Thursday, May 8, 2008

Fatty Fat Fat-Fat!

Today i had my 24 wk doctor appointment.
it was for 9:00 am.

I arrived, book in hand, and was called out of the main room almost right away, one of the advatages to being the first appointment of the day. I was ushered into that tiny room where i was weighed and then had my Blood pressure taken.

I winced as i saw the numbers soar up on the scale... but you're supposed to gain weight, right? The nurse said: "You've gained quite a bit of weight since we last saw you." then after consulting my chart: "But i suppose it's about time you started gaining, you hardly gained any in your first trimester"

After the results were charted, she led me down the hall to the examining room to await my doc. after a few minutes there was a knock on the door and in walked a pretty brunette, not my doctor.

"Hi," she said "I'm an intern and i'm working with Dr. X today. I'm going to take your measurements and listen for the heartbeat. Is that okay?"

do i have a choice?
"okay" i say.

I hop up on the table, and with a bit of maneuvering position myself semi-comfortably and allow the pretty brunette to measure the length of my belly.

Before she starts to listen for the heart, i ask her if it's okay if i video tape it. B-rad hasn't been able to make the appointments and hasn't yet heard the heart. She agreed and i got a pretty good clip.

She marked down a few things and then left.

And i sat.

and sat.

and waited.

and finished 3 chapters in my book.

finally Dr. X waltzes in. She's in her late 50s - early 60s with short black hair sprinkled with grey. She's wearing a Purple Leather Jacket and matching Purple Leather pencil skirt. I remember the last time i saw her she was wearing a red leather jacket and black leather pants. This woman seriously likes her leather.

She is generally friendly, but always in a rush. She looks at my chart for a few seconds, asks how i've been feeling then says: "Well, we'll see you again in about a month" while handing me a requisition form for lab work.

"We're going to have you do some bloodwork next time" she says. "You gained a lot of weight since last time. Ten Pounds! That's too much. You only really lose about 12 pounds at delivery, so you need to keep your weight at a more managable level."

damn. there goes that DQ Blizzard i was going to pick up afterwards

"We're going to be testing you for Gestational Diabetes. Remember, you're eating for ONE not two... this means you can't have that second helping of ice cream, that's all"

daaang

fuck. i don't want gestational diabetes. sigh. this means no more of the good stuff, no more Coke Slurpees, no more chocolatey snacks!?!? WAhhh.... :(

so, my goal for the next month is to not eat like a crazy person. and to get some more excersize.

just as she was about to leave, she asked me about pre-natal classes. I told her i was registered with the health region, but i'm also taking a private prenatal class with a Doula.

She told me that she's had some experiences with Midwives and Doulas and they've been generally positive. "The problem with them," she said "is that they tend to focus more on natural births, y'know. Sometimes if the labour isn't progressing as quickly as it should* we'll rupture the membranes to speed things up, and doulas and midwives generally don't like to do that**... i mean, if you're 3 cm and not progressing - breaking the water can bring you to 6 cm like that! also, they have their opinions about epidurals whereas i personally think that Epidurals are Gods Gift to women!***"

*as it should? - all i could think was how much i don't want any interventions like that, and once again it seemed like a convenience for her, rather than me...

**midwives generally don't like to do that - i thought: "is that cuz that's what the mother wants?"

***Epidurals are Gods Gift to Women - i thought: "SHIT! I'm fucked! - She's going to be pushing drugs on me!" And i quickly recalled one of the Docs from the Film festival saying that the University Hospital is currently doing a "Study" on labouring women and drugs and how they will tend to push you in that direction for the sake of their research....

Dr. X went on to say something about if men were the ones delivering babies epidurals would have been invented hundreds of years ago - and how if the dad gets up in the mom's face for not doing in naturally Dr. X would ask them if they would have their vasectomy's without anesthetics. i don't know, i stopped listening to her and tried to smile as she said her cheerful goodbye.

i left the office thinking that my Doc had made me feel worse about delivering this baby than good. Not that i was concerned for my health or my baby's health... just that this was another person who was trying to lead me away from my birth plan. i felt conflicted - i want to trust my doctor, but this will be tricky when our philosophies don't gel.

all in all, i saw my doc for about 4 minutes.

i got in my car, the clock on the radio said 10:07

Vote for my blog on Mom Blog Network

Vote for my post on Mom Blog Network

10 comments:

Mrs. Dymund said...

