Scary Italian Medicine

So Wednesday was the nightmare of my life. I went to my OB apt. in the morning. The doctor did his usually check up and told me that baby was still breech- head and feet up, with his butt down in my pelvis. So as he's checking me, he asked if I had already scheduled my c-section. I told him no, because HE told me to wait until this apt. to see how the baby was doing, or if he had turned. He seemed astonished that I hadn't already scheduled this c-section (which I was not excited about), even though I didn't because he told me to wait. So he then tells me, it might be too late. He wrote me some official letter and sent me straight to the hospital to schedule the c-section. At the hospital, they sent me to five different places before I finally got to the right place (typically Italian), where the obstetrician was mad at me because I hadn't scheduled sooner. I tried to explain that I was only following doctors orders. My due date is June 8-12th (they're undecided), and the lady told me that they only scheduled 2 c-sections a day, and they were already booked for 3 c-sections a day, for several weeks and that she didn't know if she could give me an apt. You've got to be kidding! I have a breech baby and you don't even think you can schedule me. So then she calls her big boss and they decide that they can schedule me for June 12th. So I ask, isn't it better to do it sooner so that I don't go into labor and have to have an emergency c-section. She tells me it would be better, but they can't schedule me any sooner. Great! All of this while Paolo is working.

So then I called a friend in Prato (which is about an hour south of here) crying and saying, what do I do? So she called the hospital there, and they told her to bring me right in and they'd see and get me in right away if it was necessary. So I call the neighbor who took me to the train station. I go with all of my bags down to Prato. My friend picked me up at the train station and took me to the hospital. After waiting for the doctor to finish delivering, he came and checked me. He did the ultrasound. And lo and behold, the baby is not breech. He's head down (and enormous according to the doctor) and ready to go. He never was breech (because I gaurantee I would have felt him flip around if did). So anyway, after all of the worrying, traveling (gone from 9 am - 10 pm), etc., this baby is just fine. It was the biggest relief of my life, and the biggest frustration at the same time. Why do Italians have to make life so complicated?! Anyway, now it's just a matter of waiting, and hoping he's not too overdue. I just need to remember that even though this is all a big pain, the end product is going to be worth it.

Moral of the story: public health care is not the best way to go!