feeling better....

I've been resting quite a bit and taking the antibiotic the doctor gave me and I'm starting to feel much better. The antibiotic makes me feel sick though so it's effected my appetite and how much I've been able to drink, but I've been trying. I get in as much to drink and a meal before taking it in the morning and do the same before taking it again in the evening. The pain in my back has gone away but I've had horrible neck pain the past few days. Fortunately, Will has been great and rubbed my neck and shoulders which has helped a lot. Now I'm just trying to focus on something other than being sick while still taking it easy.

I'm a little late posting about this but last weekend I spent a day to make the girls outfits to wear to pick pumpkins in and they turned out really cute. I saw an outfit on pinterest I really liked but it was for sale for $45 and that just isn't in our budget so I figured I could recreate it myself how I liked. I made a few changes to it and it was only my second time doing an applique (the first I cut out a bird from fabric and just stitched around the print) so that could have turned out better but all in all I was happy with them and they got so many compliments on them which felt great. Here are some pictures of them....

Christin

Caitlyn

My 3 littles

This picture actually shows their personalities well. Christin is usually the prissy one ready for pictures, Nathan is usually the one that says "Do I have to Mom?" and Caitlyn throws tantrums in protest. 

Another bump in the road...

Tuesday I had my check up with my current doctor to follow up from the contractions and sharp pains. He did a vaginal exam, vaginal ultrasound and a topical ultrasound to make sure my cervix was still long/closed and the baby was ok. Everything looked just fine and he gave me a prescription for meds to stop the contractions to take twice a day and said that should help and I can continue to work unless it continues despite the meds which shouldn't happen.

By the time I got home from the doctor I had constant cramping and my back started to hurt some. I also had the constant feeling of needing to go to the bathroom and have a BM. Throughout the rest of the day it just got worse and worse and by the time I went to lay down for bed I was in so much pain I cried for hours until I was finally exhausted enough to fall asleep despite the pain.

I called the doctors office yesterday morning to tell them what had been going on since I left their office and they said they needed to have the nurse call me back. An hour later, I called back again cause I hadn't heard anything and they put me through with Donna, the office manager who has been great. She spoke with the doctor and he said for me to come right in to do a UA (check for UTI) and possibly a culture depending. I went right in and did a urine sample and waited for them to test it. Once they had the nurse brought me back to a room and said the doctor would be right in to talk to me. When he came in, he asked my symptoms and what had been going on and I told him. He said that he was going to give me a prescription for an antibiotic because it may be a kidney infection. I let him know about my history with a UTI when I was pregnant with Nathan and he said ok and left the room. When he came back in, he had the prescription and told me that it showed I didn't have a UTI so he thought it could be a kidney infection since they dont always show up in urine tests. I questioned my symptoms and asked if it could be causing all of them and he said well not all but most and it could also possibly be kidney stones but for me to take the antibiotic and hopefully that will help me feel better. Yes, completely reassuring that your doctor is treating you on a "it MAY be this or it MAY be that".

I went back home and continued in the same unbearable pain for hours not even sure if what he said would even help. Once Will got home from work last night he took me to the ER to get checked out there. They also did a urine test and drew blood. Someone from labor and delivery came down to check the baby's heart beat with a doppler. It took over 5 minutes for her to find it, but once she finally did it was 160. After the urine test, they came back in and told me I absolutely have a UTI and to take the antibiotic the doctor gave me and that should clear it up. I questioned how they were so sure I had one and yet I had tested negative in the office hours before. She said she had no idea how they got that result earlier and in fact I had a pretty bad infection because it even came back "too much to count". She said I've likely had it a while for it to come back and it has probably gotten to my kidney which is why I'm having the horrible back pains. They gave me a prescription to help with the pain to take if I need it and sent me home.

At least I have a more definitive answer on what's wrong than "it may be this or that", but it doesn't make me feel any more comfortable with my current doctor's office. How could they come up with me not having a UTI just hours before? How could they not have tested before when I was in there twice for contractions and sharp pains they had no idea why I was having them. He had asked me if I had any of the symptoms of a UTI and I told him no, but told him of my history with Nathan and the only symptom I ever had then (in the 2 months ongoing I had one) was a fever and that was it. There's so much that just doesn't make sense to me.

Insurance coverage...

