The New Doc

I switched doctors a couple weeks ago. I wasn’t completely happy with my OB. I know I talked about problems with doctor selection before, but I promise that I’m not THAT picky. The quality of care provided by my regular OB had steadily declined since September, and I had been leaving every appointment feeling a bit cheated. In all of my appointments, I saw my regular OB maybe 3 times and I saw a total of 3-4 other doctors during my other visits. I fully expect to have this experience if I’m going to a large practice, but this doctor was supposed to be the only one I was seeing. When he wasn’t there, the other OBs from the hospital’s ward were just filling in. He never felt my abdomen, measured me, did ultrasounds (after the 13 and 20 week one) or listened to the baby’s heartbeat. I’d go in and give a urine sample (sorry, that’s probably TMI but pregnancy can be a TMI thing altogether) and the nurse would weigh me and take my blood pressure. The doctor would ask how I was doing and then would give me a pelvic exam to make sure I wasn’t dilated.

I went to the new doctor this week. He had me come in a week earlier than the other doctor and is scheduling me every 2 weeks. The other doctor still had me at every 4 weeks and would have switched me to 3 weeks after next week.

The first thing I noticed was that new doctor’s office had a much nicer bathroom (a nice addition for those frequent samples). After waiting to be called back for about 10 minutes, a nurse brought me to a room, took my blood pressure and weighed me and then hooked me up to a fetal monitor for 20 minutes to measure the baby’s heartbeat and any contractions I might be having. Monkey was active, as usual, during this procedure and the nurses were pretty amazed that he moved so much. Every time he moved, it would make a sound akin to a DJ scratching a record on a turn table. Silly boy!

After the monitoring was over, I had to wait about 20-25 minutes to see the doctor. When he came in, he was incredibly pleasant and friendly. He felt my abdomen and told me he thought Monkey’s head was down and his back was along my right side with his feet on my left. He then did an ultrasound and he was right! Monkey is head down and face down, ready to make his debut. He’s been that way for a while, so I don’t take that as a sign that he’s coming early. The doctor took a long time looking at the baby’s head, femur and abdomen to make accurate measurements and everything is measuring just right. Unlike the previous doctor, he does not think Monkey’s head is in the 99% percentile for size. Thank goodness! According to his estimate, Monkey is about 4 lbs 6 oz right now, which is also average for 32-33 weeks along. The doctor also measured the blood and oxygen flow through the umbilical cord and looked at the blood flowing through Monkey’s heart. All the while, he was explaining what he was doing and what he was looking at, which was a huge change from the other doctor who didn’t explain anything.

The best part of all? No pelvic exam! Ok ok, it wasn’t the BEST part, but I was pretty happy to have one less of those suckers.

I don’t expect all my appointments to be as thorough as this week’s, because I’m sure he wanted to get all sorts of information since he hadn’t seen me previously; however, the overall experience was leaps and bounds better than my previous doctor.

I also did a hospital tour of this facility a couple weeks ago, and everyone at this hospital seemed so friendly. They all said hello and smiled, which is not considered normal around here. I think the fact that I feel much more comfortable at this hospital and with this doctor will make a difference when it comes time for Monkey’s birthday.

A few more bits of information about my pregnancy status:

Acid reflux officially sucks. I have had it for a while now, but Tums no longer do the trick. I don’t even like milk, but I started craving it (one of my only pregnancy cravings) this week. I think I’ve had 3-4 glasses just this week. I am also waking frequently with massive acid reflux to the point that I think I might vomit. Last night, I had to take more Tums in the middle of the night, but I’m also sensitive about having to brush my teeth before sleep, so I took Tums, got up and brushed my teeth and then went back to sleep.

Saturday night was my first night to be awakened with a cramp-like feeling. From what I can tell, it’s part of false labor. I’ve been having it off and on for the past 5 days or so. Fun!

Hormones are crazy. I keep waking up drenched in sweat. Another product of hormones? A racing heart beat. I battled a racing heart beat for about 10 minutes on Saturday night, and it got so bad that my hands went numb and I told John I might faint. The doctor said it’s all a normal part of pregnancy, though, and it’s fairly common.

Anywho, those are my updates. Knowing how I feel now, I can only imagine how uncomfortable I’m going to be in 5 weeks…