We are back home from our trip and everything went really well! We finally got to meet Jonathan in person and he is just as adorable in person as he has seemed thus far. :)
We also were able to tour Gentle Beginnings, the birth center that I'd like to use. I love, love, LOVED IT!! Honestly, I think loved it even more than the birth center we used with Amara in San Diego and that's saying a lot because I am perfectly happy with her birth! It has an amazing atmosphere, you can tell that the employees (midwives AND support staff) truly love babies and their families and love what they do! The midwives expect your visits to be at least 45 minutes or more and that is because they really want to get to know you as a person and develop a nurturing, trusting relationship between each other for when labor comes.
Both labor rooms have a pool so that I can labor in the water if I want to for relaxation. They are warm and homey and cozy and there is a nice area outside of the rooms with couches and chairs for anyone to hang out in if they aren't actually in the room at any given time. Of course, being that it's not a hospital anyone in Jonathan's or my family or friends who wants to be there, can! There is no limit on the number of people. He can even have a birth photographer! Jonathan asked a lot of great questions and was given a lot of information to consider and think about. I tried to emphasize to him that he will not regret birthing here if he so chooses because it will be so peaceful and wonderful and allow for such better bonding between him and baby and even his family and baby if she chooses to be there. I told him that he should consider skin to skin contact as soon as baby is born too and the lady was just as adamant about it too! That will help him bond right away. I got a little teary eyed talking about it all. LOL
I am a little worried that Dr. Kaufmann has scared him into not wanting to birth there. He told Jonathan that he'd recommend a hospital for a VBAC and said to Sorrell and I that if it were him, he wouldn't go through the pain of labor and risk of a VBAC for someone else's baby. Hmph. Well as much as I love and value Dr. K, I have to disregard his advice on this one and hopefully, Jonathan doesn't rely solely on it either. First of all, for me, labor is far less "painful" in the full sense of the word in a birth center without drugs than in a hospital with them. Both of my hospital births were clinical, uncomfortable, had much intervention that wasn't always medically necessary, and afterward I felt sort of robbed of the wonderful peaceful delivery that I was able to experience with Amara. What I told Jonathan was that as crazy as it sounds, I WANT to birth naturally and it's less painful and stressful for me. And if I'm in a hospital stressed out, then I'm tense and baby is stressed and by being tense, my body won't cooperate as easily, making delivery harder.
Second, I am TERRIFIED of another cesarean and I know that if I labor in a hospital the chance of me having a repeat cesarean is 90%!! The risks of a repeat cesarean are higher than the risk of a uterine rupture during VBAC. In fact, there is a 2010 report that states "maternal mortality was significantly increased for repeat cesarean at 13.4 per 100,000 versus 3.8 per 100,000 for VBAC". Not to mention that the risks to both me and baby in any future pregnancy(ies) are exponentially higher regardless of method of delivery if I've had more than one cesarean. And honestly, Sorrell and I have been toying with the idea of having one more baby in a couple of years. I have tons of research showing the safety of VBACs and birth centers, the risks of cesarean and making it clear that there are pros and cons to both but most doctors only talk about the cons of VBAC, not the cons of repeat cesareans. But I'll save all of that until we're actually pregnant.
I just hope and pray that Jonathan gives it some real thought when the time comes and realizes that birth centers are just as highly regulated and monitored (if not more) than hospitals, and if it wasn't safe to deliver first time moms, VBACs, breech, twins and any other type of delivery that they take on, then they wouldn't be doing it and/or they would get shut down. And if at any time during the pregnancy they feel that it isn't safe or there is a problem, then they'll refer me out to a doctor. Sure, I'll get over it and move on but I can't lie, I'll be pretty devastated inside if Jonathan doesn't want to at least give the center a chance.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the next steps to get things going and keep my positive fertile thinking so that hopefully, round 1 works and we can start growing this adorable little baby!!
Dr. Elkins said that my uterus and ovaries looked great yesterday! My cycle is due to start any time now and as soon as it does, I will call Michelle at FWF so that she can send orders to a local lab for me to have my HSG. That is a rather painful but short test where there insert a dye into my uterus and blow up a balloon thing against my cervix then take X-rays of my pelvis. They can tell from those if my fallopian tubes are all clear or if there is a blockage or anything. I don't expect any problems.
Hopefully, contracts will get rolling because we're looking at the first IUI tentatively being sometime between January 27th and March 1st, depending on my cycle. I'm going to send Stephanie and Jennifer my contract match info now before they even ask for it so that they can get it to the lawyer ASAP. Then it's up to Jonathan to pester…uh, I mean politely encourage the lawyer to hurry up and get it done so that we can review and approve and sign them! Yep, I am officially excited.
