Excited Again

In the beginning of pregnancy, I was so excited to start a pregnancy journal. In fact, I was just excited about the pregnancy in general.

Then as the drama unfolded with a couple ladies from my old homeschool group (and their need to make themselves feel better by spreading drama/rumours related to my pregnancy to someone that had chosen to help us with our new group in an effort to deter her from moving on to something she felt was good for her). Add to that my hesistancy about my OB and her lack of ability to listen to my needs and wishes and I began to shut down and settle in to this pregnancy as something to "get through."

Flash forward three months; the drama has started to subside (at least I'm not hearing about the rumors anymore) and the group is doing fantastic. I finally ditched my old OB after the last appointment where she literally looked through my chart for 10 minutes trying to convince me that I should do the Quad screen because I did it before.

Today I had my first appointment with my new OB. He was recommended by a friend's doula who often works with his patients. I was hesitant--I have troubles with change in general and the thought of changing OBs after having the same OB through 3 previous pregnancies was overwhelming.

I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of having the attitude that I was an inconvenient burden that walked in just as the staff was going to take a break, they were instead very pleasant and helpful. There were quite a few toys for the girls to play with while waiting (which was a good thing at 1:00 in the afternoon--naptime). No one balked at the fact the entire family was there for the appointment as we filed along inside the waiting room. In fact, the doc pulled in an extra stool so the girls each had one!

I quickly discovered that his philosophy is very much along the same lines as mine for birth. When I told him I wanted the ultrasound for structure, but none of the blood testing or invasive testing, he was completely on board. In fact, he said he's very supportive of those who want the testing, but that even he and his wife didn't do it for the same reasons--it wouldn't affect any outcome of the pregnancy.

I also laid out that I want a natural birth and I do NOT want to be strapped to a hospital bed again. I explained to him that I can't manage my pain laying in bed and he completely agreed. He even mentioned that he's a big proponent of the jacuzzi tub, birth ball, etc without my prompting. He gave me the card of a doula that works out of both hospitals who can give me the best perspective about which hospital is the best for a natural birth.

I finally feel excited about pregnancy again! The doc even gave us a quick ultrasound for a sneak peek. Our "big ultrasound" is next monday. We had hoped to get a peek at gender, but the little bugger had it's legs TIGHTLY crossed. On the way out, one of the nurses joked that it MUST be a boy then :)

It's time to start reading up on Bradley and hypnobirthing...I need to decide which to concentrate on.