9 Week Update

Yesterday I had my first appointment with the OB/GYN's office. I met with a nurse who seemed more interested in filling out the form than asking how I was doing, and insisted, contrary to the RE (who I think is a BIT more knowledgeable) that my due date was over 2 weeks later. Apparently even though my cycle wasn't "normal" thanks to it being medicated, they still want to use my last period as the starting date. NO. NO. NO. (If you could see or hear how hard I'm hitting the keyboard on those no's you'd be able to understand my frustration with this thinking.)

A urine pregnancy test which (by the way, it came back positive...shocking!) seemed just slightly redundant after 3 betas and an ultrasound, and 7 vials of blood taken were the extent of the the testing done at this appointment. I didn't even get weighed, a UTI test, or a doppler check.

Maybe I'm spoiled, or at least just used to the RE routine - bottoms off, on the table, quick poke with an ultrasound wand, people who are at least semi-familiar with your chart - but frankly, I'm a little shocked that they don't do a first ultrasound until 12-13 weeks, and I have to go to their satellite office where they keep the "certified ultrasound technicians." (Actually since DH wants to be there, that location works out better as it means he doesn't have to head so far into town, but that doesn't mean I understand why they don't have the u/s techs in the main office.)

And I'm disappointed that the nurse doing the intake treated me like I'd never been to the practice before, even though my chart is at least an inch thick and many of the questions that she asked had already been answered on prior visits, completely disregarded the letter sent by the RE, and also didn't give a flip that I had brought the ultrasound printout with the dating that the nurse I had originally spoken to in making the appointment had told me to bring.

As I mentioned last week, DH has been after me to contemplate changing practices. I've been resistant, feeling despite some hiccups with the GYN in terms of how some early testing was approached, that I was comfortable with the practice. But after this visit I'm not sure that I am as comfortable as I thought I was. Unfortunately there are only two other practices in town - one seems to cater to the menopausal set and the other (recently opened) is a satellite office to a practice in a town I avoid as much as possible. The only other option is to go the other direction, towards Richmond, but that means a bunch more travel time for appointments, and I'm not sure I want to drive forty-five minutes to an hour to a hospital when I'm in labor. Feeling between a rock and a hard place I am.

For now, I've got an appointment with an actual doctor next week who I assume will do a pelvic exam, pap smear (though I don't know what would have changed since October), and go over the lab results. I'm hoping they'll throw in a doppler, but I'm not holding my breath anymore. My ultrasound isn't scheduled until Feb. 16th, so I should be (by my and the RE's calculations) at the end of week 13. They tried to schedule it for the following week and I'm afraid I threw a bit of a hissy fit regarding the difference in opinion on dating.

They also sent me home with a goodie bag with things like pre-natal vitamin samples (hello, the carbon of the RX your Dr. gave me for prenatals is sitting in my file right next to your arm!), pre-baby shopping guides from Babies-R-Us and Target, the December issue of Fit Pregnancy, a flier about Folic Acid (see prenatal RX comment above) and the office printed-and-bound guide to pregnancy. Which is only concerning because the front cover lists the nurse-practitioner I used to see at the practice. The thing is, she left the practice over 2 years ago. (Warning, Will Robinson, danger!) Now I know that forms don't always get updated quickly, but that seems a little ridiculous.

After getting home from Bunco last night, I started to flip through the magazine and other paperwork. Holy baby care Batman! Looks like I'm going to have to do some intensive cramming over the next 7 months.

Still with the morning sickness and general nausea when I haven't eaten recently enough. Still with the fruit cravings - currently satisfied by applesauce, cherries, and tangerines. I'm back on Caffeine Free Coke and enjoyed a large glass of 2% milk last night, but water is still only good for a short time after events of stomach eruptus. Not so much with the tomato products any more - but I haven't picked up any other desires though a Wendy's frosty can still rock my world.

Oh, and, surprise, I'm down a couple pounds from before I got pregnant.