Hi CT ladies!

I’m in need of some help possibly finding a new doctor and some advice. This might be a little bit of a long story so I apologize in advance if this turns into a novel.

I have 2 beautiful daughters - one is 2.5 and the other is 4 weeks old. My first pregnancy was relatively uneventful and so was my delivery. I have chronic high blood pressure so I had a few extra ultrasounds and non stress tests to monitor the baby but she was fine. I was induced at 37 weeks, had a vaginal delivery and no complications after. I got pregnant again when my first daughter was a year old and then had a blighted ovum miscarriage and it took me 5 months to get pregnant with my second daughter.

My second pregnancy and delivery/recovery were more complicated and that’s why I’m looking for help. I still had chronic high blood pressure which was well controlled on my meds but I also developed diabetes. I ended up needing to take insulin at bedtime because my fasting blood sugars were too high. I was again induced at 37 weeks but had a much less pleasant experience this time. My first daughter came very quickly when I was induced so I talked with the nurses about my plan which they agreed with when I was admitted for my second induction. I arrived at the hospital on a Monday afternoon and was given medications to soften and dilate my cervix and then had a balloon catheter put in which they leave in for 12 hours unless it falls out on its own sooner. My plan was to have an epidural once the ballon came out Tuesday morning before pitocin was started because that’s what we did with my first daughter and she was born 2 hours after I was started on pitocin. The nurses agreed with this plan but my doctor did not. I was contracting every 1-3 minutes all night and was very uncomfortable. My doctor insisted on checking my cervix which was excruciating because my baby’s head was so low that it tilted my cervix toward my back. He “couldn’t get a good feel” but thought that I was 2cm so denied my epidural. I laid in the bed and just cried as my husband tried to comfort me. I wasn’t crying because I was in so much pain but because my wishes weren’t being heard. They started me on pitocin which just made my contractions more intense. Within an hour I was in extreme pain and begged for an epidural and a different doctor finally agreed. I was checked again once my epidural was placed and was 9cm dilated. My water had not broken so the doctor asked if I wanted her to break it or see if it would break on its own within an hour. I decided to wait because I was more comfortable but my water did not break. So she came back in and broke my water and my daughter was born 15min later (delivered by the second doctor that is not my OB). Fast forward to a week post delivery and I just hadn’t felt right for a few days then had a headache that wouldn’t go away. I took my blood pressure and it was high so I went to the ER. I was admitted for the night because they weren’t sure if I had postpartum preeclampsia or if it was my chronic high blood pressure acting up.

The dilemma that I’m currently having is do I find a new OB after the bad experience I had with my second delivery? I had previously LOVED my OB. He was my absolute favorite doctor until this experience. He also wouldn’t see me to change my blood pressure meds after I ended up at the ER. I had to go see my primary. I’m worried because my husband and I are considering having a third baby but I know that it will be another high risk/complicated pregnancy and I want a doctor that will be involved and help me make the most informed decisions possible without just dismissing me. I used to live in RI so I currently still go to RI for doctors appointments and that’s where my daughters were delivered. I currently live in Eastern CT so I wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations for OBs in the area that they had good experiences with. If you took the time to read this whole story thank you so much!

Women of Connecticut 🍂