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I live in Seattle too and can help with specifics if you want. I delivered at Evergreen. Decide what is important to you and optimize for that. Do you want the 'crunchiest' place that will let you deliver naturally without pressure? Do you want the fanciest? The one that will manage labor for you or one that will let you do it? Do you want a doula? Option for a waterbirth? I picked my OB based on his personality + the hospital as I really wanted an intervention-free birth (unless I legit needed an intervention!). It'll be a different answer for everyone, though.
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Nov 6, 2015 17:15
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I am also in the Seattle area and just had my third baby at Swedish First Hill two days ago. Well, second at Swedish, third total. I moved here while halfway through my second pregnancy and basically chose my OB by my primary care provider's recommendation. I chose my PCP using my insurance company's website and online reviews. It has worked out well so far.
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Nov 7, 2015 02:12
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Thanks everyone for giving advice. Hey Ansiktsburk, cailleask, fellow seattelites ! I have a Swedish PCP and pretty comfortable with the idea of going to a Swedish Medical hospital. I'd prefer going to Swedish Medical Hospital in Ballard since its closest but I understand that Swedish First Hill is pretty big and they have a NICU unit. The thing is, I do have high blood pressure so I'm not sure whether I'd be consider high-risk yet. My appt. with my PCP is next week to hear his thoughts/referrals. re: Do you want the 'crunchiest' place that will let you deliver naturally without pressure? Do you want the fanciest? The one that will manage labor for you or one that will let you do it? Do you want a doula? Option for a waterbirth? I picked my OB based on his personality + the hospital as I really wanted an intervention-free birth (unless I legit needed an intervention!). It'll be a different answer for everyone, though. Good questions. I'm not crunchy at all. In terms of labor experience, I definitely want someone to manage me through the process since its my first pregnancy. Preferably a MD. And I'm a real wussy against pain so epidural  Fancy would be nice but again, how much time do you really spend inside the hospital room? Does that really come up in consideration? When I stay at a hotel, I usually go for 3-4 star places. And, thanks to the US healthcare system, there's no way for me to know how to look up how much it would cost to give birth at say, Swedish Medical in Ballard vs. First Hill. Or is there? From my research, I hear that Swedish Medical in Ballard offers a more "boutique" experience vs. Swedish First Hill which I hear can seem like a revolving door for some folks. deviltry fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Nov 7, 2015 |
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Nov 7, 2015 07:43
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I'm not in the US, so all the insurance considerations are not something I have a clue about. When I was deciding where to have my baby, I picked the place with all the services (NICU, ICU, paediatric ward) vs the cushier but less able hospital. They are a stone's throw apart but for me, I wanted to know that if my baby needed help it was *right there* and there wouldn't be any delay transferring us. As it turned out we really didn't need anything, and went home as soon as we could, but it still gave me some peace of mind knowing things were available if it all fell apart.
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Nov 7, 2015 19:48
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So my wife's got this, apparently: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cholestasis-of-pregnancy/basics/definition/con-20032985 We're going in this Thursday for her to get induced and I'll finally meet my boys! That'll be 36 weeks, so...pretty good for twins I hear? Nerve-racking, though.
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Nov 8, 2015 08:19
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Dang, I thought twins were c-section by default these days. Best of luck!
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Nov 8, 2015 08:33
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peanut posted:Dang, I thought twins were c-section by default these days. Best of luck! From the ACOG Practice Bulletin on multifetal gestation: A twin gestation in and of itself is not an indication for cesarean delivery. Women with monoamniotic twin gestations should undergo cesarean delivery to avoid an umbilical cord complication of the nonpresenting twin at the time of the initial twin’s delivery (117). Women with diamniotic twin gestations whose presenting fetus is in a vertex position are candidates for a vaginal birth (127). A recent randomized trial of women with uncomplicated diamniotic twin pregnancies between 32 0/7 weeks and 38 6/7 weeks of gestation with a vertex presenting fetus demonstrated that planned cesarean delivery did not significantly decrease the risk of fetal or neonatal death or serious neonatal morbidity, as compared with planned vaginal delivery (2.2% and 1.9%, respectively; OR [with planned cesarean delivery], 1.16; 95% CI, 0.77–1.74; P=.49) (128). Therefore, in diamniotic twin pregnancies at 32 0/7 weeks of gestation or later with a presenting fetus that is vertex, regardless of the presentation of the second twin, vaginal delivery is a reasonable option and should be considered, provided that an obstetrician with experience in internal podalic version and vaginal breech delivery is available (129). ... Emphasis mine.
