I guess you can say I don’t really like change…and I was beyond a basket case going into our first perinatal appointment yesterday. I think it was a mix of anxiety over what they would say, changing doctors, and not knowing where we were going (new office building). But, whatever it was, I was a nutcase. We parked and I felt like we were in a ghetto – okay, not literally, but it’s not the nicest place. Then we had to go register before we could head up to the doctor’s office. We arrived promptly at 12:45 to register just like the little piece of paper said and they made us wait…and wait. My appointment time of 1:00 came and went and I started freaking out. What if they won’t see me because I’m late?…etc. Well, they got me in and it only took a few minutes of answering some questions and up we went to the perinatal center. I walk in and immediately become more anxious. It was not until that moment that I realized high-risk meant more than fertility patients or people having mulitples…it also means women who smoke crack during their pregnancies. A bit different from the cushy fertility clinic with free gourmet coffee and comfy couches – a LOT different.
So I sit down across from a crack head and wait my turn. I’m freaking out at this point. They had me filling out paperwork asking me if I needed all these different benefits – WIC (women, infants, & children), food stamps, help with domestic violence…seriously. I can’t make this stuff up. I can tell you that I was wholely unprepared to spend an afternoon with the addicts who just happened to get knocked up and couldn’t tell you who the father is. But, there you have it.
Mercifully, I didn’t have to wait too long. They must have sensed the fact that I had showered in the last month and put me out of my misery by bringing me back. But, they wouldn’t let Ross come back. What? No, no, no. You don’t understand. We are in this together. I go, he goes. Nope…not the way it works. So I go back and immedately start asking when he can come back there. They kept telling me that I have to go first and then they will get him…yadda, yadda. Fine. So they weighed me (gained another pound – groan) and took my BP (surprisingly low for how anxious I was) and then I went into a little office. Clearly the state decorated it since it was quite dumpy, but whatever. The nurse proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions and I realized why I was in there alone – they were making sure I wasn’t a victim of domestic violence before they let Ross back there…fine…let’s get this show on the road. The bruises are from the daily injections of blood thinners (LOL – they really didn’t ask me that – I added it for effect).
Finally, after I gave my history and told them that Ross is the father of this child and yes, he is aware of it, they let him back. Relief. Then we got a quick ultrasound to see the heartbeat. It was my first external u/s (TMI warning – all the other ones have been internal which is a REAL treat let me tell ya). The baby was moving all around and it’s heart was going 189 bpm. It was a little jumping bean in there. So cute! It was hard to make out much of anything (externals are not as clear as internals at this stage), but it was still cute.
Then we got to meet with the doctor. Tired yet? Yeah, us too. We were there for a solid 2 1/2 hours! And he was great. Between him and the wonderful nurses, I realized it doesn’t matter that crack heads are there – these docs are good. He went over our history and we discussed all the previous miscarriages in detail so he could try and figure out the reasons for them. He doesn’t think the first was related to the second, third, and fourth. Which is good. He feels we have a great shot at having this baby. Man, did I want to hear that! He feels like things are going great and we just need to keep up with the meds. He did say he feels we are high risk and that we should stay with them. He said we didn’t have to, but it’s recommended. He wants to watch how the placenta grows and attaches to the uterus as the pregancy progresses. He feels that may be an underlying cause of the miscarriages and thus, wants to watch it close. I asked if I could continue to have weekly u/s appointments to put my mind at ease and he said yes I can for as long as I wanted. We scheduled an appointment for next Monday and our first trimester NT Scan (where they measure the fluid in the neck to predict abnormalities) for the following Monday – I can’t wait – that’s going to be a GREAT view of the baby!!! I hope it’s a little jumping bean then, too!
So, all in all, a good visit. I got over the crack head situation and moved on to the fact that the doctors and nurses are amazing and knowledgable. We are happy and safe there and it’s the best place for our baby – so we’ll stay!
No pics today – the resolution wasn’t great and you can’t see anything so I won’t bore you. Belly shots in a few days – not sure if you can tell the difference between last week and this! Anyway, thanks for reading to the bottom! Love to all!
