January Appointments

stashattack · January 1

Drop how your appointments are going. Remember to only share ultrasound pics in the ultrasound thread!!

pickle-chips · January 1

Posting about an appointment that was supposed to happen but didn’t happen still counts, right?!

I was sent for an ultrasound today, but there were no techs scheduled to work. The person working registration didn’t realize until after 45 mins. So I have to go back tomorrow and they’re just going to try to fit me in 🫠.

stashattack · January 1

@pickle-chips omg that's so frustrating!! I'm so sorry!!

I had my telehealth on Friday and they ordered me an ultrasound. Tuesday can't come soon enough. I'm a little sad DH won't get to be there but no one up here knows yet and both parents live 3hrs out and it's a bit short notice to ask them to come up to watch DD. Imma try and see if they'll let me FaceTime him though.

tumbleweed-1 · January 1

@pickle-chips 45 minutes for a come back tomorrow! I hope they can fit you in really quickly when you return.

emeraldcity603 · January 1

@pickle-chips That’s a pretty big mistake someone made. Wow! I would be pretty upset. Although, that’s 45 minutes of quiet time away from my kids so maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing. 🤪

ki1244 · January 1

@pickle-chips that's some BS. Not cool.

@stashattack can you bring your DD? Our clinic is pretty open about that -- not that they encourage it, but they've said a few times they definitely welcome older siblings. Or does she not know yet?

stashattack · January 1

@ki1244. Idk if they do or not. I'll be going to the radiology department for this dating scan, not our normal clinic. I definitely want to bring her to one scan if they allow it, but for this scan I figured it'd be best not to bring her. Also it's transvaginal. And while I don't want her to feel shame about her body and I want her to be curious, and she sees me naked enough, there's a step to far for me 😹

marmar345 · January 6

This is my first pregnancy and finally have the first doctors appointment and ultrasound on Monday! I found out at 4 weeks and will be 10 weeks at the appointment so it feels like forever and I’m very excited!

stashattack · January 6

My second ultrasound is set for Wednesday but it feels like forever away. I do have a pcp today. I may ask her opinion or just any suggestions. Though I know logically there's nothing I can do really right now.

ccmrc143 · January 6

My first ultrasound is on Wednesday! Of course now I think a work meeting is about to be scheduled over it. I will never get past how long the wait is between positive test and first appointment. After that one, I have MFM for my blood clotting disorder on the 20th and then NIPT on Feb 3. So once it starts rolling it keeps rolling! Today I also reached out to my nurses about some potential resources for depression and anxiety. Hoping they’ll call back with some help.

stashattack · January 6

@ccmrc143 they should come back with some good suggestions for depression and anxiety!

NVM PCP is sick so my appointment got canceled. At least I have therapy on Monday? LOL.

lmn823 · January 6

@marmar345 yay same here I have first ultrasound on Monday and I will be 10 weeks too 🥰

ccmrc143 · January 11

My appointment with ultrasound is in two hours and I’m so so nervous! I keep oscillating between “the baby is not alive” and “there are twins” I also am nervous I won’t like the practice or doctor. I LOVED my doctor at our old practice who delivered DS but we moved across the country. Technically this new place has a better reputation and hospital but it feels a bit bigger and less personal. I will have to do a rotation of all the doctors in the practice and can’t count on a specific person for delivery which is sad but I guess that’s kinda normal and I can handle it.

stashattack · January 11

@ccmrc143 Mines in 3 hours and I'm a wreck too. As someone who went to a large hospital network practice, yeah it's a pain not to know who's going to be on call for your delivery. I was lucky that I was on a placenta study and the Dr who was the Principle Investigator for that study was on call for the delivery for my DD. My old team never showed up. Not that I blame them as it was Christmas, that the Dr who delivered is Jewish LOL.

justyouraveragemama · January 11

@stashattack praying for good news from your ultrasound today!!