I have needed to update on this for several days now but am just now getting to it. While waiting to hear back from the Birthing Center in OKC, I decided to call my insurance company and see what our coverage is for it. It's considered "out of network" and instead of our $350 deductible and then 90% coverage it would be a $3500 deductible and 60% coverage after that. That is a HUGE difference and so it seems I am back to the drawing board.

I have been suggested a particular doctor at OU hospital up in the city who is highly recommended by the doulas in that area so that's my next call. I have a check up with my current OB in the morning to see what he says about everything that's been going on. I had another spell of sharp pains and contractions last week and he was out of town so they put me out of work for a week and to follow up with him as soon as he is back tomorrow.

Back on the hunt

Now that I've had time to settle from all the events last week with the contractions it's time to get back to looking into all of my options for this birth. Yesterday I  met with a wonderful local Doula named Jasmine. She had spoken with other colleges of hers about the possibility of a vbac and the chances of it happening here in Lawton aren't great because of Southwestern's policies. If we were military, Reynolds would be a great option that would be much more supportive but I dont have that option. She suggested I look into the options closer to Oklahoma City and the birthing center up there as well, Heaven Sent. I tried to get information on their website last night but it wasn't working completely. It loaded up and had the link options on the left, but clicking on them didn't load anything.

So far today, Jasmine suggested a friend of hers up near the city to call that is a doula. She is really experienced and would be able to offer me a lot of great advice on what my options would be in that area. I called her and she will be in the office tomorrow. I also tried calling Heaven Sent today to get information and left a message so I'm hoping to hear something back from them to find out  more about how the birthing center works.

A weekend of complications....

Saturday started out as any normal day. I went to work for 3 hours to QA during the lunch rush and they thought they may need me to help out that night so I went home and cleaned up around the house for a while until I needed to call in and see. They didn't need me to come in so I went off to pick up the kids from my in laws. On the way over there I started feeling contractions which I didn't know was possible at 15 weeks. They continued for the next couple hours and I started to get concerned. I messaged a friend to see if it was possible to get contractions that early and she told me to contact my OB right away. I called L&D and they told me that they couldn't do anything about it since I'm not 20 weeks yet. They suggested I lay down and drink lots of water and try to relax. She then went on to say that they aren't able to do anything if they continue because the baby isn't considered "viable". WOW! That is the scariest thing I've ever heard and definitely didn't make it any easier to relax. I took it as easy as possible that night and felt a bit better in the morning when I woke up, but continued to have contractions each time I rolled over or got up to go to the bathroom. I went into work and let my manager know what was going on and asked if he could get me out of there as early as possible because of everything. I ended up working 2 hours and by the end of my shift I was having a lot more contractions than I'd had the night before and started having a sharp vaginal pain come and go. As soon as I got home I laid back down and got some water and grapes to snack on. After a while of laying down the contractions let up a lot and the pain dulled until it was gone. I was able to get my lower back pain gone by using a heating pad on low and felt a lot better until I moved a lot or got up for something.

This morning I gave my current doctor's office a call and told then what happened over the weekend. They told me the nurse would have to call me back between patients. After a while I got a call back from the nurse and told her what happened all over again. She then told me that it's normal to have a discomfort as the baby gets bigger and my stomach stretches to accommodate the baby growing. I then told her that this is my third pregnancy and by this point know the difference between contractions and my body stretching. She told me if I felt it was more than that then I could come in and get checked out but recommended I lay down if it was bothering me. I told her she obviously wasn't listening to my issues at all and I didn't feel comfortable being seen by that office if they were going to disregard concerns and hung up. I then called the office I was attempting to switch to so I could see if they received my records from my previous cesarian. They hadn't so I followed up with my doctor in Maryland and they assured me they would get them sent over. I called Dr. Jones' office back to let them know and asked if I could make an appointment anyway because of everything going on. They then told me I couldn't make an appointment until they received my current prenatal records, which they never told me I needed when I discussed transferring last thursday but said ok. I called Dr. zweig's office to see what I needed to do for them to send my records over to Dr. Jones and they told me to sign a release at the new office and have them request them for them to release them. They then asked my name. I arranged for my husband to pick up the authorization form from Dr. Jones so I could fill it out and bring it back. While waiting for the form, I got a call from the office manager at Dr. zweig's office apologizing for the nurse and asking me to give them another chance and it wouldn't happen again. She also told me the doctor was standing there and would love to discuss my issues with me and I was welcome to come right in and be seen if it was convenient for me. I told her I was concerned with my care in that office and didn't feel comfortable and had already started the process of getting my records transfered over to another office.

