I'll post holiday pics later, but I thought you might all enjoy a look at the next addition to our family! They took these back on November 5th.
The baby's head, in this first one, reminds me of Harold from the Harold and the Purple Crayon books. (The head is on the right, in both pictures.)
As I mentioned in a previous post, they did this early ultrasound because I'd had some pain on the side of my abdomen and they wanted to make sure the pregnancy was viable. Which it is.
I'm having a bit of a quandary when it comes to doctors. When I was pregnant with Robin, my current doctor's office had four doctors, and they worked on a rotating basis, meaning that I would get whichever doctor was on call when I went into labor. I met each doctor throughout my pregnancy so I'd be familiar with all of them. Of course, I had some that I preferred over others.
Well, the doc who delivered Robin isn't at the practice anymore because she's moved elsewhere and will only be practicing gynecology (no more obstetrics--no more babies.) Of the other three doctors, only one of them remains at the practice, and there's one new doctor. They still work on a rotating basis. I haven't met either one yet this time around, since my first visit was with a nurse. My most important questions--about their philosophies on VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarian)--were deferred until I could talk to the doctors, since each doctor tends to have a different view.
To be honest, the one doctor who remains at the practice was probably my last choice to deliver my baby. Not that I didn't like her, but if memory (from over two years ago) serves, she didn't seem as friendly.
What happened to the other doctors? I wondered, so I googled them and was quite surprised at the results. Turns out that both of them, AND one of the nurses AND the certified nurse/midwife from the practice all moved to a different practice, which still delivers at the same hospital and is, in fact, only two blocks away from the first. That really got me thinking. I mean, the mass exodus bothered me.
So, I've set up an interview appointment for next week, and I'm keeping my next appointment with the current practice (also for next week.) This way, I'll be able to ask VBAC questions of both offices, and get a better, current feel for them. Even if I like one better, the one I'll probably go with is the one who will be more favorable towards VBACs. If they seem equal, I'll go with the one who feels better.
I did learn, from the receptionist, that the doctors at the new practice try to stay with their patients all the way to delivery (no rotating) although they have someone always on call if something doesn't work out. I also found out that, of the two who moved to the new practice, only one is still doing babies.
I'll probably never get a real reason for why they all left. It's probably something they aren't supposed to talk about. My concern is whether it was something that would affect patients. It could easily just be a professional (or administrative) difference. Or one of the doctors could've decided to start their own practice and the rest of the staff decided they liked her better and wanted to tag along. At any rate, I'm on a quest to see which I like better.
