OB Appointment

I had another OB appointment today, and it was interesting.  I had to wait in the exam room for about 20 minutes before the doctor showed up, although that was just fine with me--it was so nice and quiet, and I read!  When the doctor walked in (she was an older, civilian doctor whom I had never seen before), she asked what we were doing today, and then answered herself by saying it was time for my 28 week labs and for my Rho-Gam shot.  Ummmm . . . I have never had one of those before, I told her??  She totally did not believe me, asking where I had had my babies ("Last 3 right here, Doctor!"), and launching off into a condescending lecture about why I needed the shot--"You see, your BODY makes ANTIBODIES . . ."  I told her I quite understood the physiology of the shot, but I had never needed one before, and this was my 10th baby, so I was not sure why I would need one now.  She said doubtfully that maybe my husband was Rh negative as well, but I knew that both Nathan and Luke have positive blood types, so I kept saying there must be some mistake.  She took down Bob's name and stomped off down the hall to check on his blood type.  She came back fairly quickly to say that someone had just marked my blood type down incorrectly, and that I was in fact, positive.  Yes.  Just as I thought.   So--no Rho-Gam shot for me after all.

After that bit of weirdness, she looked at my chart closely, and mentioned rather negatively my propensity to have big babies (as if I was unaware, LOL).  "We have GOT to get your weight under control!  You need to only gain 1 pound a week!  Once your glucose results are back, we'll get you on the GD diet, and NO MORE CARBS!"  I just said okay meekly, but when I got home, I checked my paperwork from last visit--so, my last appointment was 5 weeks ago today, and in those 5 weeks, I gained a total of 5 pounds, which appears to me to be (and I do have a degree in math, remember), an average of 1 pound a week.  So, that was weird too, but whatever.  I did gain more weight in the first trimester than usual, like I have said before, but I felt like I was doing okay lately.  I'm 27 weeks along, and I've gained about 25 pounds.  That is a little higher than I'd like to be, but it doesn't seem like obesity raging wildly out of control or anything.

Her next point was my "history of babies with shoulder dystocia", and that was why it was so important for me not to keep having these big babies.  Well, the one baby of mine that did have mild shoulder dystocia was Grace--who was by no means my biggest baby.  I told the doctor her story briefly, saying that I felt that the dystocia there was a result of the early induction and Grace not being in a good position, rather than her size.  She looked pretty dismissive of that, but again, whatever.  Hey--I am not interested in having huge babies or babies with shoulder dystocia either!  But it seems like I will keep having big babies, because, well, except for my 2 early Colorado babies, I've had big babies, gestational diabetes or not.

I asked what she thought of me flying at 33 weeks, and she looked absolutely aghast--"I would NEVER approve that for you!"  We had planned to drive down to TX in August to visit my brother and his family, but it turns out that I totally had the wrong date for when the community college starts classes (and we're hoping Nathan can dual-enroll for a few classes next year).  With the right start date, we don't have time to drive there and back, so we were looking into flying.  I was actually talking to my brother on the phone when it dawned on me that there might be an issue with me flying in my 3rd trimester.  I looked at the airplane regs, and it seemed like they all wanted at least a doctor's okay for travel after 28 weeks.  The doctor couldn't believe I had even ever considered it, and she said that was about the time they were going to start the non-stress tests because of my "advanced maternal age".  So now I am bummed about not being able to see Dan and Melinda and their girls, which we were all really looking forward to.  Maybe next May/early June, once testing is done?  I really want to get there before Nathan goes off to college.

So I walked into the appointment relaxed and feeling like everything was going well, and after a 15 minute appointment, I walked back out feeling old and obese, like a big pregnancy fail, LOL.  I made a note of her name, so hopefully I won't have to see her again.  Unfortunately, she is the one putting in the order for my 3 hour glucose test, which I'll take next week, hopefully, so she'll be the one to call me to tell me I failed.  Sigh.  I'm sure she will be encouraging about that!  Ha!  I've been trying to plan for the 3 classes I'm teaching next year, as well as memory work (and trying to figure out maternity leave for all the classes), I've got my guidance counselor hat on as I help Nathan with all the nomination/application forms for college, especially the service academies, we've got the same issues with our church that have become increasingly stressful, and I still don't feel like anything is really nailed down, as far as the schedule for the older boys for next year!  Let's add pregnancy concerns to all that too!  I thought summer was supposed to be relaxing . . . sigh.