December 21 2004 09:49 (+ 5 - 5 )
posted by (gen_here)


We had our regular appointment yesterday. Everything is still looking good. 140 heartbeat, 36 cm measurement, up 3.5 pounds from last Salem visit (or down .5 pound from the appointment in Sioux Falls two weeks ago). Next week she'll do an internal exam to see if the baby is head up or down - she couldn't tell for sure yesterday by just feeling... she felt two round "parts" (one head, one butt). So I'll be doing everything I can to convince this baby to go head down (and stay that way) to avoid a c-section if at all possible (Dr. Peters isn't one of the docs in Sioux Falls that will attempt a natural delivery for a breech baby).

The hospital tour was good, too... I guess. The hospital itself is beautiful - more like a fancy office building/mall. The rooms in the "Women's Center" (aka OB Unit) were large, kind of homey, all the equipment is hidden... but it just kind of hit me that this is REALLY going to be a hospital delivery - nothing that I ever wanted. The nurse that took us on the tour really started to piss me off with constantly talking about how the babies go to the nursery for this, that, or the other.... unless you REALLY want to keep it in your room. She talked about all the places the baby or I could be transferred to if either had a problem, and pretty much downplayed all the "good" things that women do during or after labor (read: all the things I'm planning to do) without asking where I stood on anything. But in the end she said that she's not one of the regular nurses I'll see walking around on the floor... she's a NURSERY nurse - who was probably just pissed because the three babies on the floor yesterday were rooming in with their moms. It was a bit overwhelming for me, but I just kept reminding myself that she's not going to be my nurse, and my doctor has already approved my birthplan - and that's what really matters.


four comments:

Stingray [() (link)] December 21 2004 13:17
And I'll be there, too...and that's what really matters.

I've already said any nurse that wants to give us any lip will be dealt with...we'll talk and tell her that we know what we're doing...we're birthing a child, it's not unusual, it's natural, and women were created to do the job, so let her do the job!

Heather Finnegan [() ] December 25 2004 09:43
I know you have many great plans, but remember God is in charge. He created Doctors and Nurses to take care of you two. Things happen that are not expected. I know that women have been giving birth since Eve, but infant and maternal mortalilty rates were very high.(I am a little biased, since medicine, created by our Lord, has kept me pregnant thus far. Without it we would have probably lost the baby early on.) Also, like you said she won't be the nurse that is with you while you labor and deilver. You have more options ther than I do here. The hospital where we are going to devlier still has labor and delivery rooms, then you share a semi-private room after delivery, YAHOO! :)- Just what I want while I'm recovering, another family in my room. There are no options of "rooming-in" or having my husband stay with me while I'm there (except for the birth). I pray that everything goes well for you, and you are able to do everything you have planned. Merry Christmas-Next year you'll have a little angel to share the glorious story of or Lord's birth.

Genevieve [ ] December 25 2004 21:17
Hey, Heather - I don't know if you'll be checking back here, but actually, YOU have more options than I do. Where we live, it is illegal to have an assisted birth outside of a hospital. If I have a homebirth, I can't have a midwife... Birthcenters are illegal, too.

I'm not biased against medicine - I'm just not in favor of it being used routinely just because it CAN be. I am in total agreement that you need to be on the medications that you are for the health and safety of your baby, but I have (thankfully) had a very normal pregnancy - no meds needed other than prenatal vitamins, not even so much as a cold. I should be allowed to have the birth that I choose - not one that is chosen for me - because I'm NOT high risk. As I have said all along, even well before I was pregnant, hospitals are for sick people - I'm not sick... I'm just pregnant =)

(sorry if this is double posted - it seemed to disappear!)

Heather Finnegan [() ] December 28 2004 10:23
Well, yes and no. The trouble is finding such a place close enough. My mother's longest labor was 6 hours start to birth. Since we don't know how fast or slow I will go, I have to find something close. I'm also the type of person that would rather have the option of "medicine" near-by in case the baby or I need it. I don't like hospitals either-but I know God put them there to help us. I do agree that the government should not be able to force you to do something you don't want to do. I pray that everything goes according to your plan and that you can leave shortly after the birth. (Do you have that option? I have a friend whose doctor let her go home after just 24 hours because she wanted to.It was her 5th kid. She did have a nurse give her a hard time about wanting to go home, because she could stay for another 24 hours. Maybe that would be a bit of a compromise)



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