Pregnant with #4, military wife UC hopeful

[tnt1043]

My name is Nikki. I'm almost 10w pregnant with our fourth baby. My OB care has been assigned to the naval hospital here where we are stationed, and while I plan on attending prenatal appts there, we would like to plan for a free birth. 

I'm appealing to you smart ladies to point me in the direction to start that preparation. How do I register the birth? What do I do after the birth (ie, baby's checkup)? Do I share my intentions with my provider? And any other advice the BTDT moms could give me. Thank you so much!

[southernmommie]

A lot depends on your state laws. Have you looked into what they are? Have you called Tricare to find out what they cover? (If you are going to use them...) I would start there. There are some great resources to your questions in the threads under resources. I got most of my info there. Each state has their own method and requirements for reporting a non-hospital birth. And in most cases, each county too. I would also suggest contacting the birth certificate office or online for your county and find out requirements for reporting a birth to get the birth certificate. Are you going to have a midwife attend? Call and ask what the requirements are through them. 

[tnt1043]

Thank you for responding! I will check the resources thread and see what info I can find for NC. We are not using a midwife. Will that make a difference with getting a bc? I'll call the office too and see what they say. Thanks for getting me started! I appreciate the help. 

[ldserrano]

Hi tnt!  I am in the same boat!  I'm 26 weeks along now with baby #2.  I was not pleased with my first experience at Tripler and would like to try an unassisted birth.  I have been researching quite a bit and I keep hitting dead ends...especially with the post-partum process (check ups, birth certificate, etc).  I'm debating on whether or not to discuss my plans with my son's pediatrician and my midwife.  I'm afraid that one misstep will lead us into a heap of trouble.  So far, my plan is to get regular care at Tripler in the midwife program and do my best to just stay at home for the birth.  Sorry I'm not able to answer any of your questions yet, but whatever I come across I will share!

Also, I just joined a Yahoo! group called HI_UC in hopes of finding some more state-specific information.  Maybe that will help us!

Is your husband on board with this? Mine is definitely not...He feels much safer with medical intervention.  We argued my entire first pregnancy over whether or not to do a home birth or hospital birth.

[mamaSun loveMore]

Awesome! I'm in hawaii and expecting #4 as well... It'll be our third UC...

I just met another woman navigating (avoiding) tricare and planning to UC.

Looks like there are a good few of us in the area!

[ldserrano]

mamaSun,

were your previous UC's in Hawaii or elsewhere?

Has anyone done Hypnobabies?

[Plummeting]

I might be in the wrong place, so please don't be offended if I post, but I was just excited to see a few Hawaii mamas in one thread! We're military and are expecting our third baby here in late May. I'm having a home birth, but not a UC. I hate the Tripler OB department. I can't imagine having to give birth there. I so, so, so hope nothing goes wrong, because that would be a nightmare for me. I've gone up there for all my testing, and they try to tell me something is wrong EVERY time. It's bizarre. First they freaked out because I couldn't remember LMP was on a Sunday or a Monday. ONE DAY and they acted like it was a big deal and lectured me when I declined the early u/s, even though I told them I ovulated several days later than day 14 anyway, so I knew their calculation based on LMP was early by a few days. Then they couldn't get the heartbeat and panicked at the next appt. Then at the next one, she said I was "too big" and called someone in to do an emergency u/s, and of course, I'm not too big - she hadn't even measured me! I'm just really short, so my fundus was above my belly button. Then at my 20 week u/s, they said the baby was too small, even though I had already told them they were wrong on my dd by a few days. They just panic about everything. I can't imagine having them as my only provider, always thinking the baby is about to die from being too big, too small, etc., etc. Ugh.

[lovingthis]

It sounds like we are in the same boat, more or less. We have always aimed for a homebirth, and after a hospital birth ( military transfer just before birth...) and overseas birthcenter birth, we hada homebirth with our third. From the beginning with this fourth baby, we knew we wanted a HB, but something didn't feel right.Was it the distance from medical intervention, that our old midwife had retired, having to pay out of pocket because Tricare wouldn't cover the onlymidwives that we could HB with ? I was worried that it was something with the baby or birth..that I was feeling something ominous.

