Saturday May 14, 2005
First Dr Appointment, Pregnancy #10
I am doing much better today. I had my first dr appointment. He listened to me. The appointment was an early pregnancy consult (not the typical 8-12 week 1st OB appointment) but he also asked about my birth.
I only told him a portion of the story (the summary of the labor itself, up to the actual birth, none of the before/after stuff….just the technical “how did the birth go”) and told him that “before I chicken out, I need you to watch and make sure I don’t get ppd this time.” I was undiagnosed with ppd last time, and in the midst of it I would have been pretty defensive about it (especially with my MIL constantly telling me that only bad mothers who don’t love their babies get ppd), but I know I had ppd, and am pretty sure I still have post-traumatic stress disorder from it. I never really got my footing back after his birth.
After relaying the basics, not even including that his first apgar was 2 and that nobody listened to me when I had horrible post-partum pain which turned into emergency gall bladder surgery (blocked duct), he said he could not believe I was not monitored for ppd better. Let’s ignore the fact that long term IF patients have a higher rate of ppd, my labor and delivery by itself was flat out traumatic.
He found it *interesting* (read…what are those effing bastards hiding) that the medical records that were sent seemed to be missing the very pages that would have described the events of the surgery.
When I asked about vbac he started by talking about the trends in vbac (he is like that…he really is into making sure his patients understand where the current literature comes from) and that, although he supports vbac whenever possible, I am about the worse candidate for it and it is very unlikely that I will be able to deliver vaginally, unless it was due to an extremely premature labor. (much too early to be healthy for my baby) He went into every detail as to why and made sure I understood the why. He was also really upset that it was never really addressed with my first pregnancy since I have such a narrow pelvis and, looking at the two of us, we have larger than average heads and with that alone, it should have at least been addressed to us so we wouldn’t have been in such shock. There is also a long history of atypical labor in my family that should have thrown up some flags to the dr. (I was only 4lbs, but still had to be delivered as a high forceps delivery after a WEEK of active labor, my grandma’s babies were around 10-14lbs). He was afraid that if I attempted a VBAC, it would have the same stressful outcome. I knew that in my heart, but hearing the whys are helping me deal with it.
He put me on progesterone and gave me a bunch of sample vitamin pills. The progesterone is to help my body keep the uterus from contracting and the lining of my uterus attached. I am going to be having blood drawn a lot so they can watch my levels. When they get to 5000 (if I remember right) then they are going to do an ultrasound and see if it is a viable baby or a blighted ovum (I have had two of those). So…I am on the right track.
The really weird/good thing: if you would have asked me earlier today, I would have described the crampy feeling as mild. Within an hour of taking the progesterone I was shocked at the reduction in pain. Every once in a while I feel a fluttering type feeling, but nothing like I was experiencing. I have a feeling my uterus was, indeed, contracting heavily and I would have lost this pregnancy regardless of the condition of the fertilized egg/fetus. I feel much more at peace now with whatever happens. I know my dr. really does care a lot about me and takes my concerns seriously.
On a completely different note…his office moved. The new digs are jaw dropping! Really neat group of offices that is attached to the hospital now. They also had a great kid’s play area which made my mom’s job a lot easier. He now has two partners. He doesn’t see OB patients any more. He will only be covering me until I get to the ’see the heartbeat’ part, then I will go to one of his partners for my actual OB stuff. He actually was apologetic and knows a lot of his long time patients are having a hard time accepting that he won’t make exceptions, but he has a lot of long time patients, so if he started making exceptions it would be a nightmare for him. lol. Once I get to the OB part, I won’t have to deal with referrals because you can go anywhere they accept the insurance for the OB. I am not considered OB at this point (medical coding technicality).
I have only heard good things about his partners, and he hand picked them, so I trust that they are good too. This is a smaller town hospital and bad drs do not stay long because word gets around quick! He and one of his partners are considered teachers at the big hospital here in town (W), so if I have a major 911 incident, they can be called in and have privileges there too. He has had the second partner, Dr. Br, for a number of years and I know several people who had him for their pregnancies and were thrilled with him.
On Monday, I am going to call and see if my ‘primary provider’ can be transferred to Dr Br, since he should be listed in my county also, even though Dr. B isn’t. (the practice I go to is in the neighboring county) Then we don’t have to go through the hassle every time I need something done. I sure hope I can do that.
Now I wait until Monday for my second blood draw. I hope she hits me on the first time again. I am a nightmare to hit because my veins are deeper than normal, angle differently, and roll. Fun times. She did a lot of looking around before she decided and used a tiny little butterfly needle set up to do it…much better than a typical blood draw. I tell you what, Dr B gets the best phlebotomists around. His lab is the ONLY place I have EVER been hit the first time with all my surgeries and all the hundreds of blood draws I have been subject to. I remember when I finally got frustrated with other people and decided I would rather wait two days to hear the results than go to the hospital lab where I was always a pin cushion (never got me in under 10 hits), even though I would have gotten the results a lot faster. I have been in the position of reassuring lab techs that I didn’t hate them, and then going home to cry because my arm/hand hurt so bad, than I care to remember.
