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.

It's A Boy: A Shower For Shann

It’s A Boy!

We got in just under the wire here.  Little Patrick decided to make an early debut about 3 days later :)

Target diapers make the best diaper cakes.  Those polka dots are just too cute!

I wanted to do two large balloons with tassels but those tassels, although cute, can be really time consuming.  I can't help it though, I just love a giant balloon with a tassel string.  Blame Pinterest I guess. 

All the decorations were made by me.  I purchased the design from the Etsy shop called Haute Chocolate Favors.  The designer had a pink and blue girl whale theme and I had her do a custom package for me.  She sent the files over and I printed and put it all together.  

I made sparkling lemonade punch.  Just lemonade, club soda, lemon slices, blueberries, and ice.  Easy and refreshing.

The "salad party" has become the go-to with my girl friends.  Any time we have a party each girl makes a different salad and brings it.  It makes the food really easy and when it's all women (who eat like birds) it works perfectly.  WARNING: I would never serve this to a bunch of guys :)

My favors were small bags of candies.  I found Hershey kisses with "It's A Boy" strings which I thought were really cute.

A fun little diaper activity.  The guests write funny or inspirational messages on diapers to be reserved for late night diaper changes.  It's supposed to be a little something to get you through those incredibly tough/exhausting times in the beginning.

Blake's Grammie and Patrick's Grandma-to-be.

Making new friends :)

Niki, getting Blake down for a nap.  Thanks again for that one!!

The glowing momma-to-be opening her gifts :)

My daughter is 5 months and I still haven't gotten my hair done.  This is officially disgusting.  It has been over a year now.  This is first on my list if I ever get any "me" time and/or some money :)  But aren't her glasses adorable?

The whole crew

Gift for a new Mommy-To-Be

I just found out that someone very special is joining the club!  I'm so excited to start celebrating her pregnancy. 

I made up a gift bag of hand-me-down and new items for her.  It is filled with things that worked for me (or didn't work for me) that she might want to try.  

What's Inside:
Fit Pregnancy Magazine- to stay fit and healthly for baby
Pregnancy Books- to start reading up on pregnancy
Tums- for possible heartburn
Water- to stay hydrated and not bloated
Cocoa Butter Lotion- to start fighting the battle against stretchmarks
Massage Gift Certificate- to relieve stress now or to relieve sore feet and back later
Belly Band- for her expanding waistline

Could also include:
Maternity store Gift Card
Hand-Me-Down maternity clothes
Items to relieve morning sickness
Anything you found helpful during pregnancy or have leftover that she might find helpful

Maternity

Just a few selections from the beautiful maternity photos my girlfriend Kelly took for me.

Kelly Lombardo Photography

38 Weeks

How Far Along:  38 weeks

Baby Size: Pumpkin

Total Weight Gain: 22lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity and non-maternity.

Stretch Marks: Nope. Thought I was out of the danger zone and then my doctor said she has seen it happen in the last week. Still using the cocoa butter just in case.

Sleep:  I am sleeping ok.  Not as good as a few months ago but definitely not anything that has me worried.  Besides I only have a few weeks left anyway.

Best Moment of the week:  I have finished up all those last minute errands and checked almost everything off my list.  Now I’m enjoying relaxing and spending time with Kyle as much as possible.  No specific moments I can think of but we have had a good week in general.

Miss Anything?: No not really.

Movement: Her movements are always in the same place now.  I think that means she hasn’t changed positions. I always get kicks in the upper left and something like her back or head in the lower right.

Food Cravings: Nothing this week.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Just uncomfortable when I eat too much.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  I have been having some cramping and Braxton Hicks contractions.

Symptoms:  Gigantic belly! J

Belly Button in or out: Flat.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood:  Happy but tired.

Looking forward to: Meeting my baby girl!!

Exercise: Eehh I’m pretty tired lately so I haven’t been good about exercise. Rant: I really loved being pregnant and I really am going to miss my belly.  That being said, I’m so sick of the same questions/comments over and over.  “Are you ready? Are you excited? You have no idea what’s coming. Sleep now, you never will again. Is Kyle excited? What’s the name? Oh Blake, wait it’s a girl or a boy? You don’t look 9 months pregnant, do you eat?” Yes that last one really happened! People mean well but it’s hard to keep up the enthusiasm they expect at every question when you’ve heard it 20 times that day. Sometimes I throw something out there like “naww Kyle’s actually really mad, I trapped him” just to shake things up J

36 Weeks

How Far Along:  36 weeks

Baby Size: Honeydew Melon

Total Weight Gain: 21 lbs. My appointments are weekly now so at the last one I was down 3 to 18 and then this week back up to 21.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity and non-maternity.

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Sleep:  I am sleeping well. I get sore and stiff when I’m sleeping though so it takes me a little longer to get up.

Best Moment of the week:  Hearing that the baby is head down and in the correct position.  One less thing to worry about J

Miss Anything?: The ability to move around.  I have good days and bad days now. Sometimes I can barely move and some days I’m totally fine.

Movement: She moves a lot but I don’t think she has much room anymore so not really flipping around.  Just punching me.

Food Cravings: I have been craving fruit again.  So lucky that I was pregnant over summer when the good stuff is in season.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Just uncomfortable when I eat too much.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms:  Gigantic belly! J

Belly Button in or out: Flat.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood:  Happy, emotional, tired, excited, overwhelmed, anxious, etc, etc, etc.

Looking forward to: Meeting my baby girl!!

Exercise: Doctor told me to slow it down now because I was having a little bleeding and she doesn’t want me to go into labor early.  She recommended I stop working or slow down but it’s hard with my kind of job so I compromised with the exercise (I’ve taken it down to really low impact) and told her I would take it easier at work. I also quit my day job about 2 weeks earlier than I had planned so I can rest during the day since I have to work at night. The Last Month: I have to say that this last month feels different.  I’m anxious and huge and uncomfortable.  I’m such a cliché now.  I walk around rubbing my lower back and when I get to the end of a long work shift I can’t help but waddle a little bit.  I still can’t believe I made it all the way to the end feeling absolutely great though.  I guess I got lucky.  I only have a very short time left so I’m trying to enjoy it, even though I’m dying to meet my baby and get my body back to feeling like myself again.

Baby Shower with The Family