Do your research!

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In January 2004 I found out I was pregnant for the first. Both my husband and I were estatic! Being 24 years old, I had never been to a *girly doctor*, so I started looking in the phone book for a female doc. I didn't feel comfortable having a man down there. When I first started going I loved the doc. Starting at 4 mo. I had an ultrasound every single visit! And they were 3D! I loved it. I loved her (my doc). I thought she was great! That is until it was time to have the baby. After 13 hours of grueling labor, I finally asked for the epidural. She just told me I was being a baby and to suck it up. She said she had all 3 of her kids without any medication. Well, I have a short torso, and even though my son was only 19 inches long there wasn't enough room in there and he was at an angle instead of straight up and down. every contraction pushed him into the left side of my pelvic bone instead of into the birth canal. Finally after almost 16 hours I got the epidural. Then 15 minutes short of 28 long hours of labor I found out I developed group B strep. (I later found out that they aren't typically supposed to let you go past 23 hours because the infection usually develops after 24). It was then that I was prepped for an emergency c section. The surgery was long and tiresome. Since I had been in labor so long my baby was stuck in the birth canal. At one point the doc actually climbed up on the operating table, atrattled me, and was pulling on the baby as someone was trying to push him out at the same time. When my son was finally born, I only got to see him for a brief second before he was rushed off to nicu because he had a slight fever due to the strep b infection. It was here he had an iv put in the top of his head and a painful lumbar puncture done. I was not able to hold my new baby until he was 26 hours old due to the fact that I had to be fever free for 24 hours. On top of all of this, I was supposed to get a blood transfusion because I lost a lot of blood during the operation since she had such a hard time getting him out. I was told that my white blood count was "close enough" that I could go home. To this day, I still struggle with anemia and have to take iron pills every day. All because I didn't do my research on the doctor. But it doesn't stop there. I gave birth to my daughter in Oct. 2005. It was supposed to be a routine c section since that is what I had with my first. This time around I had found a wonderful doctor (thank you Dr. Nightchief!). Before the operation he had asked me if it was ok for an intern to be in the room. I said it was fine. everyone has got to learn somehow. The relevance of that last statement is during the procedure I heard him call the intern by name and say "come here. you've got to see this!" Of course that worried me after my last experience but all went well and I was able to kiss my new daughter and spend a few minutes with her before they took her to the nursery to do her checkup.In the recovery room, after what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came in to talk to me. He told me that whoever delivered my son had really messed me up. He went on to explain that before he broke my water there was a thin place where he could see 3/4 of my daughters head moving around. That's not supposed to be like that. He said he didn't know what my beliefs were but she was a true miracle. With that being so thin I should have lost her after 4 or 5 months (when she really started to get bigger). I asked why it was like that and he said it was because I was not sewn up right after my son. He said if I ever got pregnant again more than likely I would lose that baby and there was a possiblity it could not turn out good for me as well. I would have sued the first doctor after finding all of this out but, like many new parents, we just didn't have the money for a lawyer. Moral of the story: Do your homework!! Anytime you experience a major event (like having a baby) ask for references or whatever it takes for you to be able to research the doctor or it could affect the rest of your life. Literally. Have you had any similar experiences? Any bad experiences with a doctor? I'd like to hear about it!