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Nov 9, 2015 04:39
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"First" appointment tomorrow! I got through all of the paperwork and history stuff today, so tomorrow should be the more exciting stuff! In going to my appointment today I: 1) arrived an hour late, having decided the appointment was at 2 even though I looked at the calendar entry, saying 1, just yesterday. 2) started crying while the receptionist tried to help fix my mistake. 3) peed all over my hand and the cup while trying to get a urine specimen. 4) grabbed a second, not-piss-soaked, cup to transfer my pee into while someone waited for my stall to free up. 5) transferred the pee, but threw away the lid to the second cup. Grabbed a third cup. 6) tried to pry the handle off the sink because I couldn't figure out how to turn it on. It was an automatic sink. I gave the best talk of my career yesterday and need to write up the entire first draft of my prelim this week. This sudden-onset dementia is pretty terrifying, I hope it lets up so I can get my writing done!
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Nov 11, 2015 05:51
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So, we got the call Tuesday with the results of our genetic testing and everything looked fine with no abnormalities. and we are having a GIRL!!!!!
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Nov 11, 2015 11:04
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I'm always pretty proud of myself when I can manage to not get pee on my hands - don't worry, you'll get lots of practice since they'll want a urine sample at each appointment. I was getting pretty good at it but now the belly is starting to get in the way - no doubt this will be a hilarious experience at full term!
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Nov 11, 2015 21:26
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Hi_Bears posted:I'm always pretty proud of myself when I can manage to not get pee on my hands - don't worry, you'll get lots of practice since they'll want a urine sample at each appointment. I was getting pretty good at it but now the belly is starting to get in the way - no doubt this will be a hilarious experience at full term! If you can provide a sample at full term and not have to wipe off the outside of the cup, you deserve a medal, plus a nomination for the Congressional Gold Medal if you not only don't have to wipe off the cup but didn't get pee on your hands either.
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Nov 11, 2015 21:50
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Congratulations Susie McAwesome, that's wonderful news!
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Nov 11, 2015 22:04
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Major bitching incoming. I had my first appointment today--I should be about 11 weeks if my dates are correct--and it could not have been a more miserable experience. I gave my urine sample, and while I was going through my intake with a nurse, another random nurse bursts in to tell me that my pregnancy test wasn't "exactly positive" and asked me if I was sure I was pregnant. I said that I'd done 2 digital tests on my own and had even gone to a free clinic for a followup. In fact, that clinic had even done an ultrasound on me (I was only 6 weeks at the time) and had confirmed heartbeat, so I showed her the scan pictures I had from that. She took it, peered at it, and then handed to the nurse doing my intake to find the date. Then when the nurse2 read off the date, nurse1 said "uh, from 2015, right?" Then they left me alone and sobbing for 20 minutes. At any rate, the doctor came in and did a scan, and was able to confirm that everything was fine and gave me a bpm of 167. Well, the doctor AND the nervous medical student who was following her. The medical student that was then instructed to finish the intake while I was still trying to calm down. It didn't go uphill from there. It's my first time at that office, since my normal OB doesn't take my new insurance, so now I am going to hunt around for a new one. But I am furious, tired, and completely drained of blood.
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Nov 12, 2015 02:22
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Wow sorry you had such a bad experience - those nurses sound unprofessional and incompetent. Why did they even bother to do a pregnancy test when they were going to do an ultrasound? Best of luck in finding a new, better doctor!
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Nov 12, 2015 02:25
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Wow, that is freakin' terrible. You should definitely find somewhere better. How the hell can a pregnancy test be "not exactly" positive? That is some bullshit. I got a PA student on my official 'intake' session, and I am now of the mind that no students should be allowed in the room for a first time mom's first intake appointment. It is not good for anybody. I had my 15 week appointment today. It went ok, get to have the anatomy scan on Dec 10 to see that everything is as it should be. Already saw from the NT test that the baby had all arms/legs and hands/feet so this will be checking innards and sex, we definitely want to find out mostly so that I can buy more fabric for baby blankets. My husband told the doctor today that I get anxiety before each appointment (and it's true) and the doctor was all "Learn to be a glass half full person!" I just looked at him and said "that will never happen." Hi_Bears, my OB ended up giving me two separate pregnancy tests (maybe 3). One when I was having bleeding at 5.5 weeks and I saw them for the first time. One when I went for a follow up to see that the subchorionic hemorrhage had resolved, and maybe one when I had my first 'official' intake appointment. And two of those appointments had ultrasounds with them anyway. They just love testing your pee. Fortunately after doing home OPKs, I am a pee in the cup expert. No pee on sides of cup or hands (yes, I am totally bragging, I am sure this will change when I really start growing my belly).
