This or That pt.2
Cue “The Choice Is Yours” by Black Sheep to play while you read this pt. 2!
Most women have an established lady doctor that they go to once a year and if that doctor also does birth deliveries then they typically become your OB as well. I had that, until we moved when I was 12 weeks pregnant.
I had to go back to the drawing board to find a new doctor that I could trust, but this time the stakes with finding an OBGYN were higher as I also had two unborn babies to think about. Finding a doctor takes a lot of research from several different resources; I mean like A LOT of research! Asking family and friends, coworkers, doctor reviews, and even talking to that one person you met at college but haven’t talked to since. Literally talking to as many people that will give you honest feedback: bam! You found yourself a new doctor. Now all that is left is to actually get in to see them and hope you like them as much as all your research says you should.
Those last two sentences is where I struggled. I did my research, talked to people, got referrals, read countless articles and looked at the doctor reviews. I thought I found the perfect doctor, her bio even mentioned high risk pregnancies in it. I think if my circumstances were different and I wasn’t already pregnant my experience may have been different.
Not only was this doctor hard to get into, but being a new patient made it even harder! There were so many hoops I had to jump through and extra steps that we had to take just to get to see the actual doctor for the first time. That first appointment with her went alright, but we were feeling good with the choice of using her as my OBGYN. It was the rest of our appointments that left us feeling unheard, frustrated, unprepared, and not important that made us question that. All we kept saying was she was one of the top rated doctors in the area for a reason and praying that when it came time for our delivery that we saw that.
If I could go back now, I don’t know if I would change doctors, but I did learn a few very important things:
Speak up!- Speak up about what you are feeling, any symptom, any emotion, or concern. Don’t hold things in.
Ask the questions!- Ask any and all questions! Your OBGYN is your resource and the expert in this whole pregnancy/delivery area. Don’t forget to ask the birth planning questions and don’t hold back! There is no such thing as a dumb question when it comes to your health and your baby(ies).
How you should feel!- Feeling heard about your concerns and symptoms and solutions being offered. Feeling important and not like a number, by knowing you by name and your pregnancy. You should feel prepared with information and knowledge when you leave every appointment and going into birth. You should wholey trust your doctor and their decisions, in the case that they need to make a game time one.
Lastly, it is okay to change doctors!- It may feel like it’s too late to switch doctors, but if it is something you are considering, just do it! Birth is such a magical and intense time that the way you feel about your doctor matters! If you are frustrated, stressed, or unhappy it could possibly cause complications and that is not something anyone wants. Having a doctor that keeps you centered and that you like is worth so much.
*(Fast Forward, we did see that with our delivery, she did an amazing job and that part made sense why she was so highly rated and recommended.) *
One thing I didn’t do hardly any research on was postpartum and the true intensity of it. I definitely thought I had more time to plan and look things up. I had postpartum items that I had seen people say they would need and that my friends/family said helped. Even though I was prepared with those few items, there was still so much I wasn’t prepared for.
When you hit roughly 22 weeks, I highly recommend starting your postpartum research just so you can be a little bit prepared. Preparing how you would like to try to recover (methods or boundaries to set with people), if there are certain products you would like to have available, and if there are certain things you need to be doing now that can help your postpartum journey.
There are tons of different recovery methods and tips out there, but one recovery method that I found and was intrigued by was the 5-5-5 Postpartum Rule. This is 5 days in bed, 5 days on the bed, and 5 days around the bed to help your body heal and not over exert yourself trying to be super mom right away. Since having my babies I have heard that people who do their own version of this postpartum rule have fairly smooth recoveries and are able to get into a groove and do more by day 3-4 of the last 5 section. This is something I will definitely be storing in my back pocket for later on!
Research is key for all things pregnancy, baby, and postpartum! Utilizing your resources to gather as much information as you can will help you make decisions that are best for you and your family.
