I was just browsing on my pregnancy message boards, and there was a whole thread about people who are planning to ask their OBs to induce them early or schedule their c-sections in such a way so that their babies won't share a birthday with other kids/spouse/relatives.

*boggles*

Elective c-sections irritate me enough, but now we have to schedule them so baby will have a "convenient" birthday? One mom said, "We have so many February birthdays in our family, I just want our daughter to have her own special day!" Like it's NOT going to be her birthday if her relatives have birthdays in the same week? *facepalm*

Natto is due two days before Zip's birthday, and frankly we couldn't be happier. Zip thinks it'd be cool to share a birthday with our son. I fail to see why it makes any difference at all. Ghoulsis and I are three weeks apart, and it's not like it was ever some big source of tension or anything. Jeesh. Besides, if the baby's going to share a birthday with a sibling, that might help head off some rivalry (one kid getting gifts and the other one not, and having to wait until their birthday rolls around) since they'd celebrate the same day. I would think that might be a plus.

I can understand why you might not want your birthday to fall on a major holiday, like Christmas or New Year's, because you'd likely get screwed on gifts. But I can't imagine deliberately inducing early just to avoid such a circumstance. I mean, the kid knows when he's done cooking. Why not let him decide when to come out?

Zip and I had a coupon, so we tried something new this week -- Betty Crocker Slow-Cooker Helper. We got the pot roast variety. It includes everything -- carrots, potatoes, celery, sauce, etc. -- you add water to the mix, and a big hunk o' meat. Stick it in the slow-cooker all day, and voila, an almost completely labor-free dinner. And it's good.

And, you know what else is cool? The hospital called today to verify my ultrasound on Wednesday. Guess what? I got to preregister via their website -- so I don't have to be there an extra half-hour early to preregister! I can even preregister to deliver the kid online! I'm totally astonished.

Every Sunday morning Zip and I have a ritual: we lay in bed and watch CBS Sunday Morning. It's one of the few truly good news magazines left on tv. I started watching it when I moved down here in '98 because he was always watching it, and... well, six years later, it's sort of a tradition.

This morning, we were watching Charlie Osgood and laying there... and Natto started doing backflips. I mean, usually when I feel the baby move, it's a little tap here or there, then nothing for a week. But today, Natto was going to town. Thump, thump, thump. So on a whim I grabbed Zip's hand and put it on my tummy.

A few seconds later I felt a few little bumps, which he didn't feel. And then Natto went THUMP and Zip exclaimed, "I felt THAT!"

After he knew what he was feeling for, he could feel some of the gentler bumps. A few minutes later Natto settled back down.

I'm soooo happy right now... so excited to be able to share this with my husband. I've been feeling these little kicks for weeks, and felt so happy, but sad too that he couldn't feel them. It's nice to be able to let him in on this part of pregnancy.

So just now in the mail, I get an invoice.

Yup, you guessed it... it's for my medical records.

In bold print, it says my records won't be sent until I pay up.

So either the girl at the old office was lying, or she's incompetent. I'm not sure which is worse at this point.

Three. Weeks. For seven pieces of paper.

I don't know whether to cry or scream.

The good: I managed to shop in Babies R Us today without once tearing up over how cute something was. Seriously. No choking up at all. This is a major thing for me. Some sort of emotional stability seems to be setting in, and I like it! It made resisting many totally unnecessary purchases MUCH easier. (There are still a few frivolous items on the registry, but not as many as I'd feared.)

The bad: Now when I brush my teeth, my gums bleed all over hell. I'm no longer so nauseated that I can't floss anymore, thank goodness. But now I'm spitting out blood like a prizefighter. The books say this is totally normal during the second tri, and since my mucous membranes are all engorged with blood, I can also expect more frequent nosebleeds. O joyous occasion, how the fates have looked upon me.

The ugly: I'm losing my mind. Hubby and I were in the car and I suddenly had an urge to learn to play the ukulele. I can imagine no possible use for this, other than being able to accompany my friends as they sing Jimmy Buffett's "Why Don't We Get Drunk" when we go camping in October. Paradoxically, the idea came to me while Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In the Sky" was on the XM, and I couldn't resist thinking how THIS particular song would sound around the campfire in a singalong with ukulele accompaniment. (I don't have a ukulele... yet. eBay, here I come.)

So last Monday, you may recall, gentle reader, that I made the decision to change OB practices. The only hitch was, I had to have my old office send my medical records to my new office. Ok. Once they get the records, they'll call me for an appointment. Great.

