The Good Doctor

It was brought to my attention that I haven't updated on the obstetrician situation, and since we just had our second appointment with the new doctor yesterday, I thought this would be a good time to report.

He's fabulous!

My doula gave me a list of a few doctors that are involved in the natural birth movement here. We chose one that was covered by our insurance plan and have been so pleased with him!

He spent about an hour with us at our first appointment talking about our birth plan and explaining all the issues (from his perspective) with the attitude towards birth in Brasil. He quoted researchers from all over the world, told us how Brasil attracts a lot of international attention from the OB research community (and not in a good way), and praised us for creating a birth plan that was, in his opinion, exactly where you should start with your expectations. He also mentioned some of the work that he is currently involved in to gain more options for women in hospitals and among the medical community. He left us feeling really confident that we have a doctor who is 100% on-board with our wishes and desires.

There is one private hospital in town that the natural birth community describes as menos pior (less worse) and is the hospital that our new doctor most likes to work with when a patient desires fewer medical interventions. We toured it and feel comfortable with their policies and facilities (and they are a lot closer than the public birth center that we liked, so we can labor at home longer.)

Yesterday's appointment went great. Z Baby is dropping a bit, has remained head down, and I've got some effacement, but no dilation. And the waiting game continues . . .

Meanwhile, Eric has taken to asking me each day before he goes to work if I'm going to have the baby today - he says he needs to be able to plan his day. He also likes to ask me before he goes to sleep each night - as he says he wants to know if he can expect a full night's rest or not. I need to come up with a good answer to his questioning as to avoid the "but you said . . . " I'm thinking of going with a. "you'll have to ask your daughter" or (the typical Brasilian response to everything) b. "se Deus quiser" (if God wants). ;)