Some of the conversations from my second prenal visit, at 11 weeks, with a nurse, a student doctor and a resident, and finally with a dr-dr. (Hellish, all of it.)
The Nurse
Nurse: You should really watch your weight during this pregnancy because of how much you gained with the first.
(I gained 60lbs. It was terrible, but I lost it by about 7mo postpartum.)
Natalie: Um. My doctors from the last pregnancy said that I probably gained that much because I was underweight to begin with, and that it wasn't anything to worry about.
Nurse: You should only gain 20-25lbs.
Natalie: Uhhhh....
The Resident & (really lovely) Student
Resident: Do you have any questions?
Natalie: Yes, I was wondering if the gestational diabetes screening at 10 weeks is warranted considering I have no risk factors.
Resident: *looks at chart* Um. I'm not sure why that was ordered. We'll double-check with the Dr, but I don't think it's necessary until after the 24th week...
Doctor-doctor
After confirming GDS is not required right now, and after resident tried unsuccessfully to find a heartbeat with the doppler for about 10 minutes, Dr-dr tries to find the heartbeat:
Dr-dr: Huh. Normally we can find the heartbeat by now. *tries some more* Have you had any cramping or bleeding?
Natalie: No.
Dr-dr: Hm. None at all?
Natalie: No.
Dr-dr: And when you tested, you were definitely pregnant?
Natalie: Yes, there were two lines. And the timing makes sense. And I'm extremely regular, but I haven't had any bleeding for over 2 months.
Dr-dr: Hm. And did you have any pregnancy symptoms?
Natalie: Yes, mild morning sickness and considerable fatigue.
Dr-dr: And do you still have those symptoms?
Natalie: Yes.
Dr-dr: Huh. Well, it's not uncommon for the heartbeat to be hard to find at 11 weeks - I'm sure everything is just fine. *smiles reassuringly* So... Have you told many people yet?
And to top it off...
As I'm leaving, with a requisition form for my first ultrasound:
Natalie: Um... Does it matter that the req form says that I'm Slovakian? Because I'm not.
Resident: Really? We don't have to know that even if you were!
*nurse takes form and crosses out "Slovakian" reference*
(Can you imagine the state of the hormonal pregnant woman after that visit? Yeah. Poor Steve.)
