37 Week Appointment

Hi ho, hi ho, its back to the doctor's I go.

I can't seem to get away from this place.  Mark wasn't able to go with me as he was working and I had to see my backup doctor since my primary doctor didn't have any openings.

I arrived at DGMC, checked in and then sat in the waiting room people watching until the tech called me back.  I'm always amazed at the variety of people at the doctor's office and find it some of the primest ground for good people watching.  Thankfully the back-up doctor is always running later than my primary doctor so I had a good fifteen minutes of entertainment before being called back.  Some people might find this an irritant, but I kind of enjoy just sitting in the waiting room.  It sure beats sitting in the doctor's office and getting poked and prodded.

I didn't really like the tech this time around.  She was one of those whiny complainy people who want to tell you all the reasons why they don't like their job.  Not really something I want to hear when your job is looking me over.  She complained as she took my blood pressure, moaned while she took my temperature and gossiped while she asked me the standard 3 questions.  I was suppose to get my GBS test done today as had been discussed at my last appointment, but she wanted to get the doctor to postpone it a week more as she didn't want to have "to go through the trouble of going to the lab."  I was very thankful when she finally left the room.

The doctor came in and asked me some questions about how I was doing, etc.  I had gained 8 pounds in two weeks.  I almost choked when I heard that.  I mean I did eat really well while camping the week before, but 8 pounds worth?!?  Holy freakin' moly.  I am still under my pre-pregnancy weight, but dang.

The doctor went on to say that we would be doing the GBS screen today and that he wanted to do an ultrasound to check the position of the baby.  He went and got the portable ultrasound machine, gelled me up (kinda messily I might add) and proceeded to locate the baby.  I gasped when I saw the baby.  I still can't believe that a baby is growing inside me and seeing the photo made it real.  I got teary eyed as he moved the wand over my tummy showing me more of the baby's head.  The baby's head was down (YEAH!!).  He then went on to do some measurements to check the space between the baby and the placenta.  He was a little concerned about this since the biggest gap was only 2 centimeters, but from how I understand it, this is a good thing.  As the baby runs out of space, labor is caused.  He told me to have my primary doctor look at it next week.

The doctor then left to have me undress from the waist down to do the GBS test.  When I found out that I had to do the GBS test at my last appointment, I researched it like I do everything else.  I have to say that Goggle is one of my best friends.  I knew that I would be swabbed inside the vagina and then my rectum swabbed as well, but the Internet was very unclear if that meant the outside or the inside.  Turns out it means the inside.  I wasn't entirely looking forward to this and just wanted to get it over with.  I undressed and sat down on the table underneath a drape to wait for the doctor to come back.  Well, Miss Unhappy Nurse came back in to make sure everything was ready for the exam.  She had left out the swab earlier, but got super upset because she thought the doctor had changed the swab for another one (the doctor never touched it).  She stormed out of the room and confronted the doctor right outside the door in the hallway.  I could hear her laying into him because he changed the swab, which he hadn't.  It was totally a scene straight out of a tv show.  I seriously wanted to get up and press my ear to the door in order to hear more!

After a bit more yelling, they both came back into the room.  They quickly did the test (which although was unpleasant, wasn't painful) and then the tech stormed out of the room.  The doctor told me I could get dressed and reminded me to make an appointment for next week (thankfully I already had as I was ready to leave).

I really wish Mark had made it to this appointment as he didn't believe me over all the craziness that went on.