While waiting for my husband to get the authorization form back to Dr. Jones' office, I got a call from Dr. zweig himself. He told me how sorry he was and how wrong the nurse was and I should have never been treated that way. I told him he had made me feel the same way regarding a possible vbac and I had already been seeking another office that would be more supportive in my attempt for one. He told me he never meant to make me feel like he wasn't supportive and he has no issues doing them at all, his limitations are with the hospital guidelines. Because they have to have an operating team there and ready during labor for a vbac, they have a lot of pressure from the hospital if things dont progress quickly. He said the hospital pressures them after a while to just do a cesarian because they are paying that team to do nothing and dont want to. I may be crazy here, but as my doctor, he has an obligation to make decisions best medically for his patient. That does not mean force your patient into an unnecessary cesarian because the hospital doesn't want to pay their staff even though it's their policy requiring them to be there the entire time. Forcing a patient into an unnecessary surgery for convenience and cost efficiency of the hospital is not right. He agreed with me and told me he feels there are way too many cesarians and repeat cesarians being performed daily that are not necessary and it's not right. He also assured me he would do everything he can do ensure all efforts are made within the hospital guidelines for my vbac and be more supportive of it. I agreed to go in and check how the baby was because at this point that was important.

When I went in he immediately apologized to me as soon as he saw me which was just in the hallway. The nurse had me check my weight and do my urine sample and brought me back into one of the rooms. She started to take my blood pressure and as she was she chose then to say she was sorry for what happened over the phone and she understood why I was so upset and she didn't mean to make me feel that way at all. She then asked me if I still had the cramping. I told her no, I never had any cramping. She then asked, "so it was just the stretching feeling". NO. How she got that out of contractions and sharp vaginal pains I will never understand. I told her that's how I KNOW she didn't listen to a word I said at all and that was obvious cause I never said anything about either of those. I looked away and wouldn't even look at her after that. She then said she was sorry again and left the room to get the doctor.

Dr. zweig came in and apologized again for the issues I had this morning and told me they wouldn't happen again. He then suggested he do an ultrasound and check my cervix to ensure it hadn't dilated at all from the contractions. The ultrasound showed my cervix was still closed and no dilation which was great. He did notice that a small part of my placenta was a bit low and close to my cervix which he said could be causing the issues I was having. It's something that can correct itself as my uterus gets bigger which is good. He told me to take it easy and rest as much as I can. If the contractions continue then he'd have to put me out of work for a while, until things get better. The baby looked totally healthy though and was moving around a lot, also had a nice healthy heart beat. He kept trying to figure out if it's a boy or a girl and had a hard time getting a good view. He said he thinks he kept seeing something there which would mean boy but couldn't be sure cause of the view.

When leaving, he told me if I have any concerns at all or just want to check how things are going with the baby feel free to give them a call or even come by if I'm already out and he'd be more than happy to do an ultrasound and check the baby out for me at any time. It made me feel a lot better than earlier. The office manager also came and introduced herself to me and gave me her private line and told me if I have any concerns at all feel free to give her a call and she will be sure to take care of it.

I also got a call from Dr. Jones' office through all this letting me know that they got my records from my cesarian and he would not do a vbac for me but if I wanted to switch to him knowing that I'd have to have another cesarian they'd be happy to make an appointment for me. Thanks, but no thanks.

At this point, I dont know if I'll continue to see Dr. zweig through my entire pregnancy or not but I'm going to give him a chance. I honestly can't even think about what to do about doctors right now anyway. This day alone has been quite a whirlwind. I am incredibly thankful the baby looks completely healthy though and hope things get better from this point.

My journey for a VBAC

I haven't kept up well with my blog in the past but recent events have inspired me to make it a point to share about my most recent journey. I guess I'll start at the beginning...

I'm 15 weeks pregnant with my 4th child and have had 2 previous cesarian births. The first, I was induced before my due date and didn't dilate quick enough and had a c/s. The second pregnancy, I had twins. I was still a candidate for a vbac as long as my girls stayed head down, which they did, until 2 weeks before they were born. Because "baby a" turned transverse, I had no choice but to have another c/s. That was all when we lived in Maryland.