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Nov 12, 2015 02:52
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Hi_Bears posted:Wow sorry you had such a bad experience - those nurses sound unprofessional and incompetent. Why did they even bother to do a pregnancy test when they were going to do an ultrasound? Best of luck in finding a new, better doctor! JustAurora posted:Wow, that is freakin' terrible. You should definitely find somewhere better. How the hell can a pregnancy test be "not exactly" positive? That is some bullshit. I got a PA student on my official 'intake' session, and I am now of the mind that no students should be allowed in the room for a first time mom's first intake appointment. It is not good for anybody. Yeah, Ob/gyn offices just loooove pee. But I was under the impression that they only did the ultrasound because of the issue with the pregnancy test, it wasn't part of the appointment. Also, both the doctor and the nurse described the test as being "faintly positive". Which... what?
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Nov 12, 2015 03:00
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Poll: If a pube falls in the pee cup do you take it out or leave it in
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Nov 12, 2015 03:07
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Oh interesting - my OB has never done a pee pregnancy test on me. I first went in at 6 weeks and she did a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy and check for heartbeat. I would assume that they do an ultrasound anyway even with a positive pregnancy test so they can confirm due date and check to make sure it's not ectopic, etc. Never have come across the pube in pee scenario as I shave - another thing that is becoming increasingly difficult with a growing belly!
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Nov 12, 2015 04:13
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 Sperg parent alert Wife is pregnant and we're trying to research and gather items for baby in the future. My wife grew up in a family that had a strong belief in American made and employed by an organization that promotes American made. I didn't grow up with a made in USA approach and was an ignorant young adult about products and chemicals but have since tried to educate myself and purchase Made in USA whenever feasible or realistic. In addition we aren't Eco-hippies but had seen enough horror stories with things made abroad(namely non-European countries)and or risky long term effects that we're trending towards non toxic products as much as possible for anything that could be in baby's mouth. We've had good luck finding lots of products that are made in the USA and chemical free. The only thing that's really eluded us are breast pumps and baby bottles. I come to you today in search of information. We've scoured web and stores looking for non-plastic Made in USA baby bottles with Made in USA silicone nipples. Don't care that any plastic bottles are marketed as BPA-free since they just replaced it with BPS and BPF. I personally think there just isn't a company out there that does what we're looking for. We don't have a kid yet but heard most nipples are brand specific and not interchangeable so appears we're tied to a brand that does the bottle/nipple? Some options we've found that are sorta on par but still have some type of hitch and fall short in some area: Green to Grow, Dr Browns, and Life Factory. Price isn't an issue. Neither is convenience factor. Duxwig fucked around with this message at 04:41 on Nov 12, 2015 |
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Nov 12, 2015 04:38
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Duxwig posted:
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Nov 12, 2015 04:52
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If you are planning on mostly breastfeeding know that sometimes your baby won't like to eat from every bottle. We had to try several. There are glass bottles still and silicone nipples.
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Nov 12, 2015 04:54
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Non-toxic?
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Nov 12, 2015 05:17
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Everything in the world is made of chemicals. Your kid is going to be licking floors and doing who knows what in the disgusting Olympics games that all young children participate in. Just find some bottles you like and buy them. Your kid will promptly reject them anyway causing you to have to buy about 11 different brands before you find one that they'll tolerate.
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Nov 12, 2015 06:00
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I feel similarly about endocrine disruptors (not chemicals in general). I never found a solution for the pump parts so those are plastic. I pump into and store frozen milk in Evenflo glass bottles (I don't remember offhand but a lot of the glass bottles are made in USA) and feed in Comotomo silicone bottles, which apparently are made in Korea. If you plan to freeze a lot of milk you can buy silicone ice cube trays and store the cubes in glass containers instead of the plastic milk bags. (I only work 2 days a week and don't pump extra, so I don't have a big freezer stash.) However my baby is 6 months old and likes to eat dirt so that's in the mix as well. 
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Nov 12, 2015 06:13
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Sounds like too much effort for something you don't even know if you'll need yet  Unless you can find a shaman that hand-carves wooden baby products, you'll have to accept some made-in-Thailand synthetics.
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Nov 12, 2015 14:27
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I know people were talking costs of pregnancy in the US a few pages ago and how our entire health care & insurance system is screwed up. I just received the bill for my wife's 4-day hospital stay during her labor/c-section/recovery and thought I'd share. We live in the midwest and have a High-Deductible HSA plan, so it's definitely a narrow representation of what someone in the US could expect to see. The bill was split in half, since we met our annual deductible with this claim and that changes our payment amounts a bit (which makes things even more confusing for the general population). But I've lumped everything together below. Total amount was $22,116.36. Our insurance-negotiated total was $10,094.00. Our insurance covered $7,367.71. We pay $2,726.29. This does not include my wife's various check-ups, ultrasounds, lab work, etc. throughout her pregnancy - just the labor & delivery at the hospital. I'd estimate our total out-of-pocket was close to $4,000, but I'd have to look at all the insurance claims to tally that up.
