The Newborn Thing

[lunamegn]

I am totally fine with giving birth alone. Completely have faith in myself and I know I can do it - cause I've done it before! My one thing is that I feel more comfortable with a birth professional with me directly after the birth, not so much for me but for babe. I worry that if something were up with babe that I would not know what to do. Now that I type it out I'm thinking to myself, well just take babe to a hospital if you feel something is not right. Also, I really like how my midwife does the baby check 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, and 6 weeks after babe is born. I really don't have a pediatrician that I feel comfortable with enough to show up at their office explaining a UC and wanting things to be checked out. With my last, we didn't go see the pediatrician until he was 2 months and only because he had a gnarly chest cold.

How do y'all prepare yourself for after babe is born? Do you just read more about what to expect with a brand new freshie fresh? What to look for? This is in the event that you don't have a totally cool and understanding pediatrician on hand. I know intuition is a lot of it and if I *feel* something is up I should act on that... just wanting to hear what ya'll do and manage that time directly after birth.

Thanks!

[zoebird]

before our son was born, i interviewed a well recommended family doctor. i loved him, and decided that he would be our doctor.

he said we would make an appt for the baby at first-available after the birth--but go to the hospital if there is an emergency.

no emergency, and we went to our first appt 3 days after birth.

[lunamegn]

Thank you zoebird. After thinking about it more, I don't see why it would be a problem or even an issue to take babe in a few days to a week after s/he was born. I think a simple, It was a homebirth, would be enough.

[jessica_anne010]

Originally Posted by lunamegn

How do y'all prepare yourself for after babe is born? Do you just read more about what to expect with a brand new freshie fresh? What to look for? This is in the event that you don't have a totally cool and understanding pediatrician on hand. I know intuition is a lot of it and if I *feel* something is up I should act on that... just wanting to hear what ya'll do and manage that time directly after birth.

Thanks!

This is something that I've been putting off. I am a student midwife and had planned on making a little cheat sheet for all the newborn exam stuff that midwives do. However, I've been putting it off for some reason. Need to get on the ball though because my due date is Friday and I've been having some very early labor signs. lol

But yes, I agree with the other poster, if you feel like something is really wrong go to the hospital, if you feel like something is just not quite right call your ped/gp.

[wrappedupmama]

I agree with what others have said. I just told my doctor we were having a home birth, and asked how soon he wanted to see the baby. He said 2 days. We had the baby Friday afternoon and brough the baby in Monday. No big deal and he didn't even ask any nosey questions about the birth. It is a little nerve racking to talk to the doctor about it, but chances are it could go just fine. I also read Spiritual Midwifery Vol. 2. It tells you tons of stuff to look out for that would indicate needing to transport. It also tells you what is normal and you don't need to worry about. I highly recommend Anne Frye's books.

[lunamegn]

Thanks! I've been trying to get my hands on some Anne Frye's book. They're expensive! I'm on a wait list.