I wonder if doctors have to take etiquette classes in med school. From my experience, I doubt it. It definitely needs to be a requirement though. Special session: Infertile Etiquette.
Yesterday, during my routine (and now weekly) Ob check-up, after the Q&A session and hearing the heartbeat, the Doc checks my fundal height. Out of the blue, "Excuse me a moment" and out the door he goes. I can hear him talking with a nurse out in the hall for several minutes. He re-enters. Without any apology or explanation- "Will you be around tomorrow? I'd like to schedule you for an ultrasound."
The panic alarm goes off in my brain. I don't think anything is really wrong, but I always go to the worse case scenario in my head. The fact that this just came out of left field caught me off guard as well. The last thing a Dr should do is make a pregnant lady worry about the health of her baby. It should never be done to someone who has gone through infertility.
Apparently, I'm measuring small for date. I've been so pretty much the whole time. It seems like the last few weeks it has been drastic enough for them to be concerned that their may be some growth restriction or something else possibly going on with baby. He even said "We don't want to be surprised and caught unprepared for a 4-4.5lb baby." Do they always have to bring on the bad options and save the only good option for last? "It could just be that everything is fine, and you are just smaller."
I was never expecting a big baby. Heck, I wasn't even 6lbs at birth. My mom's biggest baby was 6.5lbs. The boy was an 8 pounder, but he's not a very large guy. I've always been small and petite. I would be astounded if baby was to be >8lbs!
Why couldn't the Dr just say "It's most likely that you're measuring small because you and your husband are smaller people, but just to make sure that there isn't anything more serious going on, I'd like to get you in for an ultrasound in the next few days."? Would that be so difficult?
In the end, baby is measuring fine. A bit smaller at 36w4d rather than 37w3d, but in the 37th percentile off measurements. The u/s tech said baby is probably about 6-6.5lbs (ish) and my fluid levels are good. "I know he just wanted to make sure, but I'm not surprised that everything is fine. You're not very big yourself. It should be nice not to deliver a 9lb baby though!" The techs always amaze me. They can so easily find what they are looking for in there. I could barely tell what was what this time as it was all jumbled and squashed up together.
Long story short: Dr. made a "could go into labor any day now" infertile pregnant lady thing something might have gone wrong since the last u/s at 24w. I seriously kept going back to the thought that I've made it all this way for something to go wrong at the end?All it would have taken to prevent that is a change in wording!
At least now we have some small peace of mind over the holidays that things are good. Baby and I are healthy and doing well. Hopefully, the trend continues onto delivery and well beyond...
Showing posts with label Doctors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctors. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The quickest appt EVER!
So I had 2 appts today. First thing in the morning was my 16w check-up. Afternoon was with the therapist. The real meat is in the afternoon's appt, but the funniest stuff was from the morning!
Wake up. Get ready. Head to OB's with Hubs in tow. On the way there, I realized I had forgotten deodorant. Go me! I have a travel stick in a drawer at work, but that was going to be about an hour later I could access it. Thank you crazed health paranoia that has been going on these last few years. Hand sanitizer is a quick fix for no deodorant. If it kills the germs on your hands, it should kill the germs/bacteria in your pits that cause you to get musty. Plus, they are usually lightly scented, so that also helps! I slather mine while I go and do my routine, pre-appt pee-in-a-cup. (Rather than using this urine to dip a ov test or hpt, they use it to check for protein and stuff).
I was suppose to have the usual urine, weight, BP work up, a visit with one of the Drs, and blood work to check on my thyroid levels. Urine was clear. I've gained 3.5lbs since last visit. BP was 100/59.
"Are you having a glucola test?" Uh, not that I'm aware of? "Sit here to wait for teh lab tech to draw your blood."
"Actually, the Dr wants to see you 1st. You know, in case he wants to add any more tests to the draw. Don't want to stick you more than we have to!" Whatever. "Have you had a glucola test yet?"
The remaining 10 min of my appt were as follows: Greet Dr. He's about to retire so not really sure why they felt I needed to see him before he left, but whatevs. Then begins the Q&A.
"How are we doing?" - Good, slight ease in the nausea. "Good."
"Any questions?" Not really at this point. "Any concerns?" Not really. (What I really wanted to say was, Not really, other than going through this all and not going home with a baby. I just didn't think that is what he was referring to though!).
"No bleeding, cramping, etc?" Nothing other than the expected pulls and stretches as things grow.
Now was the time for me to lay back so he could feel for my uterus and check the heartbeat with the doppler. My uterus was right where it was suppose to be for my gestation. It's weird how it can be so easily felt. While he was using the doppler, he pointed out what noises were the heartbeat (duh), my heartbeat (duh) and what was "kid movement". That one impressed me. I thought those noises were my digestive system moving along! Looks like it was the kiddo bouncing around in there. I do have to say that my Sono.line B is actually quite a bit fancier than the one used there!
"So do you know how to tell the difference between the sexes?" Uh... huh... wha? "Boys have a little extra bit between their legs." Doh!! I was trying to figure out if he meant if I knew how to tell the differences from externally or via heartbeat, etc. Um, actually, I'm fairly familiar with how things look different between them on ultrasounds. I figured there wasn't any other way to tell until they were born. "That's right." and went on to tell me about how his kids did science fair projects about heartbeat, maternal feelings, days of the week vs gender and how none were different than random, 50/50 chance.
