05/29/01: Eighth Prenatal Visit


	8th Prenatal Checkup/Exam: 05/29/01

Today I had my eighth prenatal checkup/exam. It was a nightmare!

My appt time was for 8 am. I didn't get in to see the doc until 10 till 9 am. When I got in the room, about 10 min's later a student walks in and says that he is assisting the OB/GYN staff and that he wants to ask me some questions, measure my belly and check the baby's heartbeat.

My belly is still measuring at 34, which is still a week ahead. They have been measuring me by tape measure so I asked if that reading is really accurate as to the baby's growth. The student told me that it's not reliable but if there is a great difference in my gestational week and the tape measure measurements, they will do an ultrasound to see exactly how big the baby is. So, I am wondering if the baby is even bigger than it is supposed to be.

After that, we listened to the baby's heartbeat and he said that it is beating in the 140's. He said that is normal because the normal range for my stage in pregancy is between 120 and 160.

After that was all done, he said that he would talk to the doc and be right back. About 15 min's pass and he comes in and says that the doc will be in any minute now. About an hour passes and no doc but 4 staff members came in asking me why I was still there. Their answers ranged from my medical records being lost, to the doc had already checked me out some time ago. So, another 15 min's goes by and the doc walks in. She first told me that I don't know how to take my blood sugar. I explained to her what I am supposed to do and she said that I am right. I showed her my Glucose Testing log book and she said that I am not testing when I am supposed to and I told her that I don't always eat 3 meals a day. I told her I eat when I am hungry and I don't force anything to eat. She told me I am endangering my baby by not eating. Things started to get heated as she presumed to tell me that I am doing my baby harm. I think her, and the other doc's, misguided information and opinions are hurting the baby and me more than I ever could by not eating 3 times a day. She started to get an attitude and I already had one from sitting in that room waiting for over an hour. I told her that the baby must be getting food from somewhere if it is a week bigger than it is supposed to be. She told me that if I don't start eating, she is going to put me on insulin. I told her I eat enough and if the baby is already bigger than it is supposed to be then that is proof enough right there. I told her I am not going on insulin just because she feels that I am harming my baby, which I am not. She said that she is going to send me to the diabetic class because I am not doing what I am supposed to do. I told her to do whatever she feels like, I just wanted out of that room.

So, I go and sit in the waiting room and about 10 min's go by and the Diabetic Nurse calls me in to talk to her. I told her that I know what I am doing and that I don't need the class, which is a 3 hour class by the way. The Nurse agreed and said that she wants to send me to a dietrician because the doc wants me on a 1700 calorie diet.

So, here I am in the waiting area again and about 20 min's go by and the Nurse calls me back in and told me to sit in their waiting room until the dietrician comes in to get me. So, I sat there for a good 15 min's and finally she came and got me and took me to her office. She explained what a 1700 calorie diet would be for a diabetic and then I left and went home.

I am tempted to not go to anymore prenatal appt's. Every person I talk to tells me something different. I don't know how many people have told me, including the quack I saw today, that I am not to have any sugar but the dietrician says that I need sugar and that no one else knows what they are talking about. I hear "oh they don't know what they are doing" or "they don't know what they are talking about" about every person I see and have seen related to this pregnancy. I told my husband that I am either going to have a heart attack, go into labor or lose the rest of my mind by going to these appt's. He told me not to go anymore and I was considering that but I only have a few more weeks to go so I guess I can wait it out.

The next update will be on June 15. Sorry to sound so rude in these latest updates but if you had to put up with stuff like this EVERY single doctors visit, you would be venting as well. I am soooooooooo ready for this baby to get here. The good thing is that if we decide to have another baby, my husband's insurance will cover it this time because his company changed insurance carriers ...figures huh?