My OB at the CATHOLIC Hospital Said What?!

OK, so most people reading this know that Jason and I are traditional Catholics. If you don't, well then you should probably read the "About Us" section, or you do now! ;-) Being a traditional Catholic means that we trust Holy Mother Church to tell us what is right and that we follow Magisterial teachings in all aspects of life. For those that aren't Catholic, that means that we follow ALL the rules that the Church has laid out for us. In regards to our marriage it means that we do not use any form of artificial birth control.

The insurance we had for pregnancy and delivery was COBRA insurance from my last job. My last job was at St Catherine Hospital in Garden City, KS and if you couldn't tell from the name, it's a Catholic hospital. The women's clinic associated with it was just purchased about 2-3 years ago by the hospital; that means that now they have to follow the rules of the Church as well. That means no birth control can be prescribed, no sterilization can be done, and no abortions can be done or referred. This is wonderful, fantastic, or would be if it were followed.

I really liked my doctor; he is funny and laid back and really seemed OK with most things we were doing. He was a little over concerned if you've read any of my posts during my pregnancy, but for the most part he was great.

When I saw him a year before we were married for my check-up, right after the purchase of the women's clinic by SCH and while I was working for them still, he offered birth control. He told me, "we're not allowed to use SCH prescription pads because 'the Church' says it's not allowed--eye roll inserted--but I have some that just have my name and so I can prescribe if you'd like." I told him no thank you I was using abstinence. Meanwhile, I was totally appalled! I spoke with the hospital's spiritual director (a former priest) and he thought it might just be because they hadn't been given the "we're a Catholic hospital, here's what that means" speech. So, after speaking with my priest and being advised that I've done what I could, and that it was at most remote cooperation, I let it go.

Until my 6 week postpartum visit. I got the question of what we were going to do for birth control, and then I got a rundown of how certain hormonal contraceptives aren't good if you're breastfeeding (um, duh?!) but some were OK and did I want to get on anything. When I told him that we were letting God decide, I got a bit of an eye roll and the subject was dropped. But what if I were only a luke-warm Catholic? What if I were afraid of being pregnant again and I only needed someone in some kind of authority to tell me it was OK to use ABC? And yes, being an OB in a Catholic facility makes you automatically someone in authority. I'm certain many Catholic women "on the fence" or perhaps not understanding fully the Church's teaching on love and marriage and all that it entails have been led astray by someone in authority giving the green flag. How scary!

So, I'll be making a phone call or sending an email to that same spiritual director at the hospital and hoping to make him see that he needs to be a bit more thorough with his training at the women's clinic. Those doctors are, literally, holding the future in their hands; or cutting it off before it gets a chance. :(

The Kumquat Has Arrived!

A little over 4 weeks ago. We have been so busy adjusting to this new life of being parents, that we haven't updated the blog. But, I'm here to remedy that!

Dominic Matthew Spano made his arrival on August 1, 2010 at 6:31PM CST.

[caption id="attachment_263" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Just Arrived"][/caption]

We went to Garden City on Saturday the 31st as I was hoping that walking around would help get us ready. I had had a non-stress test in Lamar on Friday and they did an internal check and I was dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced, so we really thought we had a good chance. We walked around Target and Walmart and my contractions were starting to get (what I thought was) painful. We had lunch at El Camino's hoping that the spiciness would also add something. Then we headed straight over to the hospital at about 1PM. They checked me and I was still only 2cm and 80% effaced. :( The nurse told me to walk around for a half hour, so we did, and when she checked again I was 3cm. They decided to admit me and the doctor on call (my doctor was on vacation) decided to augment on low pitocin in hopes to regulate the contractions. However, this boy was stubborn. The pitocin kept going up and my contractions got regular but I got stuck at 4cm. They broke my water at 9PM and I stayed at 4cm and no change in effacement. The contractions were about a minute apart and horrible ALL NIGHT LONG. I had planned on birthing with no pain control, and the night nurse thought I was trying to be a martyr and kept pushing pain meds on me. So, I fought it even harder. We did two showers, sat on the birthing ball and stood when possible. The contractions were awful, I've never experienced anything like that in my life. Jason was amazing! He stayed up all night with me and massaged or held me through the contractions. I was exhausted and would sleep for the minute to five minutes between the contractions, but Jason didn't. Around 6am I was crying through every contraction and I was done, I couldn't do anymore. Unfortunately I was still at 4cm. I gave in and asked for pain medicine, which they gave me in my IV. It did nothing for the pain, but it made me feel pretty loopy and like I couldn't hold my eyes open. I asked for the epidural.

The anesthetist came in around 8AM and gave me the epi, it was uncomfortable and kind of painful to get, but brought sweet relief. I could feel that I was having contractions, but it wasn't painful. This allowed me to rest and by about 1PM I was dilated to 9cm, but I still wasn't fully effaced. About this time the epi wore off, and he came in with more medication, but it didn't do anything and left me feeling the same as before I'd had any medication. At about 5PM the nurse checked me and I was STILL at 9cm and she could still feel my whole cervix. :( She also said she could feel that the baby's head was molding since he was partially in the birth canal and had been since 1PM. They spoke with the doctor but recommended a c-section. :( It was the best option for us as I'd been in active labor for 29 1/2 hours at that point. Jason went in with me and got to watch them cut me open and bring out our little boy. Maybe he'll post the details of that, I was a little out of it! ;-)

So, Dominic weighed 8#8.3 oz and was 21 1/2" long. He has big feet too! :-D And he's adorable!!