lmn823 · January 11

Good luck ladies! Let there be babies!

mrskoehl · January 12

I have a second ultrasound appointment this afternoon to check on baby's growth after two weeks. Feeling a little bit anxious, but from my end, things seem to be progressing as normal. Hope to see a growing little bean today!

gingermama29 · January 12

@mrskoehl same here tomorrow. Assuming all goes well, it will be the farthest I’ve gotten in a pregnancy since my daughter.

ki1244 · January 12

@mrskoehl and @gingermama29 hope both appointments go well!

wendy838 · January 12

I booked a second ultrasound for next Friday so it will be 2 weeks since my first one. Normally ultrasounds are not that frequent in Canada, but I happened to have a requisition form from my family doctor and one from my midwife, so why not use them both

I will take any opportunity to check on the progress of the baby, especially in the tricky first trimester.

tumbleweed-1 · January 12

My appointment is in a little over an hour and I’m starting to feel anxious now. I’m hoping that everything is well, and please, please only one baby in there 😅 I’m not at an increased risk for twins, just terrified at the idea

tumbleweed-1 · January 13

So, there wasn’t an u/s today, I guess that’s not routinely first appointment here. I have one scheduled for Monday now. But to my midwife was able to pick up a heartbeat on the Doppler. I forgot how much blood gets taken. I don’t like needles, so that was the worst part.

estadt · January 13

I have my ultrasound today at 12:30 and I don’t know how I plan to focus on work this morning till it’s time to go!

novelblessings · January 13

@tumbleweed-1 you and me both with the needles! I’m not looking forward to getting my bloodwork done next week.

ccmrc143 · January 13

@tumbleweed-1 yay for a heartbeat in the Doppler! And yes agreed. I have bruising from my blood draw yesterday. During labor with my first, the nurse kept bursting my vein and I ended up needing someone else to insert the needle. After he was born I had streaks of bruising up both arms and honestly it was one of the most painful parts of the whole experience

emeraldcity603 · January 13

@ccmrc143 She KEPT bursting your veins. She would have burst one and have been done. That is ridiculous. If you can’t do an IV you need to pass it off to someone who can.

ccmrc143 · January 13

@emeraldcity603 you’re right!! It took her three tries before she called someone else. It was awkward and she felt terrible but I felt worse 😂😂

emeraldcity603 · January 13

@ccmrc143 I didn’t even get an IV last time. I ended up birthing at a birthing center. It was great. My labor was short and they monitored us for 2 hours and then we went home. They also came to my house for the appointments that following week to weigh baby and check on me.

ccmrc143 · January 13

@emeraldcity603 that sounds like a dream. I was induced because of medication management for my blood thinners. I was on board with it, not at all pressured. I also needed two IVs because my clotting disorder means they needed a line ready for a blood transfusion, in addition to the one for fluids and pitocin. I’m tempted by a lower intervention method this time but we’ll see what MFM says — if they give me lovenox for the duration of the pregnancy they may insist upon induction, which I get, but I will only do it again if I’m already at 4cm. No balloon! Man, thinking about birth again has me excited and nervous!

emeraldcity603 · January 13

@ccmrc143 I’m never ready for labor until I’m so uncomfortable that I’m doing every possible thing to get the baby out. At that moment I’m ready. All I can think about it is how bad it’s going to hurt. I have delivered 4 babies non medicated and for some reason I’m not able to just forget how bad it hurts anymore.

I went to a MFM doctor last time for extra scans to monitor heart development etc. we have a heart defect that runs in our family and 2 of our boys have it. Eventually they will need a valve replacement. Anyways, every time I was at the MFM the doctor was always pushing extra interventions. It really rubbed me the wrong way. You situation is totally different but she took the fact that I went into preterm labor with my first and decided I should take progesterone shots for the duration of my pregnancy. She completely disregarded the fact every other pregnancy was full term.

lmn823 · January 13

Wow @emeraldcity603 bless you for those 4 non medicated deliveries! Are you doing it again for this pregnancy?

