We got Chick-Fil-A breakfast after we left and took it home to eat. We watched tv and killed time before we had to leave. I'm pretty sure I slept a little bit more. Then it was time to leave. To be honest, I was a little bit nervous to go. First of all, a tiny part of my worried that maybe things weren't ok with the baby. Meanwhile, a big part of me was worried about all the bloodwork! (It's started to become a problem in recent years...read my post about visiting Rachel this summer...)
We headed out around 1:45 (you're supposed to be there half an hour early). St. Luke's usually has complimentary valet parking, but they had some grand opening ceremony out front for part of the hospital, so they weren't offering it that day. Figures. So we drove around forever looking for a parking spot before finally finding one near the top of the garage. We walked to the hospital, went up to the fourth floor where my doctor's office is, and I filled out the prenatal paperwork. When I had finally given them everything they needed, we waited. We saw all the new moms or moms-to-be with their babies or big bellies. I couldn't believe that was going to be me in a few months!
We were called back and taken into a dimly lit room where I would have my first ultrasound. When the nurse came back into the room, she looked for the baby, then turned the screen towards us. We got our first glimpse of this little wonder. :) She showed us different body parts, "This is the head...and here are the legs and feet...this is your baby's developing umbilical cord...here's the heart..." We took her word for it. ;) And then we got to hear that precious baby's first sign of life - the heartbeat. So rapid and steady. We looked at each other, beaming. She told us everything looked great, that the baby was measuring 8 weeks/4 days, and then she printed 3 pictures for us to keep. Two of them just look like a little blob (which is what I have affectionately taken to calling the baby since then, and my students have followed suit: "Miss, how's your Blob?"), but one looked kind of like a tiny, albeit weird-looking, human...
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| Legs/feet are on the left, head on the right, for people who have as much trouble deciphering these things as I do |
After the ultrasound, we were taken to another room where a nurse came in and asked me a ton of questions about my family history and my lifestyle. She took my blood pressure and calculated my due date as July 12th. Then she left and said the doctor would be in shortly. When Dr. Scott came in, she had a bag of goodies with her - pregnancy magazines, free offers/coupons, even some samples of baby products. Then it was my turn to ask the questions. She told me my limit was 10, but I had 14 on my list. Yes, I had a list. :) They included everything from "Are these prenatal vitamins sufficient?" to "Can I paint my nails?" Probably the most important question of all, "Can I take baths?" was answered with a little laugh and a YES! (To all those people who told me I couldn't, I say thanks a lot for depriving me of a month of baths...grrr.) I also asked if I should get a flu shot, and she said yes. I wrote a note to myself to get that done but Dr. Scott said, "Actually, I think we still have some here in the office. Do you want to get one today?" I wanted to yell out NO! I haven't had time to mentally prepare for a shot today! But all I could say was, "Sure, ok I guess." I disgust myself. We finished up with the doctor and the nurse came back in with the needle. Just my luck. It honestly wasn't bad, but my shoulder throbbed for the next 3 days. I could barely lift my arm above my head for the rest of the day!
We scheduled our next appointment, January 8th, then left the office to go next door to the lab to get the bloodwork done. If you remember, this is the part I had been dreading. I sat down in the blood-letting chair (awful things), and told the tech "I don't do so well with this stuff." I also told her that they have trouble finding a vein in my arms, so to take it from my hand instead. She asked me if I was sure (looking back, this should have been a sign for me to change my decision) but I told her I was sure and she started the process. It wasn't bad at first, but then she bumped the line and an intense pain tingled up my arm. When it came time to switch the first vial for the second one, more pain erupted. I started to feel woozy, and I felt like my blood was flowing like molasses. This was going to take forever. I tried to think about other things, but I could feel myself slipping. I asked if she had an ice pack, although I knew she did. I had used it last time. She wrapped it in paper towels and I held it on the back of my neck. It helped a little, but I guess she could see it in my face because she suggested that we switch hands. I'm not really sure why this was a good idea because it meant another prick, but maybe the brief reprieve helped me stave off fainting a little. Second hand, third vial. Still slow even though I had plenty of fluids beforehand. The lady was trying to keep my mind off things, God bless her, but it smelled like she had eaten straight-up onions for lunch, which was not helping at all. I began to feel nauseated. And she kept talking about next time I had to give blood, to tell them that I have trouble with it so I can do it laying down in a patient room instead. But she didn't use the phrase "giving blood." Instead, she kept referring to it as "getting stuck." ..."Yeah, next time I have to stick you, you can lay on down," or "Make sure you tell 'em next time you get stuck because when I stick you for your next appointment you'll have to drink a sugar drink first and you don't want to get stuck on an empty stomach with that in ya..." I know she was trying to help, but all I could think of was that line from Lord of the Rings when an orc says to Frodo, "I'm gonna bleed you like a stuck pig." My hearing started to go. I was on the fourth vial and I told her I wasn't going to be able to do this much longer. She mercifully filled up the fourth right to the top and told me that she could split it between the fourth and fifth so that I could stop. Thank You, Jesus. She bandaged me up, and I had to sit there for at least another 5 minutes until I felt able to walk again. Good thing Lee was there with me too.
We went back into the ob-gyn office to meet with the financial counselor, and she let us in on a little secret: babies are expensive! I found out my insurance pretty much sucks. (I have since found out that it sucks a little less then we previously thought, but it still sucks.) She put us on a payment plan to cover all of my prenatal care and the cost for Dr. Scott to deliver the baby. She was careful to tell us that this did not include anything that the hospital would bill us for. Who knows how much that will be... We left feeling a little :-O but ready to do anything we needed to for the sake of the baby.
We went to Olive Garden to celebrate and as a "last hoorah" now that we knew we (really) needed to save for other things. The meal tasted so good, and I was glad that all the anxiety over the appointment was gone. Although when Lee held my hand to pray over the meal, it hurt like crazy. My poor little bruised veins. But the baby is more than worth it, right? :)
~Hooks
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