The waiting game
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
15 weeks, 3 days pregnant
Second OBGYN appointment was great! There wasn’t much to the appointment itself, but there were many stages of waiting.
Here’s the breakdown so you preggos-to-be know what to expect …
- Arrive at the hospital and take a number
- Find a chair and wait
- Register at the desk
- Go back to your chair and wait
- Get called in to be weighed and pee in a cup
- Go back to your chair and wait
- Get called into the appointment room
- Wait … and wait …
- Go over your details with a nurse
- Have the nurse take your blood pressure … and listen to baby’s heartbeat!
- Wait in the office for the doctor
- Meet quickly with the doctor, who tells you to make sure to book your next appointment before you leave
- Go back to main reception area and take a number
- Find a chair and wait
- Book your next appointment at the desk
- Head down to the blood collection area and take a number
- Find a chair and wait
- Register at blood collection
- Go back to your chair and wait
- Get blood taken, then … leave!
That’s a lot of please-take-a-number and a lot of waiting, huh? At first I was surprised that there were hardly any husbands/daddies there — just a lot of preggos, in various stages of hugeness. But by the time we left the hospital — a full three hours after we got there! — I kind of understood it.
I mean, you have these appointments every four weeks, and then every two weeks, and then once a week. And they seem to be the same every time — pee, weight, blood pressure, heartbeat, good-bye! I suppose they start to lose their specialness after a while, or maybe after the first child?
Repetitive appointments or not, I’m happy Darling Husband has accompanied me to everything so far. I want him to hear the heartbeat. I want him to get to know Dr. L. The nurse even showed him where to push down on my stomach to feel the top of the uterus — fundus, I think she said.
Maybe by the time Little Baby is getting a brother or sister, I’ll insist he go off to work and be fine going to the appointments alone. But for now, I’m glad we’re in every step of this together.
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