Gah! Medical interventions are fantastic - for those who need them. In my experience, most doulas and midwives aren't opposed to women getting what help or intervention they need. Doulas and midwives just tend to wait and see if something is needed before flinging it at a person willy-nilly.

What I told my doctor and doula before my first birth was that I wanted as few interventions as possible. I only wanted something done if it was necessary for my health and the baby's. I had a great doula, and a great doctor who respected my wishes.

I was pushing for a very long time, and the doctor asked if I wanted an episiotomy to help things along. I checked with her that the baby was not in any distress, and chose not to have it. I got nothing but respect from that doctor - in fact, she told me that she hoped when she had kids, she'd do it like me.

It can be really hit and miss, though. I scored a total doorknob on-call at my second birth experience. Fortunately, he and I didn't have to see much of each other, and his resident was great.

I sincerely hope you don't have gestational diabetes. Snacks are necessary.

FourLeafClover said...

Hey - don't let anyone deter you from your birthplan.. (expect Chewie of course, mom's idea of the birthplan and baby's idea of what's going to happen sometimes gel and sometimes don't.)

That said... having had one birth with epidural and one natural birth, I totally agree with the "God's Gift to Women" line. That's just me tho'.

Reesh said...

My immediate thought is that you need to get another doctor - STAT! That woman just scared the bejeebees out of me! No wonder statistically speaking woman who birth with doctor's tend to have more c-sections than those that don't. It's all those interventions that turn a perfectly good slow birth into a monster. It didn't sound like she had any time to ask you what YOU want which is the most important thing, make that the ONLY important thing for her to ask.

Are midwives not covered in SK? When I would go in for my midwife appointments we would have 30 to 45 minutes to sit around and drink tea with our midwife. We never felt rushed and I really felt like we got to know one another and she really did know and understand my birth plan. If it's not covered there then I would definitely recommend a Doula who will stand up for your birth plan so you can just concentrate on breathing your baby out.

Melsie14 said...

Wow, never have I had a doctor tell me that I gained too much wieght during a pregnancy!! And I gained about 65lbs with Madison alone!! Even if they do say that 35lbs is the average "healthy" weight gain.

I'm sorry, but your doctor would've totally offended me. She needs to actually take the time for you and understand what your plan is. I hated having them break my water and I think it's better if it goes on its own. My doctor had a student with her the last couple of visits, but the receptionist lady always asks if it's alright for the student to start the appointment so there isn't any pressure.

I'm sure everything will be fine with your tests, and don't worry about those extra pounds. It's not like you're abusing yourself and not keeping you or Chewie in mind.

FourLeafClover said...

Yah, I agree with Mel on the food thing. I craved Cheezies with Longlegs and my doctor cocked an eye at me and *strongly* recommended I eat something healthier.

Sorry doc. No can do. Baby wants Cheezies! And cheezies he shall have.

Both my babies were incubated on a healthy diet of McDonalds and chips. And they are healthy, happy rays of sunshine.

clara said...

oh good lord. weight gain is *highly* individual. even in different pregnancies in the same woman. my 1st I gained the prescribed 1 lb per week. my 2nd I gained tons at the beginning of the pregnancy and then hardly any in the middle,then a bit at the end. neither of my children is the colour of an M&M - despite my best efforts.

eat what your body tells you to eat.

Eva said...

You should look into getting a midwife...mine was awesome, and the postpartum care I received was amazing. She was at my house every day for a week and a half after my daughter was born, helping with breastfeeding and listening to me when I cried all those postpartum tears. Prenatal care was great too - like Reesh, we had 45 minute appointments, and our in-home visit at week 36 was 2 hours long!! Although I ended up with a TON of intervention, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the midwifery model of care. Or at least a doc who "gets" you. Your plans and ideas are important - this is YOUR baby! And any doc who "scolds" rather than educates seems rather unprofessional to me.

i am the diva said...

thank you everyone for your support! it means a lot to me to have it.

laura

Anonymous said...

Man, you are not lucking out with the doctors since you moved back.

dawntrenee said...

This is a great website. The mommyfest is great fun.
Visit my blog and enter my contest at working mother.

Your Ad Here