Alabama Babies
Looking for an OB/GYN
Hi I'm new to Al and close to the Dothan Enterprise area. Does anyone have any Dr recommendations? My other babies were born in AZ so I'm super nervous about finding a new dr. I had a c-section with my other two so if anyone has any helpful information it would be very much appreciated!
Thank you!
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Re: Looking for an OB/GYN
Hey! Welcome to the area! I'm in Dothan as well and used the same practice as the PP (Hey Heather!) but a different doctor, Dr. Jonathon Scott.
I absolutely loved him and have nothing but great things to say about him. I also ended up with a c section but I labored for almost a full day and he was constantly checking up on me and promised to stick around for me regardless of my decision (to continue laboring or go for the c/s). He has a great bedside manner and was always very thorough and informative at my appointments. He even gave me his cell phone number to call him if I had any questions before or after the birth and he personally called to check up on me after I was discharged.
He's in his early thirties but that never made me feel weird. He has three sons and talks about them and his wife all the time.
Good luck!
We moved back here after being gone 12 years and I was about 10 weeks pregnant when we moved so I had to find a new OB and fast. My last OB was fabulous and created a situation for my new OB to live up to a lot. I had his cell, was friends on FB, etc. When I came here, my grandmother who is a baby nurse recommended Dr. Patel. He and his nurse that I've seen every time are so great- willing to talk about any concerns I have, great bedside manner- always making jokes about baby girl doing zumba when he is listening to the heartbeat because he has to chase her. He also spent a good 20-30 minutes at our first visit talking with me and DH about my first pregnancy, my c-section, was I thinking repeat c-section or VBAC, etc.
I've not met Dr. Scott that pp mentioned but am thinking most of the docs there have to be great. And you will deliver at SAMC which is very nice!
Hey Brooke! I didn't know you were on here. Question for you, what was your c-section like at SAMC in terms of after surgery? I'm just wondering about how long it was before you really got to spend time with your sweet LO after delivering? I am trying to decide if I want to go ahead and schedule a repeat c-section or wait it out until my due date to see if I can try a VBAC. Dr. Patel has given me either option at this point, so I am trying to decide.
Hey! Sorry it's taken me so long to respond, I'm off on Fridays and Meg keeps me too busy to bump on my off days.
My c/s was really not as bad as I thought it might be but my experience was unique because I delivered Meg at 37 weeks and her lungs were not fully prepared for the outside world yet. She had to spend three days in the NICU (one day was with your sweet grandmother!) but before the surgery, they told Mike that he would go back to my room with Meg right after the surgery and I would follow once they finished closing and everything. That's what happened with Elizabeth Barham Brown too when she delivered her twins.
I can't tell you how great the care was that Meg and I both received during our stay. All of the nurses and doctors were so sweet and thoughtful. Dr. Scott checked on me and Meg every day. Usually, he would go check on her first, then come check on me so he could give me an update on her condition. That meant so much to me.
We even stayed an extra night because Meg's ped was not ready to release her from the hospital but they let us keep my hospital room rather than leave her there. That was a huge deal to me. I really didn't want to leave her in the hospital and they assured me that as long as she was there, I would have a room as well. This is not the case in all hospitals - my neice had to stay an extra day or two due to jaundice when she was born and Flowers Hospital sent my sister home without her.
Also, you labor, deliver and recover in the same room at SAMC (unless you have a c/s, of course) and the room is huge and very nice! At Flowers, you labor and deliver in one room and recover in a smaller room. We definitely needed the big room for my recovery because I had a lot of family, friends and co-workers visit. Plus, it's just nice to have the extra space when you're there for several days.
Let me know if y'all have any other questions! Hope that helps!
Heather, I'll be interested to hear how your delivery with your little girl goes. I'll have to decide between a VBAC and repeat c/s with my #2 (whenever we decide to have one
and I'm thinking I'll probably go with the repeat c/s but would love to hear if you have a successful VBAC!
Thanks for all the info Brooke!
How long did it take from when Mike and Meg went to the room did you go? That's something that weighs on my mind with a repeat c-section because with my first, I was in recovery after the surgery for 2 hours while Smith was in the nursery and Sam split up his time among me, Smith and our family. It was the longest 2 hours of my life and most of it was spent telling Sam to go check on Smith! Plus, I am wanting to try to nurse asap- with Smith it was almost 3 hours after he was born and sometimes I wonder if it would have worked out better if I would have been able to sooner than that. I ended up having to pump and give it to him by bottle because he would nurse for an hour most every time but kept losing weight. And while to some this may sound a little selfish, but it's important to us, Sam and I want to have time to spend with the baby alone and then time for Smith to meet his baby sister before the rest of the family does. So knowing how the mother/baby floor is laid out, did you have any issues with people being everywhere? It's good for me on the rare occasion when I need to run by to see my grandmother about something that no one really stops me from walking on back there, but I wonder about that should anyone get impatient
We are going to discuss our plan with our family beforehand whatever I decide on delivery, but like you, there's going to be lots of them as both of our extended families are here.
Well, they swept Meg off to the Special Care nursery right after doing her APGAR scores and showing her to me (because of the breathing issues). Mike followed her but was not allowed in that nursery so they told him to go back to our room. In a normal situation, he would have followed her to my room and they would have been together waiting for me. It took probably another 20 or 30 minutes to finish me up and take me back to my room, I think. Things were pretty fuzzy by then but I think Mike told me that's how long I was gone. It may have been an hour.
I allowed my mom and Mike in the OR with me. My mom took pictures and Mike held my hand. I'm actually really glad I did that because she got the cutest picture of Dr. Scott holding Meg up for the camera for her very first picture. I love that picture so much. So, obviously, my mom went back to my room with Mike and his mom was there also. But I had said before hand that it was ok for them to be there.
In my experience with friends that have delivered at SAMC, it can be tricky getting time to yourself. The real waiting room is outside the double doors, but there are tiny "refreshment rooms" with chairs that people usually congragate around because it's closer to the patient room. I would say that if you do have a repeat c/s and you know exactly what time you'll be delivering, just discuss that with your family and tell them what time you want them to show up. You should be back to your room within an hour of having the baby. Sam will be in your room as the nurses clean her up and weigh her and everything while you're still in the OR.
If you decide to labor, the nurses will just make everyone wait outside until you are ready for them to come in. My friend Anna had a completely normal labor and delivery and delivered at like 3:45pm. I went over there after I got off work and waited with her family (she told me to) while she tried nursing her baby and introducing her to her big sister and all that. I think it was around 5pm before she said it was ok for guests to come in.
The nurses told me to just tell them who I did and didn't want in the room though, even while I was in labor. They kept saying they didn't mind being the bad guy for me if I wanted someone or everyone to leave. They just wanted me to be comfortable.