doctors

I had a regular appointment with my OB today. One thing I like about her office is that she offers child care during your appointment if you need it. Since DH's schedule is so wonky, I like knowing that the boys can go with me, but not have to be part of the appointment.

I'm not that crazy about HER, though. She doesn't have much of a bedside manner - she's sort of aloof. I don't LIKE her, as I did the OB I used with C and N.

BUT

She will let me VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). That in itself keeps me at her practice, since it is hard to find a doctor in AZ these days who will support that. The trend is "once a c-section, always a c-section" and I don't buy into it. N was a VBAC and my recovery was so much better, that I have no desire to schedule surgery to have another babe. (C was an emergency c-section.)

She is not freaking out over my age. Even with N, when I was 34, there was a lot of talk about "advanced maternal age" and how "lucky" I was that I wouldn't turn 35 before he was born. This doctor takes it into stride and while she's monitoring various things - she's not making me feel like I'm a freak because I'm pregnant at 38.

I know (because a friend had her last baby with this doctor) that she is very hands-off and avoids intervention when at all possible. She let my friend go 2 weeks overdue and wasn't panicking even then. She was willing to let her go 2.5 weeks before trying to move things along (but my friend gave birth at 2 weeks, 1 day past her "due" date.) She won't push pitocin or other unnecessary drugs. (I still wonder if the pitocin was one of the factors that made me need an emergency c-section for C.)

For all those reasons, I think I'll stay with her practice. So what if I don't "like" her as much as I want to? I think she'll let me have the kind of birth I want, and that is really more important.

And, today, I got to hear the heartbeat again. The baby's heart was beating away, and the doc said the baby was moving around quite a bit. Both good signs! I'm just over 11 weeks - - so I think I can start to relax and trust in this pregnancy ; )