Saturday, June 9, 2012
Waiting Room
Apparently, I'm going to be spending a lot of time in my OB's waiting room.
First, the good news: Overall, I liked the doctor. She was warm and friendly. We got to hear the heartbeat on a doppler at 10 weeks 3 days. 155 bpm. She warned us it might take a while to find it, but then it was there right away. Music to our ears. Now of course I want to get a doppler for home use. I'm still debating about that. KG is convinced I'll use it every day if we get one. But, I think I could agree to only do it with him once or twice per week. Thoughts on home doppler use anyone?
We also scheduled the early and second semester integrated screening (NT Scan and the 18w scan). I see the doctor again in a month.We went over a lot of my records, talked about some vaccines His Royal Fabulousness and I need, got a breast exam and a vaginal culture, checked my cervix and uterus, tested protein and sugar in my urine, and discussed some additional genetic testing for Ashkenazi Jewish background that I haven't had. I only had the basic 4 tests for that, and now there are like 20. I need to call my medical insurance to see if those tests are covered. We also talked about my risk for PPD (higher because of my history of depression and anxiety). She supported the rec to stay on my medications for that and said overall everything looked perfect.
The bad news: It was quite the ordeal in the OB's office yesterday. We had a 3:00 appointment and she didn't walk in the room until 3:45. She also quickly saw another patient (one who had come late because she got her appt. time wrong) in the middle of our appointment. She seemed a bit scattered, but I think that might have been because she was running so, so late. I didn't end up getting out of there until 5. I was a little pissed off and even more so when she failed to call me last night with instructions about stopping my progesterone and Metformin. She said she wanted a bit of time to review my chart more before giving me instructions and that she would call after office hours. No call. Sigh. I guess I'll call Monday morning. Do you think this is a bad sign about her reliability, or just a bad day? She comes SO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
So, I guess this baby is deciding to stick. KG said I looked genuinely shocked when we heard the heartbeat. That's both amusing and sad to me. I'm still working on my promise to think positively, but I'm making headway. My mom and I have been discussing timing for a baby shower in Los Angeles, which makes me happy. I've started to allow myself to look ahead, make plans, and get a little excited. Bit by bit.
This week was a good one: I turned 32, went to a Red Sox game on free tickets, said goodbye to my students for the summer, and heard the sweet sound of my baby's ticker. All in all, not bad.
Enjoy listening to Fugazi's "Waiting Room." Bonus points to anyone who can sing along.
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Where did you end up? I have found with my ob, and my primary, that morning appointments are best because they are always behind bug the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm in a bullet point kind of mood...
ReplyDelete-Home Doppler: I told you I never got the cheap-o one to work. In a few more weeks (like 8), you won't need it. Little Royal Fabulousness will kick the crap out of you day and night, so you won't be stressed about a heartbeat. So, keep that in mind.
-For the vast majority of your pregnancy, your OB appointments will take two seconds. Pee in a cup, measure your belly, listen to the heartbeat, go home. My appointments were always first thing in the morning, so they had me in and out pretty quickly. That was not the case with my first appointment.
-I'd cut her some slack this once. There's got to be a reason she comes so highly recommended. As for her not calling you last night, it's possible she had to deliver a baby. Maybe you'll hear from her this weekend - that'll score her some points. If not, I'd still give her another chance.
-Testing: both the NT scan and the 18w appointment are SO FUN!!! (And we didn't find out gender.) You can see SO much! And, assuming you've got a great ultrasound tech, they show you EVERY SINGLE organ. (I really couldn't tell if she was making it up, or not, but I could at least see the spine. LOL!) And you get a TON of ultrasound photos. They're REALLY fun.
- Two and a half weeks and first trimester is over!!! Whoo-hoo!
- And YAY for saying goodbye to your students. Summer here you come!!!
So happy to hear baby is sticking! And how exciting about the heartbeat! Yay!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the doctor - this is tricky, but I think it wouldn't hurt to give her another try, especially if she comes highly recommended. Although it's frustrating that she saw another (disorganized) patient during your visit, it is somewhat comforting to know that in the event you missed yours, she'd take the time to see you.
Friday afternoons are the freaking worst - maybe try a morning appt next time?
Regarding the home doppler, I HATED it. It wasn't easy to use and several times I thought I found the babys hearbeat (at 150, slower than the 162 the dr found, but close right?) Until I put the doppler over my own heart to make sure and realized it read my hearbeat at 150 (iassume because it picks up both parts of the beat). It caused me so much stress and brought no comfort at all. I talked to my ob about it afterwards and he said he always strongly suggests against them and that if I was worried to call him instead. I know people who love them (hence when I got it) but not me.
ReplyDeleteI have been tempted several times to try it since " the incident" (I haven't returned it yet), but I refuse to stress myself out.
Oh, I rented a 'top' rated high stregnth one from tummyticklers.com for reference.
Good luck and hoping baby is here to stay!
Well I bought a doppler recently and have tried to find baby's heartbeat twice with no luck. I spent about $60 and waited until 10 weeks. I will try again in a day or so, but I am wondering if it's just not strong enough. I won't worry about it since I just saw Raspberry yesterday and all was fine, but I really wanted to be able to have that fun connection at home. I'll let you know how it works out.
ReplyDeleteWhich one did you buy?
DeleteMy thoughts on the doppler is that I love it. I use mine almost every day, but now for about 30 seconds because I know where the babies heartbeats are and the peace of mind is incredible. I know its not for everyone, but I needed the daily reassurance that things were going well in there after after a missed miscarriage before. Now that I can feel the babies move, I will start using it a lot less.
ReplyDeleteWhich did you buy?
DeleteI used a doppler for my last pregnancy and I'll admit that I used it everyday Starting at about 12 or 13 weeks until I was feeling consistent movements. It wasn't a long drawn out listen. Once I found it, I would listen for about 20 seconds or so, take a deep breath and put it away until the next afternoon. I will also say that when I had a bit of spotting at 26 weeks, it was so wonderful to whip that doppler out and give a listen to a clear and normal heartbeat. I did still go to the ER but it was nice to not be completely freaked out on my way there. I say get one!!! Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteOn the technical end, I'm glad the appointment went well! To hear that the Nugget is growing and everyone is well is great news! I'm in agreement with Erin: give the OB another chance. Yes, first impression, blah, blah, blah. I'm guessing it was an off day. That said, if it happens again, I would talk with the office manager. Remember, physicians are human being too. We all have our good days and bad days.
ReplyDeleteI say give her another appointment and see if she still seems so scattered. Sometimes even the best OBs have really weird and scattery days. And it's true, most of the visits are super fast anyway.
ReplyDeleteAs for the testing - check to see if there are any agencies that will pay for it if your insurance doesn't. My husband and I were both tested for tons of Ashkenazi Jewish genetic disorders for I think $36/each. I think it was through Federation (they made us sit through an hour long thing about the diseases and stuff, it actually wasn't so bad).
So happy to hear your little Nugget is sticking! I would give her one more shot. Hopefully it was just a bad day and the next time she will be a lot better.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I also have a Doctor who is sometimes running late, and sometimes will go deal with other things. But this means that I know that if it turns out I need extra time she will always give it - it goes both ways. I deal with it by making appointments early in the day before she is likely to be running late!
ReplyDelete