Doctors Appointment

princezjk

Tomorrow is my first post partum visit after my dd was born sleeping on 5/18. I am just wondering what I should expect and what questions I should think to ask. We still don't have any answers as to what led to Izzie's heart to stop beating, so I am not sure if they will have more info or not. Just very anxious for this visit and looking for any advice. Thank you.

amandager99

DH and I have been talking about this for the past week.  Because of our experience with OB at the hospital we have so many questions.  In our 36 hours there, we probably saw him no more than 15 minutes.  I've been writing down every question we can think of just in case my actual OB doesn't answer anything as she starts to talk to us.  Our appointment isn't until Thursday.  I'm anxious and terrified.

Heatherhah

My suggestion for questions is

1. What will change next time around meaning more testing , u/s , NSTs , steriods for lungs developement and maybe even delivering early to save you the stress  of worrying about  losing another baby late in pregnancy. ( we lost Sydney at 38 wks 4 days and with my rainbow I had an amnio done at 36 weeks with steriods done at 31 wks and delivered her at 36wks 4 days).

I ended up doing all of that my rainbow pregnancy and while it helped to get my baby here it was still tough but my doctor knew I where I was coming from. I switched doctors after our loss and my new doctor was prepared and was ready to help us.

Good luck at your appointment they will just ask you standard questions and ask about Birth control and stuff like that. My doctor knew I was trying again asap.

Heather

PerkyErky

Like Heather said ask what will happen next time. For us we lost our daughter due to an incompetent cervix so I had lots of questions about cerclages and monitoring. I know you have a different experience and no real answers, but definitely ask about things that will help for future pregnancies. I also asked when we could start trying for our rainbow. It felt a little like betraying the daughter just lost to ask about trying for another, but I knew we wanted a baby and would be trying again so I had to ask. Good luck at your appt and remember you can always call later with questions you forget to ask or come up with later.

shandorfml2

Good luck to everyone having upcoming appointments. It is hard, especially to see your doc. again (abit like PTSD!) write questions down when you come up with them. Things I asked about (DD was stillborn at 36w 5days, no known cause)

1. more info about any tests they ran on her (they took some umbilical cord, and tested the placenta)

2. any tests to run on me? (I had clotting blood work done)

3. What do we do different next time? more testing/NST/ultrasounds? she stated we could induce at 37 weeks next time. 

4. Where do we go from here? how long do we try until we come in again if no luck?

5. When can we start trying again?

I think those were my biggies...

TimesInfinity9

My loss was found at 21 weeks and my baby had stopped growing/heart stopped approx 3 weeks before (unknown cause) so I probably had slightly different questions (and answers) then some of you ladies who were much further along. My follow up appt was 1 week afterwards and my main questions were:

1. At what point do I need to come back in for an ultrasound if I am still bleeding to make sure everything is ok? her answer: after 3 weeks

2. How long should we wait before trying again? her answer: 1 cycle

3. Is there any testing we should do before trying again? her answer: in my case, no

4.  What will happen differently for my next pregnancy? Can I have more checkup appointments, more ultrasounds, any extra testing etc? her answer: we can do an earlier first appt around 8 weeks and can do an ultrasound then if we want to, although everything was fine for us at that point for this pregnancy.  She said we can also do another ultrasound around 13-14 weeks and then the normal 20 week ultrasound. We can also do more frequent checkups to check the heartbeat with the doppler in between. I will probably also do the Nuchal Translucency testing this time.

 My OB was really awesome and she said she understood that we would be more worried next time and that she is willing to do whatever it takes to help make it easier and less stressfull on us.

ETA Good luck with your appointment tomorrow!

angelsnight

At my appointment, the nurse came in and talked to us, asked us a few questions about our daughter (what we named her, if we had a service, etc).  Then my doctor came in, we talked about how I am feeling and she prescribed me an antidepressant because I asked for it.  She talked about our loss and basically how we had no answers, but that they did think it was due to an incompetent cervix.  We discussed a future pregnancy and she explained how I might feel, and she assured me that they were prepared to do whatever I need to feel reassured.  Then she did a quick internal exam, just her fingers, no speculum.  I was 3 weeks postpartum so I would worried about the exam being painful but it literally took two seconds and didn't hurt at all. 

However on the way to the exam room, I heard a heartbeat in another room and I burst out crying.  It may be very hard for you to go back there now, so just know that if you get upset, don't feel weird, if you have a good doctor they will be totally understanding.

OSUWifey09

***SIGGY WARNING***

 

 

At my post-partum, I had a pap smear, and my OB checked to make sure my uterus was back to about normal [my pp was almost four weeks after losing Devon]. They may have also drawn blood for testing, but I don't quite remember.

I knew what led to my loss and had already talked things over with the OB that actually saw me [I delivered at a different hospital - with a different doctor - than who I had been seeing], so I didn't have many questions. We talked about what would happen next time I got pregnant, about counseling options and signs of depression, and we cried together for a minute. My OB is also my family doctor, so we probably covered more things than in a standard OB pp appointment.

I think what the others listed out in terms of questions is a great place to start. Good luck at your appointment tomorrow. I know it will be tough, but I hope you get all of your questions answered. *hugs* 

Heatherhah

OSUWifey09:

***SIGGY WARNING***

 

 

At my post-partum, I had a pap smear, and my OB checked to make sure my uterus was back to about normal [my pp was almost four weeks after losing Devon]. They may have also drawn blood for testing, but I don't quite remember.

I knew what led to my loss and had already talked things over with the OB that actually saw me [I delivered at a different hospital - with a different doctor - than who I had been seeing], so I didn't have many questions. We talked about what would happen next time I got pregnant, about counseling options and signs of depression, and we cried together for a minute. My OB is also my family doctor, so we probably covered more things than in a standard OB pp appointment.

I think what the others listed out in terms of questions is a great place to start. Good luck at your appointment tomorrow. I know it will be tough, but I hope you get all of your questions answered. *hugs* 

Congrats OSUWifey!!!!!!!!!