My OB Sucks

This is going to get long!

Yesterday I went in for my fetal heart tone monitoring that my OB practitioner approved. At my first OB appointment, the practitioner said I could go in for the monitoring inbetween my regular appointments. This would allow me to get more comfortable with less appointments than I was having at the RE and help me to feel more secure after the perigestational bleed. Well, before my appointment yesterday, I called the answering service and told them that I had some ovary pain. I wanted the nurse to know this before I came for my appointment in case they wanted to check my ovaries. So I was giving them a head's up as an ovary check ws not part of a fetal heart tones appointment. Well, the person taking the message was an idiot. She goes, "What? Your IVF hurts?" You dumbass.

So, I get to the office and am brought back by the nurse. She says she can't understand the message that was left. I laugh and explain the ovary pain to her. I told her they found a rather large right ovary at one of my ultrasounds, and that it was bothering me. She has me rate it on a scale to 10 and I say it's a 5 because it comes and goes. Yes, this seems like a fab appointment, but now it starts to go down hill.

I hop up on the table to hear the baby's heartbeat. The nurse finds "it" and tells me "There it is!" Um no. I begin to tell her that she has found my heartbeat. I know it's mine because my hand is on my chest, and I can feel the exact beats that I'm also hearing through the doppler. Not only that, but you and I both know that I've been dopplering this baby like an addict. So, I tell her the heartbeat is mine.

Me: Actually, I think that's my heartbeat. It matches the thumping I feel in my chest.

Nurse: Well, don't you hear the other heartbeat in the background?

Um no. Sorry, I teach kids to read and write. I'm not a nurse. So, she works for maybe 2 more seconds and seems to find the baby's heartbeat. She let me hear it for about 7 seconds. No, I'm not exaggerating. Seven full seconds. I sit up and the conversation fun continues.

Nurse: So, what exactly do you want us to do about this pain?

Me: Well, the pracitioner told me to tell you if it was bothering me, and it is. So, I don't really have any requests, but I'm letting you know.

Nurse: Well, is this a dibilitating pain?

Now I want to hurt her. Didn't I just tell her it was a 5? A 5 is not debilitating. Then, she looks at my records and says, "Why are you here? You were just here two weeks ago." Really? Now I have to explain that the pracitioner said I could. Well, of course she challenges that because it's apparently nowhere in my file. She decides to send the doctor in anyway since I'm already there. So, I wait about 5 minutes and the doctor comes in. Mind you, I sense the ATTITUDE. She sits down, and says, "How can we help you?" Make sure you insert a snotty tone there. For the love of God, I'm not a doctor! So, I start the friggen story all over again. If you are counting, this is the third time I've told this office in one day.

The doctor looks at my paperwork and says, "Blood pressure good. Baby's heartbeat is in the 160's. You DID HEAR the heartbeat didn't you?" Um, what's with the emphasis on hearing the heartbeat? Is she referring to the dumb nurse that I had to correct because she let me hear my own exciting heartbeat? The doctor says that I'm going to feel a lot during pregnancy and that I should take a Tylenol. Then, she sends me packing and adds that pain or blood should take me to the emergency room. No more talk about my ovary pain. Thanks for nothing.

Now, obviously reading this does not do the justice of really being there. I felt like I was treated like a child. I didn't request an appointment. I was already coming in for a scheduled appointment and brought up my concern. I'm sorry if the nurse tried to pass my heartbeat off as my baby's. I know what a fricken baby heartbeat sounds like. And I'll tell you, there is a big difference between 120bpm and 160bpm.

So, I left there crying. Don't worry, they didn't see it. Mr. Later Than Most got the wrath of it. He was pretty pissed at them. He brought up a good point: The IVF Clinic was so positive, we just want to continue the positive experience. Last night I worked hard at searching, and to make a long story short, I found a smaller practice. At this one I'll see the same doctor every time. There are only four doctors and they also have a midwife. The midwife was not suggested for an IVF patient, so I'll be getting new OBGYN. It's weird to switch, especially since I'll be going to a whole new hospital, but today I'm feeling good about my decision. I need to contact insurance and get a copy of my records, but I have plenty of time. My first appointment is October 5th. Hopefully the people at this practice are a little nicer. I don't want to be Kathryn Heigel in Knocked-Up. She switched OBs about 5 times!