At 28 weeks...

... Josh and I have decided to change OB's. We went to the hospital tour at High Point Regional  on the 18th and were blown away. I really want to labor freely, free from IV's and the fetal Monitoring. They make a wireless option however we asked the nurses station how many they had and they have ONE! All the women in our tour group were wowed by this and one pregnant mom said "I guess we will have to fight for it huh". The is NO shower or tub in the birthing suite at all and it is very small. There also is no rocking chair. You only stay in the birthing suite about 2-3 hours after the birth and then you are moved to the postpartum room which is MUCH smaller than most kids bedrooms. It is makes Forsyth's postpartum room look like a birthing suite. They also said when the mother is in the process of changing rooms dad goes with baby to the admissions nursery. Where they end up staying for 2 hours. They are bathed here and stuck and prodded and the tour guide made it out like we weren't even asked about the Hep B vaccination it was mandatory I found out later they do give the option. However, it is still mandatory for baby to leave mom for 2 hours.  So after the baby goes to the admitting nursery they are then cleared (if all looks well with baby) to go to the regular nursery. HPR has 3 different nurseries. So in all the baby is moved 3 times and mom is moved twice. Because of cramped space laboring freely would be very tough.

As most of you know I have very high standards for Kendall's birth. LOL!  Probably too high and most of my birthing dreams won't happen but going to HPR pretty much throws everything Josh and I both want OUT THE WINDOW! We really wanted a water birth or at least help from water. We want to have the option to opt out of shots until her immune system can handle them. We want Kendall to be with us unless there is a medical emergency with her. I would like to stay in the same room and not be moved but I understand if another birth is awaiting our room. I would like to be able to move freely during birth and not be tied down to the bed as I said before with IV's and the fetal monitor. SOOOOOOOooooo.....

We looked into a birth center in Mooresville/Statesville and they are willing to accept us. They have only been open since August 1st so Medicaid doesn't cover us having the birth at the Center however, we can go to the hospital down there and have a Center Style Birth. They have 8 Birthing suites all 8 have Jacuzzi's to ease labor. The baby is delivered and placed upon moms belly wiped clean and mom and baby bond before placenta comes out after that the cord is cut. They only put mom on Fetal Monitor on at the beginning and if baby is showing problems and  if no problems exist then the nurse will monitor with Doppler every 30 minutes or so.  Therefore, you are able to labor in jacuzzi, rocking chair, birthing ball, birthing stool, or on all fours on bed etc. the discourage the use of laying in bed. Mom and dad are welcome to decline bathing/Vit K/Eye Ointment/and Hep B Vaccination. Of course doctor will talk with you however politely decline and no more questions are asked or pushed.

The birth center will also allow Josh and I to come down to labor at the birth center so we do not have to spend the entire labor at the hospital! There are 2 Certified Nurse Midwives and one doctor. Doctor Susan Roque. I have talked around and found out Dr Dorn isn't so gentle with tissues if you know what I mean and he has more tears than Dr Roque. Dr Roque does more massage and warming up the peritoneal  area to help ease tearing. Another point for Dr Roque. Also it helps she is a woman.

So they asked we go to Dr Dorn's office for our regular appointment  next week. We will have our glucose test done and as we leave we ask for our Record Request to be faxed to Dr Roque. We will see her 3 weeks later on October 11th. I am so glad we found out before we had to endure our first childs birth there at HPR. And for those who live in Surry County we also had looked into Elkin Hospital however, they refused to allow us off the fetal monitor or allowing us to have a Hep-Lock.

We are really excited now about our birth of our first baby since we know it will probably more of what we pictured and dreamed. We have hired a childbirth educator that has worked with many home birth mom and dads and she will be coming to our house to teach us how to labor naturally without medical intervention or medicine starting October 17th. It is so crazy to think that in 13-14 weeks it will be Christmas and I will be toting a precious baby girl in my arms! I think it just might be the best Christmas of my life!!! :) 28 weeks down 12 more to go!!!