An Anti Climactic Visit to the Doctor

I suppose I should really ask more details before I go in for a doctor's appointment, because I really don't know what to expect each time. This morning, I had the second part of our "screening" (for chromosomal problems) followed by an appointment with the doctor. The first part of the screening involved our first ultrasound and the follow up with the obstetrician was the first time we heard the heartbeat. I assumed we were having another ultrasound today, which is always something to look forward to.

We got to the hospital at 8:40 am. After sitting in the waiting room for "Maternal Fetal Medicine" for 20 minutes, we were taken back in for a blood draw. That was it. That was the second part of our screening. Pretty unexciting. Then we headed up to the waiting room for the obstetrician.

The time for our appointment came and the nurse stuck her head into the waiting room and announced that my doctor had been delayed in the OR but would be here in about 15 minutes. That's fine, it happens, so we waited. 15 minutes came and went and the nurse came back in to announce that my doctor had been called back into the OR and they didn't know when she would be back. Of course, she was the only one expected in the office for the practice that day so we went to reschedule. Pretty much a lot of waiting for nothing.

So, at 4:15pm we were back for try 2. We were called from the waiting room into an examine room and waited. And then waited some more. In fact, we waited about an hour and 10 minutes in that little room, which was starting to become claustrophobic, for the obstetrician. Then, she popped in, put the Doppler to the belly, let us hear the heartbeat (which was beating at a rate of 140) and that was it. Again, pretty unexciting.

The first time we heard the heartbeat, the office was squeezing in a lot of patients because of the snowstorm coming in that afternoon so it was really rushed and this time, we were so darn tired of waiting that it we were kind of like "that's what we've been waiting 2 and a half hours for today?" Not to say that it's not cool to hear and also reassuring that the little tyke is still pumping away in there, but the circumstances made the experience pretty anti climactic.

Our next appointment is in a couple of weeks. That will be the 18 week ultrasound where a lot will be checked, but of interest to most folks, we'll try and take a peak at the sex. Hopefully, that experience will be a little more exciting and we'll be able to savor the moment a bit more. So, stay tuned!