I’m a FTM I’m trying to figure out which option would be best for me. Not sure which direction I want to be. Birthing center hospital non medicated medicated! Decisions decisions…

novelblessings · January 13

I was up last night, already thinking about labor and what I want this time. It’s making me anxious this time around. I was induced twice due to high blood pressure. Other than pitocin I didn’t have anything else and I labor fast so once I do hit my limit I’m in transition about to push both times, so too late for meds. I’m freaked out about needles but I feel I’m more likely to ask for that epidural this time. We have months to mentally prepare right?!

ki1244 · January 13

@novelblessings I had an epidural last time and I'm awful with needles (I can't even watch myself getting a flu shot) but I just told them to NOT let me see anything and it was totally fine. I actually had to have them do it twice because the first time they had me lay on my back and the baby went into distress so I had to roll to my side, and then one leg was like a brick and the other had full feeling. So they hit me with round 2. Of course it wore off by the time I actually delivered (I was banging the damn button going WHY IS NOTHING HAPPENING WHERE IS THE GD MEDICINE and was informed "well, you've been at this a while...") so watching my OB prep for an episiotomy without medication, and then actually delivering, was kind of horrifying. But the epidural itself was nothing. If I don't wind up with a C section I will absolutely be having another epidural and any other drugs they can give me.

novelblessings · January 13

@kri1244 I may have more questions when we get closer 😂. Just freaks me out. I’m reading up on it though. Did it feel like loss of control or you felt ok? The other reason I never did it with the last two is I wanted to feel like I had some control. I’m fine with the rest of the process weirdly enough. I had an episiotomy with my first and minor tear with my second.

emeraldcity603 · January 13

@lmn823 The plan is another birthing center delivery. So yes, another non medicated delivery. My last labor started right at transition so no slow progression. It wasn’t my shortest but it was still fast. I don’t like all the COVID hoops at the hospital. Between the aggressive push for the vaccine at every appointment and the possibility of being forced to labor in a mask I just can’t do the hospital. Plus, they refused to let me bring my kids to any appointments so once I moved to 2 appointments per month I had to get prenatal care elsewhere because I couldn’t make the appointments work with my husband’s schedule. My midwife was a little too hands off for my liking. I had to ask her to do more frequent heart checks. If she had broke my water my baby would have been born half an hour after arriving. Like I said, super quick. I think my husband liked the birthing center more than me. He wants to leave right after the baby is born. It was great going home and just being in my own bed. Plus the home visits were amazing. No juggling the other kids and I didn’t need to drive. I just focused on snuggling the baby. I keep telling myself it’s just transition that hurts so bad. That I can do it again. My last 3 babies hurt the entire time coming out. I felt every single body part. Recover is easier for me without an epidural. I just can’t push as easy with one. They are always too strong.

lmn823 · January 13

@emeraldcity603 wow so informative. Good to know from other experiences. I will have to see what my options are with my insurance. I also am “geriatric pregnancy” age lol of old 38 by the time I give birth. From what I’m reading about birthing centers, I’m not considered eligible? I still am doing my research

emeraldcity603 · January 13

@lmn823 I’ll be 39 when I deliver this baby. I haven’t ever been told my age was a problem. I have also given birth a lot with very little complication with any of my babies. So I have a track record they can look at when determining what I would and wouldn’t be eligible for.

ki1244 · January 14

@novelblessings oh heck no, I didn't feel like I was giving up control of anything. It's pain medication. If I have a headache, I take Tylenol and don't feel like I'm giving up control there either. If I'm pushing a watermelon out my lady bits, I either need a crap ton of Tylenol or something a little bit stronger. I was just pissed there wasn't more of it during the actual delivery part because that was the piece that hurt like a b. I still had a third degree tear even with the episiotomy, but push for three hours and deliver a kid the size of a 3 month old and I guess it's not terribly surprising. It's possible the epidural slowed things down for me I guess, but the nurses told me I was getting good pushes, I just had a monster hanging out wedged under my pubic bone. But absolutely no chance in hell I'm doing that again without medication if I can help it at all.

