Doctor Dizzy
8:56 a.m. - 2005-06-23
For someone who isn't sick, I sure do spend a lot of time in the doctor's office.
Some of you may remember my disdain for the first OB I was seeing. Atrocious bedside manner, no personality, impossible to communicate with--and that was on a good day.
So after I was free and clear of the first trimester jitters, I decided that the best course of action would be to see someone else within the same office. A coworker recommended her doctor, and I scheduled my next appointment with him. He was definitely better than the first guy, but I still wasn't completely at ease with him. I still felt like my questions weren't answered as well as they should have been. But I just chalked it up to my inexperience with pregnancy and tried to be grateful that I didn't have to see the other guy.
A few months ago, I got in touch with the head of my local La Leche League. I'm planning on breastfeeding this baby, and know that I'm going to need all the help I can get to be successful at it. She turned out to be really friendly and knowledgable, and through the course of chatting with her on a message board that I subscribe to, I learned that there was a doctor in the same town who sounded like he'd be perfect for me. She and other LLL members had used him for their births (they went the medication free route) and were very pleased. Even though I'm sure I'll have an epidural, I was thrilled that a nearby doctor actually lets women have a say about their bodies and the way they birth their children. After all, there isn't a midwife or doula within a hundred miles of here, so I figured that Louisiana women must not have many preferences about their OB care.
I was really tempted to make a call then, but decided that I'd done enough switching already. I figured it would be months before I could get an appointment, and I wasn't sure how big a hassle it would be to transfer my medical records.
I've known all along that it's kind of a crapshoot determining which doctor would be available to deliver this baby, but it's only been recently that I really started thinking about the problems with that. There are four doctors in clinic I've been attending, and I know for a fact that I wouldn't trust two of them to work on my dog, much less me and my child. And 50/50 odds just aren't good enough for me these days. So, after chatting with Melissa yesterday, I decided that it wouldn't hurt anything to call the great-sounding doc and try to score an appointment.
Imagine my surprise when the receptionist told me that the record transfer would be a breeze, and that I didn't even have to wait for them to get there to come in! AND the doctor can see me tomorrow (today)! I have a good feeling about this place already, and I'm really looking forward to meeting him. I've heard great things about the hospital he's in too, so I'm excited to seeing the maternity ward there. And the other two doctors in his practice came highly recommended by the LLL lady, so I don't have to worry that I'll get some scissor happy jackass when I go into labor.
I have to be there at 2:45 to fill out the paperwork. For the first time since February, I feel like maybe this baby and I are on the right track.