Thursday, January 28, 2010

New OB. Seeking Advice.

As I mentioned in my last post, I plan to switch OBs. While I like my current OB, she is part of a big practice and I haven't seen her personally in years. Not to mention the bad memories of the last time I was there. Like the new donor, I'd like new karma and a new start*.

Dr Doogie recommended two doctors. I've done some online research for both of them and they both rate very well.

Doctor #1 is part of a smaller practice - only three doctors - and she delivers at a hospital known for its great nurses and warm and friendly atmosphere. Her office is adjacent to that hospital and she can walk over to see admitted patients if she needs to. Fabulous D delivered her twins at this hospital and said it was a great experience. In case of complications she also can deliver at the big hospital five minutes away with the NICU.

Doctor #2 is part of a larger practice. His practice has three offices but he only works out of one. He delivers at the big hospital with the NICU. He has a partner who is a high-risk specialist and both doctors are excellent surgeons according to Doogie should I need a C-section. (Doctor #1 can do C-sections as well.) Doctor #2 is Doogie's family obstetrician and he joked that I would get special treatment if I mentioned his name.

Doctor #2 is in his early seventies with forty plus years of experience. Doctor #1 has been in practice for nearly twenty years. While I did not find bad reviews for either of these two doctors, I did find two bad reviews for the high-risk specialist who works with Doctor #2.

Ultrasounds for Doctor #1 are done in the same office park as my current OB. While I don't think it is the same exact office, I need to find out. If it is, I'm not using her. Maybe it's immature but I can't imagine walking through those doors again. I would if I had to but since I don't, it ain't happening.

Ultrasounds for Doctor #2 are done in his office. Convenient.

I did read that the appointment wait times can be long for Doctor #2 and his staff got four out of five stars while Doctor #1's staff got five out of five stars. If I was to deliver at Doctor #1's hospital without the NICU and the baby/ies needed to be transferred to the NICU at the other hospital, I would be separated from them while I was recovering.

Such decisions!! Any advice is greatly appreciated. Both offices and hospitals are not far from each other so locations are not really a concern. One is male, one female - again not a concern for me.

What would you do? I don't have a lot of time to go visit each office. Dr Doogie plans to send a letter to the doctor of my choice after my next appointment with him on Tuesday.



*This is all assuming this pregnancy moves forward. Yes, I'm trying to stay positive but the worry is still there in the back of my mind.

7 comments:

  1. Hard decisions. I'm having a difficult time myself looking around for a new doctor in this area. My only thoughts are that with twins you are possibly going to be more in need of a perinatologist at least part of the time and I would want to deliver at the hospital that has the NICU. Just by chance that the babies ended up there you really are not going to want to be seperated from them.

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  2. Definately not easy to decide right on the spot. Here's my opinion and experience, which I hope can help. My OB is the ONLY Dr at his practice. Upside: I saw only him, and he knew all about me. Downside: if he wasn't available for delivery, I'd see his stand-in, whom I had no idea nor any previous experience with. I, personally liked the attention I got from seeing the same dr, instead of having a different one at every appt. I had to go to a Perinatologist apart from the OB. This practice had 3 offices, but the Peri I was seeing would rotate offices, and they'd schedule me w/ the same one. You will most likely need a Peri or a HighRisk Specialist. You can probably find out even w/ the Dr #2's office if you'll need to go elsewhere for a Peri. My OB didn't have on-site u/s's, but all U/S were done @ the Peri's so, that evened out. Even though I had 2 locations to go to, I was happy with a more personal experience since I saw the same Dr's over and over.

    As for Hospital Affiliation, if you choose to go w/ Dr #1, is there any way you can choose to automatically go to the hospital w/ the NICU? This way you don't have to worry about being seperated (and hopefully they won't even need NICU time!).

    Hope this helps even though it makes sort of no sense, just details of what I'm thinking. P.S. I just saw your previous post and Woot Woot!! And P.P.S. I was told that "photogenic" ones (which are better to decipher (able to see the head from the body/arms, etc) are BOYS! So you might have a boy/girl on your hands!?

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  3. Thanks Susy! I like the fact that Dr 1 has only 3 doctors at her practice compared to seven at my current OB and about the same at Dr 2. That is a huge draw for me. I do plan to call Dr 1 and see if I have the option to deliver at the NICU hospital even if there are no complications and if I was to be referred to a peri, who would that be/where would I go.

    Your comment DID help! And let's see if Baby B is just as photogenic on Tuesday!

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  4. Hi :)
    I would probably choose Dr 1....I like that there are 3 and not just 1 or so many like 7. My current office has 3 and has that same warm atmosphere. I also see a perinatologist, that does the high level USs, though my OB does do USs if they need and they also do the NSTs. SO currently I go to two locations, one for the OB and NSTs, and one for the peri and USs......I love it.
    If you can just choose to deliver at the hospital with the NICU, I would definitely go with Dr. 1......my hospital also has a NICU which made me feel better from the beginning, even though, at 36+weeks we shouldn't need it :)
    good luck with your decision, my other advice, is that both Doctors sound wonderful and you will get good care either way, it is just what you personally prefer.

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  5. It sounds to me like you are leaning to D2. Either way, my only thought is to make sure you can deliver at the NICU hospital, because like others said, should you need it, its great to stay with your babies.

    This is soooo exciting!

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  6. Just a quick response, as I've just managed to (hopefully) get Squeaker to sleep, and I'd like to get the litter box cleaned. (The joys of single motherhood!) :-)

    My suggestion is to simply have a consultation with each of them, and then go with your gut.

    So thrilled for you!

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  7. I would choose Doc 1, but obviously you need to meet her. From everything I hear, the nurses are KEY during the delivery. Also the small practice is really great, as you'll meet all of them...Do either of them have midwives on staff? Also great for help during deliveries. Also, I can't help but be biased toward the lady docs. I know you've had good experiences with doogie...so we may have diff perspectives on that...but I like the idea of being surrounded by women during delivery. That's just me though. 5/5 stars is pretty darn good!

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