It seems that everyone has an opinion on the medical profession and I had been hearing more and more that there are better doctors outside of this city. Yesterday, I had heard some things about my current doctor from the school nurse, who used to work at the clinic and witnessed first-hand the care in this town.
The school nurse, who recently had her third child, HIGHLY recommends using a midwife. She provided me with a list of midwives, doctors and a reputable OB/GYN in this town. She informed me that my current doctor is NOT qualified to call herself an OB/GYN, but strictly is family practice. (When we looked online on the Aetna insurance website, it confirmed that she truly is classified as Family Practice, despite the false advertising that we had received.)
The school guidance counselor, who is pregnant right now, HIGHLY recommends her OB/GYN in the next town over - about 14 miles away. She said that she had hopes of using a midwife for her first pregnancy, but ended up upgrading to a doctor and then again, to the OB/GYN. She wishes that she would have gone straight to the OB/GYN and asks herself "what was I thinking?".
So, one thing that we CAN agree upon is the fact that our doctor (while she seems to be a very nice person) does not feel like a "good fit" for us. When we see her, we feel as if we are there so that she can practice medicine and we did not get the feeling that she was at all there to see us.
Having read a good portion of the "What to Expect when Expecting" book, I was confused how people can switch around to find just the right doctor. I feel a little bad running out on her, but in the same respect, this is our first child and however routine it may be for her, we want this to feel special for us.
I did not want to be a pain-in-the-butt who jumps from doctor-to-doctor. I explained to Mike that if I go to the Mexican restaurant and order "the combination platter", I don't want to be the pain-in-the-butt who tries to substitute everything in that combination platter to make my own combination; I like to be the non-picky person who can order off the menu as-is. He corrected me by saying "Yes, but if the food is not good at that Mexican restaurant, you don't have to go back there to eat." (Like my indecision when picking off the menu in a restaurant, I still remain rather indecisive in this matter. Let it be known that I had a difficult time deciding between a midwife and an OB/GYN.... but Mike reminds me that "at least you easily decided that we should find a new doctor".) I guess I should be proud of those "baby steps".
When I called this afternoon to see if the nearby OB/GYN is taking new patients, the nurse was SO NICE! I explained that we had an initial confirmed pregnancy at 4wk/4d and that we had our first appointment, after waiting the suggested 5 weeks (9wk/5d) in order to hear the heartbeat and then we were not given that opportunity at all.
She asked "So you have not yet heard your baby's heartbeat?"
"Nope. Just an ultrasound with a machine that was reportedly out of paper and not refillable."
"Well, that just isn't right. You need to hear the heartbeat of your baby!" she said.
She suggested that in the coming weeks, we gather medical records and lab results. The new doctor's office was going to send out a new patient info packet. Then, she suggested that if possible, we should try to come in ASAP during the 15-18 week window because that is when the 'quad screen' is completed.
For an initial appointment, there are specific slots allotted; however, none of these worked with both of our work schedules and Mike wants to attend the appointments very much as well. They were SO accommodating to sneak us in on a day/time when they don't normally do it, but told us that they would work around it to make it work for us. (We might have been able to pull a string to get in on the morning of Monday, December 1st because there is no school that day, but Mike can't be late for the weekly Monday meeting so, we played it safe and went for a later date.)
After talking with them on the telephone, I felt a sense of relief and am looking forward to our first appointment with our new OB/GYN on Thursday, December 11 - which will be here before we know it! (Guess the baby news will be a slightly late birthday present for Grandpa Guard 12/9 and Grandma Olson 12/10!) We're hoping to record the heartbeat, at least, so we have something EXCITING to post on our BabyBlog.
13 weeks felt pretty good. Hard to imagine that we are 1/3 of the way done already.
Time sure flies when you're having fun.... check back on the "fun factor" in the 8th month, right?
Baby needs a bedtime snack and some sleep. (Sore back, for some reason, caused a rather restless night for me last night so, I am looking forward to a good night of sleep tonight.)
Time to go count some sheep... Zzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzz!
No comments:
Post a Comment