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Nov 12, 2015 14:46
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We talked to the hospital billing department yesterday to make sure our insurance covered nuchal translucency, so I can add my costs: The pregnancy package is about $20k for a normal vaginal birth (7500 for delivery, 7500-12500 for hospital stay after, plus $225 a visit in fees and then about $3k in labs). It's about $30k for a cesarean. Then there's another 4-5k in fees for the infant. I'm a PhD student at an Illinois university and my insurance is very good. Our out of pocket limits for the year are 2k and I have already been spending $120 a month on therapy, so it should be about $1k for my expenses for this birth. Plus up to $2k for the infant depending on how its out of pockets work. So $3k for the free insurance I get as a grad student. That seems more than fair to me!
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Nov 12, 2015 16:11
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Just got my results back from my first exam. They did a 1 hour glucose tolerance test, and I feel like I failed it fairly spectacularly... I was at 50mg/dl 70 minutes after drinking the 50g of glucose. I had started shivering and feeling a bit out of it leaving the clinic, but never in a million years would I have expected my blood sugar to be that low so soon after eating (I also had 2 peanut butter crackers before the drink). I really, really didn't think I was actually going to have to deal with hypoglycemia during this pregnancy. I figured the 62mg/dl after breakfast last week was just some sort of fluke. When I called the nurse she didn't seem concerned. Am I making a big deal out of nothing? It just seems terrifying to me that drinking a cup of sugar water can trigger severe hypoglycemia. Also: I'm already gaining too much weight - at 5'8" I've already gone from 187 to 196 in 10 weeks. So it's not like I'm not eating enough! gently caress this is frustrating! dopaMEAN fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Nov 12, 2015 |
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Nov 12, 2015 18:27
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dopaMEAN posted:Just got my results back from my first exam. They did a 1 hour glucose tolerance test, and I feel like I failed it fairly spectacularly... I was at 50mg/dl 70 minutes after drinking the 50g of glucose. I had started shivering and feeling a bit out of it leaving the clinic, but never in a million years would I have expected my blood sugar to be that low so soon after eating (I also had 2 peanut butter crackers before the drink). Did they do the glucose tolerance test on you so early because of your previous hypoglycemic episode? I thought most people got tested between 24-28 weeks, and the fear is that your blood sugar level is too high. You should speak to your doctor (not just the nurse) if you are concerned - but if you aren't experiencing these symptoms when eating your normal diet and going about your life not drinking concentrated sugar water, I think you're probably fine. I'm doing my 1 hour GTT next week and the instructions explicitly say "DO NOT DRINK THIS ON ICE" -- any idea why? Can I still refrigerate it and drink it cold? Really not interested in drinking fruit punch flavored sugar water at room temperature first thing in the morning...
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Nov 12, 2015 19:25
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I'd assume because they don't want it to be watered down.
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Nov 12, 2015 20:27
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Hi_Bears posted:Did they do the glucose tolerance test on you so early because of your previous hypoglycemic episode? I thought most people got tested between 24-28 weeks, and the fear is that your blood sugar level is too high. You should speak to your doctor (not just the nurse) if you are concerned - but if you aren't experiencing these symptoms when eating your normal diet and going about your life not drinking concentrated sugar water, I think you're probably fine. No idea why they did it. They didn't seem to have remembered about my calling to tell them about the hypoglycemia. I even told them that my insurance only covers it later and they said it was standard, no idea. I am having symptoms in my every day life, that's why they found it initially. I kept trembling and feeling anxious without anxiety (heart weird, needing to take extra breaths, dizzy) so I asked my doctor to check for anemia. That's when they found low blood sugar shortly after breakfast. I thought I was managing it ok, but it's concerning that it got that bad yesterday when I had eaten eggs and toast for breakfast and ate some peanut butter crackers right before the test. Like the protein I had in my stomach didn't make a difference.
