OBGYN

[LMS]

who knows of an EXCELLENT OBGYN in the area?
don't get any ideas.. i'm not pregnant, and i'm not ttc... but i'm trying to get myself prepared b/c I think JR and I are about to head into "the talk"

I want someone laidback and has a sense of humor - b/c I tend to joke when naked on the exam table. LOL
Man or woman is fine (my last was a gay middle aged man, so i'm pretty open to any possibilities, :lol)
they have to accept BCBS (JR's work will be switching from Cigna to BCBS in January)
I'm looking for someone with a low c-section rate... but i'm not particular about induction rates b/c I was induced with Brendan... I also need someone who is not set on a SPECIFIC parenting style as I REALLY don't fit into most parenting styles.
I didn't breastfeed (and most likely won't the next time around either), I cosleep and cloth diaper, and don't CIO. LOL... weird mix, huh?

So anyways, any recommendations?

[meeg124]

I don't know if the Sutter OB/Gyn group takes BCBS but I have seen Ashley Weinert there for years. Their number is 570 1130. She takes awhile to get to know and I think she is a lesbian, so you'll would have a well rounded experience :lol She is pretty open minded to anything, will give her opinion when asked and sometimes when not asked but I don't feel like I was ever judged by her, when we disagreed. There are some newer doc's in that group that might be easier to get into to see and I really liked one and I think her name is Natasha or Natalia and I can't remember her last name. The other group I would recommend would be Santa Rosa OB/GYN Medical Group 545-9536. Nice doctor's, men and women practitioners but I don't know about sexual orientation :)

Good luck!

[colleen&Kail]

i go to womens OBGYN medical group, right across teh street from memorial hospital. i think the road is called montgomery? it is the building with the turquouse color trim and the parking garage. dr. logan is her name, she is really nice and not too serious.

[colleen&Kail]

i also forgot to mention that i chose to use a midwife for my delivery, that is why i believe that i didnt have a c-section. i pushed for 3 hours but since the baby's heart rate was fine and everything else was normal she let me keep going. (i wanted to keep going)

i used to think that midwives were anti-drug but this one wasnt obviously because i had a epideral. she was SUPER nice and so easy to talk to, not pressuring or anything and that is one of the major reasons that i chose to use her because of the fact that i was so young i didnt want a doctor that made me feel like a knocked up teenager. LOL anyways if you want to meet with her let me know and i can give you her name and extension number.

[becky]

I wish i knew what the offical name of the group i go two but i love my doctor. His name is Dr. Pride (707) 570-1130. okay i just was in Megans post and it turns out we go to the same office LOL. From what i have been told, all the doctors there in that office are awesome. My doctor is very down to earth, father of 3 kids and really seems to listen to my concerns and wants. His assistant is awesome too (turns out her daughter lives on my block jsut a few streets down) Considering i had no idea what doctor to go see when i got pregnant i'm glad i decided to go to this office. the whole staff is great!

how is that for a recomindation for you? I also have heard that Sutter Hospital is very good about listening to you and following your birth plan. I have heard this from my doula, other doulas i have met recently and moms who have birthed at both places.

[cascade]

Hi! I also go to the women's OB/GYN medical group, to the same DR as Colleen (Susan Logan). I had a *really* great experience there, can't say enough good things about them. A few things...there are about 6 Dr's and 3 midwives in the group, and I've seen 3 of the Dr's (Logan, Amy Merchant, Darragh Flynn) and all 3 midwives (Suzie, Cecilia, and Jana). Just like anywhere, you probably wouldn't like them all equally (ex. we thought Cecilia was great, but she drove friends of our's crazy), but it's not like you'd end up with someone you couldn't stand doing the delivery. I especially liked Susan because she was so matter-of-fact and talked to us like adults (not like, i'm the doctor, you're the patient), and made me feel really comfortable from the beginning (in the face of childbirth-o-phobia). We also saw Amy Merchant twice and I might consider going to her...she seemed super nice and I thought I heard her say that she tries to deliver all of her own patients. I know people who go to the other DR's I haven't ever met that like them too, so you probably can't go wrong. If you wanted to see one of the midwives, I'd probably recommend Suzie. I'm sure they take BCBS, altho if you could get on HealthNet HMO it is crazy affordable ($10 for a baby????!). The DR's there deliver at both Sutter and Memorial. We were at Memorial, and, again, loved it. Plus, it's right across the street--convenient when little Caden went into distress. Dr. Logan was there in minutes....not sure if she would have made it had we been at Sutter (it was a ~5 push, vacuum-assisted delivery). Re: supporting different childbirth methods, I think they are really supportive. We were all about anap (as natural as possible) and the Memorial nurses really supported us in that, only resorting to the necessary medical interventions right at the end (like, I was only on an IV for the last 20 min, etc). If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. It's rare that I'm so happy with DRs, but I guess maybe that's a common feeling when they help bring your little darling into the world, huh!

