Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Dr. D And Why I Think I Might Keep Her

My pre-conception appointment went much as I expected. She told me to relax, take my vitamins, and to call her if I wasn't pregnant by January (which is a mere 3 cycles away), or to call if I do get pregnant before January. I had blood drawn to test my immunity to Rubella and Toxo among other things, and to screen for sickle cell anemia.

The place was small, quiet, and pleasant. Classical music played softly from somewhere behind the receptionists' desk. The waiting room was full of pamplets and 90% of the magazines were child or parenting related, but there was also Time, so that was something. The nurse and receptionist were both very kind and easy to work with. The doctor was soft-spoken (in a gentle way; not in a nervous way like my primary care physician - he always seems like he's on the edge of a nervous breakdown) and took care to fully explain her professional opinion to me rather than just bossing me around.

This may sound kind of sad, but what I liked best about the whole experience was the exam room. There was a poster about BMI on the door, and a poster about eating healthy and another one about menopause on the wall next to the table. There were pamphlets everywhere about safe sex and menopause and all sorts of things relating to women's sexual health. There were no pictures of babies. There were no posters of developing fetuses. It was unlike any other OB/GYN exam room in that there was nothing there to remind me of my loss. It was a relief.

Dr. D invited me into her office before and after my exam, which happens to be where she keeps all of the pregnancy-related pamplets and information. I wondered if it was deliberate and what her reasons were. In any case, it was refreshing to visit an OB/GYN and not walk out of the office depressed, anxious, and let down.

Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful relationship.

4 comments:

The Broken Man said...

Really glad you've found someone you like - we don't really have much of a choice here (unless you go private), but we did change surgeries shortly after we moved, as the big, fancy, posh one just didn't seem interested in us as individuals. We now go to a surgery with just two doctors who have small rooms and small waiting areas (can't really call them rooms!) but they take a bit of time with us.

The Broken man

Anonymous said...

Yay! First impression seems good. :)

Jena said...

First experiences are so important in these types situations; I'm glad you felt as comfortable as you probably could have.

Our Voice said...

Screening for Sickle Cell Disease is so necessary for identifying babies that may be born with the disease.

Trust me, it is a painful life. See my blog about living with sickle cell disease.

http://sicklecell-ourvoice.blogspot.com/

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