Anyhow, like you, I resolved to do prenatal care through the military midwife team, until I could figure out aht else to do...or maybe just deliver there. We then saw how apt they are to either overreact or underreact to things, but we kept seeing how our own intuition kept being proved right by everything they did- anterior placenta, large baby, kidney issues ( when they first told me they were just a back ache, then ordered twice weekly BPP....).

Anyhow, all that mess has just confirmed our hope for a UC. We figure we will keep doing prenatal there, though I am doing my own baselines here at home ( esp. BP...my BP is skyhigh whenever I am at the mil. hospital....) so that we have an idea in labor...and we are going to go the oops route.I have had a less than two hours labor before, that took me totally by suprise- and we live far from the hospital ( 45 minutes in good conditions)...so it isn't unbelievable.We can just tell them that by the time we were sure what was happening, it seemed safer tolet ihappen here than in the car on a back country road ( which is true...)...we have put some limiting factors in place for ourselves- things that we would head to the hospital for, before any emergeny type situation.

Basically, I don't want to deal with their judgement, though I know it shouldn't bother me. I am due May 17th...so I will let you know how things work out :D

[Mamaof4Hope]

It looks like I found the right thread! I am in Hawaii as well planning my 1st UC after 3 hospital births. I would love it if anybody would be willing to let me attend there births, I'm a trained doula.
Aloha all!

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by lovingthis 

Anyhow, all that mess has just confirmed our hope for a UC. We figure we will keep doing prenatal there, though I am doing my own baselines here at home ( esp. BP...my BP is skyhigh whenever I am at the mil. hospital....)

First of all, I snipped it out of the quote, but I'm due in May also! Second, my BP goes crazy when I go in there. At home it's never been more than 112/70, and that was immediately after a 1 hour long meltdown with my 7yo who has Asperger's. Otherwise, it's usually under 106/68 (something like that). Then I go to Tripler and suddenly it's 121/85, and they actually told me that they wouldn't BELIEVE me if I kept track of my own BP at home!!! So I'm dropping care with them after I get this last blood draw this week. Need to make sure I'm not anemic, then I'm through with them, because your BP naturally rises slightly during the third tri (it drops during the first and second, then returns to normal at the end of the third), and when that happens, I know the readings they get in office will be too high, and they'll start freaking out, making them higher every time I go. I'm not ready for all the drama that will bring.

[aHikaru]

first and foremost, congrats!

I'm a military wife also and had my DD naturally at a hospital. Prior to her birth, at one of the last appointments, I mentioned I did not want to use an epidural and my OB state "you're going to want it"..

I brushed his response off and went into natural labor a few days later and had her a few hours after my arrival at the hospital.

Always remember this is your baby and your birth experience, so make sure your "coach" reminds you of what you really want.

[lovingthis]

Yes, yes, yes! My BP at home has been great, whereas it is awful, or at best, borderline there. And it isn't that I haven't tried to be relaxed there. the normal things I can do to lower my BP, just don't work there, it seems.

 I have some chronic kidney issues. Sensitivity, I like to call it. I am prone to kidney infections, and in one of my past pregnancies, what my practioner says is that that sensitivity is just heightened during the first part of my pg ( when my BP tends to be high, and I have protein) and it goes down after the point that the baby's kidneys start pulling their weight :D My labs from that pregnancy seem to confirm that, and from this pregnancy so far. So these kidney issues are why I do feel I should have a prenatal care relationship with a med. provider, but I am very sad at how they are handled there. They don't want to do a second 24 hr protein, because they said it never goes down, only up- however, my past pregnancy labs show that isn't true ! they have requested that I come in for twice a week BPP, and if I really believed it was neccessary, I would be happy to...but I don't. Not when I look at my at home BP, not when I look at my past protein patterns in pregnancy...not when I think about how I feel !

