I Love my Midwife and Brad's Schedule

I had my second appointment with the midwife out here this week and I have to say, there really is a difference in a practice with midwives versus OBs only. This particular practice is home to 2 midwives and 2 OB's (who reportedly have more midwife-like philosophies than most). I feel so wonderfully comfortable there - very laid back, attentive, and supportive and in general a positive and "you are normal" approach to pregnancy and delivery. One example - towards the end of my pregnancy with Eli the PA at my Dr's office told me that since I was having a big baby I had better bring low cut pants to wear home so that it would be more comfortable when I ended up with a C-section. Her comment just illustrated her total lack of confidence in the birthing process and assumption that any baby over 8 pounds wouldn't come out normally - plus her apparent lack of sensitivity to the fact that I was planning and hoping for a natural and unmedicated delivery was evident. Contrast that with a comment the midwife made this week while examining me - "How big was Eli". "9lbs 7oz." "Oh, well you have a nice wide pelvis - you could have a 13 pounder no problem." Maybe it was just her nice way of telling me I have big hips, lol, but it sure boosted my confidence and lessened my obsession with having this baby early so it would be smaller.

Also, the midwife hasn't batted an eye so far at the more "natural" and "non-invasive" approaches that I prefer for labor and delivery - and in fact she agrees with many of the things I have brought up and for the most part, follows them in general rather than exception! In general it just helps me feel less anxious about going to the hospital to give birth. I was lucky to find an OB in Phoenix who was at least supportive of my birth plan, but I felt like I had to be on the defensive at the hospital with a super detailed birth plan so that nothing was "done" to me that I didn't want while unable to concentrate and object. Anyway, the hospital I'm delivering at is 40 minutes away (not the one a mile from our home where Brad works, lol) but I think it will be worth it. Afterall, they have Jacuzzi tubs!!! Seriously, I wanted one so badly when I was sitting in that puny shower at Thunderbird hospital in labor with Eli. So hopefully it will be as helpful this time around as I envisioned =).

In other updates, a few of you have commented about the apparent amount of time we are able to spend with Brad during internship - well you are right if you guessed that we are lucky! That is part of the reason we chose this type of internship and had to move across country for it. His first two months have been electives - meaning he chose the specialty to rotate in. He did pediatrics first, which was office based so he had nice daytime hours. He was on call several evenings a week, but was able to answer most call from home, and only went in if a child got admitted. So we had dinner together and most of the time he was here for Eli's bedtime. Not to mention weekends off! This month he is doing PM&R (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - the specialty he will be training in for the rest of his residency starting next year.) This one is hospital based, but the hours are awesome. He is often home before 5pm and again has weekends off. Sounds too good to be true, right?! Well yes and no - it is awesome while it lasts. Starting next month he will be doing ICU and the month after that hospital wards (internal medicine) so it won't be so great. He will have only one weekend off the entire month for each of those, and then one day a week otherwise which he will probably spend catching up on sleep because he will be on overnight call every third night. So those months won't be fun, but at least we have the good ones to balance it out!