24w: Out of the Mouth of my OB

Today we had our 24 week OB appt. We got a scan first, and baby measures within a few days, so that's good! The head measures 1 week ahead, but that's typical for my big-headed family. Amniotic fluid amount was great, too.

I tried to kill my OB with kindness today, since we're just going to stick with her. As usual, she could use a book on bedside manners. Here are some of her wonderful quips today:

1. After she made me feel terrible for gaining 21 pounds by week 23, I dieted all last week, mostly ate veggies, and was so hungry all the time. I lost 2 pounds in one week, and she was very pleased with this. She said 19 pounds by week 24 is OK, but I should only gain 10 pounds from week 24-40. 10 pounds in 16 weeks? That's not even possible. Well I'll eat more healthy, but I'm not dieting anymore. She really makes me feel like a loser about my pregnancy weight. Really, pregnant women have enough going on, they don't need to be teased on the playground. My mom and sister both gained 40lbs with each pregnancy, and I'm sure I will, too. 10 pounds over 16 weeks seems tough.

2. I told her how my job is getting terribly stressful. I work 10, 11, 12 hour days, every day, with 4x the workload of anyone else on my team. My boss doesn't care, I've talked to him about it. My OB's response, "Well Im not taking you out of work!" Um, I didn't ask you too. I was asking for advice. Her sage advice? "You should quit your job." Yeah, that's REALLY practical. Quit a job with a pre-IPO company, mid-pregnancy, in a recession, when my options haven't even fully vested yet.

3. I told her my symptoms haven't gone away despite my antibiotics, and asked if she could retest. "No, you're fine. The meds should take care of it." (Well, other people I know had to try several meds before the infection went away!) She flat out wouldn't retest me.

4. I told her how work stress gets so bad that I get terrible uterine cramps. Her response? "No that's just indegestion." "Um, no, I know the difference. These feel exactly like period cramps." "No, it's just indigestion."

5. Her other comment about my work stress? "You need to see a therapist." Not only am I fat, but apparently I'm also crazy.

6. I told her how I've had bad cramps for 3 days straight now. She said it's just stretching. Maybe that's true, but all my books say that can mean preterm labor. Ugh.

We decided that the baby could literally come out of my v@gina, say hello, then go back inside...and she'd just shake her head and say "You're FINE." :)

If I was in my first tri, I'd probably change OBs. The problem is, we really want to stay with this practice, but no other docs are accepting new patients. There's a chance our doc will be on vacation (she leaves on our due date), and we trust any other doc to deliver us. There aren't a ton of practices that deliver at our hospital, and most of them got bad reviews or aren't accepting new patients. I think we're stuck with Mrs. PooPooHead.

We did score one win with her today. I think she softened her Grinch heart a little, and said she'd write a diagnostic code so that our insurance would cover 2 more ultrasounds. (She agreed, despite calling it voodoo and bad medicine, to let me get growth scans on each visit). Previously she said she wouldnt give them a diagnostic code, since she didn't agree with it....so that we'd have to pay out of pocket for all of them.

I know, doucher, eh? Despite her bad bedside manners, I think she's still a solid OB...so we're probably still better off with her than some other OBs out here. We will definitely find a new one for baby #2!