Life on the Road

So, after the Horrific Hospital Tour, and the relief of hearing about some options at my LLL meeting, hope was restored.

Sunday after church Wolf took us on a wonderful surprise drive.  We went all the way up into Miami (half hour drive) for lunch at Baja Fresh.  (There’s not one nearer to us.  It’s a favorite of mine (and Nick’s), but Wolf doesn’t particularly like it, so we rarely eat there).  Yummmy - and very sweet of him.

Then he revealed Phase II of his Master Plan — we were only a few miles away from Miami Maternity Center, and Sunday is the day they do tours.  (The director, Shari, is Jewish, so they’re closed on Saturdays… unless you go into labor, of course!).

I cannot begin to tell you what a huge burden was removed from my shoulders, essentially from the moment we walked in…

Shari is one of the best-known midwives in the country, and in addition to running the birth center she runs a midwifery training school there.  So there were midvives, student midwives, pregnant mamas, men, women, and children of all ages mingling happily in the outer areas.

First we were shown two movies.  One introduced us to the center, and Shari, and some of her philosophies and policies.  The second was a birth in the outside jacuzzi of the clinic, from just before crowning to the first happy moments with mama and papa holding their new little bundle of joy.

One thing that I suspect is an eye opener for a lot of people was this:  Your ob and hospital make more money the more problems you have, and the more interventions they perform.  On the other hand, Miami Maternity charges a flat fee (which includes even childbirth classes and your prenatal vitamins!), so they make more money by keeping you healthy and having everything go smoothly!

A lovely student named Joelle gave us a tour of the facility.  Prenatal care rooms, postnatal checkup rooms, and in a separate building out back, the actual birthing center.  They have 3 suites set up back there, each including a huge bed and a jacuzzi tub.  They’re never all full at the same time, she assured us, but just in case, Shari’s house (the next building over) is also set up for births, and there are 2 additional suites set up in the new classroom building.  (And if a hurricane is coming, all the imminently due mamas usually go camp out there).

Then we got to have a chat with Shari.  Although she no doubt had many, many things to do - especially as we showed up without an appointment or anything - she took the time to talk with us about all our questions and concerns.  She was very reassuring about my issues with Jewel’s birth, and we both felt confident that we would be in very good hands.

To my delight, she then said, “Do you want to hear the baby?”

Now I am not personally a fan of the doppler.  I am opposed to the gratuitious use of ultrasound, which that is - even at a low dose. 

But, like with Jewel, we wanted the opportunity to hear the heartbeat at least once - it’s such a powerful moment, and so reassuring. 

So Baby Blessing is alive and well - and feisty, as Shari said he (we’ll just go with “he”, to have a pronoun handy) was kicking the doppler!

I’ll have my first “real” appointment probably next week, but it’s such a relief to know that we have such a wonderful place to go…