Now to more recent events...

We have since moved to Oklahoma and this is the first baby we've had that would be born here. It never fazed me I'd have much trouble to attempt to have a vbac (vaginal birth after cesarian) since my Doctor in Maryland had no issues with it, even with twins. Oklahoma isn't quite as easy to have one. I would have options in Oklahoma City or even Tulsa, but we are a good hour and a half drive from OKC and much further from Tulsa. The original doctor I saw (Dr. Lepp), which removed my IUD delivers at one of the 2 hospitals in town and that hospital (Comanche Memorial) does not allow vbacs to be performed due to insurance issues. They did however find out that Southwestern does allow them and got a few names of doctors that deliver there to try.

I called one and when scheduling my appointment they acted as if it was no problem at all and that the Doctor (Dr. zweig) had no issues with doing them. I went in for my first appointment and his nurse was asking me questions and we got to what brought me to that office. I told her I was switching because my current office wasn't able to perform vbacs and her response sent me into an instant panic. She told me that Dr. zweig doesn't either! She said in the 2 years she has worked there he had only performed ONE. She said I was more than welcome to discuss it with him though and see if it's something he would be willing to do. I decided to talk to him since I was already there and figured it was worth a try. After talking to him he seemed a bit open to the idea and said he'd need to get my records from my last c/s to be sure nothing was noted about my incision being thin or anything that could increase risk of rupture. I was skeptical but decided to give him a shot and see how things seemed once he got my records and I scheduled my next appointment.

A month later, I had my second appointment with Dr. zweig. He did an ultrasound to check the heart beat and make sure everything looked good which he said it did and then said ok see you in another month. But wait, what about my records? I questioned him about them and he checked the computers to see if they got them, which they had. He read them over quickly and said didn't really say much about it and tried to brush me out the door. I came out and asked him if the records showed anything he was concerned about for doing a vbac and he stated no. I then said, "So, I should be able to attempt to have a vbac then, right?" His response was far less than reassuring. He told me "Well, we'll just have to see when it gets closer to that time." His response gave me absolutely no hope at all to attempt a vbac with him as my doctor.

In the meantime, I had asked around on local groups about options as far as home births and other doctors that may be able to help me in the birth I really want. In that search, I found a wonderful local doula, Jasmin Williams, who was incredibly willing to help me any way she could. She suggested I try a doctor in Duncan. She had attended births at that hospital and said the environment was very calm and the staff was wonderful at sticking to the patients wishes, birth plan and anything else they needed. After the negative feelings I got with Dr. zweig, I decided it was time to give the doctor she suggested a call. I called their office and waited for Dr. Elfrink's nurse to call me back to help me with the questions I had regarding my possible vbac. When she called me back, she informed me that the hospital in Duncan does not allow vbacs to be performed either due to insurance limitations. She was very concerned for me and listened to what I had figured out so far. She suggested a doctor she felt very highly of that delivers at Southwestern, in my town. She wasn't sure his stance on vbacs but knew he delivered at the hospital that would allow them.

Today, I called the doctor that the nurse suggested to try to get some answers and possibly some hope. They said the best thing for me to do was to get them a copy of my records from my previous birth so they could look them over and make sure nothing indicated I would be at higher risk of complications. They were incredibly nice and assured me that Dr. Martin Jones does do vbacs and they would know more about my possibility once they had my medical history. I contacted my doctor in Maryland to have them send over my records and filled out the release and faxed it back. At this point I'm in limbo, waiting for Dr. Jones to review my records and give me a call to let me know if I'm ok to proceed at this point.

I also called my insurance company just to double check if we had any coverage for a Doula or a Midwife home birth. They dont cover a doula at all and while they cover midwives, it's only if you have a birth in an approved hospital under a licensed doctor they work under. They told me they do not cover planned home births AT ALL and they consider them "medically inappropriate." I actually found that a bit unsettling. Child birth is one of the most natural things a woman can go through and in most cases, there is no need for any medical intervention and no reason why someone couldn't safely deliver their baby at home. I honestly find it far more inappropriate the amount of unnecessary inductions and cesarian births and the huge limitations put on vbacs.

I will be sure to update with anything else that comes up through this entire journey and I hope, if anything, this is able to help someone else out there to attain the type of birth they feel is best for themselves and baby.