Friday, April 23, 2010

Reflections.

Sorry about the blog neglection. I really have come to loathe typing one-handed this time around and 2.0 is pretty colicky making quiet time hard to come by. But right now he's soundly sleeping (of course, he was up most of the night!) but Beanie is awake and cleaning her playroom (at least she's supposed to be) so I thought I'd try to blog really quickly.

Before my reflections, 2.0 is doing great (besides the whole colic matter). He gained almost 4lbs between being discharged from the hospital and his 1mth appointment. Score: 1 for Mommy's Milk. He usually sleeps pretty well once he winds down from the all-out screaming. Last night we passed up the screaming (yay!) but he was up at 1:30 until about 4 or so (upset the last hour) and then again at 5. Ah, this too will pass. Beanie is doing great being a big sister. I love seeing how she interacts with her little brother and can't wait till he's a bit older and they can giggle and play together.

So, okay, on to my original idea for this post...

I really am so glad that I switched my prenatal care. I've thought about this A LOT, but I wholeheartedly believe that my birth experience would've been far different if I would've been in the care of my OB and not the MW practice. I think about all the times during my prenatal care that I had a funny feeling leaving my appointments (starting at the first appt!) and wish I would've done something about it sooner. That's my only regret. I kept thinking that maybe we should switch and it wasn't until I was 33 weeks pregnant and I REALLY got a bad feeling that I took the leap. And I just had this feeling -- that's what I told Glenn. I told him it was a sign that we needed to switch. He laughed and commented that I wasn't the superstitious type (and I'm not) but I just knew what we had to do. And when I met with the midwife the feeling turned into a strong conviction. WE HAD TO SWITCH. I walked out of the midwife's office with a lighter step, a smile, and a weight lifted from my shoulders.

Little did I know that I would have non-progressing contractions for almost 18 hours and a high leak in my water bag. Add those two things together and, in my OB practice, I'm sure I would've been hooked up to some pitocin to "help" me along. Since I absolutely hated lying down for even the shortest bit of time I'm sure I would've ended up with more interventions. I wouldn't have been able to labor at home when I thought my water bag had broken, they would've wanted me to come in right away. And I needed those 6-7 hours between my water leaking and being admitted for my body to be ready.

I'm just glad I switched. All along I never imagined I'd have such a different labor experience than I had with Beanie. I just had this feeling that I should switch because I was so unhappy with the care received at the OB's office (and the whole bleeding-to-death comment by the OB sort of sealed the deal). Come to find out it was likely the best decision I ever made for 2.0 and myself. I thought about this A LOT after having 2.0. I just know things would not have turned out the same. I guess what I want to say the most, because maybe it will help someone somewhere) is that if, for any reason, you are uncomfortable with your care you should make the switch. You just never know how things will turn out and it's better to be in the care of someone you're comfortable with than someone you're not.

4 comments:

  1. You're right! It is so important to feel comfortable with your care provider in birth. I switched at 24 weeks to Midwife care with my first pregnancy and never looked back.

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  2. See, everything happens for a reason! I remember you were so upset that your OB had to leave for a family emergency - but if she hadn't you might not have ever had the push you needed to switch to a MW :)

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  3. Sissy, I wasn't as much upset about her leaving for a family emergency -- more so pissed for how the office handled the fact that she was leaving. But you are right, if that hadn't happened I may have been complacent and stayed with them.

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  4. Oh, and what the heck were up doing up at 3 in the morning???

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