Thursday, February 12, 2009

Had my first prenatal appointment with the OB.

And although he is a very nice man, I still hate to go there.

I plan to have yet another home-birth, but because my midwife's rates have gone up, my husband's hours have gone down and I am covered for standard prenatal care but not that from a midwife, I am going to get my prenatal care from the OB and then have my midwife come in around the last month of my pregnancy.

The OB, whom I had seen for my last pregnancy, greeted me with, "So, you're at it again, are you?" I told him I really had thought that Dominic would be my last at age 43, and that this one was a bit of a surprise. He just shook his head...

He knows I will forgo the creepy genetic counseling talk (I had it only once--when I got pregnant for the first time at age 35), he know that he will most likely not deliver the baby unless there are complications, he knows that I do not want to discuss forms of birth control after the baby is born. That's another thing I dislike about his office: one is surrounded on all sides by options for birth-control. Out of the 10 pamphlets in a display in his examination room, two were on STDs and the other 8 on various contraceptive pharmaceuticals. How life-affirming is that? Did these guys become obstetricians just to do pap smears and tubal ligations?

Anyway, I have another appointment in a month, when I am at 20 weeks. I'll get an ultrasound then, and get to find out whether I am having another boy...or not. Una and I are counting on it being another boy. We gave up long ago in hoping for a girl!

8 comments:

  1. Visits to an OB can really seem so discouraging and disheartening, can't they? You would think that those who make a living off of helping to bring little blessings into the world would view them as blessings instead of curses, wouldn't you?

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  2. So sad isn't it, that Doctors who have given their professional focus to delivering babies are predominantly PRO birth control!!

    Twisted society.

    You are in my prayers. I'm 44 and while I am told I could die having another baby, like I almost did with #4 (acreta) I so ache for another one!

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  3. I hate all that advertising! I even accidentally ended up with an IUD pen in my purse, apparently I swiped it from the reception desk.

    My last OB ALSO did cosmetic procedures, so there were price lists for botox stapled to every door. And ear candling.

    At least my current OB ALSO has several pamphelets available for various post-abortion support groups... but I could do without all the BC posters around. Isn't that bad for business, anyway?

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  4. Yep, my husband always wonders why they'd want to shoot themselves in the foot...after all, aren't babies good business for an OB?

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  5. My husband and I searched around the area and actually found a hospital where they have in-house midwives. So we made the switch and have been happy ever since.

    I'm all for midwives, with doctors it all seems so...clinical.

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  6. I've never been had an OB/GYN deliver any of my kids and I love it.

    All my kids have been delivered by family medicine doctors, but it's hard to find one who still delivers-- especially in PA where the malpractice insurance is usually prohibitive for family docs doing deliveries.

    This is not always the case, but I have found that a lot of my family docs are more kindly disposed towards NFP, and kinder, gentler, less invasive deliveries.

    Of course, I know OBs are not always the pits, but it does burn me when I list NFP on my forms and the nurses remark, "So . . . nothing?"

    Yep, nothing ARTIFICIAL.

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  7. I am sorry you have to experience this ... So sad that this is the norm ... I have been blessed to have a Catholic doctor (no BC or talk of anything that doesn't go along with the teachings of the Church). It's actually a completely Catholic clinic—100% NFP. I know its rare! I had to go elsewhere when I was pregnant with twins, so I experienced all the questions and disapproving looks for the first time, and it just made me so much more grateful for my doctor! Hang in there! The end result—that sweet baby—will be worth it :-) And let's pray for more Catholic doctors!

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  8. You are very fortunate, Sarah! Luckily I have the support of a good Christian midwife who knows me quite well, and it is she who will be here when the baby comes unless there are complications.

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