My wonderful ob Doctor who took good care of us with the first two boys retired, so when Elias was on his way we had to search for a new ob. I went on the recommendation of our old ob and a few others, and decided on Dr. Fear (that's what we will call her for this story). As you can tell from her fake name, all decisions in her office were based on fear. It was emotionally exhausting to say the least. There wasn't an appointment that I didn't leave in tears. It was a really bad fit for me.
I decided to switch to one of her midwives to get some distance between myself and Dr. Fear. At least that way there would be a buffer.
Then I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and the midwife basically no longer had any say in my care. She was under the thumb of Dr. Fear, so I was back to square one.
I told Logan he had to come to the rest of my appointments with me from 30 weeks on because I just couldn't do it alone anymore. He agreed because he is a wonderful husband.
At 30 weeks we went in for my regular appointment and, as always, Dr. Fear made me cry. Except this time I didn't make it out of the office before the tears came. Logan couldn't believe the way Dr. Fear spoke to me and made decisions.
We fired her the next day.
I started asking around for recommendations of who to interview so we could find a new ob fast, and long story short we found Dr. Placek.
And we fell instantly in love.
Dr. Placek agreed to take us on at 30 weeks pregnant and was incredibly calm, respectful, positive, and attentive to my scars from Dr. Fear, and my GD. And she is Catholic. I don't need a Catholic ob, but boy is it comforting to know we share the same faith.
Dr. Placek completely turned the pregnancy around for me. I am forever grateful.
I was on day five past my due date (April 16) and I woke up about 5am like I did every morning to check my blood sugar and eat accordingly. I ate a small bowl of Cheerios in almond milk and went back to the bed room. I sat down on the bed and my contractions started instantly.
I labored at home for about one hour and 50 minutes. We then headed to the hospital.
We labored another hour and 11 minutes at the hospital. This was the first labor that I begged for an epidural. My husband and doula kept telling me I didn't want one and I kept arguing. Finally I gave up because I knew Elias was coming.
Turns out he was posterior and 10 pounds! I'm SO grateful I didn't know either of those facts because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to get past those facts mentally.
Dr. Placek wasn't in town so the on call doctor from her practice came to help us deliver. But he didn't make it to the birth either...the nurses couldn't find him. The nurses didn't tell me to wait. They just started coaching me in the final stages and Billie the nurse of 46 years caught Elias!
He was a great nurser right from the start, but did have his tongue clipped just like both of his brothers.
In an effort to help him regulate his blood sugars (since I had gestational diabetes) Logan and I did 9 straight hours of skin-to-skin contact with Elias.
Everything went great for the next two days in the hospital for both of us, and then we went home!