"We'll check your levels next appt. That will be in 4wks. We'll get the nurses on scheduling your Level 2 scan in about 2wks. You can find out the gender then if you'd like." And the glucola test all the nurses have been asking me about? "That we don't do until closer to 28w, so I don't know why they were even asking you about it this early."
We schedule the 20w check-up and check out. In and out in 20min! It is a bit crazy though to think that I have 2wks to convince the Boy that we shouldn't find out the gender. I really want it to be a surprise! Apparently, I have to figure out what that is on my own as he won't give me any hints, clues or suggestions about what it would take to change his mind.
I'll go into the shrink appt in another post (next probably) as I really want to cover it well. Teasers: We filled her in on my pregnancy, responses, our feelings, etc. We didn't quite make it to cover all the "issues" I wanted, but we are to do so next appt with her.
Other than that, the last few days have been hectic and a bit frenzied. I missed my prenatal yoga class last week due to the barfs. I also missed the announcement that this weeks was the week the instructor had to reschedule. I felt like a doofus sitting in the room waiting for people to show up after changing into stretch pants, only to walk back out the front door with all my yoga crap 15min later. Plus side was that I actually got to spend some time with the Boy when I though I wasn't going to (not so plus side was that it was at B & SIL's place). SIL put my due date in her iphone so she can keep up with where I'm at in my pregnancy. I don't care, but I think it's a bit of an odd thing to do. I'm ready for a few days of nothing now. Well, other than reading and commenting on other blogs!
Wake up. Get ready. Head to OB's with Hubs in tow. On the way there, I realized I had forgotten deodorant. Go me! I have a travel stick in a drawer at work, but that was going to be about an hour later I could access it. Thank you crazed health paranoia that has been going on these last few years. Hand sanitizer is a quick fix for no deodorant. If it kills the germs on your hands, it should kill the germs/bacteria in your pits that cause you to get musty. Plus, they are usually lightly scented, so that also helps! I slather mine while I go and do my routine, pre-appt pee-in-a-cup. (Rather than using this urine to dip a ov test or hpt, they use it to check for protein and stuff).
I was suppose to have the usual urine, weight, BP work up, a visit with one of the Drs, and blood work to check on my thyroid levels. Urine was clear. I've gained 3.5lbs since last visit. BP was 100/59.
"Are you having a glucola test?" Uh, not that I'm aware of? "Sit here to wait for teh lab tech to draw your blood."
"Actually, the Dr wants to see you 1st. You know, in case he wants to add any more tests to the draw. Don't want to stick you more than we have to!" Whatever. "Have you had a glucola test yet?"
The remaining 10 min of my appt were as follows: Greet Dr. He's about to retire so not really sure why they felt I needed to see him before he left, but whatevs. Then begins the Q&A.
"How are we doing?" - Good, slight ease in the nausea. "Good."
"Any questions?" Not really at this point. "Any concerns?" Not really. (What I really wanted to say was, Not really, other than going through this all and not going home with a baby. I just didn't think that is what he was referring to though!).
"No bleeding, cramping, etc?" Nothing other than the expected pulls and stretches as things grow.
Now was the time for me to lay back so he could feel for my uterus and check the heartbeat with the doppler. My uterus was right where it was suppose to be for my gestation. It's weird how it can be so easily felt. While he was using the doppler, he pointed out what noises were the heartbeat (duh), my heartbeat (duh) and what was "kid movement". That one impressed me. I thought those noises were my digestive system moving along! Looks like it was the kiddo bouncing around in there. I do have to say that my Sono.line B is actually quite a bit fancier than the one used there!
"So do you know how to tell the difference between the sexes?" Uh... huh... wha? "Boys have a little extra bit between their legs." Doh!! I was trying to figure out if he meant if I knew how to tell the differences from externally or via heartbeat, etc. Um, actually, I'm fairly familiar with how things look different between them on ultrasounds. I figured there wasn't any other way to tell until they were born. "That's right." and went on to tell me about how his kids did science fair projects about heartbeat, maternal feelings, days of the week vs gender and how none were different than random, 50/50 chance.
"We'll check your levels next appt. That will be in 4wks. We'll get the nurses on scheduling your Level 2 scan in about 2wks. You can find out the gender then if you'd like." And the glucola test all the nurses have been asking me about? "That we don't do until closer to 28w, so I don't know why they were even asking you about it this early."
We schedule the 20w check-up and check out. In and out in 20min! It is a bit crazy though to think that I have 2wks to convince the Boy that we shouldn't find out the gender. I really want it to be a surprise! Apparently, I have to figure out what that is on my own as he won't give me any hints, clues or suggestions about what it would take to change his mind.
I'll go into the shrink appt in another post (next probably) as I really want to cover it well. Teasers: We filled her in on my pregnancy, responses, our feelings, etc. We didn't quite make it to cover all the "issues" I wanted, but we are to do so next appt with her.
Other than that, the last few days have been hectic and a bit frenzied. I missed my prenatal yoga class last week due to the barfs. I also missed the announcement that this weeks was the week the instructor had to reschedule. I felt like a doofus sitting in the room waiting for people to show up after changing into stretch pants, only to walk back out the front door with all my yoga crap 15min later. Plus side was that I actually got to spend some time with the Boy when I though I wasn't going to (not so plus side was that it was at B & SIL's place). SIL put my due date in her iphone so she can keep up with where I'm at in my pregnancy. I don't care, but I think it's a bit of an odd thing to do. I'm ready for a few days of nothing now. Well, other than reading and commenting on other blogs!
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