[becky]

I'm sure they take BCBS, altho if you could get on HealthNet HMO it is crazy affordable ($10 for a baby????!).
You are so funny...i thought of those things two when i found out i was pregnant and was pleasently surprised that my baby is FREE through Blue Cross HMO. I dont even have to pay for my doc visits or anything. :banana

JACKIE: BTW i thought you might want to know that Sutter has the best NeoNatal unit in the area. Hoping none of us would ever need it but its nice to know that if anything were to go wrong or the baby would need specail attention, Sutter is the place to be. THis is why i chose Sutter over any other place (primarily becuase all that i went through with Kayla and her being at Children's Hospital until 3 weeks old)

[Kellie_MO5]

Hi! I'm new, but thought I'd toss my .02 in, too ;)
I go to the Womens med group by memorial, too... I've seen every dr and CNM there, and my faves are Dr. Leung (she is so sweet, and a mother of 4, too) and for CNM I love both Elizabeth Smith and Suzie Saunders.. Elizabeth is younger (looking, at least, not sure of her age) and very supportive while delivering, however she seemed a little put off after I had baby #3 and wasn's sure if we were *done* yet (obviously we weren't..lol). Suzie is awesome, IMO.. very funny, good sense of humor, very easy going... my #1 pic out of that office for CNM... they accept BCBS, health net, medical... all in all I love their whole practice (though everyone has their favorites)
Good luck finding the right fit for you!

[becky]

Elizabeth is younger (looking, at least, not sure of her age) and very supportive while delivering, however she seemed a little put off after I had baby #3 and wasn's sure if we were *done* yet (obviously we weren't..lol).
LOL ~ I already get that and i haven't birthed baby 3 yet. My husband knows i want 4 (not sure what i'm thinking but i have always wanted 4 since i was a child) so he is trying to consider it. Other people including family jsut think i'm nuts.

[Lynette]

Hi! I'm new, but thought I'd toss my .02 in, too ;)
I go to the Womens med group by memorial, too... I've seen every dr and CNM there, and my faves are Dr. Leung (she is so sweet, and a mother of 4, too) and for CNM I love both Elizabeth Smith and Suzie Saunders.. Elizabeth is younger (looking, at least, not sure of her age) and very supportive while delivering,

We had Elizabeth Smith too, I met all the midwives and liked her best because she is very laid back and lets you run the show. I am terrible at names but I do remember Cecelia being kind of an air head so annoyed me a little and my doula has seen her get quite flustered and unsure of herself in an emergency. Dr. Huang was our official doctor and the first time I had a doctor younger than me but was very nice, and I *think* it was Dr. Flynn (the one with curly hair?) who ruptured my friend's water before her doula got there so she labored more than 24 hours with no baby so had to have a C-section :(

One of the reasons I liked Elizabeth so much was that I had GD and the office policy was to induce at 39 weeks but I really didn't want to and she was fine with that as long as I did stress tests at Memorial every couple of days to measure the fluid. I did and at 41.5 weeks she said that the odds were starting to go the other way and she would wait if I wanted to but she thought it was time to induce so we did.

I had a bad experience at Sutter once so I will never go there again and I wasn't too happy with a couple of nurses at Memorial but overall it wasn't bad. I just don't like that "You are a moron and we are the professionals so you have to do what we say!" attitude. Like when I wanted to leave ASAP they thought I was nuts and dragged their feet. Or when right after Alaina was born a bunch of nurses came in without asking and one started showing the group how to bathe her so Brian told them to get out whereas Elizabeth was supportive of whatever we wanted.

[Mom of 2]

I also see Ashley Weinert and she is wonderful! Wonderful care with both pregnancies and very, very good. I trust her opinion. Easy to talk to.SHe is located in Santa Rosa .

Kate
Mom to Patty and Tyler

[daisydoc]

Women's OBGYN here in Santa Rosa... 500 Doyle Park. This is the one most have posted about... across the street from Memorial. I had Sevannah at home but had Jazper at Memorial. If we have a third I would probably have another home birth... but then again it depends on the circumstances of that particular pregnancy and how James and I feel about things when the time comes.

I had Suzie Saunders, CNM. I LOVE HER! She didn't give me a bunch of crap for having a home birth with Sevannah (which a lot of other docs had) and she was very laid back. She tries to deliver all of her patients, especially if you've talked to her about it. She's open minded and really listens to you.

Hospitals... no matter which one you're at you'll need to make sure you know exactly what you would "like" your birth to be like. The nurses at Memorial tend to be a lot more "intervention happy" than the ones at Sutter. And I ahd the same experience as Lynette... we left as soon as Jazper had his tests done at 12 hrs. I paged for the nurse she cam in and I said "what do I have to sign to leave?" And she looked at me like I was a freak of nature. But thankfully they were busy so she didn't drag her feet. During my intake (which took 2 hrs even though I pre-registered) they asked about pain meds. I wanted as closde to home borth as I could get with no unnecesasry interventions so I just simple said "I don't want any pain meds" and she replied back "okay so them 10! you want us to cut your leg off first?" That pissed me off so I just looked right at her and sad "yes! I don't want ANY pain meds! so if that means you have to cut off my leg go ahead!" She didn't say much after that and thankfully it was shift change so she wasn't my nurse! The nurse I got was great! She use to do home births back in the 70's so she just stayed out of the way. And Suzie just let me do my thing too... stayed the whole time and was fabulous!!!!