We thought we had breastfeeding down pretty well, but it turns out we didn't. On Friday we met with a lactation specialist and found that Dominic had lost over a pound and was severely dehydrated. We were admitted to PMC and I had to start pumping breastmilk. He was given as much breastmilk as I pumped, but we had to supplement with formula because it wasn't enough yet. My milk had come in, but I had a super low supply since Dominic hadn't been eating. His tongue would go to the roof of his mouth and he would not get latched. Then he'd get angry and his sucking wasn't productive. It was very sad. :( We stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning when he'd gained about 13oz and we were able to come home. Now I'm pumping and Dominic is getting lots of milk, just not straight from the source. It's a little sad, and totally inconvenient, but he is worth it. We want him getting the best stuff!

We're extremely blessed and feeling it every moment...even at 2AM when we're up for a feeding! ;-)

New Employees, Stressful Days, and Swelling Cankles...Oh My!

Well, I've been training a new PTA at work to take over inpatient. Then I will be doing outpatient. This is for a couple of reasons, number one inpatient is totally kicking my behind! And number two, when I have the baby and don't return to work, someone needs to be able to handle inpatients. So that part of it is a good thing. But, wow the stress of training. It's difficult to train someone that has more experience than I do, clearly she doesn't know St. Catherine specific things, but she has been working as a PTA for 30+ years. Anyway, it is hard to correct someone when they're doing something the way they've done it for that long. Whew...talk about stress! We've also still had the stress of low census, but it's been in spurts, with some days having a lot of patients and the next day just a few. It seems like it's really going to pick up next week though and that's good. We also hired a new PT that will be starting a week from Monday and she's really going to be awesome! She's from Brazil and is also a certified Manual Therapist, so it will be really cool to get to work with her!

This has been a really long week, with the stress of training, the fatigue and the swelling. I'm soooo ready for it to be Friday and to see Jason! Being away from each other for a week is really, really hard! I know I should be thankful for a job, and that I didn't have to stay at my last job where I was going to New Mexico or wherever else, but still...it's really hard on me. :(

Well, in the past two days I have had 3 people ask me if I'm sure I'm not pregnant with twins! I really am starting to show quite a bit, and only being 16 weeks along and with starting this pregnancy being chunky, it's pretty rare to be showing this much. I just keep saying "I hope there's an extra one or two hiding in there!" :-D I'm already swelling quite a bit, trying to keep my feet up when I can to help keep it down. I was lectured on the floor yesterday and by my boss today that I need to get some type of support hose so that I can try to keep the swelling down. I think I also will have to start wearing tennis shoes. When the swelling gets bad, it really hurts my cankles because there is so little support. So, look for me...I'll be the pregnant girl in a skirt with tennis shoes on! ;-)

Professional Frustrations

It's frustrating that an entire field can be downplayed by one type of person in that field not doing their job appropriately. Physical Therapy has been around since then end of the first World War (if memory serves correctly) and has really come a long way. From being a 6 week course to being a doctorate (if you're a Physical Therapist) or an Associates of Applied Science degree (if you're a Physical Therapist Assistant). The field has gone from being semi-holistic as far as the medical community is concerned to being a primary reason for a person getting into a skilled nursing facility. And most recently the field has gone from requiring a prescription and referral from a doctor, to no prescription required and a patient can walk in off of the street and ask for therapy. This is the reason that our therapists are now required to take classes in differential diagnosis, so that they can tell if the person's problem is nerve or musculoskeletal related and therapy will help, or if it is a problem that arises from a much more serious problem. However, there are some "old school" therapists that seem to be dismantling this. Afraid to stand up for the rights they have in the field. Just because a doctor orders therapy does not mean a person is appropriate nor does it mean that we HAVE to work with that patient. And, most doctors will respect what therapy has to say. Why do these clinicians want to downplay our role and moreover downplay their own knowledge?! Not to mention that treating a patient who does not have the ability to progress (and hasn't shown progress) merely because a doctor orders it is bordering on fraud! OK, not even bordering, it is.

Sigh, rant over. It's hard to be low man on the professional totem pole and get your point across.

Who Knew a Toothbrush Could Make One so Sick...and Other Random Thoughts of the Day

For about two weeks now, everytime I brush my teeth I'm reduced to dry heaves. It lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. It's not fun at all! :( I thought I had finally beat the problem last week when I bought some orange flavored toothpaste (I know, orange flavored hardly feels like real toothpaste at all! :-O)...but this morning it came back in full force. Here's to hoping that the second trimester brings with it a calmed tummy!

We have been suffering at work with low census, this results in lost time at work. Sometimes as much as half of our day. Today was no different as we only had 2 patients. There should have been a bright spot with an interview for a new PT, but she called to say that she'd accepted a position at another facility. :( Who waits until the day of the interview to cancel?! We don't want her anyway! The low census leaves you with a feeling of not accomplishing anything (along with a short paycheck!) and breeds resentment, for me anyway. The resentment is towards coworkers who have the same (or less) patients and are not clocking out for low census. It's frustrating. As I decided to vent to my boss, our conversation veered some to talk of my pregnancy. She's very excited for us because it's great to see a family that wants to have the baby and aren't just dealing with consequences. :-D That is somewhat sad that it is her normal exposure to families having kids...Jason and I are incredibly excited for our kumquat to get here! My boss is a great person with a big heart, our conversations usually veer somewhat to the religious as well. She's halfway across the Tiber but doesn't know it yet! ;-) She was raised Baptist, but working in a Catholic hospital, just feet away from Perpetual Adoration is working on her heart. I see a conversion in her future!

Being away from home for a week at a time is a struggle too. I miss Jason more everyday! :(