We had our anatomy scan and check-up yesterday. It was 5 and a half weeks since our last check-up but I felt like it really flew by! I will say, the whole experience was less than satisfactory and left me really questioning if I chose a good practice. I do really like the Dr that I chose as my primary. But there are 7 Drs to cycle through during the pregnancy and whoever is on call does the delivery. The Dr I had yesterday was just… meh. Friendly enough, for sure, but wasted almost the entire appointment taking about how uncomfortable she is with the whole Lovenox thing. She was one of those who wants to question whether or not she thinks my clotting factors are “serious” enough to treat. And then she was questioning me if I was treated with my previous pregnancies, as if she was just confused about the whole situation. I am just 100% done with that conversation. I really am. It makes me so frustrated to have to continually defend my case. I am so happy that I can now just tell them that my Hematologist is adamant that we are not taking chances, seeing as how I have had abundant proof that I cannot stay pregnant without treatment. That is her department, after-all. And as long as my OB is trained to manage a pregnancy while the mother is taking blood thinner, then they really need to leave the finer details of which clotting disorders “deserve” to be treated, to the Drs who are specifically trained in that area.

 

*Sigh* You may be proud of me though for very firmly stating to this Dr that the birth record from Levi is absolutely wrong. My uterus did not “get tired and stop contracting”. Which would be fine if it had, I mean, no shame in that. Except it’s a lie. I described the hemorrhage experience to the Dr and I must give her full credit for listening and acknowledging that what I was telling her was completely consistent with a hemorrhage resulting from retained placenta. I really appreciated that. I wanted it in my notes so they won’t over-treat me, expecting that I am going to hemorrhage again. I felt pretty comfortable with her ideas on me trying to vbac again as well. So that was another positive.

 

About the anatomy ultrasound itself… this is the part that made me question this  practice on a whole. It was less than 10 minutes from start to finish. The sonographer printed a picture at the beginning and the end and the time stamp on them is just 6 minutes apart. She didn’t check the baby’s heart rate at all. Nor did she check the stomach, bladder or do any measurements of the heart (which, maybe that is normal, but with the boys, their hearts were looked at and measured). Basically, we were just there to get a couple keepsake pictures of the baby – That was my impression. No measurement of fluid or really anything at all. I was not told whether baby measured ahead or behind or how long… nothing except he is around 9 ounces. It was just a weird ultrasound. I’ve never had one like it at all.

 

Then after seeing the Dr, I was sent to book my next appointment and even though my primary Dr said we would do monthly growth ultrasounds, following the schedule of my previous pregnancies, the girl booking the appointment seemed really confused. She repeated “Growth ultrasounds?” then she pulled out some chart and looked at it and said “We don’t do those until 28 weeks.” SO, I guess I’ll have to talk to my primary Dr and ask her to please give me a printed and signed list of what she wants me to do so I can pull it out and show whoever is seeing me at that visit. That would greatly reduce confusion.

 

I don’t know. I’m going here because I wanted a less managed birth experience and I wanted to just be normal(ish). But I guess that’s not really working for me because A) anxiety, B) is this really standard care? You just assume the baby is healthy and you don’t like, actually check? Not even a quick listen to the heart? I was under the impression that the *anatomy* was checked on *anatomy* ultrasounds. And C) I’m tired of being treated like a weirdo who is taking some kind of really scary, unknown drug. I feel like some Drs hear the word “anticoagulant” and they just freak out. I know it’s not every pregnant woman’s experience but it doesn’t make me some anomaly. I mean, enough women out there are taking Lovenox that it shouldn’t be that confusing or hard to manage….. I don’t know…. maybe I am just really good at picking the ones who don’t understand it. Thankfully, my primary OB is on board, but I have to cycle through the other Drs so I have to keep explaining the same basic stuff to every Dr. And they don’t all manage care the same way. So she tells me one thing and the next Dr is completely unaware of that plan. That’s why I need a printed and signed plan of care from her. To get everyone on board! Because I will seriously flip out on the next person who remotely suggests that I quit taking Lovenox. I will. Flip. Out.

 

I was going to combine this with my weekly update but it’s way too long. I’ll just leave this here and I do apologize for being so venty. I just need it off my chest I guess…. What do you think? Am I being too crazy?