Just a Few Weeks to Go!

I've been back to the doctor twice since I posted about an OB visit. Last week I met the new OB. I felt like I probably should have asked her a million questions to get a feel for her, but at some core level I was too tired to do it. (Yay, pregnancy.) I did bring up a couple of issues to get some sense of her, and she seems very medical... For example, I had cleared being able to drink actual fluids while laboring at the hospital with another doctor in the practice a few weeks earlier, and when I mentioned it to the new doc, she looked sort of puzzled and said, "But we can always put you on an IV if you get dehydrated...?" I thought that was a pretty interesting suggestion considering that I plan to labor again as naturally as possible, and drinking when thirsty seems more natural than not drinking, and certainly more natural than an IV.

So this week I met w/ the main OB in the practice again and had a normal visit. I decided it was a good time to go over my Birth Preferences. ;o) I like this doc the best b/c his philosophy seems to be just to stay out of the way of a pregnant woman unless he sees a good reason to get involved. So he read through my list of preferences, signed off on them, and faxed them over to the hospital. Done. :o) We're using the same basic list as last time, plus two things I added in.

First, I added: "Please do not ask me to rate my pain." Once we got to the hospital when I went into labor w/ Mia, one of the intake nurses seriously pulled out that smiley face chart that rates pain on a numerical scale, and she asked me to rate my pain. Then when I glared at her and told her I didn't want meds, she said, "I'm just concerned b/c it looks like you're in a lot of pain." Seriously? Have you seen a woman in labor before? Yes, it hurts!

Second, I added a line requesting that the hospital delay all the routine newborn procedures for an hour (barring fetal distress, obviously) to give Jeff & me a chance to bond w/ Sophie. Following Mia's birth, the nurses spent at least ten minutes giving her a bath and spent half the time doing silly things like combing her hair into a mohawk. Jeff and I prefer that we get to spend that time bonding w/ our new baby...instead of the nurses doing it.

Anywho, the most important thing for now is that baby and I are doing well, and that we could go into labor anytime between now and five weeks from now. Can't believe we're already here again!! :o)