That very day, I called my old OB's office and left a message for medical records, telling them I needed a copy of my records sent to Blah blah blah, etc. On Wednesday, they finally call me and say I have to sign a release. Fine. Can you fax it to me? Great.

The rest of Wednesday, no fax. Thursday, still no fax, and I leave another message. Friday morning rolls around, and still no fax. I drive 45 minutes to the office, sit for 20 minutes waiting, then fill out the form and drive another 45 minutes home. Oh, and it turns out I have to pay for the records, but no one there could tell me how much it will be, because they hire out someone to do med records for them, and she only comes in on Wednesdays. Fine.

I call today to find out how much I owe, since I just have a sneaking suspicion that my paperwork won't be sent unless I pay in advance. I leave a message in medical records. After several hours, I call back to the front desk and ask them if there's anyone in medical records today. No? How nice. Call back tomorrow, they tell me.

I feel like I'm about to rupture something. I used to work in the medical records department of a very large pediatric specialty practice. When I got requests for records, I usually did them the same day, but always within 72 hours. Especially if a patient needed them. (Now insurance companies, I wasn't in such a hurry. But I always got the lead out for a patient.) So pardon me if a freeping WEEK AND A HALF seems a bit, shall we say, EXCESSIVE.

So I will call tomorrow. And if I still get no joy tomorrow, I will call on Friday. And if I've gotten no action on Friday, I'll call the OB nurse at the new practice and ask her for a suggestion on what to do. Maybe if THEIR office sends off a request for my records, something might get done. Or maybe she'll at least be willing to consider booking an appointment for me while we're waiting on the records thing to get straightened out.

If I have to, I'll drive back to the old office and camp out in their waiting room until someone freeping well helps me. What're they gonna do? Tell me I can't come back anymore? I should be so lucky! If only!

And they wonder why I don't want to go there anymore. Harumph.

It's a farking miracle. I managed to make it through last night without having to get up, even once, to pee.

You moms out there know what I'm talking about. :)

Zofran is a miracle drug. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, or trying to sell you a competing product.

I ate an actual lunch today. Admittedly, it was a wee lunch. But lunch it was. I was having a sudden craving for mashed potatoes and gravy, so I went out and got a kids' meal from KFC. I ate a drumstick and a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy... and it went down like 20 year old scotch. I can't even describe how good it felt, to eat something that has actual nutritional value, and not feel like I was about to toss it back up.

I think I might survive this pregnancy after all.

Wow, I'm just... floored. And hungry! How nice to be hungry again, without the nausea.

Ok, gotta go eat again.

I got a call back from the nurse. She told me that the doctors are very much the let-nature-take-its-course type of OBs. They serve as the physician backups for local midwives (where the hell are these midwives hiding, I wonder? They sure don't advertise in the phone book... I've looked!) They encourage movement during labor and even have birthing balls and a squat bar available upon request. They have two staff members trained as doulas. They rarely use forceps or vacuum extraction, their c-section rate is less than 10% (the national average exceeds 25%), and they do not believe in routine episiotomies. If Natto is screaming and pink when s/he comes out, they'll put him/her right on my belly immediately so we can begin bonding and feeding. She told me the docs are very supportive of minimal-intervention birth, which is what I want.

I feel very good about this change. I've already called the other place and asked to have my records sent. I'm so, so, so relieved. I really think this is best for me and Natto.

I'm suddenly feeling very uneasy about my obstetrical care. It's not that I think anything's wrong -- quite the contrary. Everyone there seems to be quite competent. But here's the thing: they have something like 8 or 9 different doctors. So every time I go in, I see someone new. This way, I'll have rotated through everyone at least once before I deliver.

Maybe I'm crazy, but this makes me nervous. I can't imagine each and every one of those docs has the same philosophy about childbirth. Which means I'm basically going to have to interview every single one and talk to them about my birth plan.

The nurse already told me that most of the docs consider episiotomies to be routine, which makes me nervous. After all, the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology no longer recommends routine episiotomies. It'll probably be hard enough to convince one doctor not to cut me, let alone eight.

So, I'm thinking of changing practices. I hate to change horses mid-race, but at the same time, I have some pretty definite ideas about how much medical intervention I'm willing to tolerate during this birth, and under what circumstances I'll consider those interventions. Something tells me I'm going to be in conflict with this practice down the road.

I'm a creature of habit. I've been going to the same doctor and the same dentist since I moved here six years ago. I like knowing what I'm in for when I go into that little white room. And now more than ever, I think I'd like a little continuity.

*sigh*

I hate having to do this. But I feel like there's a good chance I won't have the birth I want otherwise.

Your comments are, as ever, welcome.