The Journey of Parenthood…

First Pregnancy Dr Visit

The day I told Zach I was pregnant I made an appointment to go see Stacy at Southern OBGYN for my 1st pregnancy visit as well as my yearly. I told everyone I just had my yearly check-up to not get them thinking baby and the appointment was on Friday April 15th. They told me all we would be doing pregnancy wise was peeing in a cup so Zach didn’t come with me. We need that dough and there will be plenty more appointments for him to tag along! I also didn’t bring Kye as who wants a two year old chillin’ during their internal exam? No thanks!

Most of the visit was a sit-down talk with Stacy. Reviewing family medical history, stuff like that. I did have a list of questions but not nearly as many as I did the first time around.

  1. Since I had an episiotomy the first time, would I have to have another one?
  2. Do I have skin cancer?
  3. Are all my travel plans this fall gonna be okay?
  4. Can she deliver me? 
  5. Did I have strep throat?

She told me I do not have to have an episiotomy the second time just because I had one the first time. It all depends on how well I healed up. Which I’m hoping, after 2 years, is pretty dang healed 🙂 I know the skin cancer question is random but my dad has skin cancer and I noticed a new freckle on my skin that made me nervous. She reminded me to always check for A-B-C when looking at moles and that all of mine look fine. I had her check the “hidden areas” during the exam b/c I read that skin cancer often hides in those places (near genitalia and in butt cracks! whoa!). She said it was all clear 🙂 Lucky her right? haha

She said a healthy amount of weight for me to gain this pregnancy would be 25-35 lb. My hopes were to gain only 19 since I lost 19 lb just during the 24 hours I was in the hospital. Wouldn’t it be nice to go home with no extra weight to lose? However, she said it’s not healthy for me to only gain that much and my goal needs to be at least 25 lb. I doubt I will have to worry about gaining that much, it’s the not gaining above and beyond that magic number that will be tough for me!

The pee test confirmed I’m pregnant! Computer systems have been switched out up there so she couldn’t tell me an exact due date but from her calculations it’s Dec 11th. Which makes sense. I have a standard cycle and Kye was due on March 12th. So Blitzen would make sense to be due around that same time of the month, right? I’m not counting on my due date since Kye was born a week early I assume this one will be a little early too 🙂 We’ll do a delivery date guessing contest when it gets close enough!

I had to have blood drawn which made me wish Zach HAD come with me. Ugh. I freak out with needles and it took FOREVER. Luckily I told them I needed distractions so two sweet nurses came in and talked to me while the third drew the blood. I survived. AND I had to talk to the insurance lady for a long time too. She’s super nice but it took a long time! Glad I didn’t attempt to bring Kye with me for sure 🙂

When I got in the car from the appointment I broke down into the tears I’d been holding the whole time. I’m pretty upset. At first I was VERY upset b/c Stacy said there is no way in the world I can go to Disney World when I’m 35 weeks pregnant. I was willing to still go b/c 1) I’m a soldier and 2) if my baby has to be born somewhere other than Valdosta…wouldn’t Disney be AWESOME?!?! Stacy didn’t think so haha. I’m okay with it now b/c I rescheduled our trip for the end of September. I’ll be 29 weeks pregnant. It’ll be hot but it’s as late as I can possibly book it before the baby comes and I want this trip to JUST be with Kye.

She also wasn’t too pleased that I’ll be on a cruise to the Mediterranean at 30 weeks pregnant and in Hawaii when I’m 32 weeks. But those are free Aflac trips and I’m NOT missing them. I called Delta before we tried to get pregnant and they told me that they do not require a letter to travel and as long as you’re under 36 weeks you’re golden.

I think I’ll be fine with all the traveling so late in my pregnancy. Honestly, I’d rather be HUGE pregnant than be away from my young baby (like I was with Kye for Paris) and have to deal with pumping. Our next big Aflac trip won’t be till April or May of 2012 so the baby will be plenty old enough to leave it with ease.

While I feel confident about the traveling…it’s also going to be INSANE. I’m going to Vegas with Katie for 3-4 days (at 28 weeks pregnant) then get back and leave 3 days later for Disney. After Disney for 6 days we get back and leave 6 days later for the Mediterranean Cruise for 7 days. Get home from that (I’ll be 31 weeks at that point) and leave 6 days later for Hawaii for a 5 day trip. WHEW. I’m tired just thinking about all of it! Organization will be KEY to not getting stressed out and I plan to do a LOT of walking and exercising from now until then to stay in tip-top shape so I can handle all the walking.

She checked me for strep b/c my throat had been KILLING me. She said it looked fine and that I actually have allergies. I’ve NEVER had them before. So strange! I felt super cruddy and Stacy told me Zyrtec is safe to take during pregnancy so that night I took one. Um. BIG MISTAKE. I kinda forgot that I react extremely strongly to medication and it hardcore made me LOOPY. I was out of it all that night and the next day until it finally got out of my system. I hated the way it made me feel so I’ve decided just to deal with the allergies on my own. Not worth being crazy for the meds. I wonder if allergies could be related to pregnancy? Or if now that I have them they will be here forever???

I was mostly upset leaving the appointment because Stacy can’t deliver me AGAIN. When I had Kye she was on vacation and this time she’ll be on maternity leave with her second baby. I am pretty torn up over it. I know it’s just one person, but she understands what I want in delivery and would be SO supportive. Last time, while I was happy with my experience, I also felt like Zach and I were having to battle the hospital with every little thing. I ended up doing a lot of things I didn’t want to do simply because I was tired of fighting (the episiotomy being the big thing! pitocin too!). Zach and I are a team and I want my midwife or dr to be the third component of that team ya know? I know Stacy would be on board with us all the way! It’s really really disappointing and I don’t know where to go from here.

Of course I’d like to see Stacy for all my appointments but that doesn’t really make sense does it? And honestly I’m not sure if there is anyone else at that office that I feel would be as supportive of natural childbirth as she is. Debbie, who delivered Kye, would be a good second choice to Stacy especially since she’s been through it with me once already. However, she’s no longer working there and I have never seen her for an appointment. When we see each other she doesn’t even know who I am (which I get…I mean she’d prob recognize my vag better than my face since that’s where she was during the whole delivery haha).

I looked into having a doula. Stephanie’s birth story is A-MAZING and I’m totally jealous of the awesome support she had from her doula! Zach doesn’t like the idea of it b/c he feels like it takes away from his job during delivery, and I do agree with that so I’m not going that route. I feel like the only route left for me to take is to find a new dr or midwife and potentially a new office. I HATE the idea of doing that because I’m comfortable at Southern OBGYN, it’s super close, everyone is super nice there, etc. But having a pleasurable delivery experience is the most important thing right? I’m planning on meeting with Stacy again for our next appointment (get to hear a heart beat! May 17th!) then discuss what she thinks I should do about all of this. Hopefully she’ll have a great midwife or doctor at their office that she recommends. I know many of you live local…do you recommend anyone that’s pro-natural childbirth????? I’m actually considering switching to Smith Northview Hospital instead of South Ga as I’ve heard they are WAY more natural-birth-friendly?

I’m really praying about this situation and hope I can meet the perfect person to complete our natural childbirth team! 🙂 I’d appreciate any prayers, input, and advice! Can’t wait for our little family to get to hear this baby’s heartbeat at the next check up!!!

Emily Parker
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