Most docs/cnm will do interviews too; so you can meet them first to discuss what you're looking for and see if you jive with them. That's what I did with Suzie. You know you can call whenever for whatever reason! :)

[LMS]

Thank you SO much for all the advice guys! I'm pretty much just scared that this birth is going to be a polar opposite from my first birth ( granted, that may just happen anyways... but i want to atleast set myself up for something similar )

We had a long honest talk last night and agreed to really consider TTC when he gets back from texas in November. So that's good... then i remember we have a 2 bedroom home here and can't really afford a 2 br.... and that we still need a new car to be able to fit 2 carseats... and i think our plans got blown out the window a little :(

[KaisaG]

Jackie- I delivered at Sutter and LOVED all my nurses there. They were SOOO fantastic. I'd go back there in a heart beat.

Also- If and when the time comes that you decide to TTC again, you'll make it work for your family- despite any current financial/situational concerns. :hug

[Mom of 2]

I also delieverd both my kids at Sutter. Patty was in the ICU for 3 days and they do have the best ICU in the area. My husband and I both felt very comfortable with the care I and the kids each received there. The nurses were wonderful. I would deliever there again.

Kate
Mom to Patty and Tyler

[StacyK]

I have to say, I LOVE the midwives @ the Women's Health and Birth Center on Summerfield. The really nice thing about that place is you can chose to have your baby w/ them at Sutter, OR you can have your baby at the Birth Center - which I highly reccomend looking into. It's such a wonderful (different) experience from a hospital birth (I've had one at the hospital and one at the birth center.) And it's as safe as they come. If you have any questions about it or birth in general, feel free to call or write. I'm a doula there (taking a break right now due to the birth of my son) and I LOVE talking about birth. Of course Marrianna would be happy to talk to you too! ;)

Stacy 707-578-4403

[Kellie_MO5]

Funny, I was just looking at the birth center's site last night, thinking I'd like to either go there, or home for the next one (not yet, though..lol)... I'm also looking into becoming a doula, too ;) however we don't have the $$ Ive seen it costs to begin, so I'm just reading and dreaming right now (plus, with a 4 mos old nursling,I can't really be 100% available right now)

[StacyK]

Funny, I was just looking at the birth center's site last night, thinking I'd like to either go there, or home for the next one (not yet, though..lol)... I'm also looking into becoming a doula, too ;) however we don't have the $$ Ive seen it costs to begin, so I'm just reading and dreaming right now (plus, with a 4 mos old nursling,I can't really be 100% available right now)
There website doesn't do the place justice. It hasn't been updated in a while, in fact the prices on-line might be wrong. One of the doula's is trying to update it for them, but the midwives arn't a very tech group :) You should definately go in and check it out in person. And If you need any referals for a home birth midwife, let me know.
BTW- being a doula is absolutely amazing, it's nice to have found my life calling!! It's been hard taking this break (due to the wonderful, quick, intervention-free, birth center delivery of our newest addition,) I can't wait to get back!!

[kariclose]

Jackie,
I will be honest- I breazed through all of the replys in this thread,:bag I just wanted to mention that while working as a doula, and putting together the Pregnancy Resource Directory, I have had the opportunity to meet Dr Billie Guerra, who I think is an extraordinary person. She is AWESOME. I think anyone would love her. She works out of Petaluma. When we switch insurance next month, now we have Kaiser-not my fave- I will be seeing Dr. Guerra.
Good luck!

[My3sonsplus1]

Jackie,
I will be honest- I breazed through all of the replys in this thread,:bag I just wanted to mention that while working as a doula, and putting together the Pregnancy Resource Directory, I have had the opportunity to meet Dr Billie Guerra, who I think is an extraordinary person. She is AWESOME. I think anyone would love her. She works out of Petaluma. When we switch insurance next month, now we have Kaiser-not my fave- I will be seeing Dr. Guerra.
Good luck!


Billie did seem like an awesome woman at the birth resource night in Sebastopol! Very "patient knows best" (or at least isn't on any sort of know-it-all arrogent high horse like it seems some people are that just because they have the MD in their name that they automatically know what is best) and friendly. If I didn't have Kaiser and needed a OBGYN I would very seriously consider going to her.

[jellybeanmichelle]

I see Dr. Flynn at Women's. I don't think she's married. I do know she lives in Bodega Bay. My water broke at home.
She told me she had more vaginal deliveries than C-section. She is serious when it comes to having a physical. Which is what I like. Just do your thing as quickly as possible and leave so I can get dressed.

I feel stupid, but what does TTC mean?

[KaisaG]

Trying to conceive...

[jellybeanmichelle]

ok, thank you Kaisa.
That's what I thought, but wanted to make sure.