Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A Big Step (As Opposed to Baby Step)

Okay, so a couple big things happened between the story in my last real post and the current date. The first big thing was: Doctor's appointment!

I had my first appointment for my pregnancy on January 20th. There wasn't much to do with the baby, and pretty much all to do with me. I was asked a series of questions before seeing the nurse (at least, I think she was a nurse?):
I felt that I was fairly honest with all of the questions. No reason to lie, right? Well, my roommate got a kick out of it for sure (Courtney accompanied me, even though she wasn't allowed in the room). I got called in to see the nurse where she proceeded to weigh me (ICK, hate that part; it's never satisfactory), take my blood pressure (excellent), and my pulse (average). She asked me about  any medications I was taking. When I told her about my antidepressant, she was very adamant that I NOT stop taking it. I was extremely relieved, since I'm not sure how well I'd be if I was told to stop. I probably would have ignored the demand and continued taking it anyway. When we discussed the reason for my visit, she seemed very excited. Obviously, we don't get a lot of undergraduate preggers at University of Florida. When I asked about any prenatal care they provided, she informed me that they don't provide any because they like to go in the other direction: Prevention. We both acknowledged the fact that it was a LITTLE late for that in my case. But she was very enthusiastic, and told me to call for anything (as she handed me her card). She informed me that I would be going to Shands Medical Plaza for my prenatal care. Karen (the nurse) then calculated my due date (her calculations said September 1st, but everything else I've looked at has said August 30th) and gave me a pregnancy test so that I could finish my application for Medicaid.

Peeing in cups is definitely not an easy thing as a female. I thought I had it positioned correctly, but apparently not. Thankfully, I only peed on my hand, the cup (with a little urine actually INSIDE the cup) and not all over my clothing (which, I'm assuming, could have happened. I'm thankful that it didn't). I think maybe the misdirection was due to the fact that I KNEW I was going to be asked to pee for a pregnancy test, so I drank a bunch of water before I went to my appointment. By the time I was asked to pee in the cup, I was on the verge of bursting. Perhaps that's not an ideal way to approach the cup. It was quite an episode, and I think that it would have made a rather comical scene had anyone else been allowed to view it (unsuspected by moi) from a one way mirror (although, I think I would have been a little wary of a wall sized mirror in a student health clinic bathroom. I'll never know until it happens.)

I turned over my washed off pee cup to the care of Nurse Karen. She had gloves on, so I felt a little relieved that she wouldn't be touching my pee, even though I'm sure it's clean. I went and sat back in the room where most of the "interrogation" (going along with my one way mirror theory) had taken place. When she came back into the room, she was holding a rectangular pregnancy test with the urine pad in the middle (I'm assuming the are strictly for professional use, since most people don't have throw-away droppers at home). It was positive, something that I already knew. She even told me that the second line showed up right away, which she found amusing (I guess I have strong pregnancy hormones, because all my positive pregnancy tests were like that).

After she recorded my positive pregnancy test and my due date on a sheet for me to send to Medicaid, our visit was almost over. I expressed my feelings about weight gain during pregnancy (I believe I told her I didn't wanna be a fat whale by the time the baby was born) and we scheduled a visit to a school nutritionist (which was cool, but nothing to write home about... or update my blog about). Then she gave me a bunch of pamphlets about pregnancy, and when she handed me the pamphlet called "Are You Ready for a Baby?" she laughed outloud and said, "Too late for that one, but here you go anyway". All together, I think I enjoyed her company. I was disappointed that I couldn't keep her as my main nurse.

So, as everyone can see, my Dr.'s appointment went well. I was making my way to being covered for my pregnancy and for my baby, and I'm much farther in the process now. This is where I'll leave off, but I'll post another tonight to make up for my hiatus!

4 comments:

  1. medicaid is amazing! bellas NICU stay was 68,000 dollars..seriously thank god i had medicaid

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  2. Wow! Yeah, I've heard lots of great things about Medicaid.

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  3. I had nurse Karen prescribe me by BC. She's so sweet! :)

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