new doctor, hopefully a better second time...

It is insane that on Saturday will mark 1 year since I was admitted for my scary hospital stay which led to Rowan's early birth. That situation was so scary  and frightening, however, I could see where God was holding our family so tightly. With that being said, I am wanting to take action in event we even have a 2nd baby.

Before we continue, please note WE ARE NOT TRYING FOR A SECOND BABY, ESPECIALLY NOT NOW. Okay, let's carry on....

A while back, I decided to switch my ob/gyn doctor. It was a decision I didn't take lightly.
I did like my former doctor. She also knew my pregnancy and history. I also credit her for catching my preterm labor. However, she is TOO RELAXED about things.

If you know me at all, I am super OCD and total hypocondriac. Relaxed doesn't work for me. Throughout my pregnancy little things were bugging me. AT my 6 week postpartum, she didn't do a pap. She breezed through the pathology report about my placenta. I asked if we had a "next time" if I would be monitored and she gaily replied "nah, you weren't that early". Um, WHAT? That was it, I was done.

I knew if we got pregnant again, I needed a doctor who be concise, concerned, and thorough. I wanted to monitored carefully, nothing willy nilly. Per recommendation of a friend who had serious woman issues, she recommended her doc, Dr. Nolte.

She did let me know it was a guy doctor, which I wasn't a fan of. HOWEVER...upon meeting him I knew right away he was "the one", LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He did the routine pap, and I had a million questions. I wanted a re-reading of the pathology report. This was important, because when I had Rowan, the nurse noticed it seemed pretty calcified, meaning my placenta was done. This is normal if you are 40 weeks, but when you are barely 34 weeks, this is not okay.

He read the report verbatim and happily reported that my placenta was 100% fine, and it wasn't the cause of Rowan's early birth. I was so pleased, but also frustrated as I of course wanted the cause of my early labor.

I briefed him of my entire pregnancy and labor, A to Z.

Here's the good news, in some ways:

-Despite being dialated at 2 cm, that wasn't necessarily a concern. Most women can be like that and not go into preterm labor. That wasn't a concern. While it was right of my former doctor to send me to L&D, this solely wouldn't have warranted a hospital stay.

-basically the only reason I had the stay was because of her heart decelerations. However, had I not been "caught" I would have been sent home. He says about 90% of women especially late in pregnancy would show heart decels if they were hooked up. I was just one of the lucky  ones that got caught. So insane!

-SInce techinically I didn't go into labor myself (water never broke on its own, I was induced), this was a positive sign. Meaning that the only reason why she came out was of her horrible decels the day before she was born.

So, what does that mean? Dr. Nolte explained that I was in a weird gray area with all of the preterm labor. There didn't seem to be a specific cause, and that pretty much  it was a freak of nature incident.

HOWEVER (and this was music to my ears) if I was to get pregnant again, I would be watched like a hawk, begin progestrone shots in 2nd trimester (basically to keep baby in) and do stress tests later down the road. This is exactly what I wanted.

To be honest, I am SUPER nervous about even having a second child. We shall see if that even happens. What gives me peace is knowing I will have a doctor who is completely on my side! I feel so thankful for that!