but you. But no, I couldn't register some smart-ass comment in my head. He goes on to tell me that my pelvis is too small (as if he can tell by looking?), that with every subsequent pregnancy your babies only get bigger...Yeah, um what a crock of crap. He began to tell me horror stories of women rupturing their uteruses and babies being in the abdomen rather than the uterus. Ok, I understand that these things can happen, but just because they can doesn't mean that I'm not a candidate for a VB2C (Vaginal Birth after 2 Cesareans). So after he sets me up for failure and gives me every reason under the sun to not have a vaginal birth (He acted as though I needed his permission), he tells me that if I want a tubal ligation that I'll have to go to another hospital. He claimed the hospital doesn't offer tubal ligations because it's "Catholic". I later found out this wasn't true. So he leaves and the nurse gets some papers I needed to sign because they wanted the op reports from my previous Cesareans. I just break down into tears, I sign the release, give them the info to contact the hospital in VA and the doctor comes back in. We talk and I do my best to not cry and tell him he's full of crap. I came home that night, told Clint about what occurred and he said he didn't want me to see that doctor again. Not because he disagreed with my VB2C plans, but because he was misinformed (didn't know about the ACOG guidelines) and seemed incompetent.
That night, I posted on various mommy forums, birth fan pages on Facebook and was overwhelmed by the responses! A friend of mine (I should have listened to her in the first place) and several people on the forums recommended a midwife. I'd have to drive a bit to get to her, but it was worthwhile. I have an appointment to see this midwife on the 9th. Another lady recommended her doula to me. This woman was still in the hospital after having her son via VB2C, she said that she'd talked to her doula about me. So, I sent her doula a message and she was willing to help, even though she's busy studying to be a CPM (Certified Practicing Midwife). We discussed a few things, my commitment to vbacing, her price, the possibility of needed to be seen by her back up doula, and were good to go. Clint and I meet with her tomorrow (2/4)! She has attended 6 VB2C births and I am confident in her ability to help me through this experience. I am so excited! I feel like I have a great support team! Granted, I haven't met with the midwife yet, but from what I'm told she's got a lot of pull at the hospital and is very VBAC friendly. :)
Hope all goes well with baby #3 and works out to be the kind of delivery you'd like! =)
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Elizabeth at MommonSense.com
(Found your site via "the mom blogs")