Doctor Appointment

I should have written this last week but better late than never! Get ready because it's a long one....

I had an appointment with my family doc (Dr. W) last Tuesday. When I had talked to her last fall about starting to TTC in the spring, she stressed that I needed to go see her the minute I POAS and got a BFP so she could get me in to see a good obstetrics care provider as they are seriously limited. So that's what I did!

I will admit that I expected more from my appointment, like maybe to get confirmation that I am actually pregnant from a medical professional vs. from pee on a stick but unfortunately that didn't happen. Here are the things she did cover:

1. Q: When was your last period? A: May 14.
2. Q: How long is a regular cycle? A: 29 days. I have been charting so know that I ovulated May 28.
3. Q: Was it planned? Were you taking folic acid or a pre-natal vitamin? A: Yes to both.
4. Q: Any symptoms? A: No.
5. Q: No symptoms at all? Not even sore nipples? Not even sore nipples in the shower under hot water? A: No. Should I?
6. You will start feeling more symptomatic at week 6. If you have extreme nausea and have a hard time keeping down food, call me and I can prescribe you something to help deal with it. It is safe and you need to be able to eat to nourish the baby.
7. Q: What type of care do you want? OB / Family Doctor / Midwife? In a hospital or a home birth?

A: This conversation was a bit of a longer one because I had never heard of a family doctor delivering babies. I thought my options were limited to Midwife or OB. My initial instinct was midwife for 2 reasons:
- my sister-in-law's first birth was in a hospital with an OB and it sounds horrifying when she describes it and her second birth was in a hospital with a midwife and she raves about how great it was
- I've read and heard that midwives provide far more individualized care and allocate more time to each patient so you can ask as many questions as you want and they take the time to answer. Some of them even make house calls! Access to more ultra sounds, etc. if you want them for your piece of mind.

However my doctor did not seem as excited about midwives as I was. She asked me if I wanted an all natural birth or if I would want an epidural. I told her that I've never given birth before and therefore have no idea what to expect. While a natural birth sounds nice conceptually (mostly because of the shorter recovery time) I'm not  going to make a firm decision because I don't think it will really be within my control and I want to have the option of an epidural if I so desire it at the time. Not to mention that DH has a tendency to pass out when someone he loves is in pain (no joke - he is just really empathetic) and therefore, if I want him to be awake for the birth of his first child I may have to get the epidural for his sake. So, all that to say that I want options. Dr. W. felt that some midwives are very pro natural labour and will strongly discourage epidurals and since we don't really get to pick  or choose a midwive because of the demand for them (you basically are lucky if you can get in to see one) she wanted me to be aware that there is a chance I would get one that is against epideurals. As a result, she suggested that a family doctor that delivers babies might be a better option for me. (Dr. W. doesn't deliver babies. She will care for newborns but didn't want the lifestyle of being on call 24/7 for obstetric patients as she has a family of her own). They are highly trained, provide more personalized care/more time for their patients than an OB, deliver in hospitals and are generally very open to whatever the mother wants to do during labor and delivery. I decided that since I wasn't ready to commit one way or the other, I would try to get in with a midwife and get a referral to another family doctor.

Re: the OB. We didn't really talk much about this one. I know many people who adore their OB's and I would certainly be going that route if I anticipated any issues or risks associated with my pregnancy. Since I have no reason to worry about that right now, I decided I wanted someone who was a bit more personal and who would be more likely to be there for my birth.

Again - I haven't had any time to do a whole lot of research on this yet so understand there are likely to be wildly differing opinions on the subject. This is just what feels comfortable to me and I followed my gut. I welcome your comments on it!

8. Things to avoid - there are not many. Mostly coffee because it increases your risk of miscarriage. If you need it, one cup a day is okay but no more that that. I stopped drinking coffee in March.

9. Risk of miscarriage is 1/6. Miscarriage is completely out of your control. It happens if the DNA hasn't fused correctly or if there are chromosomal issues, or if the blastocyte did not fuse properly to the inside of the uterus and therefore isn't getting enough nourishment. Regardless, it's not your fault and there's nothing you can do about it.

I think that's about all she covered. Glad I have it written down in case I need to refer back to it later. That stat on miscarriage is scary but I'm focussing on the fact that 5/6 would be successful! Still no symptoms today though....