T.I.P.

T.I.P. stands for Thriving in Pregnancy, a new program offered by my insurance carrier, Kaiser Permanente. I have been very happy with my coverage, even though it is considered HMO, because Kaiser is a stand alone medical care company with admirable goals. Their one-word motto is "THRIVE", and they really carry it through across all levels of service. They provide their own pharmacies, their own hospitals, their own labs, everything is pretty much under one roof, (or one one city block). The other thing I always loved about Kaiser was the online access. All my records, test results, and appointments are accessible, and I can also email my doctors directly. For the first pregnancy in 2008, I utilized my local Kaiser facility which is more of a satellite facility. WIthout it's own hospital, it provides care and some health education, but is more limited in scope. There is no Kaiser hospital in our town, so I went to Panorama City Hospital about 20 minutes away by highway for Owen's delivery. Labor and Delivery and the maternity wards are in a new section of the facility, which opened in March 2008. There are large windows in the L/D, push bars, showers, and the staff is very amenable to trying to follow your birth plan and wishes. The labor/delivery nursing staff was fantastic. They also have a Level 3 NICU which we viewed on the tour, and even though I never thought we'd need it, it was comforting that it was there. This level of comfort probably had a lot to do with how calm I remained when a "code Pink" was called as Owen was delivered and a team of 5-8 came rushing in to help. Owen did end up going to NICU for his first five hours but his NICU nurse and my Post-partum nurse coordinated so that I could be wheeled over to nurse him after just two hours. This was thrilling to me. I was less satisfied with the care in Recovery. You would think that that part would be more cozy and have touchy/feely/friendly nurses since there are newborn babies involved but I think they were too busy and overworked. I didn't really develop any relationships with them either. All in all, I was pleased with the experience. So when this pregnancy came along (we were a bit more laid back and didn't even visit the doctor until I was 11 weeks this time; it was a month earlier with Owen's pregnancy) I was interested to hear about a pilot program being offered at Panorama City. The Thriving in Pregnancy program would be a less medical, more holistic based version of prenatal care, with monthly group appointments on the last Friday afternoon of every month, and exclusive prenatal care by a midwife instead of an OB. This appealed to me instantly.
(Another great thing about Kaiser is that along with OB's there is always at least one midwife on duty in labor and delivery, so if it's not a busy night you can request the midwife, which I did for Owen's birth!) I had seen almost exclusively a nurse practitioner for Owen's prenatal appointments; I think I had to be seen twice by an OB. I am just more comfortable without doctors in general. The only catch for the pilot program was that all appointments would be at the hospital campus in Panorama City instead of five minutes from home at our satellite Kaiser offices. I didn't even flinch at the idea that I would have to take a 1/2 day from school once a month for five months; this would be so worth it! So I signed up.

The first meeting was on July 30th, our fourth wedding anniversary. Spouses are invited to participate in the group appointments too (another great plus!) but Derek was a bit swamped at work so we decided to meet afterwards for dinner and a movie out. My Aunt and cousins were visiting that week and were happy to watch Owen while we had our first date night since St. Patrick's Day. So, I showed up at the appointed time of 2 pm. A circle of chairs was set up in a large conference room. A dozen or so staff members milled around the room, setting up a scale, blood pressure stations, and projection screens. A small area at the back of the room was set up as a makeshift examination area, blocked by a fabric screen. This was where the midwife would do individual checks during the group meeting. As we signed in, we were given a large tabbed white binder and a bright green reusable fabric carryall bag. Introductions were made around the circle, and we learned a bit more about the format of the program. Throughout the five months, we would have sessions by a variety of staff members such as the nutritionist, a prenatal yoga and relaxation instructor, an OB, a pediatrician and an anesthetiologist. We would have group discussions, be provided with healthy snacks, and given raffle prizes and small prizes like "thrive" water bottles. The first session went well, except it took quite a while for the midwife to see everyone individually and find their babies' heartbeats. It was nice to have so many resources in one place. Some of the resources hadn't even existed during my care at the satellite offices the year before. We had our second group appointment yesterday, right after our ultrasound appointment. Derek was able to come along for this one, and let me just say that we are both stiff from the yoga session, even though it was only about 20 minutes long! Next I will share more about why I like Kaiser's philosophy.

Here we go Again!

Owen's going to be a big brother!
New addition expected on or around January 26.
It's a girl!