After feeling that my care at Triangle OB/GYN was negligent (to say the least), I just knew the right thing to do was find a new doctor. I searched for a doctor who would deliver here at WakeMed Cary since it's just a few miles from our house, but none of the doctors I spoke with had a philosophy that matched mine. They all seemed eager for C-Sections, inductions and any intervention that would get them through my labor faster. Definitely not what I wanted for my birthing experience. It took some work, but finally I made the decision to move to UNC Family Medicine Center in Chapel Hill. That meant switching hospitals and driving a little farther to get there, but Wow! It's been so worth it! I can't say enough great things about the doctors at FamMed. They are AMAZING! They actually listen to me, they are up to date on all the most recent research, and they are going to do everything they can to help me have the natural childbirth experience I am hoping for.
On our way to the hospital tour today, I was hopeful that I would find the same comfortable feeling at the hospital that I have every time I walk into the Family Medicine Center. And I did! Everyone was so incredibly nice and willing to answer any questions. What's even more comforting is that the actual answers to those questions were exactly what I wanted and needed to hear. There are no crazy consent forms to sign when you get to the hospital (you know, the kind that say you give the doctors permission to do whatever the heck they decide they want to do - like give you pitocin so they don't miss their golf game at 5). The rooms were nice and spacious and laboring mothers have a lot of freedom to walk around and be comfortable.
I will be allowed to eat during my birthing time. We can bring in white Christmas lights for mood lighting. I can have a yankee candle air freshener. There are squat bars on the beds and nice tubs in the rooms. I'm so excited to see that the hospital is lenient and wants mothers to be as comfortable as possible. Also, before any nurses or doctors do anything or give me any drugs or whatever, they will actually discuss it with me and my husband first. I love that. (I mean, I understand that an emergency is a different kind of situation, but I'm not planning for any emergencies, lol.)
As soon as our baby is born, hospital policy is that he'll go directly onto my chest, skin-to-skin, and any tests will be done right there. We'll have plenty of sweet bonding time without the nuisance of nurses hovering to take him and weigh him or clean him off. In fact, the baby will stay with us at all times with the exception of two things: 1) the hearing test, which we can go with him to get and 2) his circumcision, which George can still go with him to watch and comfort him. I'm so happy that we are going to be at a hospital that encourages breastfeeding and family bonding time like that. Even the pediatricians come to the room instead of having the nurses take the baby out of the room for the pediatrician to check.
I thought it was cool too that they actually have lo-jack for babies, haha. There are these ankle bands that have alarms on them and anytime the baby gets close to the doors to the maternity ward, the alarm sounds. If the band is at all tampered with or loses contact with the baby's skin for more than a few seconds, an alarm sounds. So cool and comforting!
Overall, I was extremely happy with our hospital visit today. We even found out that instead of having to park our car and walk, they have "stork parking" which is a valet service for mothers in labor. We simply pull up to the hospital, grab our bags and hand our keys off to the valet. They park the car for free for us for 24 hours. George will have to go re-park at some point, but it's nice to know I won't have to be experiencing contractions in the parking lot, haha.
I am currently 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant (almost 2 since it's 11pm, ha). George has felt all along that Andrew will come a little less than a week early, so if he's right, we're looking at just about 6 weeks until we're back at the hospital for the real thing!! I'm getting so excited and so anxious to meet our little man!!! Now, I'm going to go back to packing our hospital bags and daydreaming of the day we actually bring Andrew home!
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