what kind of birth are you planning? - Page 4

[3 for me]

Hi everyone, I had an unpleasant hospital experience with ds#1 (I was 16) but I had a VB. With ds#2 it was a great hospital experience up until the C-section which was the absolute worst pain in my life (long story~I felt everything they had to put me to sleep and I didn't even have my Dr. there But with #3 I am planning a VBAC at a hospital with No pain meds. I have a new Dr. and she is awesome. There are 6 dr's at that office and so I will see the 2 main ones during my Pg in case I have to have one of them. The entire staff at the office are great and so hopefully all will go well. I really don't want another C-birth! I have read alot about VBAC's but I do not personally know anyone who has had one. Oh well, Dh is a lil nervous about the whole VBAC thing because I want to try it with no pain meds. I have very low tolerance to pain but I refuse to believe that my body can not naturally birth this baby! He is supportive so far but I am hoping he can become more in touch with the natural side of birth so he can help me when it hurts like : ! I am known for LONG births. 29 1/2 hrs with ds#1 and I did 26 with no pain meds(it was hard labor the whole time). 12-14hrs with ds#2 up until 5cm when I had to do an emerg. C-sec. I am really hoping I might be blessed with a SHORT, FAST, and EASY labor with #3. Keep me in your prayers!

[bec]

Hey, I had a VBAC for my second one!

I would just make sure that the hospital policies on VBACs are not too restrictive. I know that one of the things that made my labor stall with my first was being confined to the bed, and not being able to move about. Check their policies (including their VBAC success rates) out now while you have plenty of time.



Bec

[samsmamma]

In-hospital birth center with MWs

Hopefully all will go according to plan. If it does, I'll be thrilled!

Sam was born at 35w6d. He was supposed to be born at the freestanding birth center (which no longer exists...) but since he was so early we had to transfer to the hospital. My MW was there and it was a totally successful drug-free birth - and Sam was fine. 6lb11oz, totally totally fine, went home the next day. of course, we had trouble getting nursing established - would have been nice if someone told us that could have been a problem! - but we managed to get through it all and everything was fine. So here's hoping #2 comes a little closer to on time!

--Erica - mama to Sam (3.25 yrs) and the thanksgiving turkey due 11-23-05

[bklynmum]

My DD was a nightmare birth with a negligent midwife in NYC, resulting in 8 days in the NICU and a bad time for my precious one...I have since moved to London UK where my DS was born at home with no problems, short labour and perfect result! I am planning on the same with #3 but I guess we will just wait and see how it all turns out.

[PicnicBear]

Bec -- in case you are curious about our Homefirst decision so far, or have any advice -- here it goes -- this is our decision "for the time being" anway:

We are going to stay with them now and we are going to look into other options that are on our HMO plan and are therefore free (well, $15). The other Dr. (Elvove) and midwives we would have to pay for, and we really want to take advantage of our awesome insurance that we have through my government grad student fellowship.

So, we are going to get all the info we can for the hospitals on our plan, there are quite a few but I know U Chicago (where I am a student) and Northwestern (where I know someone who had a god birth) are not on them. Close to us there is Hinsdale Hospital and West Suburban. Have you ever heard anything about these? The websites seemed to be similar in what they described as their special birthing rooms, one had private baths, tV/VCR and a "24-hour anesthesiologsit" LOL.

I have given the job to DH of calling these places and finding out as much as we can about them and perhaps meeting with a Dr. I will give him a list of questions to ask since I can't use the phone much during the day. Then maybe we will visit and if something comes up with Homefirst, we would know where to switch to.

One thing that came up lately that made me feel more hesitant to leave Homefirst was that I got an email from my university saying that my vacines were out of compliance. I won't bore you with the details, and I will say that I think it's all going to work out fine since I faxed them some more records, but I would much rather work with Homefirst in trying to get around something like this if I needed to. I won't have any vaccines while PG, even if that means taking a leave from school.

