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Austin Babies
"There is a fine line between a princess and a witch...thinking you're one does NOT give you the right to act like the other." my grandmother
Knottie needs advice: Austin Area Birthing Center
Hi ladies! I lurk over here a little bit and hope you don't mind me asking for some advice. My OB/GYN recently retired from her practice - I've been seeing her for 16 years (since I was 15). I'm getting married in Dec., and since I'm 32, we'll probably start TTC pretty quickly. Since my next doctor or midwife will be the person who will deliver any children we are lucky enough to have, I'm taking it pretty seriously. I've had a consultation and my annual exam at Austin Area Birthing Center, and so far I really love them. Their whole philosophy seems to fit well with my own. Does anyone have any experience with them, good or bad? Anything I need to know? Thanks in advance!
"There is a fine line between a princess and a witch...thinking you're one does NOT give you the right to act like the other." my grandmother
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Re: Knottie needs advice: Austin Area Birthing Center
Thanks Mrs. Rosie.....I *think* I edited it....
CJ (I remember you from the Knot....I think of you as "Pixie", if that tells you how long I've been there)....Dr. S. actually took over my old Dr.'s practice....I considered staying there, but my cousin who is a L&D nurse at NAMC said she's great but some of her on-call dr's leave A LOT to be desired (I don't know specifics). Plus my sister delivered both of my nephews at NAMC and it just wasn't for me. She thought it was great, but we're very, very different people. I'm so glad to hear you're happy there though.....it's good to know because if I don't stick with AABC, that's where I'll try next. I'll keep lurking to see how your delivery goes. And congratulations!
"There is a fine line between a princess and a witch...thinking you're one does NOT give you the right to act like the other." my grandmother
That's interesting about the on-call pratcitioners... because I was under the impression that if you were in their practice you're guaranteed either Dr. S, Dr. Campaigne, or one of the three NMWs. I've had pretty detailed discussions with all of them about birth preferences and they all have said they support our desires entirely. (I was originally going to refuse all intervention, even IV start, in the absence of medical necessity, and the only thing they said they HAVE to have patients do is the IV start - but even then they can't "make" you, KWIM?) Anyway, I'd be VERY interested to hear what specifics your cousin has to say! I want to make sure I'm going in there completely informed and determined to get the kind of care I want!
I definitely think that one has to really stand their ground about their preferences (when medically appropriate) in order to get the kind of care and birth experience that you want in a hospital setting - but I guess it all depends on what's important to you and what you're willing to sacrifice. I can most certainly see why someone would choose AABC or a similar free standing birth center, too! We may end up doing that next time around if this delivery goes well, we'll see.
I remember you, too (yep that's me, the Pixie!!), and good luck on your wedding! Feel free to lurk or post over here anytime. It really helped me to be on here for a while before we actively started TTC - it gave me time to adjust to the whole TTC/baby world, and I got some really good advice about the whole TTC process. Hope to see you around!! Feel free to email me anytime. salsachick at gmail. I'd really love to hear more about your cousin's experiences with the docs...I'm very intrigued now...
"There is a fine line between a princess and a witch...thinking you're one does NOT give you the right to act like the other." my grandmother
Sweet! I'd love to hear whatever you find out. But yeah if your cousin is the hook-me-up-to-epi-in-the-parking-lot type then I can see why she'd not really get on too well with Dr. S's staff. What's her name so I can make sure to ask for someone OTHER than her when I get there??? heheeeh
Remind me again, what biz are you in? For some reason I'm thinking you're a photog, but I have no clue. I stayed on the knot for a loooong time, but I do see how there comes a point at which other things become more important. I miss all the wedding talk sometimes even though I'm in the biz, but babies are way more interesting at this point! I never go over there anymore either; I'm much to scared to stumble upon what people are saying about me, lol!
Let's just say I'm in the wedding attire business....in fact, I should probably get some of your cards to give out. I verbally recommend you all the time, but people place value in business cards for some reason. I do sometimes hate it, though....I can't go to GTG's because I know I've worked with some knotties, so I don't ever want them to feel uncomfortable. There have been several girls that I would like to have met in real life (you included
) but just couldn't. And, the only things I've ever seen written about you over there were very good. 
My cousin moved to the NICU, so I'm sure you won't run into her. At least I'll be praying that you don't need her services! I'm sure she's great at what she does, but just overhearing convo's between her and my sister (who has 2 kids) she's definitely in the take-meds-no-matter-what camp. My sister thinks I'm crazy and has nothing nice to say about midwives, so it's interesting when the topic comes up. It's great to hear of people who are open to other alternatives. In fact, I always read your posts about your research and choices because I think we feel the same way about the issue.
"There is a fine line between a princess and a witch...thinking you're one does NOT give you the right to act like the other." my grandmother
I can get you biz cards for sure! Just email me or post your email and we'll GTG.
Ditto the not making the gals uncomforable...I ultimately left because I got SO much knot biz that I didn't want anyone to feel like they couldn't be honest and open with me hanging around all the time. So let's meet up sometime and talk babies!! 
You poor thing - it must be annoying to have to hear negative talk about your choices from your own sister.
It's so interesting what people's opinions are about MWs. I find so many are uniformed and so much of our society is led to believe that birth HAS to be medically managed from day one and beyond. Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't begrudge anyone an epi or c-section if that is what they choose - I think to each his own. However, I think there are a lot of people out there who would make some different choices about their birth and their medical care if they were more informed about interventions, doulas, midwives, etc. That being said, I am going to try for the most med-free birth as possible, but fully leave myself open to get that epi if I get there and things don't go as I've planned! 
I'm trying to be open-minded and flexible, but still be informed and active in my own care.
We have a friend whose wife is pg again (their daughter is about 2), and DH was asking him all kinds of stuff about their birth experience with baby #1. The guy had NO CLUE WHATSOEVER if they had given his DW any pitocin, why they gave her IV meds, what the IV meds were, or why they ultimately decided to do a c-section.... DH was amazed at how little his friend knew about anything. Regardless of whether someone goes into labor knowing they want an epi or not, I do not understand at all the lack of desire to at least know WTF they were doing to his wife and why. It's just crazy to me why you wouldn't at least want to be informed.
Anyway, that was a book. Sorry! Shoot me an email and we'll do a biz card exchange. And thanks for referring me!!