Ann

This morning Darrell and I dropped the girls off at camp and headed up to my appointment at OU medical center.  It didn't take long to get in to meet with Ann once I had all the paper work filled out. 

 

The Midwife

Ann is probably in her early 50s (I'll ask Darrell if he agrees), with short grey hair.  She's not noticeably short or tall; about average build and weight.  She was wearing sandals, an ankle-length flower pattern skirt and a pink shirt.  Dangle earings and some sort of beaded necklace added to the "classy but slightly hippie" look. 

 

By the first few words out of her mouth I knew that she thinks about birth much the same way I do.  I think she even said "this is a normal process and we don't want to interfere with it."  I forgot a few of the things I planned to ask her, but regardless I think I'm going to be very happy with her.  I was impressed that she asked me if I had considered home birth as though she would totally in favor of it if I was considering it.  We don't want a homebirth, but since I think they're great, I did like the fact that she was positive about it. 

 

Ann assured me that the hospital staff will do exactly what their instructions say so I don't have to worry about agreeing with her about something and then having the nurses give me a hard time.  I don't have to have an IV, or even a heplock, and I won't be poked and prodded and expected to have the baby on their "clock" and I won't have people trying to control what I do.  Instead of having to ask if I could move around, eat and drink during labor she said, "You will pretty much be expected to be moving around, changing positions and being active in labor.  You'll be expected to eat and drink throughout labor."  I loved the way she made it sound like it would be MY birth, she'd simply be attending and I wouldn't have to ask permission to have it the way I wanted it.  She even said I could labor and give birth in the bath tub if I so desired.  

 

It sounded like the only thing that she 'requires' is 15 minutes per hour of fetal heart rate monitoring, which is done with a monitor that's not attached to anything so I wouldn't have to lay down or be still during that time, I could continue to move around and do essentially whatever I wanted.

 

Since Ann is a Certified Nurse Midwife, she works in a practice of 10 physicians and 4 other midwives.  She will be my primary care provider and attend my birth.  In the event that there are any major complications that require a physician's guidance or intervention, there is always one of the OBs on duty at the hospital.  When I asked how often she had to transfer care to a physician she just shook her head.  Rarely if ever.

 

I was also thrilled to hear that the c-section rate in the normal L & D section is about 4% or less (high risk section 29%).  She estimated the other hospitals in the area to be about 50% in general, which could be an exaggeration but even if it is... sheesh!  I'm not suprised, but it's appalling really.

 

I love the fact that she appears to be approaching birth as "no big deal" until something happens to prove otherwise.  I got the opposite impression from my OB, who seems to approach it as an emergency waiting to happen, thus we must take this precaution and that precaution "just in case.

 

The Hospital

After meeting with Ann, she sent us over to the hospital to find Mindy and see the birthing floor.  I was a little disappointed in the birthing rooms just due to the fact that I've seen much nicer ones.  They're nothing fancy, just a bed, TV and DVD player, plush chair and couch plus some monitors and an exam table for baby with some equipment.  The couch has removable pillows so it makes a bed of sorts that someone could nap on if needed.  The bathroom was just like a full sized home bathroom, with a tub/shower, sink and toilet.  I hate teeny hospital bathrooms so that's great.

 

The part Darrell was really disappointed about is that shortly after delivery, they move the mother and baby upstairs to a recovery room.  I agree with him, that's pretty lousy.  I'd like to stay in the same room for labor, delivery and recovery - even at the risk of being disturbed by alaboring mother in another room  :)  We didn't see the recovery rooms as they were on another floor... Mindy said they were about half the size of the birthing suites.  Really though, I hope not to stay very long after the birth so I could care less where they put me.  I know I'll rest better at home so my goal will be getting back there ASAP.

 

OU Medical center no longer has a nursery for healthy babies, so the baby will essentially stay in the room with me the whole time.  That I do like.  No chance of some nurse taking it upon herself to give my little tyke formula and messing up my breastfeeding!  Darrell said I would need some rest, but I figure I'll still get some... he can do some father/baby bonding and let me sleep.

 

In all I think it was a successful appointment.  I'm still keeping my appointment with my doctor on Thursday for the ultrasound, and then I'll get all the records and the insurance transferred over.  I'm very excited!