Two other random comments about Homefirst. Both times I have been in their office, it has been kind of dirty, like it needed to be vacuumed, with little pieces of paper on the floor, etc. (BTW I am not a neat freak at all). Also, I wasn't able to learn much about the malpractice case because the SunTimes article is no longer posted, but I did find a record of their bankrupcy and plan for paying it back, so apparetnly they are in Chapter 11. Does this mean there is a chance they could just shut their doors one of these days?

Wow, this is long! So, this is still an ongoing process, but this is where we are now . .

[bec]

Plagio - I don't know much about those two hospitals, sorry. As far as Homefirst's financial viability, I don't imagine that they would be able to stay in business if they have to pay that judgement out. Even half that is much, much larger than a typical practice's malpractice insurance. Which means that I wouldn't be surprised if they won't survive much longer. I don't know, I guess I won't be crying any tears for them. If you do decide to go with them, I would recommend having a different pediatrician give your newborn an exam.

I do have a name of a fabulous doula, though, if you are interested. Let me know, and I'll PM you her information.


Bec

[PicnicBear]

Yes, I need a doula. I would love that info! Please PM and let me know.

Yeah, there are a few things about Homefirst that seem sketchy, to say the least. I still haven't let all the info really settle in my mind. Honestly, the fact that Homefirst existed, i.e. that I could have a homebirth, totally covered by insurance, attended by what I thought were competent providers, was one of the deciding factors for me in TTC when we did. (DH was up for it any time!).

I am a stubborn person and I don't want my determination to have homebirth to cause me to put my blinders on -- I do beleive that homebirth is generally safer than hosptital, but that's probably assuming you have competent providers. With my options, hospital birth could be safer.

I could go with a midwife and wouldn't mind paying some money for that, but my concern is what if I am transfered to the hospital and need $20,000 worth of care that. Would that be covered by my HMO since, in their opinion, I probably "didn't have prenatal care" or would it be treated like an emergency that would be covered. I don't expect you to know this, but it's something I need to find out.

BTW, from what I saw about the Ch.11 it looked like they had worked out some kind of payment plan. Who knows what that means, though.

[GatorNNP]

update..

just had to add that I have found a(the only) LM who does HB/vbac in my area! May be changing plans from hosp. birth to homebirth afterall. Explaining this to my previous OB, (who I work with and hang out with sometimes) is going to be a little sticky I'm sure. One problem with the hosp/OB plan is she is moving away same week I am due, so I don't even know if I would end up with her or not!

[AmyGirl28]

We are planning a VBAC hospital birth. My last birth was awful. I had pre-eclampsia and was induced. I was in labor for 20 hours and only dialated to 3cm. At that point the doctor performed a c-section. I was devistated. I have changed doctors this time and she even has a midwife in her office. I am pretty sure that the doctor will do the delivery though. I have been drinking Pregnancy Tea made by Traditional Medicinals. It has Red Rasberry Leaf in it which helps strengthen your uterus. I am only drinking one cup a day and will probably increase it to 3 cups in the last few weeks. I am hoping that will help me to have a shorter labor (less than 20 hours). I have been doing a lot of reading on VBAC. If anyone has any advice or suggestions let me know. :

[Awaken]

AmyGirl: I know I am always talking about this, but you might want to looking into hypnobirthing/hypnobabies- it can really help with moving labor along, minimizing pain, and getting your body to funtion at it's optimal level.

[QueenMommy]

Just want to share my experiences with you...

I was induced with my first and spent over 13 hours in labor before I started hemorrhaging and they had to do an emergency c-section. My second was a VBAC, but it was another long labor. My third was yet another VBAC and the whole thing lasted 2 hours start to finish. I did much of the labor at home (did not realize my water broke...it didn't gush and keep coming like it did with DS) and was shocked to learn I was fully dilated when I got to the hospital.

So...I will be thinking of you and wishing you a speedy birth It can happen!