 At this point, I feel like my safest option is to be home: they over react to  but I do want that relationship fo the prenatal care if something does arise that I cannot handle by myself....thus the "oops, baby came too fast" route. I would really prefer not to do that- I would rather stay home after an uneventful birth and go in to be checked out, with baby, after a few days. However, I can't see how I can do that and have the "oops" plan work. An that plan seems to be the best way to avoid the kinds of things I had to deal with from them over my planned, attended homebirth.

With my last birth, htough it was planned and attended, though I had a letter from my midwife and she filed the birth cert., deers still wanted to give us trouble, as did the military clinic ( though tricare didn't seem phased once Deers was handled). That was my experience with an attended homebirth...

anyhow, as I said, I think your instincts about the hospital ae right. If your BP is high, they get antsy....but I had worse complaints 9 kidney related) and they didn't respond at all.

I am 32 weeks now...so I will let you know how things go :D

[~Adorkable~]

i say this thread and noticed that you all are military wives and i just wanted to say welcome since some of you are new to mothering. com  welcome!!!

you have come to a pretty amazing place to learn and share, please take the time to wander around the other areas of the boards as well.

if you have not joined your DDC (due date club) please do, it is a fun way to connect with those that are going thru the same stage of pregnancy as you are and will birth around the same time, its sectioned up by months.  you will find your month's DDC Social Group here  http://www.mothering.com/community/groups/

most of all i wanted to invite you to the Military Family Life Group in that same section, we have lots of mommas that have given birth in all different situations and at many of the bases that you ladies are based near. we would love to have you. 

lastly but certainly not least, congrats of your pregnancies , may your births be calm and smooth.

[ldserrano]

has anyone figured out how to file for a birth certificate here if you are doing a UC??

[ldserrano]

For those with previous UC experience, could you shed some light for us first timers? Maybe a birth story, how you prepared, after birth monitoring, etc

[ldserrano]

alrighty...seems dead, but I'll try anyways.  Military moms, what is your plan for the post-natal check up for baby?  Or are you just going to go to the hospital afterwards and try the "oops" route? I feel like if you go up to tripler they will try to admit you to "monitor" the baby.  I'm afraid to ask anyone for fear of being reported or something.

I called Vital Statistics and they gave me the requirements to get a certificate of live birth:

1 Letter from a health care provider stating they provided pre-natal care for YOU

1 Letter from a health care provider stating they provided post-natal care for your baby

A utility bill from the home where your baby was born

An ID

You have 30 days from the DOB to file for the certificate, no fees, at least one parent has to be present

Address is: 1250 Punchbowl st, on the corner of punchbowl and beretania

Hours: 8-1330

Phone: [phone] or 4542

[ldserrano]

I find it really unnerving that I can't talk to professionals about my plans, especially about post-natal check ups.  I called up to the Navy Health Clinic and spoke with Pediatrics about scheduling a check up soon after birth.  The lady said you need to take the baby up to tripler within the first 24 hours to have the bilirubin levels checked.  I think once the ER figures out the birth was unassisted, they'll probably want to keep us, right??  She said after that, there's no check ups until 2 weeks.  I explained to her that I was receiving care during my pregnancy but the birth was unassisted.  So i think her answer was more geared towards the baby already having been checked over by a midwife or other medical professional in my home.  I feel like I have an answer and I don't have an answer.  I suppose I will call around, maybe to the ER and Tripler Pediatrics and see what they say.

[ldserrano]

ok...i think i may have answered the question on everyone's mind!  so as far as a check up within the first few days go to a civilian hospital ER.  Tricare will cover it (with a little extra paperwork).  They won't get all caught up in the military crap either.  What do you think??  Then, just hop on schedule starting with the 2 week appt.  I've also called the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society to ask if the visiting nurses will do a check up before 2 weeks but the coordinator is only in the office on Tuesdays so I will know more by then.  Sorry to post so much today, just wanted to share my findings