Hey everyone!

My baby girl is almost 8 months old and my husband and I have decided to go ahead and start trying for our second!!! We are so excited!! I was hoping some of you could share with me about how to chart your cycles? Our first pregnancy was a surprise(I was even on the pill!). I have decided that I don't want to take it ever again because of the way that I was feeling and the risks that it does have. I am nursing my baby but have had 3 cycles since she was born, so I believe that I am able to get pregnant right now.

Also, if you could throw in some OB's that support natural child birth that would be AWESOME.

Thanks!!!

Good Luck TTC!! How fun!

As for natural friendly OBs it depends on where you want to give birth....the Baton Rouge General, Woman's, the Birth Center on O'neal?

Are you set on seeing an OB or would you also like info on the Midwives? There are four Certified Nurse Midwives with the Oschner practice delivering at the Brith Center (come this April). There are two Homebirth Midwives also in the area.

As for Natural Friendly OBs that have been recommended here:

Delivering at the Birth Center on Oneal: with the Oschner Practice Griffin and Huyhn (somebody correct me here, or add others)
Delivering at the BRG (after the Oschner group leaves) Dr Hammond, Dr Taylor , Dr sims, and Dr patin
Delevering at Woman's: Dr. Dickerson, Dr. Clifford Schwartzenburg and his daughter (can't remember her name).

Dickerson comes the most highly recommended at Woman's. And the Oschner Midwives come highly recommended over all.

You also need to decide what things are important to you for your next birth. Are you looking to use a tub for labor and delivery? Do you wish to have your older child present? These things will play a role in deciding where the best place for you to give birth is and then choosing a provider that can also cater to those needs.

I reccomend reading a copy of "Your Best Birth" by Ricki Lake. It talks alot about choosing the right place of birth and the best HCP.

Again good luck!!

awesome! Thanks for the info. I'm doing all the research I can for my next birth. I had our first baby at Women's and I really liked it (Just not the OB I chose). The nurses were all very supportive in what I was doing. I don't plan on having my firstborn with me because she will still be very young (if i conceive right away). Probably just my husband and my mom in the delivery room. They are very supportive in what I am wanting to do also. I am open to other hospitals in the area but have heard the best about Women's. Of course I've heard bad things about them too, I guess it's just opinions though. Anyway, thanks for all of the info!

If you choose Woman's then I would look up Dr. Dickerson. The doctor is important but the place you give birth is most important. Most often the doctor will only be there at the end, up to that point you will be relying on those around you. If you are surrounded by a good support system then you will do fine. You might consider having your first born there but have someone in charge of assisting him, if the labor goes on too long or he is becoming fussy they can always leave with him. I find kids, even young ones, tend to surprise us during birth and it is such a beautiful thing if they can be there.

fertilityfriend.com is a great website to chart your cycles. They give you a free trial of the deluxe membership for a few months but you can chart the normal way for free. The deluxe membership was awesome (gives you your chances of getting preg. and such).
But if you havent had steady periods it may be difficult to chart, or the computer may find your fertile period...dont know..but its fun to try. I dont think that we will actively "try" again (like we did for our first) and that makes me a little sad bc this website is super fun! (Our next we may just not use any form of contraceptives and hope for the best..).
GOod luck!
By the way, LOVE your profile pic!. And the midwives at Oschner are super awesome.

If you choose Woman's again, you can also look up Dr. Ann Lafranca. She was our OB for both and very supportive of our decision to go natural. She is awesome. Our experience last month in L & D was great. Everyone knew we were going natural and respected our wishes. We actually had several nurses in different areas of the Hospital tell us they had their babies natural. Woman's is becoming more aware and supportive of the choice to deliver naturally. Our L & D nurse was in the room for most of the Labor and was suggesting different positions to get Adam to turn on his own since he was face up, which was holding me at 9 cms.

Hannah!

You can sooooo have your baby at home; you live 5 mins away from Hospital should anything MEDICAL happen.

Birth is normal, not a MEDICAL event, and should be as easy as every other aspect of normal healthy family life.

Have you watched the Business of Being Born yet? Maybe we should have movie night?

If you choose Woman's again, you can also look up Dr. Ann Lafranca. She was our OB for both and very supportive of our decision to go natural. She is awesome. Our experience last month in L & D was great. Everyone knew we were going natural and respected our wishes. We actually had several nurses in different areas of the Hospital tell us they had their babies natural. Woman's is becoming more aware and supportive of the choice to deliver naturally. Our L & D nurse was in the room for most of the Labor and was suggesting different positions to get Adam to turn on his own since he was face up, which was holding me at 9 cms.

Melba I can't wait to hear your story...no pressure to write it up but sounds very inspiring!

I agree W is trying to better their rep with the natural community...not perfect yet but what hospital is. It is all about you, you have to be comfortable and know what you want. Make your wishes know to your provider, the staff when you arrive, and your support team and you will do fine. You have to go in with a plan and have people around you to help bring that plan to fruition. Choosing the right provider will help with this also. Hiring a doula or having someone attend the birth that has had a natural birth will also make a huge difference. Taking classes, meeting with other supportive mothers, reading books, and taking time to visualize your birth will all guide you towards the birth you desire.

Thanks Ladies for all your comments.

I found that fertility website to be VERY helpfull. They even send out daily emails and quizzes on how your cycles work and how to chart them. I love it!

I really feel more comfortable being a hospital. I mean, if I am not using any medication and I have my awesome support team (mainly my husband and mom) and a Doctor who understands what I want to do and is willing to work with me on it, I don't feel like it will interfere with what I want to do. My first birth was at Women's and my goal was all natural. The nurses thought it was awesome and were really a great support. But when my Dr. came in and I was 10 CM dilated he saw me (I guess I was overreacting to the pain! LOL) he was the one who talked me into the medication. So that's the reason I wanted to find a new OB. The nurses even gave me some great methods to use during natural child birth.. I really liked the birthing ball and plan on using it for the next one. Now that I have experienced a birth before I really know exactly what I want and I think it's cool that I have family and friends who believe I can do it! Now just for the Dr.... haha

Anyway, Thanks for all of the feedback!

My birth went very similiar to yours, Hannah. I had my son at W and the nurse assigned to me was wonderful, very accomadating and respectful of my wishes....my doc on the other hand was NOT so wonderful. Everything we had talked about and he had agreed to went out the window...I felt like I had never even met with him before. You have to do more than just pick a doc that says they are willing to give you what you want. Do your research on the doc, look at their numbers, how many patients have they really helped have a natural birth, what are their induction and section rates. If no one you know has had a natural birth with the doc chances are you won't have as easy a time getting what you want when the time comes.