Prayers for you!!!!! I totally support what you are doing.We tried for 6 years to have our first baby Grace, so I had every appt, dr,midwife, specialist etc and it was such a stressful pregnancy, she tried to come at 23wks and they prepped me to deliver and then sat me in a hospital to wait, prey, cry and be terrified. After a few days of so much prayer, I discharged myself so I could go home and atleast be comfortable at home. She came a month early in the end and I ended up feeling quite bullied and mistreated by the nursing staff and junior doctors whilst there because she didn’t gain weight, so obviously that must be my fault and bullying a new mum you think has feeding issues does seem like a great plan…. Even with all of that My baby was born with a heart defect and went undiagnosed until 11mths, at that point the doctors couldn’t believe she had survived that long. During all of this I was very unexpectedly pregnant with my second girl. The first trimester of my pregnancy was spent entirely in hospital with Grace having surgery and complications etc so atleast I was very close to dr’s if I needed one. lol. Once our daughter’s dr’s and our dr’s found out I was pregnant again it all started about extra appointments, extra scans and tests etc. I went as far as the 18 wk scan and having Grace’s cardiologist check at that point for any really major dects that would require surgery minutes after birth but that was all fine. The scan did show a 2 vessel cord though so they wanted more test, more scans, fetal echo etc and I was a mess. My partner spoke up at the point and said “the baby is healthy, a good size and a good heart rate, if they discover anything else is wrong with these extra tests then will you abort?” I said “no” straight away because I believe we have a loving committed relationship and God only gives us what we can handle. He then said “so what will all the extra stuff achieve except stressing you and the baby even more?’ “Don’t do them, they can’t force you and we know we will cope with whatever happens when the baby is born.” It was such a relief when he said that. I have a nurse who has a clinic with our local dr and a dr there also who I really trust and once we explained this to them they just set up a few check ups to suit when my daughter had some of her many many visits and we all relaxed and waited, didn’t even care what sex she was. I didn’t even book into the hospital until 32 wks so they couldn’t hassle me either, although they tried during that last bit!! Alexandra was born also a born early but a healthy 6pound 6 and went home 2 days later after some minor troubles. I was so glad I chose minimal medical intervention during that 2nd pregnancy. Now I have 2 beautiful girls under 2 (some days feel luckier than others lol) and we hope to adopt in the close future. I try to thank God everyday for the miracles we have witnessed in our little family and I pray that this is your miracle. xxxxxxxx

I loved my midwife-assisted pregnancy and delivery. I used the standard doctor/hospital routine with my first and it was fine…but went the midwife route with my daughter and it was amazing. I hope you are able to find exactly what you’re looking for!

I had two difficult pregnancies, and having the right professionals around you makes a HUGE difference. The first time around, I *knew* I was sick – and I told my doctors over and over, but they dismissed it. They recommended I see a therapist for anxiety! Turns out I had undiagnosed pre-ecclampsia, and I developed HELLP when I went into labor; I ended up in a life threatening situation and spent the night after giving birth in the ICU because I didn’t have the confidence to INSIST that there was something wrong.

On the flipside, my new doctors were very cautious during my 2nd pregnancy because of my history… They wanted to deliver Lulu at 32 weeks, and I was able to keep her in until 38 by advocating for myself and knowing my rights.

I hope you find a midwife that shares your vision and is able to support you in whatever ways you need as your pregnancy develops – good luck!
Sarah just wrote Our Week in iPhone Photos: 12/23 – 12/29

You are already listening to your body..good for you. I used nurse midwives back in the 80′s , which was quite radical back then. Had my son at 7pm and was home in my own bed by 11:30 pm ( and the birth center was an hour away) That being said there are wonderful midwives and there are those who are not. Just trust your gut. What I love in any health care setting for myself is a partnership with my provider that is built on trust and honesty and of course listening. Blessings to you. You are still healing from the twins and will do so your entire life..however they are looking down on you and want you to find joy in this pregnancy. Love it like no other and believe it will be great.
Hugs!

I totally feel you! Im nearing the finish line of my third
Moderately high risk pregnancy. With #1, I loved all
The obgyn and high risk appts. This time, I wish they
Would just leave me al
Amanda just wrote Saving Grace

I totally get it! I mean I REALLY get it. I didn’t even want to talk to FAMILY about my pregnancy much less let a doctor touch me… ANYWHERE! My husband was deployed during the beginning of the triplet pregnancy, so I was even closed off to HIM. After almost loosing them so many times and being in the hospital for over a week during my first trimester I was DONE… then to have to deal with the remaining months in the hospital after 24 weeks left me really DONE. If I made a list of all the horribly wrong things nurses, doctors, and even hospital administrators did to me and my babies while there it would be a mile long.
I advocated for them and mostly got what I wanted in the end, but after a while you get sick of having to kick, scream, fight and yell over ever little thing! If I was pregnant right now, there’s no way I’d end up in a hospital unless I was forced to.
That being said what about progesterone injections? There are things they CAN do… it just takes finding the right high risk OB to do them that’s willing to work with a midwife and won’t step on your toes… but will monitor cervical length from a very 13+ weeks to make sure everything is going okay.

We interviewed several different midwives before we decided. It was a tough decision because we liked all of them. We ended up using a two mid-wife team. One of them who happened to also teach neo-natal resuscitation at UNMH. We are pretty lucky because we have mid-wife programs in all of our hospitals, so I’ve done it both ways, with a mid-wife in the hospital, baby #1. Baby #2, unplanned at home(but all our care was with a mid-wife at the hospital, just waited too long…), baby #3 the two mid-wives at home. Everyone always made it very clear with their list of high-risk factors, that if anything came up we would have to work with an ob-gyn instead. I wish you and your family all the best with your pregnancy. hugs.

Grass is SO pokey! I could never give birth in a field – just for that reason! I hope you do find the birth experience you so deserve!
Caitlin MidAtlantic just wrote 2013 Resolutions