I have to say that this is a slight fear of mine- I saw a midwife last time around, but she wasn’t able to be at my birth. I never even caught the name of the midwife who attended my son’s birth and she left so fast that she didn’t catch the fact that I had some tearing and needed three stitches. Otherwise I can’t complain about her, but it still worries me.

I like this comment because instead of saying “well you’ll need to tell them this this and this..” its “You can do it” which is what we need to hear.

I saw an OB for my first and so far only birth. There were actually 7 doctors that I had to cycle through because I had no guarantee (unless I had a c/s or a scheduled induction) who was going to deliver my baby. I was nervous that a doctor I really didn’t like would deliver my baby and guess what, that’s exactly what happened! I made it through it, but I can’t help thinking how much better my experience would have been had I been with someone I was much more comfortable with. I’m glad next time around I will be going through this with either a midwife or a much smaller practice.

This is mine. I was talking to my midwife about what to expect if I went into labor and she wasn’t available after discovering that the OBs covered for her when she wasn’t available and I had only met one of them, and that was the only one I trusted. Chances were that one of the two of them would be around, though.

But of all the scenarios, I hadn’t asked her what to do if my water broke on Veteran’s Day, which was my due date and I knew she wouldn’t be around that day. We joked that babies never show up on their due date and I fully expected to come in Thursday.

But Wednesday morning, I woke to find that my water broke. In retrospect, I wish I’d just trusted that my body was in the invisible labor my body seems to prefer, but I called the office just to let them know.

Turned out the doctor on call was brand new to the practice and apparently to natural childbirth.

After turning down pitocin 4 times (and that story has made the rounds on the internet a bunch of times at this point), I naturally went through a mild early labor that lasted all day, then accelerated into a hard labor that took me from 5 to 10 cm in an hour and a half, and then I pushed my 9 lb. 11 oz. baby boy out in 15 minutes.

Some of the things that my OB said during that early labor would qualify for any of the other days on this blog. However, it’s what she told me at the end that matters, and what I hope stays with her.

“I’m sorry. You were right all along.”

It was my midwife that devoted herself to my prenatal care that equipped me with the confidence to take that stand. I am grateful to her for opening my eyes to the state of obstetric care today and empowering me to take a stand, one that I now feel I was meant to take.