I knew from the start that there was no way I was having another baby at RACH (on post). My experience with Mikey was not something I wanted to have again. My plan was to be seen on post for the first half of the pregnancy, get my anatomy scan, then switch over to Tricare Standard and pick my doctor. I knew who I wanted to see based upon the recommendation by a good friend who is a doula. I ended up changing over earlier than planned due to the fact that RACH was horrible to me a difficult to work with from my first phone call.
The day after we found out I was pregnant I made a phone call to get an appointment (5 weeks pregnant). I already knew, but was informed that I needed to go in for a blood pregnancy test prior to making an appointment. I went in the following day and was informed I would get a phone call within 24 hours. 4 days later I received a phone call to inform me that I was, indeed, pregnant (now 6 weeks pregnant). When I called to schedule an appointment I was informed that I needed to go in for a blood panel first. Ok...so I go back into the lab for my blood panel and wait for my phone call to inform me everything is normal. 3 weeks go by with no phone call. So I called to try to make an appointment and they said "you have to do a blood pregnancy test" to which I informed them I already did. I was then told "you have to go do a blood panel" to which I informed them I already did. I was then informed that I needed to come fill out paperwork before I could schedule an appointment. I was starting to lost my patience. So...I went in to fill out my paperwork (each trip to RACH warranted me arranging childcare for Mikey). I sat down and filled it out there so I could turn it in immediately. I slapped it down when I was finished and said "NOW can I schedule an appointment?!" I was informed that I had to attend a group "Intro to OB" appointment first. This is when I just about lost my shit. Not only was this my second child, I had already delivered a child there...and I wasn't planning to deliver there anyway!!! They didn't care, they made up some bullshit excuse as to why I had to attend this appointment. Of course they didn't have an opening for another 2 weeks (Oct 9). I walked into that group appointment and the nurse asked who of us had had a baby at RACH before. 3 of us raised our hands and she said that we could leave. I was absolutely livid! What a waste of my time and gas!!! It was then that I went to make my first appointment and they didn't have anything until Oct 24 (15 weeks pregnant). That left me with no prenatal care in the first trimester. I was really furious.
I went home and filed an ICE complaint about the way I was treated and how they just kept putting me off. The following day I received a called from the Chief of OB and we discussed my issues with my lack of care. I told her that it was unacceptable to keep putting me off that way. She miraculously found an appointment for me two days later. Of course, I went in for my appointment and the midwife immediately assumed that since Mikey was so big that I had gestational diabetes (which I did not have) and sent me for an early 3 hour glucose tolerance test at 16 weeks. I spent 5 hours in the lab for the 3 hour test. I spent my whole day there, almost passed out, had the shakes, etc. I walked out of RACH crying and immediately called Brian to switch me to Tricare Standard so that I could go to the practice of my choosing. My next phone call was to that practice and they said they could get me in in 3 days! I felt an immediate sense of relief. Every appointment I had at RACH, I had high blood pressure, every appointment I had with my new practice, I had normal blood pressure. I loved my Dr, her nurse practitioner, her nurses...all of them...they were all great. It was so easy to make appointments with them too.
On Wednesday, April 1, I went in for a routine weekly check up and my blood pressure was slightly elevated (after it being normal every appointment). I had my suspicions that it was due to a bomb that the army dropped on us the night before, but I went along with my doctor wanting to keep me for some additional testing. So, I headed over to the birth center for bloodwork and a non stress test. While I was laying there during the NST my back started to hurt so badly. I complained to the nurse that I couldn't sit in that bed any longer bc the bed was hurting my back and it was making me antsy. After what seemed like forever, my doctor came in and said that the baby looked good on the NST, but she wanted to send me for an ultrasound to make sure he was growing. When I returned I sat there for another long while and one of the nurses came in and said that my fluid looked low and they were waiting for Dr Elfrink to decide what she wanted to do with me. She came in and told me that my fluid was almost gone, so I was going to be induced starting right then and there. The plan was to start Cervidil that night and around 8am they would start Pitocin. I was thinking that I wouldn't be having the baby until the evening of the 2nd. I then went to work trying to find arrangements for Mikey and getting a packing list for Brian since I had not packed a bag yet.
They started the Cervidil at 6pm and I started having lots more back pain shortly after. Around 9pm I couldn't stand sitting in the bed and decided to walk the hallways of the birth center. I'm not a good walker, so I asked if I could jog a little. After the nurses okayed it, I ran about a mile in the halls. I think that really got things going and I had them check my progression after that. I had progressed quite a bit, they were all surprised. Brian showed up around 10pm just at my contractions started intensifying. He walked the hallways with me until I couldn't anymore. I tried for a few hours to get comfortable and just couldn't, so around 1:30am I decided to take a shower. My contractions were getting so intense that I was shaking while standing in the warm water. They were getting to about the point that I couldn't handle it anymore. By the time I finished showering I asked for an epidural, something I had hoped to avoid this time. I laid in the bed and pretty much couldn't move. When they told me that the anesthesiologist would be there in about 20 minutes I was convinced that I was going to die before he got there.The anesthesiologist and a CRNA student showed up almost exactly 20 minutes later and put my epidural in. Asking me to sit up and scoot up on the bed was like asking me to move mountains...I was positive that my body was going to rip in half. They gave me as much lidocaine as they could and even stepped up their game to fentanyl. Still not relief! I was checked just prior to getting the epidural and they said I was around 6cm...so I still had a ways to go. 45 minutes after getting the epidural I FINALLY got some relief. The nurse checked me again and her eyes went wide. She looked at me very seriously and said "don't laugh, don't cough..." She then looked at my other nurse and said "go call Dr Elfrink. Make sure she answers the phone, tell her that the baby is coming and I'm holding him in." I could feel it as my body tried to push him out with the contractions, no pain though. While we waited we were able to see and feel his head. It was really cool! About 10 minutes later Dr Elfink ran into the room in a frenzy. She got ready quickly, took a peek and told me to give little pushes. At this point I was so numb that I couldn't feel if I was pushing, but I honestly don't think I even needed to. After 2 pushes Parker James came into the world and was immediately placed on my chest. He was suctioned out and wiped down while doing skin to skin and no one took him from me for over 2 hours. He never left the room in the first 24 hours and they allowed me to hold him during his hearing test. We weren't woken up excessively during our short stay and were able to go home the following morning around 10am.
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| Holding the baby in, lol |
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| Here comes the doc! |
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| Brian cutting the cord |
It was the most incredible and calm experience. Its exactly what birth should be like, its was the experience that everyone should be allowed to have. The whole staff made me feel so special and happy and I can't say enough good about them!
I have had the absolute easiest recovery ever. Little to no pain, I lost all of my baby weight in less than 2 weeks, my clothes fit, I'm not stressed, the baby eats and sleeps really well (especially considering that he was born a bit early). I went on my first run 1 week after delivery and have upped my distance since then. I would do it all again in a heart beat with this practice!
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