To be fair though...I'm fairly "do your job and I'll do mine" with doctors. My dad is a retired medical school professor and doctor of 40+ years so I find myself fairly comfortable in most medical settings and have a particular kind of doctor I seek out. I can read as many books as I want, or do as much research as I can, I still have never gone to med school nor delivered babies, plural, so I figure I'm better off letting them tell me what they think is best and if it goes against my values I'll push back bit otherwise I'll roll with it. (So my beef with my current OB is based on that, with her kind of pushing against my values, but I'm also willing to stay for another appointment and see if that was a one-off as I kind of suspect it was, or if that's a portent of things to come.) My OB last time gave me a worksheet for my birth plan and I handed it back to her almost blank, and in the notes section wrote "deliver my kid, and preferably leave me alive also". So when she asked if I wanted an epidural, I was like "sure? If that's what's best" and she said "the way this baby is measuring you'll be IRATE if you don't have one." So yep, epidural it was.

tumbleweed-1 · January 14

If I may piggy back some off @ki1244 as well for any FTM possibly reading and thinking of their birth plans, I had an unmedicated birth and ended nearly in the same situation: a 3rd degree tear off an episiotomy after 3 hours of pushing. But in hindsight, I sometimes wonder if had I’d had the epidural, would I have pushed more effectively? Perhaps rather than slowing down labor, it could have given me the early rest and overall sped it up 🤷🏻‍♀️ My DS was an average size newborn and not large by any means, he was also positioned well for birth. I was just spent. I was falling asleep between contractions at that point and didn’t really have any strength left.

I’d naively thought I’d have a quick and easy labor because I had an easy pregnancy and was still sort of active (I’d tied my own boot laces the day my early labor started at 41 weeks & some days pregnant). This time I’m planning to go unmedicated again, but I’m going to really rest and eat as much as I can early on and expect it to go as slow.

One other unmedicated birth note, a strong argument I hear in favor of it is the flooding of hormones and immediate bonding. It still took me 3 days to bond to my DS after he was born. All this to say, to each their own. And also any plan may very likely not go according to plan.

emeraldcity603 · January 14

@novelblessings I have had 3 epidurals. Two were with my first 2 babies and one was….TW…with my first miscarriage. I opted to deliver her and just wanted to not feel anything….end TW. I always waited until my pain was high enough that the fear of the needle wasn’t a big deal. With my second baby, had they checked me again they would have told me no. I sat up and could feel her head. I told them to hurry the hell up and get it in. I ended up with an episiotomy with that delivery. The epidural was so strong I couldn’t push effectively and she got in distress. So she cut me so she could get her out fast. If you want the epidural, definitely don’t hesitate to get it. You can ask for it to be low. I was just telling my MIL to push the button every time it turned green. Which is why it got so high. My daughter was pushing against my sciatic nerves and I got shooting pain down both legs with every contraction. Her head was ginormous

msjaay · January 14

I’m team whatever works! I labored for around 36 hours on pitocin with no progress and me and my doula had tried all of the things (tub, squats, bouncing on the ball, sitting on the toilet, tons of different positions). I was getting exhausted and she was afraid I would be worn out when it came time to push so she suggested the epidural and I got it placed a few hours later. I slept a few hours and somehow was at a 10. She said I probably had a very tight pelvic floor and just wasn’t able to relax. The epidural allowed me to get some sleep and for my body to relax. And thank goodness bc I pushed for 4 hours. I would’ve ended up with a c-section for sure if I didn’t have the opportunity for rest. This time I’m going in with the same mindset. If it’s moving around unmediated, then great. If I need an epidural to help me relax and give me a push, let’s do that.

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