Labor Class

If you haven't already read Scott's blog on the labor class, here's a summary: I'm feeling much more prepared for the entire process, but a little overwhelmed and apprehensive about all the stuff that can go wrong.

First of all, I totally lucked out and found my OB on my first try. I found her on a "rate your md" type website, I actually looked her up on three different ones after getting a list of the doctors in my area that accepted my insurance, and the only complaints were from non-OB patients that said they'd had to see her nurse-practitioner on a few occasions because she had a patient in labor. Well, that's something that you have to accept when you're seeing an OB/GYN. That's why the OB is in there. Don't want to deal with it, see a gynecologist who doesn't do obstetrics. Anyway, all of the people who'd rated her as an obstetrician said that she was great, so I called her up and made an appointment. This was at the beginning of 2008, when I was pregnant the first time and wound up miscarrying. Through the entire process of going through that, she and the entire staff were fantastic. I was in a bit of a haze, and they were very nice about explaining that it wasn't my fault and it didn't mean that I'd never be able to have kids, etc., and I felt very confident that when the time was right and we decided we would try again, that I'd be going back to her.

I was mildly concerned about the fact that I would have to deliver at Hoag hospital in Newport Beach. It's not the closest hospital to us, and in traffic can take almost a half hour to get to. However, after this class, I am much more confident that it's the right choice. I'm very happy with their procedures, security measures, and the general level of care given to the entire family. Everyone gives birth in a private room, with a pull-out bed for dad or whoever else is there. The baby isn't taken from you right away the way they used to do, and they go so far as to not allow any visitors at all the first hour after birth. It's just mom, dad, baby, and whoever else was coaching/cheerleading. After this initial period of isolation, everyone's taken upstairs to the private recovery rooms, where you can have visitors, but they need to be buzzed in and out by the nursing staff. They inspect packages and backpacks/purses upon leaving to prevent abductions (Hoag has never had an abduction). They keep the baby with you all the time, they do tests in your room. They also keep you for about twice as long as most hospitals. So overall, I'm feeling much more confident in this particular choice.

In the class, we went over all the things that can go wrong. Wow. There's a lot. And most of it you don't have any control over, and neither does the doctor. There's not really much we can do except hope that everything goes the way it's supposed to.

And so begins the (approximately) 10-week countdown. I have the feeling that it's going to go much quicker than I am anticipating, but then again, the whole pregnancy's gone much quicker than I anticipated.