Up a notch on the Crunchy Meter

Baby 2.0 and I are officially in the care of an awesome midwife practice. Let me tell you, although it was stressful to switch I just KNOW it was the right thing to do. I walked out of my first MW appt yesterday feeling good -- not upset at how things seemed to be going. My only regret? Not switching sooner.

I'll try to make the long story short. On Thursday afternoon I had my meet and greet at the midwife's office. I immediately felt more comfortable talking to them and found out everything in my birth plan is pretty much standard practice for them. I walked out of the appointment feeling GREAT and, I think, deep down knowing just what we needed to do. I talked to Glenn and he agreed, but we decided to wait until after our OB appt Friday afternoon to make any final decision.

Friday was a whirlwind of a day. I ended up having to take Beanie to the doctor in the morning, then we squeezed in an unhealthy lunch at McDonalds and then went to my OB appt. I was surprised to be met at the pee drop-off my the medical assistant who said I could head right back to the scale. That was a first, but I was really glad to not have to wait around with Beanie. Unfortunately, it wasn't any indication that the rest of the appointment would go well. When the OB came in the first thing she asked was whether I had any complications with my first pregnancy. I told her I had gestational diabetes. I tried to tell her that it was very mild, if not a false positive and that I had to add carbs back into my diet because my numbers plummeted so low after going on the GD diet. She would have none of it! She kept asking how big Beanie was (6lb 8oz -- hardly a BIG baby!), if I felt bigger this time around, and on and on. If you've followed my previous posts about the whole gestational diabetes thing, you know just how little I think of me actually having it last time. We talked a little more and then I asked if all the OBs were on the same page because my doctor had already signed off on my birth plan. The (new) OB said, Oh yea, I was looking that over. You should really reconsider having a HepLock at the least because when you're bleeding to death is a really bad time to try and place an IV." No joke -- those were her exact words. It was at that moment that I knew I was NEVER coming back to that office. I texted Glenn & told him what had happened. He asked if I was upset. I told him that, surprisingly no, I wasn't that it just made the decision that much easier for me. I knew we were doing the right thing.

If I could've I would've marched right over to the MW office and filled out the transfer form then, but I had Beanie with me and she can't come to that office during cold and flu season. So, we went home. We surrendered Sammycat that afternoon. All three of us went. I'm glad we all went -- it was very emotional for all of us. We cried (well, Glenn and I did) a ton. Beanie didn't really understand; I'm not sure she does even now. I'm sure it will take awhile. The other day she told me, "Don't worry mom, he'll be home soon," and I tried to explain (again) that he had a new home.

I'm still upset, but it's getting better. I'm almost in tears thinking about him in a little cage waiting to be adopted. I was a mess all Friday night and most of Saturday morning. When Glenn came home from work we talked though. He made a good point that really helped me with things. He said, of course we loved Sammy and we miss him. But when Glenn was getting ready for work he didn't have to worry about not waking up the cat (because then he would howl for hours and wake up Beanie & I) and he didn't have to look to see if there was crap on the floor. We love Sammy, but we couldn't live with his behavior and it really was the best decision for everyone, including Sammy. Glenn was right and I felt much better after thinking about it that way. I just hope Sammy has a nice, new home soon.

On the way home, we stopped by the MW office and I filled out the form to transfer my records and made all my appointments. I walked the form across the parking lot to the OB's office. I called them Monday to make sure it was being taken care of. I called Tuesday when I heard they weren't at the MW office yet. The office manager called me back and wanted to know what happened. She didn't seem to bat an eye at the "bleeding to death" comment, but was very apologetic that the front desk people didn't have enough sense to schedule me with one doctor for my last few appointments. Whatever, honestly at this point I don't think that would've helped, but at least they were making an effort. The MW's office called to let me know that my old office had hand-delivered my paperwork over to them. Nice, I guess?

I had my first "official" appointment with the midwife yesterday. Had a really good impression of the gal I met yesterday, so that's 2 out of the 5 that I clicked with. I felt listened to and didn't feel rushed at all. In fact, the almost 40minute appointment (new patient/new OB appt) seemed LONG! But I managed to fill up the time talking about Beanie's birth with her and with discussing any concerns or questions I had about my upcoming delivery. I have another appointment next Wednesday to go over my birth plan. It'll be nice to go into the appointment not feeling like I need to be on the defensive.

I really think switching care has helped alleviate a lot of the worries I had previously too, probably just because I feel better about things and don't feel anxious about my care. Of course, there could always be unforseen circumstances or emergencies but I feel like now I'm working with a group of people who are advocating for what I want too. It's a great feeling.