Medical follow-up #2

We went to my second medical appointment this morning.

First checked in for some blood tests and then went to see the OB-Gyn nurse for standard questions before seeing the doc.

16 weeks & 1 day pregnant
weight: 197lbs (+2.5 lbs since first exam, still 3 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight)
blood pressure: normal

Then we sat in the hall waiting for the OB-gyn to arrive... I was her first appointment of the day but she got there 45 minutes late.

The clinic I'm followed by is a CLSC, and the way they are doing it is with a team of 4 OBs who take turns at seeing me and it guarantees me that one of them will be the one helping me with the delivery.

Meet the team of OBs:

1. A young, kind woman I felt confortable with but who might lack in experience... she sent me for an ultrasound when she couldn't find the baby's heart with the doppler at first appointment.
2. Another young, kind woman who passed me the ultrasound when the heartbeat was not heard at first appointment.
3. No information yet
   
4. No information yet

So the appointment of this morning was with OB #2. When she finally got there, she was a completely different person than the first time I'd met her... I first thought of her as a lovely person and now... well...

She's complaining that her colleague was inexperienced with sampling for chlamydia testing so she'll have to take another sample. When I ask her if there's a way we can find out the heart rate from the first ultrasound (I thought it might be written in the file or something) she acted if I was wasting her time with silly questions. She only said it was useless and stupid to think it could help predict the baby's gender and that she didn't have it. I responded that I didn't mind that it was irrelevant to her, I would have been interested to know the heartrate anyways.

I went on the table for the routine examination and she took another sample for the chlamydia test.

She then took the doppler and found the baby's heart pretty fast... It was our first time hearing it but she didn't even smile or comment on it. Again, she didn't bother taking the heartrate and I was too intimidated to count it in front of her. DF (a musician) thinks it sounded close to 120bpm so I'm gonna go with that for now...

When she asked if we had other questions she could answer...

1. I asked what I could expect from the next visit... It's my first pregnancy and I don't know if all appointments are created equal or if there are important milestones along the road to which DF would prefer being there with me. ANSWER: All appointments are important. What MORE would you like us to measure during an appointment?
2. Then DF decided to ask her about the muscular contractions I've been getting a lot recently. It's only a tightening of my uterus that lasts for 3-4 seconds and is painless but it seems to happen everytime I sneeze from a sitting position... Because they are painless it never worried me and I was blaming the body transformation for those hiccups... ANSWER: Those are NOT contractions. Those are nothing.
3. I then asked about the gender identification and she said it would all be done at the 20 weeks exam and again complained about the fact OB #1 did not send the request for an appointment to the hospital so she's gonna have to send the request.
   

She looked very impatient and did not provide answers to our questions so we gave up and left. I was pretty irritated and disappointed because my first impression was so different of her. I think for the purposes of thiss blog I will refer to my 4 OBs by nicknames instead of numbers and this one just got herself the nickname Dr. Jekyll.

So we now have:

1. Dr. Doogie - the inexperienced one
   
2. Dr. Jekyll - the one with multiple personnality disorder
3. Dr. ? - will be evaluated in time
   
4. Dr. ? - will be evaluated in time
   

I'm curious about meeting the other 2 now...

2 weeks have passed

2 weeks have passed since my last post on this blog.
2 weeks have passed since the last update from my buddy group on Ovusoft...

It this a strange coincidence or are all the June moms to be going through some quiet phase where nothing needs to be discussed anymore?

The last two weeks have kept me very busy.

Emotionnally, I'm still on "the teenager" rollercoaster ride that is preoccupying me. A lot.

Physically, I'm less tired than in my first trimester, but definitely more tired than before getting pregnant. We are also in the middle of our big renovation project preparing a new computer/laundry room so that the former computer room can become a nursery) and all our weekends are shaped around that new to-do list:

• removing the sink and reorganizing the water pipes - check
• building an enclosure for the water tank - check
• removing the ceiling - check
• plastering/painting the walls - check
• installing new floor
• installing a countertop
• installing new suspended ceiling
• installing new heating system
• installing new lights

I have to say I'm very lucky that my parents come by every weekend and walk us through all the steps. They are a lot more confortable than we are with that kind of construction work and we could never do it on our own. Not only are they generous enough to provide us with the help we need, but they are patient enough to make this a great learning experience.

So to recap the last 2 weeks:

• week 13 -> baby was the size of a peach
• week 14 -> baby is now the size of a lemon

Hmmm lemon... why do I love lemon so much? With just a touch of salt, this has got to be one of my favorite fruits in the bowl.

On another note, somebody else is now pregnant at work, making us... 4 expecting mothers for the spring/summer 2010.

Note to self: it's probably time for another belly picture. There has definitely been some change since the one I took at 8 weeks...

There, I just did it again!

The last post was about how sorry I was to not give news about my pregnancy, and, it turned into a soap opera of what we're going through as a young couple dealing with teen issues.

AND I FORGOT TO GIVE THE PREGNANCY UPDATE.

Lol. I least I admit it, right?

This morning, I went to the CLSC to have my blood and urine sampled for analysis. The doc forgot to tell me to not eat in the 12 hours prior to those tests so, sure enough, I'll have to return for 2 of them, before my next appointment.

I then took the opportunity to make the appointment for my 2nd visit - which was completely forgotten when dealing with the "no-heartbeat-situation" of last visit:

My next appointment is on Friday Dec. 18th at 9h10 (I will be 14 weeks and 5 days pregnant by then).

Other than this, I've noticed my weight is finally starting to move a bit: I've gained every pound I had lost since the beginning of my pregnancy. This morning, I was back at the very round number of 200 lbs, but I've had a few too many "big heavy meals" recently so I'm not sure it'll stay up for very long when my diet comes back to normal.

On this note, this is the image of what our 12 weeks old fetus looks like.

I'm sorry

I'm so sorry that I have been neglecting to post regular updates on my pregnancy in the last couple of days...

To be honest, the pregnancy is going so well I have a tendency to forget I'm pregnant in the first place. I have very few to no symptoms and my energy level is back where it should be during the day. I tend to go to bed a little earlier than my normal time and get the sore breasts every once in a while but that's about it.

While all my fears and anxiety towards the possibility of a miscarriage have vanished along entering the 2nd trimester, I don't think I'm that much calmer per se. The source of my anxiety has only shifted to some other personal concerns surrounding the proper education and rehabilitation of my sixteen year old nephew living with us.

It seems like every day that pass, we barely have the time to digest the bad deeds of yesterday that we find out more of his "bad surprises". Just as we are getting over the fact that he was caught in possession of weed in school, we realise there's a lot more to it. Not only is he a regular consumer, he is also a dealer.

Going through this large wheel of emotions (disappointed, worry, doubt, suspicion, frustration and feeling of betrayal), you might easily understand how I tend to forget my pregnancy at times. I'm just so overwhelmed with a critical situation happening right under my nose, and that has to be rapidly dealt with, that the pregnancy has been put on hold for now.

What can I do with him? How can I trust him in my house? What are my options? Should we continue dealing with this or simply give up? Those are some of the questions that now occupy my every thought.

Fortunately, I think I'm dealing with these kind of worries better than the risks of miscarriage. It's not necessarily easier, but I'm less emotional about it and my current fears are a lot more rational, so I'm grateful for that. I'm trying to take a step back at the situation and not let it get the best of me. So far, I'm doing ok, but DF is having a hard time and I'm not willing to let this put any distance between us, especially in such a critical period of our lives. We have to find a solution to this, and find the courage to do it.