Why I love my OB

I just saw this sitting as a draft in my blog posts and I'm not sure why I didn't publish it way back when I wrote it

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There are a million reasons why I love my doctor but lately I am so confident that I made the right decision to stick with her.

I have been going to my OB/GYN forever.  I have always really liked her but I did consider changing docs when I first found out I was pregnant.  Looking back now, that would have been so stupid.  I actually had people telling me to change doctors because I would want to deliver at HOAG in Newport Beach instead of Long Beach Memorial. "HOAG has ocean views and a candle light dinner the night you deliver.  They call it hotel HOAG."  Well that's nice and all but Long Beach Memorial is an excellent hospital and trauma center.  Their reputation in medical care far out weighs the "luxury" benefits of HOAG and I can't believe I even considered this in the beginning.  Not to mention I think I will be more concerned with looking at my child than looking at the ocean.

The other reason I considered switching was because I soon found out that my doctor works at a practice of 6 doctors and I would have to now rotate my appointments with all of them because I was not guaranteed my doctor for my delivery.  I would get whom ever was on call that day. This was the biggest disappointment.  In the end I decided to stick with the doctor I already knew I liked and give the others in her practice a shot.  Well they all were nice/fine but what I quickly learned was that my doctor had told them to schedule me with her at every other appointment and when I asked her what my chances were of having her be there on the day she said she will do everything in her power to be there.  I honestly think she really does care and wants to be there for my delivery.  At this point even if she isn't, I've been so impressed with the care I have gotten over the last 10 months it doesn't even matter if she's there.  I will still be singing her praises.  She has taken such good care of our family.

I think the most important thing when choosing a doctor is making sure you are on the same page with what kind of pregnancy and delivery you want to have.  This is where my doc and I are perfectly matched.  I would read about something new or alternative and ask her about it and she was always up to date and knowledgeable about it. Basically she's up with the current trends.  No more episiotomies, trying perineal massage, walking around during labor, less checking the cervix for dilation (in fact I wasn't checked until 39 weeks because it is now seen as unnecessary and uncomfortable), helping me to do everything in my power to avoid cesarean section etc, etc. She was an advocate for exercise, healthy eating, and maintaining a normal life style during pregnancy.  She doesn't treat pregnancy like an illness when it's actually a really healthy time in your life.  I was surprised at how many people were told to lay around and act like they were sick. "Here's a list of 50 different medications that it is ok to take but be sure not to overdo it on exercise".  That seems crazy to me. On top of that I heard people say their doctor asked them if they wanted to do an elective c-section. I think if she had asked me that it would have been an immediate red flag.

I had an unbelievably healthy and comfortable pregnancy and although I know some of that is lucky, I know a lot of it is the advice and care I received from my doc.

Thank you Dr. Koe and I really hope to see you at my delivery :)

If anyone in the Orange County or LA area needs a great OB/GYN, here is a link to her website. Long Beach OB/GYN  Her name is Dr. Karen Koe.

I was also really impressed with Dr. Laurie Endo.

**One warning, there's a receptionist there that can be very rude in a "I just can't put my finger on it" passive aggressive kind of way.  She talks down to the patients and can be disrespectful in keeping people's private info private at the window.  I can hold my own and haven't really had a problem but I did see an elderly woman and her husband get pretty upset one day while I was waiting.  It's annoying but worth suffering through to get to see a great doctor.