We also were able to tour Gentle Beginnings, the birth center that I'd like to use. I love, love, LOVED IT!! Honestly, I think loved it even more than the birth center we used with Amara in San Diego and that's saying a lot because I am perfectly happy with her birth! It has an amazing atmosphere, you can tell that the employees (midwives AND support staff) truly love babies and their families and love what they do! The midwives expect your visits to be at least 45 minutes or more and that is because they really want to get to know you as a person and develop a nurturing, trusting relationship between each other for when labor comes.
Both labor rooms have a pool so that I can labor in the water if I want to for relaxation. They are warm and homey and cozy and there is a nice area outside of the rooms with couches and chairs for anyone to hang out in if they aren't actually in the room at any given time. Of course, being that it's not a hospital anyone in Jonathan's or my family or friends who wants to be there, can! There is no limit on the number of people. He can even have a birth photographer! Jonathan asked a lot of great questions and was given a lot of information to consider and think about. I tried to emphasize to him that he will not regret birthing here if he so chooses because it will be so peaceful and wonderful and allow for such better bonding between him and baby and even his family and baby if she chooses to be there. I told him that he should consider skin to skin contact as soon as baby is born too and the lady was just as adamant about it too! That will help him bond right away. I got a little teary eyed talking about it all. LOL
I am a little worried that Dr. Kaufmann has scared him into not wanting to birth there. He told Jonathan that he'd recommend a hospital for a VBAC and said to Sorrell and I that if it were him, he wouldn't go through the pain of labor and risk of a VBAC for someone else's baby. Hmph. Well as much as I love and value Dr. K, I have to disregard his advice on this one and hopefully, Jonathan doesn't rely solely on it either. First of all, for me, labor is far less "painful" in the full sense of the word in a birth center without drugs than in a hospital with them. Both of my hospital births were clinical, uncomfortable, had much intervention that wasn't always medically necessary, and afterward I felt sort of robbed of the wonderful peaceful delivery that I was able to experience with Amara. What I told Jonathan was that as crazy as it sounds, I WANT to birth naturally and it's less painful and stressful for me. And if I'm in a hospital stressed out, then I'm tense and baby is stressed and by being tense, my body won't cooperate as easily, making delivery harder.
Second, I am TERRIFIED of another cesarean and I know that if I labor in a hospital the chance of me having a repeat cesarean is 90%!! The risks of a repeat cesarean are higher than the risk of a uterine rupture during VBAC. In fact, there is a 2010 report that states "maternal mortality was significantly increased for repeat cesarean at 13.4 per 100,000 versus 3.8 per 100,000 for VBAC". Not to mention that the risks to both me and baby in any future pregnancy(ies) are exponentially higher regardless of method of delivery if I've had more than one cesarean. And honestly, Sorrell and I have been toying with the idea of having one more baby in a couple of years. I have tons of research showing the safety of VBACs and birth centers, the risks of cesarean and making it clear that there are pros and cons to both but most doctors only talk about the cons of VBAC, not the cons of repeat cesareans. But I'll save all of that until we're actually pregnant.
I just hope and pray that Jonathan gives it some real thought when the time comes and realizes that birth centers are just as highly regulated and monitored (if not more) than hospitals, and if it wasn't safe to deliver first time moms, VBACs, breech, twins and any other type of delivery that they take on, then they wouldn't be doing it and/or they would get shut down. And if at any time during the pregnancy they feel that it isn't safe or there is a problem, then they'll refer me out to a doctor. Sure, I'll get over it and move on but I can't lie, I'll be pretty devastated inside if Jonathan doesn't want to at least give the center a chance.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the next steps to get things going and keep my positive fertile thinking so that hopefully, round 1 works and we can start growing this adorable little baby!!
Dr. Elkins said that my uterus and ovaries looked great yesterday! My cycle is due to start any time now and as soon as it does, I will call Michelle at FWF so that she can send orders to a local lab for me to have my HSG. That is a rather painful but short test where there insert a dye into my uterus and blow up a balloon thing against my cervix then take X-rays of my pelvis. They can tell from those if my fallopian tubes are all clear or if there is a blockage or anything. I don't expect any problems.
Hopefully, contracts will get rolling because we're looking at the first IUI tentatively being sometime between January 27th and March 1st, depending on my cycle. I'm going to send Stephanie and Jennifer my contract match info now before they even ask for it so that they can get it to the lawyer ASAP. Then it's up to Jonathan to pester…uh, I mean politely encourage the lawyer to hurry up and get it done so that we can review and approve and sign them! Yep, I am officially excited.