My OB, my friend?

Could it be possible?

I have been keeping my OB appointments so far in this pregnancy for a number of reasons. I've always wanted to strike a balance between medical and midwifery care but it never seems to work out. This time around I changed OBs and have been having double care.

At last Monday's visit, I felt I needed to be up front with him and let him know that I was planning a homebirth. Knowing his tendency to practice on the more natural side, I wasn't expecting him to flip out, but I didn't really expect a big hug or pat on the back either.

At the "Do you have any questions?" part of my visit, I told him that I indeed wanted his feedback and reminded him that I have had three previous homebirths and that my plan was to do the same this time. I told him my preference was to see him until my ultrasound (something the midwife doesn't do) and assuming everything was great then I would not be back until my 6 week checkup after the baby was born.

We talked a little about my views that he is a specialist (a trained surgeon) and that I considered my midwife as my primary health care giver and if my pregnancy is healthy that it seemed to me to be "overkill" to continue seeing him.

It was such a great conversation and I loved being able to be honest. We talked about how he would perceive me if I indeed need to be transferred to his care should I risk out for a homebirth or need emergency care.

We covered some great topics and although of course he had different opinions on a few things, we talked them out and now we at least know where we both stand.

For now, I'm very excited to have an open doctor/midwife relationship (my midwife had even encouraged me to have this conversation with him).

We'll see where it goes....

My ultrasound is on May 21st where we'll hopefully find out the sex of the baby. It's a girl, I'm telling you.