Well, I finally kicked that virus! Just in time for pregnancy induced
fatigue to really set in. I think the baby went through a growth spurt
on Thursday because I was dead tired from the moment I woke up. I can
now feel the outline of my uterus when I'm standing and one breast is
really starting to ache. I'm still nauseous in the afternoons and
evenings, especially if I haven't eaten enough.
I went for my first OB appointment at the special pregnancy unit on
Tuesday. I met with the nurse first, then the student doctor, then with
my doctor, then with his receptionist, and then off to the lab to pee in
a cup and visit the vampires. The nurse was great right up to the point
when she asked me if I would be taking the prenatal course offered by
their hospital. When I responded that I didn't plan on delivering at
that hospital but at the one near my home, she got really defensive and
said that I could have many different problems with delivery and my
heart that couldn't be addressed at my local hospital and that their
hospital had sophisticated equipment to deal with these problems. I
reiterated to her that at this point my heart is fine, that I don't want
to give birth with the "help" of sophisticated equipment, that I'm
seeing an OB out of my local hospital throughout my pregnancy, that all
these plans are conditional upon a healthy pregnancy, and that the
perinatalogist, who is her boss, approved the plan of shared-care. She
would not back down and gave me the usual medical practitioner lecture
that she knew what was best for me and it wouldn't work. I started to
get really upset but let it pass while we finished our discussion. The
student doctor then visited and went over all the different tests
available in overly simplistic terms even though I was responding to her
using the correct medical terminology. Then, after more waiting, I
finally got to see the perinatologist. He offered me an early
ultrasound at 11 weeks so that they can check out the cervix, we
discussed various screening tests available and developed a plan to
monitor my cervix for premature dilation. He also said, once again,
that he has no problem with me delivering at my local hospital! All
that getting mad for nothing. He didn't examine me because I had my
last internal exam in November and I'll probably get out of having it
done when I see him in four weeks because I'll be having my ultrasound
that day. It's great to avoid the internals but I wish he was
monitoring my cervix more closely. Apparently cervical dilation isn't a
risk until after 12 weeks but I won't be seeing him from week 11 to week
15. I think I may ask my GP to monitor it during that time to make
myself worry less about it. The last thing to come out of the
appointment was an official due date of October 25, the same day as
Jennifer C., who will be adding her journal to the rest shortly.
I told my clients at the group home where I work that I'm pregnant. I
wasn't planning on telling them until I started to show, but one of them
overheard a conversation about my pregnancy so my supervisor and I felt
that it would be better if they all knew, rather than needing one of
them to keep the news secret. It tends to set up power struggles
between the residents if one of them knows something that the others
don't. The general concensus between work and my family is that I
should have a girl, which means I'll probably have a boy. I'm the only
one who seems not at all concerned with what gender of child I'm
carrying. My clients at work are all very interested in the whole
process of pregnancy and birth so I've been bringing in my books to show
them what the baby looks like right now. One of my male clients was
asking me all about my doctor's appointment and I mentioned that I may
have to have a suture put in to keep the cervix closed. He remarked
that it probably wouldn't be good to have the baby's head hanging out
between my legs! I found his astute observation very amusing. Two of
my female clients are convinced that everything I do is bad for the baby
so I'm constantly being scolded, and yet another female client keeps
telling me that it's "gonna kill" to give birth to a baby "down there".
Until next time, |