I had another regular OB checkup this morning, one I was a little nervous about because I brought along my “birth plan” to discuss with the doctor.

My OB/GYN practice is a pretty standard non-granola one (no midwives, no emphasis on alternative birth methods like waterbirth, etc), and they deliver at Rex, so I’ve been getting a little anxious. I’ve recently read a lot of accounts of stuff like forced inductions at 40 weeks, doctors pushing unnecessary c-sections, women being tied down to an IV/fetal monitor and not being able to move around during labor, doctors flatly refusing to look at patients’ birth plans, etc. In general, I’ve seen a lot of stories from women who were really unhappy with their treatment in traditional hospital settings, and was starting to wonder if I should have gone with a birthing center instead. (It’s too late to switch; I checked with the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center in Chapel Hill 2 weeks ago and they’re full up for March.) I’ve also been worried about putting Jag in a position where he’s forced to argue with possibly hostile medical staff to advocate for our preferences, if I’m not in a position to advocate for myself.

I met with the last doctor in the rotation today (in a big practice you get merry-go-round appointments until you’ve met them all, since any one of them might deliver your baby) and presented my plan. He read the whole thing, answered all of my questions in a very satisfactory way, and took a copy for my chart, recommending that I bring copies to the hospital with me to give to the L&D nurses when the time comes. So now I’m feeling a whole lot better about the whole thing. We’re going in for our hospital prenatal class/tour in a two weeks, so I’ll have a chance to confirm that the hospital/labor nurses policies will also be accommodating of my wishes.

Aside from that, I’m at 32 weeks but measuring at 35, so I get an ultrasound on my next visit to check on the Grifflet’s size. He’s been measuring big all along, so I’m not sure if he’s just a big baby or if my due date might need to be adjusted.

In other news, we came home to find our new Pack ‘n Play on the front porch! We immediately unpacked it and set it up, which was easier than expected. This will end up in our bedroom for the first months. It has a “newborn napper” mini-bassinet and changing table, and right underneath those, a bigger bassinet for when he outgrows the napper. And of course it’ll be a portable crib/playpen at the very bottom when he’s even bigger. We’re really happy with it; it seems very sturdy and will see a lot of use over the next year or two.