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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

First Prenatal Appointment

I'm going to start this out by saying that these appointments are not going to be easy accompanied by an almost 2 year old. I remember when I was pregnant the first time, I would just go in with a good book (usually some sort of breastfeeding book I had picked up) and sit and read and just ignore the wait. That's not going to be the case this time I think. I did think ahead though, after the whole apple juice/specimen meltdown in the ER last week, I packed a sippy with apple juice. But I'm going to need to be more creative, lots of snacks and drinks and such.

Anyway, my appointment was at 10:30. They asked me to be there a few minutes early to fill out the forms and such. We arrived at around 10:15am. I signed in and started my wait. They finally called me to the receptionist and copied my insurance card, verified I still had the same emergency contacts and address, and explained my benefits. Seriously, there is something very satisfying to see the paper that says your insurance will pay $XXXX amount and the amount you owe is $0 after your $0 deductible is paid. Seriously, that's heaven. ;)

Anyway, a short while later after one meltdown they call us back in to the office. They weigh me and confirm I've lost yet another pound bringing me up to an eight pound weightloss. (Considering I'm 8 weeks post conception, that's a pound a week. And believe me, I'm eating, um, lots.) Moving on, they ask if I can produce a sample. HA! We get through that with zero drama and I fill M's now empty sippy up with some water. We go into the exam room and get my blood pressure taken 112/60 and she leaves us to wait, and wait, and wait. I don't really notice since I knew my OB was oncall that day, but I must remember to pack the diaper bag with surprise goodies for when we move away from the germ infested great toys they provide in the waiting room.

The wait didn't seem bad considering when my OB came in she spent a good 40 minutes with me. We talked about a repeat section, we talked about how I was feeling (great, knock on wood), and we talked about my near constant cramping and the great ER visit. She was not happy about the way that visit had gone. She had said that should have done a pelvic and that they should have cathed me for the specimen. (Here is where I was relieved that the ER had screwed up. heh.) Like last time I declined all the genetic testing stuff. She sorta tried to pressure me into the triple screen, but I was adament that I didn't want it. She did keep saying that it came back positive, then she would send me to a larger hospital for a 4D ultrasound. That really didn't sound incredibly appealing to me. I explained that I KNEW the test had a high false positive rate, and that it was even higher for heavier women. I also know that we've done well on taking prenatal vitamins and taking care of myself while making this baby and since it's been growing. And Erich and I are both young, so I didn't really see a point. I won't terminate the pregnancy, I trust their u/s tech to find heart abnormalities, and honestly if something were wrong like Downs Syndrome, I wouldn't want to spend my pregnancy feeling doomed and stressed. I feel like this baby is fine and my gut should be trusted. Plus I didn't want the stress of having that blood draw looming over my head, you know? She did agree with me that I was extremely low risk and she didn't feel uncomfortable with me declining it. ;)

She decided that she should go ahead and do a pelvic, take a quick look to make sure that my cervix is behaving (considering I had that LEEP a couple of years back it's nice to know it behaves) and declared my uterus to be of an appopriate size for 10w2d. She commented that my csection scar really healed well, and that she would cut that scar out when we do the section so that I don't have multiple scars which increases adhesions and such. We also talked about stitches and staples and I was relieved that she said she always does stitches. Thank goodness! She tried to hear fetal heart tones with the doppler, but kept finding mine. She said since I was having cramps and that she couldn't find heart tones, she would send me over for an ultrasound. She okayed it for me to go to a chiropractor as long as he has experience adjusting pregnant women. Yay. (Appointment is tomorrow AM for both myself and Erich.)

At this point, my OB is upset that she can't find the note from Dr. H the RE (they went to school together). She teased me that he's seen me naked. hahaha. If you had seen Dr. H, you'd know why that was funny. He is a hot-tay. She was also upset that she couldn't find the ER note either. She sent me back to have my ultrasound.

Wow. That baby changes SO fast. Baby appeared to be sleeping but you could see him turn from side to side at times. FHTs were 170 and he measured perfectly for 10w2d. So baby is already making Mommy proud! Magdalena is SO used to the ultrasound drill, she is the best girl ever. And it was cute because when she saw the screen she said "baybee!" And the u/s tech said, "Yes! You see your baby?" My heart is filled with pride and joy. You would just not believe how happy I am. She printed us some pictures and my OB came back to fetch me.

She took me to her medical assistant who drew my blood and then sent me to her nurse. She said she'd see me in 4 weeks and that she was so happy I was back! Me too! We drew blood and I visited the nurse who gave me my prenatal vitamin script, lots of papers, and my favorite "the breastfeeding support supplementation kit!" Yay! Just what I wanted, formula samples! I kept my mouth shut from saying that Magdalena has NEVER had a drop of formula and I have every intention of making sure that this baby NEVER has a drop of formula either. I kept my mouth shut because I wanted the cooler. ;) I did take the samples over to the WIC office and gave them to them. :)

And that ended my first prenatal. Only about a bazillion more to go, look forward to the next one on December 30. :)

Monday, November 28, 2005

We're Home

We sorta came home to a mess, but I'll explain later. In the meantime, I've maxed out my upload limit at Flickr. Go look! Leave comments! Enjoy!