A few days ago I saw Chloë's obstetrician at the grocery store and wondered if I have ever written down a brief history of all my children's births. so here it goes...
Dr. John C. Nelson was my first ob and my favorite. He called me L squared (get it... L.L.) Olivia was the LAST birth he oversaw because he was made president of the American Medical Association. His nurse was also so great. Every time I called or went in, they knew who I was, which made me feel great. He loved his kids and loved to talk about them. Dr. Nelson also loved to question Daniel about becoming a lawyer. Unless I was really worried about something, he did not like to answer questions which were not relevant to the current point in my pregnancy. Having said that, our appointments were informative, relaxing and friendly. Nothing took me by surprise.
I have a little story that demonstrates what kind of a doctor he was.
While I was in the hospital getting ready to deliver Olivia, I had a resident doctor watching Dr. Nelson. I was fully dilated, so Dr. Nelson put his hand inside me to see if I was also fully effaced. AS he told the resident doctor (who was a 24 year old 'boy' and had never seen a baby be born) to feel the baby's head, he took the guys hand and put it up inside me. That definitely was out of the boys comfort zone; he was shocked. But according to Dr. Nelson, it was a perfect way to put the resident into the delivery frame of mind. That is how Dr. Nelson was - respectful, yet wanted everyone to experience the reality of what was happening. He felt it was a miracle and a gift from God to have a baby born.
Dr. Max Steele helped me deliver Sam. Dr. Steele was Dr. Nelson's partner. I did not get to know him as well. Daniel and I were going to be moving 3 weeks after Sam was born, so I knew Dr. Steele wouldn't be around for long. My pregnancy was Sam was much harder than Olivia's, although I would never have admitted that. It took me 2 more pregnancies to see that. My hormones were all off and I did not like to go out and hangout with the other moms living in Wymount at BYU. I was also very uncomfortable. I think Sam was up in my rib cage for the last half of the pregnancy. But this pregnancy still was not hard compared to many.
Before I was pregnant with Chloë I did have a miscarriage.
Hector Medina did not actually deliver Chloë, but I did all the office visits with him. He was a great doctor and loved to talk to Sam and Liv when I brought them to the appointments. At my 13 week appointment, Dr. Medina could not find the baby's heart beat. I was scared as I waited for him to bring in the ultra machine to find the heartbeat. I am so grateful our baby was fine, she was just hiding I guess. Something unusual about this pregnancy was the fact that I could NOT drink water. It made me feel SO sick. This pregnancy was similar to the pregnancy I had with Sam, except the baby was not in my ribs the entire time. I did gain the most weight with Chloë.
I went to 4 different OBs before I chose to see Dr. Christine Litwin-Sanguinetti and her group. The deal with them was you had to see all 4 doctors for the monthly visits, then you could choose the doctor you wanted to deliver your baby. I figured this o.b. would also end up being my gynecologist, so I wanted to really like him/her. We were a great fit. This was probably my hardest pregnancy. My hormones were off and I was tired and overwhelmed with the other 3 babies I had a home. Olivia, being the oldest, was still at home except for preschool a few times a week. It was a lot of work to be happy for them and keep the house running. I am not sure how Daniel got his hours in at work that year. He stayed home A LOT to take care of me and the house and kids. We had a lot of quick dinners or ate out. Daniel never criticized me or tried to second guess what I was going through. There were a few very special moments I could see in Daniel's eyes the unconditional love and respect he has for me.
The blessing to be able to carry a child in one's body for 9 months was an incredible experience for me and did change me into a more compassionate person. I am grateful for what it taught me. But most of all I am grateful for my healthy children!!
