The Dirt on Pregnancy Weblog

Ok, so after talking to the doctor, we have decided to go with the original hospital we toured. His office is located on the same campus, which will be nice if we are ready to deliver the baby Monday-Friday between 9am and 5pm, because he can just hop on over. If we don’t deliver during those times, oh well, he’lI still be there when he needs to be. I think it also gives us a better chance to get a labor tub. We’ve had a lot of discussions with our doctor about our childbirth wishes and he is on board with all of them. I’m really glad we switched doctors and both my husband and I feel really good about him. Now that that’s decided…I can stop worrying about it. We have met with an attorney and have our living will and power of attorney drafted up so we just need to meet with him and sign on the dotted line. I love checking things off of my “the baby is coming To-Do List.”  We just need to finish the wall designs and decorations for the baby’s room and I’ll be happy.  The goal is to have everything completed a month before my due date so I can just rest that last month so I’m ready for labor. The neonatologist who works in my office told me that so many times, she has seen women who wait until the last minute to do everything…put the nursery together, buy clothes and gear for the baby, and by the time they go into delivery, they are too exhausted to properly give birth. Since, I’m planning on doing it naturally, I want my body to be rested and prepared for 12-18 hours of labor. It’s been about 5 years since I worked out for that long when I had 4 practices a day for College Field Hockey. But even then, we had a good 1-2 hour break in between the sessions!

On another note, in our last Bradley class, our instructor informed us that the last handful of hospital births she has either attended or received a call about have all been really positive, natural experiences. Perhaps the local hospitals and/or nurses are jumping on the natural train finally?