Goodbye, Hello

Friday , April 27^th – 10W, 2D

This has been a busy busy week in the life of our growing Puglet.  Monday morning we had our final appointment at Dr. K’s office; it was definitely bittersweet.  Over the past 9 months, we formed a bond with Dr. K, the nurses and the ultrasound technician in the office.  Knowing this was the last time we’d see them in a long time was wonderful but a little sad at the same time.  Through the process, they were awesome…patient, kind, caring, compassionate.  I truly believe they treated TeamPug the way they would want to be treated themselves and we couldn’t have asked for anything more.  During the appointment, Dr. K preformed our final transvaginal ultrasound…checking growth (still right on target) and heartbeat (160 BPM) one final time.  She answered a few questions and asked to see pictures or bring the baby to the office once he or she is born.

On Wednesday, we had our first appointment with the OB/GYN practice we’ll see throughout the pregnancy.  I didn’t choose them based on recommendation…I found the office closest to our home that also accepts our insurance and figured we’d start there.  The office and associated hospital I’ll likely deliver at are about 5 minutes away...convenience was obviously my driving force.

In one word, the visit was underwhelming.  The office was nice and the admin staff seemed friendly enough as they asked me to complete some paperwork and took my insurance.  The first person we saw was an ultrasound technician who seemed annoyed she had to wait an extra minute for JPug to sign in.  From there, she escorted us back into the ultrasound room where she logged our information into the computer and asked me to take a seat.  She asked that I pull my pants down to my hips and my shirt up just below my bra.  I’m so used to transvaginal ultrasounds I didn’t even think that I’d get to have the more traditional, top of the belly kind.  She squirted some jelly on my abdomen and went to work with her magic wand. 

The picture from this type of ultrasound is different…rather than seeing planes (body and hands/feet but maybe no arms/legs), we could see the whole baby.  She took some measurements, which continue to be right on target (10 weeks exactly) and the heartbeat was 153.  At one point, she found a clear, open picture of the baby and showed how it was moving around like crazy.  It was really amazing…little Puglet having a private dance party.  Although the ultrasound technician was never rude, she wasn’t friendly and seemed to rush through every step the process.  As we finished up, she asked us to wait in a different waiting area, but seemed annoyed we didn’t know where we were going.

A few minutes later, we were escorted to an exam room and waited for the nurse practitioner to arrive.  A care assistant asked some basic questions and the practitioner came in about 15 minutes later.  She went over my health history, discussed current medications, the lab tests they’d be running, whether we wanted to complete the recommended birth defect testing and talked a few minutes about the practice itself.  When she was finished, she answered our questions.  Just like the ultrasound technician…she seemed uninterested in us…like she’d rather be seeing her next patient.

Once we were finished, we moved back into the waiting area for my final stop of the day, the phlebotomist.  Of all the blood I’ve had drawn since we started with Dr. K…this lady was the worst drawer by far.  Considering it was only one needle, I have quite the bruise on my arm.  If my experience with the lab technician isn’t any better in the future, I’ll either have blood drawn through the hospital I work at or at a local Quest lab…neither of which have caused discomfort in the past.

I’m interested to see how our next appointment…on Wednesday, May 23^rd...will go.  We’ll see an actual doctor for the visit and I’m anxious to see if their bedside manner is any friendlier than our initial experience.  If not, we might forego convenience and look for another OBGYN practice that seems to be a better fit.  One note, I’m not looking for a best friend or someone to hold my hand and coddle me through the process.  But, I am looking for a physician or group of physicians who treat me the way I would treat them if the roles were reversed.