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Nov 12, 2015 20:51
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dopaMEAN posted:No idea why they did it. They didn't seem to have remembered about my calling to tell them about the hypoglycemia. I even told them that my insurance only covers it later and they said it was standard, no idea. Has your thyroid been checked? I have hyperthyroidism triggered by pregnancy and those are common symptoms. Hi_Bears posted:
You can refrigerate it, just no ice. Every time I've had it they've kept it refrigerated. Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Nov 12, 2015 |
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Nov 12, 2015 22:40
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Hi_Bears posted:I'm doing my 1 hour GTT next week and the instructions explicitly say "DO NOT DRINK THIS ON ICE" -- any idea why? Can I still refrigerate it and drink it cold? Really not interested in drinking fruit punch flavored sugar water at room temperature first thing in the morning... Alterian posted:I'd assume because they don't want it to be watered down. I'm pretty sure that watering it down doesn't matter, assuming you consumed the entire watered down amount; the problem is that if you drink it over ice, you're not going to consume the entire amount unless you also ate all the ice. It's not just sugar water, it's thick sugar water, and it would stick to the ice. (And, even if you ate all the ice, you might not consume all the glucose in the right time frame, and so on.) I mean, yeah, my instructions also said don't drink water afterwards, but if drinking (a reasonable amount of) water was enough to keep sugary beverages from causing hyperglycemia, no one would be taking insulin.
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Nov 13, 2015 00:04
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Big Bug Hug posted:Has your thyroid been checked? I have hyperthyroidism triggered by pregnancy and those are common symptoms. They didn't check it at my OBGYN, but I'll check with my university to see if they checked it the day they tested me for anemia and blood sugar issues. Unless I'm missing something, I'd imagine that it's unlikely because I have gained weight? I'm already up ~8lbs in first trimester (I know it's bad, I don't know how to manage snacking without ballooning). Plus the NP did check my neck during the exam.
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Nov 13, 2015 00:43
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Do not stress about your weight. Hormones and other crazy body stuff are bigger contributors to weight gain than your food. Pregnancy is so weird.
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Nov 13, 2015 01:24
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dopaMEAN posted:They didn't check it at my OBGYN, but I'll check with my university to see if they checked it the day they tested me for anemia and blood sugar issues. Some people actually gain weight apparently, because they get so hungry! I have thyroiditis but no nodules, a blood test is the only reason they found it. I know it's unlikely, just something to keep in mind. 
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Nov 13, 2015 01:54
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Chiming in about weight gain. Were you a healthy BMI at the start of the pregnancy? If yes then don't worry. I don't know what I weigh anymore and they don't weigh me at the antenatal clinic and couldn't care less what I weigh. I've since adopted the same attitude.
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Nov 13, 2015 07:40
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Despite the fact that my wife's insurance costs her employer about $400 per month, she has a rather lovely high deductible plan (small group plans suck). Given some bad luck with some billing poo poo + a small bleeding scare that involved an ER visit (midwife sent us there), I'm guessing we'll be into this ~8k or so. If the kid shows up before December 31, the cost could be half that. We are currently in the middle of taking the hospital provided 'birth class', which I think is pretty much just Lamaze, with some tweaks by the instructor. Neither my wife, nor myself have done any real research on the whole medication side of things. I totally support whatever she wants to do, but a lot of what is getting talked about in the class seems like it'd be impossible to do with an epidural (they haven't gotten to the :drugs: part of the course yet). Has anyone here done some sort of medication/pain relief stuff that wasn't an epidural? I know a friend of ours did something along the lines of getting shot up with some sort of narcotic. That seems like a decent compromise between totally natural, and epidural. I know I'm probably opening a huge can of worms, but I was interested to hear what choices people have made.
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Nov 13, 2015 08:37
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I huffed the nitrous oxide for a while, but all it did was make me feel more nauseous. Then they gave me a shot of morphine, which really didn't do much except make me super itchy. At that point I requested an epidural. I've had friends tell me that all they used was nitrous, other friends tell me that they were big fans of this technique where they inject cold water under the skin of your back and it does something like distracting your nerves or perception of the contraction pain, or something like that. I have no idea what it's called though. I've also heard good things about water birth, apparently the warm water is quite good for pain relief.
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Nov 13, 2015 09:26
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The nitrous was good for a distraction, more than anything. It helped a bit but my labour was short and intense so it stopped doing much before long. The baby before this one (14 years ago) I had pethidine, which only made me vomit and didn't seem to help much if at all. I used the bath both times and it helps a bit, I think if I had had more of an early labour I would have liked to stay in the bath the whole time. But I didn't stay in for long. I had to wait a while to see if my labour was going to keep going (as I'd been given cervidil and it set me off). I think I spent 4 hours with only the gas, then got an epidural and an hour later she was born. So before the epi I was able to move around, use the bath and shower and all that. After that few hours I was happy to trade the freedom of movement for the pain relief.
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Nov 13, 2015 11:38
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