SO Relieved

I just got back from the consult with the potential new OB/midwife group, and I don't think I can properly describe how happy I am we've decided to look around. 

I met with one of the midwives who came highly recommended to us by a few people in the area.  We sat down and chatted with her for about 20 minutes.  She is fantastic!  Their philosophy about birth and their policies on various things fit very much with our wants, along with them having much more flexibility to meet our wants.

I went over several things with them either from their questions or from me just bringing it up on my own: 

• hypnobirthing (she recommended some other classes in the area to help with this method - so awesome!).
• their policy on inducing (not until 42 weeks unless something major happens that makes me high risk like pre-eclampsia)
• their policy on episiotomies (extremely rare occurrence)
• their policy on IVs - only need to have the lock in.  If they need to give me antibiotics for any reason, they will give them to me over a 15-20 minutes period and then I will be unhooked again
• their policy on moving throughout labor - they recommend it!  They will monitor baby's heart rate very quickly about once an hour, but it will only be for a couple minutes
• their policy on running tests once baby arrives.  Baby goes immediately to my chest and we can delay tests and weighing until we've had some time to bond with baby girl.  She did explain the exceptions to this which we are completely comfortable with.
• my anxiety.  She wanted to know more details about this to be better prepared for ways to help manage this should anything come up that makes me anxious.  I love her for that!  She also recommended an exercise class that could help keep my anxiety levels low throughout the rest of my pregnancy.
• doulas.  She highly recommended getting a doula (which we were planning on doing).  I love that once she heard our intentions and reasons for choosing that path, she was there offering suggestions to make it an even better experience.

If you haven't guessed by now, we are switching to this group!  I literally got teary eyed during the meeting because I was just filled with relief, knowing that we'd found a better fit.

Lesson: don't settle.  Find a provider that you have confidence in.  Trust your instincts.  You are paying a doctor for your care and you have the right to feel comfortable and confident in that doctor.  Giving birth to your kids is a huge event in your life - find someone to help you do this who you like!