What a day this has been!
This morning I got up with David to drive him to work before I went to
the doctor's. Just after I got dressed my left hip popped out so I was
getting shooting pains down my leg. It started to feel better while I
drove him to work and then to my appointment but when I got out of the
car my right hip went out! Off I limped to my first doctor's
appointment of the day, which was with my GP.
Dr. Moss is a family practitioner who just happens to be very skilled
and patient when delivering babies. In October friends of mine had
their fourth baby and invited me to the delivery because they knew I
wanted to be a midwife. Dr. Moss is their family doctor and delivered
this baby and the one previous. Even though this baby, Angelina, was
posterior causing a long active labour phase Dr. Moss waited patiently
until Paulette asked for pain relief and was ready to push; in fact she
waited in the room with us for two hours telling birthing stories in
between contractions. She seemed to have a "midwife" approach to birth
that really appealed to me. I started seeing her as a GP because she
was recommended by Paulette and also because she practices out of the
hospital that I want to deliver in.
I went to her today to discuss with her the information I had collected
from the genetics department and Special Pregnancy Unit concerning
possible complications because of my genetic disorder, Ehlers-Danlos.
We discussed the known complications and the precautions that need to be
taken, specifically that I will need to be examined weekly for signs of
premature cervical dilation and/or premature rupture of the membranes
(PROM). Dr. Akoury, the perinatologist, will be supervising my care but
as I mentioned earlier he practices out of a hospital that is far from
my house and exercises a far more interventionist approach for birth
than I'm comfortable with. I had discussed my desire to deliver at my
local hospital with Dr. Akoury and he agreed on the condition that I see
an ob-gyn there prior to delivery and that I be delivered by that
ob-gyn. Well, as I'd hoped, Dr. Moss was of the opinion that if it was
okay with the local ob-gyn, Dr. Roth, that she would deliver me and only
pass me over if there were complications.Wohoo!!!!!!!!!! Have I
mentioned that I really like Dr. Moss? I may even be able to have her
do the weekly cervical checks rather than travelling 40 minutes and then
waiting at least an hour to have Dr. Akoury do them. Since the
complications with Ehlers-Danlos are more related to the pregnancy
itself and not really a problem once the risk of premature delivery has
passed, this should be a good arrangement. Of course, if I do have PROM
or premature cervical dilation it will change everything but I'll deal
with that if and when it happens.
The other issue I consulted her about was nutrition. I am severely
lactose intolerant and have food allergies so I want to set up a
pregnancy nutrition plan for myself but I need a bit of help. She
referred me to the nutritionist at Scarborough Grace (where I hope to
deliver) so I'll be setting up that appointment tomorrow. Once I
complete my nutrition plan I'll try to post it with a journal entry.
My second appointment of the day was at the downtown hospital (Toronto
General, where the special pregnancy unit is) with a cardiologist.
Toronto General is a huge hospital and I had to have an EKG done in a
different part of the hospital before I saw the doctor. You'll remember
way far back in this entry that I said my hips were troubling me today -
let's just say by the time I actually made it to Dr. Siu's office I was
looking for a stray wheelchair and thinking about what my third
trimester is going to be like. Picture a 4'11" very round woman
waddling with her hips slightly flexed. If you're not laughing then
you better check your pulse. I'm really looking forward to having a big
belly because it will look so comical. I digress. Dr. Siu told me that
my heart is fine but that he'll need to repeat the echo-doppler, EKG and
consultations at least once each trimester. After work, doctor's
appointments and sleeping (I LOVE to sleep) I might have an hour each
day to eat, play with the dogs and spend time with my husband (notice
the priorities).
On the pregnancy quest: I am due to get my period tomorrow which
happens to be David's birthday. Poor guy. I guess I'll have to make up
for it when I ovulate on the 23rd. Our one year anniversary is on the
21st but it feels like we've always been together. He's really amazing.
I am so looking forward to being pregnant. I hope it happens soon.
Hope
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