How far is too far for an OB?

RobynB13 · September 2014

I figure while I continue to wait on finding an OB willing to oversee my care (I'm developing pregosaurus rage waiting... Especially since I'm not on anticoagulants right now and I'm freaked out about the potential chemical exposure damage...) I'm high risk, and with my history, it's looking like I may have to drive well over an hour to an OB at Vanderbilt again... That I fired last time because he wouldn't induce before 39 weeks (I've never gone past 37, and have faaaaaaast labor... He actually said "well, I guess have an ambulance baby." Douche-fuck...)
So, how far is too far for y'all? Would you actually prefer one farther away if they have more experience?? Who just wants to skip OB all together and midwife-up???

Or gifs... Gifs always entertain...

ElizabethSwann · September 2014

Well i moved since my last kid, and i really wanted to stay at the same hospital and they did a good job.

Its 45 minutes from my house, but only 20 from work.

AMShark · September 2014

I don't know, I'd travel pretty far for this guy:

Jedi Knight OB's are hard to come by - even more difficult to find one that takes Cigna.

(Not an animated gif, but a gif, nonetheless).

Honestly, though, I'm with @mbm1983 - I'd be a little afraid to have my OB so far away, especially if I had a history of fast labor like you. I've heard a lot of people are satisfied with their midwifes (midmives?) - Maybe that's a route to explore.

littlewest1 · September 2014

Is your OB the one that will deliver the baby? At my hospital any OB on call will deliver unless there is a request for your specific OB to deliver, in which case it would depend on their distance to the hospital. Distance to hospital seems more important to distance to OB to me.

RobynB13 · September 2014

I'm hoping I can sweet talk one of the ones here... I hate having to drive to Nashville, especially pregnant!

sagehens47 · September 2014

@MOtownMama‌ that GIF is gonna leave a mark on my brain. Can't... Stop...watching...

OP: are convenient ob's denying you??

dana1047 · September 2014

I'll be an hour 20 mins away but I live in the country...meaning even the closest grocery store is a 20 min drive.

RobynB13 · September 2014

sagehens47 said:
@MOtownMama‌ that GIF is gonna leave a mark on my brain. Can't... Stop...watching...

OP: are convenient ob's denying you??

Totally agree... I can't look away... And yes. I've got a LOT that makes me high risk, and they pretty much all keeps saying "I'm not even gonna touch that case..." (SLE, Lupus Anticoagulant, previous PROM and multiple miscarriages, precipitous labors, uterine and cervical cancer survivor... And that's just the medical, leaving out the benzene exposure from the job I just quit...) it's a lot of stuff that yeah, it's there, and kinda sucks, but I still function alright, so I just want someone to look in my ute already!

RobynB13 · September 2014

CaterinaC said:
@MOtownMama‌ I just had my MS under control!

FWIW, OP I am traveling an hour for my midwife appts and to go to the hospital that I want. I really don't think an hour is too far to travel for medical care that you value.

However, it sounds like you don't even like that OB. Personally I would look for another provider, even if it means that they are farther away. Maybe there might be a specialist who is willing to meet you half way? Or someone who could work in connection with a closer provider so that you don't have to travel out for every single appointment? It's worth looking into.

That's what I'm kinda hoping for. And yeah, Dr.McWeenie was awful (btw, I'm not making that name up... He has that name with that profession...) The only reason the distance bothers me is I'm generally seen weekly starting around 20 weeks, and because of I go into labor on my own it goes so fast I probably wouldn't make it there.

Surprisingly the gif doesn't make me queasy, but the smell of peanut butter right now is... Gotta love pregnancy weirdness lol!

miahbelle · September 2014

My birth center (run by certified nurse midwives) is 1hr and 45mins away. My labor was anything but fast though (50+hrs) so I had time to kill. I adore the midwives at my birth center, but since my state has strict rules about free-standing birth centers and midwives, they can't take high risk patients. You maye have to look into the laws to see if a midwife could assist you.

RobynB13 · September 2014

mbm1983 said:
i am surprised he wouldn't schedule induction earlier if your previous pregnancies were early as well.

my boss is high risk and she has always started labor around 35-37 weeks. they have already scheduled her to be induced around the same time (3 difficult pregnancies, 1 late loss at 36 weeks, and a myriad of other problems only present in pregnancy).

hopefully you can find someone to take you closer. and i really hope you get stellar care. you really need to find a doctor invested in you, not one that just brushes you off. i can only imagine how frustrating that may be.

I was quite surprised as well, it turned into a heated argument... He was already on the losing end of that battle after trying to push me to a "medically necessary" abortion even at 19 weeks when I could feel my son and already knew he was a boy. His reasoning was that "your baby will likely not make it to birth or die shortly after, do you REALLY want to go through that??" (Because I found out late into my pregnancy with Jaydon, around 13-14 weeks, and had been on high doses of Coumadin/Warfarin which makes drinking while pregnant look sane...) Jaydon was perfectly healthy except for a slightly cupped ear that is barely even noticeable now. I should have fired McWeenie the Vag Dr that day... I've had doctors make comments recently like "why wouldn't you use better protection if you know these risks?"... But when you've had so many losses that your body is basically it's own birth control...

**breathe-breathe** not gonna get emotional today!!!

RobynB13 · September 2014

Gonna watch the ele-splat again to lose these feels!!

RobynB13 · September 2014

Audrey1787 said:
I'm sorry you went through that. I really do hope that some sort of miracle doctors shows up for you. You need a Dr. McDreamy not Dr. McWeenie.

Thank you... And I totally dig the Greys Anatomy reference there

AmandaD30 · September 2014

I can't stop watching the elephant! We live WAY out in the boonies. The closest OB/hospital is an hour away and they sound just as bad as your doctor McWeenie. The lady there was a Doctor McMeenie. So we branched out and picked a place 75 miles away which over the mountains and through the woods takes about 2 hours. So far it appears I will be low risk so he is ok scheduling appointments a little further apart because a lot of his patients travel from our area. When it gets closer I'm also not opposed to staying at a hotel close to the hospital. Good luck finding someone!

RobynB13 · September 2014

We had convinced a local OB to take my case, but I just got off the phone with the military hospital (We have Tricare Prime-Retired... and no plans to drop to standard, too expensive a move there!) and they won't release me to that OB because they don't offer a higher standard of care (in other words, unless the new HR OBGYN group can fit me in, I'll have to choose between the mil hospital and the one too far away... Either way. they scheduled me in for 1500 tomorrow and they're doing blood tests, an exam, ultrasound... the whole she-bang. They're also going to try to do an anatomy scan to see if there are any visible malformations from the high amount of jet fuel exposure (benzene and lead...), but since I'm not very far along, it may not be visible yet if there are any issues- and she told me I'll probably be seen more frequently until they can get a clear scan and set me up with a perinatal specialist (I think that's what she said? I have no idea... the dude/dudette who would be like "ok, this is the problem, and this is how we're gonna handle it now, and this is how we're gonna handle it after delivery.") in the event of any problems. I'll be honest, I'm freaking out thinking about it a little bit... but all we can do is find out and plan from there. Worrying doesn't change anything.

RobynB13 · September 2014

clairhuxtable said:

@RobynB13 - I'm glad you are finally going to be seen tomorrow. That has to be a relief! T&P for a great appointment and a clean scan. Keep us pposted please.

Thank you, and will do!

(either way, I'm gonna snag one of those ultrasound pics even if I have to use my phone and take a pic of the dang screen!) It'll be a relief to actually know there's a person all up in there instead of some little alien that tells me cheese and kit kats go well together

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