#346 - Dr. MAP

Fast forward 10 years from post #345 and I was now shopping around for a new OB-GYN for a totally different issue.  #346 came highly recommended for several reasons. 

Reason #1 - She was a she.  Word was that because she was female, she had better rapport with her female patients. 
Reason #2 - She had just built a brand spankin new office which was very aesthetically pleasing to cranky pregnant women. 
Reason #3 - She was an advocate for her patients and would go toe to toe with the old hospital who was not up to date with the latest in birthing babies (ie delivery suites, four post wooden hospital beds, and steak and lobster dinners for the new parents). 

Because of reasons 1-3, she was booked with new patients as soon as she opened her doors.  That is why I was very excited when my mother in law, who was a patient of hers, got #346 to take me and my newly pregnant self on as a patient.

My pregnancy went very well.  A little anemic and a lot fat pregnant, I made my way through months 1 -8 with little to no excitement.  Little did I know what was to come.  I probably should have been a little concerned with #346's constant reminders of how proud she was of her low C-section rate.  As my belly grew...and grew...and grew, I should have had concerns about how it was all going to turn out, but...first time momma and all that.

Let me spare the readers all the details, and let me skip to the end of the story.  Turns out that a nice office and good rapport with your female patients does not a good doctor make.  Turns out that the promise of a steak dinner does not make labor progress quicker, and turns out that I don't want my entire extended family in the room with me while I was giving birth. 

A few hours after my delivery (which included a middle of the night emergency phone call to blog post #2, Thanks Dr. D!), #346 came into my room to tell me that she was leaving town and closing her office.  She referred me to another MD for my postpartum care.  I was really too out of it to realize how bad of a job she did as the ringleader of the circus that was the birth of my first born, but time has given me perspective.  She botched it!

The good news is that my beautiful baby boy was born healthy and strong (with a slight banana head :) and a little jaundice... sorry B)  Here is a picture of me about a week after my delivery.  I still was anemic, I wasn't moving too quickly, I had to wear a mask because I had pneumonia, but I was now a momma and that made it all alright!