Just got back from my first Dr’s appointment, the one where they are supposed to confirm the pregnancy with a blood test. Well, let’s just say it was very uneventful. I mean, I know it’s still early and all, and I wasn’t expecting an ultrasound or anything, but if you’re going to make me meet with a Dr (I thought I would just have my blood drawn by a nurse) at least give me five minutes to ask him some questions! For the love of Pete, I don’t even know how many times I can have tuna melts this week (which sound like heaven on a plate to me right now) and my husband read yesterday that I’m supposed to avoid aerosol! Is that like all aerosol, completely, or am I just supposed to avoid the 80’s Texas Aqua-net pageant queen look?
When I got to the office, I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me until I heard a girl crying in another room. Now, I don’t know this girl, or what was wrong with her, but I immediately thought, “Oh no, I hope she didn’t just loose her baby or something!” WTF?! What a morbid little thought! Then it occurred to me that this pregnancy technically isn’t “real” until the blood test confirms it. The wave of nervousness, possibly mixed with some nausea, passed over me just in time for the nurse to call me back.
At least the nurse was excited for me. She congratulated me, asked how long we’d been married, what the grandparents would think, etc. She then told me not to read or buy any pregnancy books, which I thought was a little weird. She said that this was my “experimental” baby and that my Dr should tell me everything I need to know. Great! You can see why I was expecting to have at least a 15 minute convo. with the guy on what to do, what to eat, maybe some pamphlets…I don’t know…something.
It must have been no more than five minutes from the time the Dr walked in the room to the time he ushered me out to get my blood drawn. He asked for the first day of my last period. I tried to explain to him that I charted and could pinpoint my exact ovulation date. Being the teacher’s pet that I am, I proudly presented my chart to him. At least he humored me by pretending to study it for 30 seconds. He then handed it back to me, and proceeded to go with the first day of LMP thing on his chart, then sent me out for tests. I thought, surely, that could not be all, that he would meet up with me again after the tests. Nope. I was sent out to check out in a matter of minutes with some recs for a local OB – that I can’t visit for another 4 weeks!!
HELLO PEOPLE! THIS IS A BIG DEAL TO ME!!!
When that nurse said this was my experimental baby, I’m hoping she didn’t mean…you know, like the cave-women did it…no books, no medical advice, just experiment and see what works for you and your baby. Uhhh….I don’t work that way. I don’t think I will need a manual on how to do everything when it comes to pregnancy and parenting, but it would be nice to get some sort of cheat sheet to get me started.
So here I am, eating my HEATED turkey and cheese sandwich, feeling a little woozy from the blood tests, worried that the results will contradict what I know to be true, and looking on Amazon for a pregnancy book to get me through the next four weeks. And….I think it’s time for a nap.
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5 comments
At some point, you are going to get sick of comments from me that say “Me too!” But I totally understand how you feel. Since I spotted a lot during my luteal phase, when I got the positive pregnancy test, I saw the doctor immediately. The past week has been full of trips to the doctors appointments for blood tests to confirm that my HCG levels are doubling. Even though things have been fine so far, it feels like the doctors are not acknowledging that I am pregnant. I know that they aren’t used to people coming in for a blood test at 12 dpo, so they aren’t accustomed the the hcg levels that come with that early of a pregnancy. But, hello! I’m still pregnant!!!! Even if it is early, it’s still a pregnancy!
I just bought “Your Pregnancy Week by Week” and the first few weeks aren’t that helpful. Maybe we can write a book called “Everything you need to know in the first weeks of pregnancy when no one will acknowledge that you are pregnant.” It’d be a hit among the charters!
Anyway- good luck with the blood work and waiting for your next appointment!
Callie, I can’t imagine that I’ll ever get tired of the “Me too!” comments. It makes me feel very good to know I’m not the only one to think or feel these things! Your book idea is genius…I suggest you get to writing, you could make millions by the time your kid is a year old : )
aw, that does bite. and is why I refuse to go to a doctor for my pregnancy, and am seeing midwives instead. they actually acknowledge that I’m a. not an incubator, b. have questions and c. want to find out more about what the hell my body’s doing…
I really like “From the Hips” as a pregnancy (and baby) manual – non-judgemental, tells you other books to look into about subjects they talk about and has these fugly-drawn pictures of people and babies.
I just got turned onto your blog and I love it. I also just had my first dr’s appointment yesterday and YES it seemed like nobody would acknowledge I was pregnant. I was totally confused! What was worse, was when the Dr came in my room, the first thing she asked was “What can I do for you today?” And I answered, “uh, I have no idea what we’re suppose to do.”
This is part of why I want to be a midwife. Unlike doctors, a midwife would probably have spent at least a half an hour talking to you and recommending books for you to read! They actually like to develop connections with their patients. Imagine that!