So, before I go to bed tonight, I figure that I should probably get one more thing crossed of my "To Do List"... blog about my 27 week Doctor's Appointment.
I scheduled this appointment a month ago and was excited, yet anxious. I knew I got to see my little girl again, but I also knew that I had to have a glucose test. If you know anything about me, I have a fear of needles; a fear I am trying to overcome (slowly). Yesterday was no exception.
After our ultrasound, and seeing Adrielle move, squirm, and even yawn (it was so cute) I went to the hospital lab to down 50 glorious grams of pure sugar.
It wasn't as bad as I had expected, especially considering it tasted like really strong, non-carbonated fruit punch (note, the picture above is orange, mine was red). I had to wait an hour, so while we waited we went back to my regular Doctor's Appointment. The appointment was short and sweet, and Dr. Sullivan answered all of my very pressing questions (pressing to me that is).
At the end of the appointment, we still had over a half an hour, so we decided to ask for a tour or Labor and Delivery as well as the recovery area. Labor and Delivery freaked Ryan out a little, but I was impressed with the services. Their staff is friendly, helpful, and great at what they do. The recovery area was great! The rooms are bright and comfortable, and it makes me excited to think that I will be in one of those rooms with my very own baby! Oh my goodness! I was surprised to find out that the baby sleeps in the same room with you, and that the nursery is usually empty unless the mother specifies. It makes so much sense.
Anyway, after seeing the facilities, and becoming more and more excited about the upcoming addition to our little family, we headed back to the lab. When we got there, I checked in, and a phlebotomist directed me to one of the oversized lab chairs. At this point, right on cue, I had a panic attack, or at least I started to. I tried to get out the words "I'm afraid of needles", but all that came out was air as I started to breath heavily. I think she got my drift because she had me sit down and relax. It turns out that we were a few minutes early, so during the waiting time, we talked (granted I was probably talking more quickly and at a higher pitch than normal because of the nervousness).
The panic attack never peaked. In fact it abated rather quickly. We started talking to the girl, and she told us about her fears. It was nice that someone actually sympathized with me for once, it definitely helped me to move towards my goal of overcoming my fear.
Anyway... she started telling us about her fears: dinosaurs and bears. She said that she knew dinosaurs weren't actually real, but that she was frightened regardless. Then she told us about bears. I asked her if she had had an experience with bears, and indeed she had.
She said that while she and her family were camping in 2007, she was sitting alone in the camp (her family was off somewhere) when she turned to see a 250lb bear! She panicked, but did exactly what she knew she should do, nothing. She sat perfectly still as the bear came closer and closer. When the bear was within inches from her, it started sniffing her. She said she thought she was going to die and that her family would come back to her mauled body. Then, the bear licked her. A bear! She was petrified, yet the bear wandered off to some of the other food in the camp. When the bear finally wandered away she made it in "three leaps to the next camp site". She said that as she had watched the bear tearing into some plastic wrap that she had been terrified by the teeth and that the thought of bear teeth made her cringe...
At that point she kind of shuddered at the thought and looked at the clock. Right on time. She asked if I was ready to go, so I grabbed Ryan's hand and squeezed while she drew the blood for the test. It wasn't as bad as I'd thought, in fact, it really wasn't bad. We'll see how I do next time. Thank you to a great and sympathetic phlebotomist. Ultrasounds, and Glucose Tests, and Bears! Oh my!
5 comments:
I loved seeing labor and delivery and thinking "The next time i'm here we'll have a baby.' Its so much fun to think about. That is a really scary story about the bear! I'd be a raving lunatic if that happened to me. I'm glad that the glucose test went well and that your phlebotomist was understanding.
Where are you delivering? If in Provo, I highly suggest the Orem Community hospital instead. My dr. told me to go there at the last minute and I'll be forever grateful! You labor, deliver and recover in the same room and the rooms are huge compared to Utah Valley. It's slower there so you get more attention, the nurses are great and the rooms have a jacuzzi tub (unless of course you're like me and get the only handicap room in the hospital!) Just some food for thought!
Jenn, I'm delivering at the University of Utah because that's where my doctor is, and I LOVE the hospital staff facilities, etc. There are two delivery rooms with tubs, but I'm pretty sure that I'll get an epideral pretty quickly, so no need for that. :)
Oh wow! That's both hilarious and frightening...
Here's my unsolicited (and possibly unwanted) advice:
Let your baby hang out in the nursery during the night(s) you're there, and just have the nurses bring Adi to you when she's hungry. You'll have a chance to sleep. Once you go home, you won't have fantastic nurses there at your beck and call and you will be VERY tired and EXHAUSTED from being up with a newborn for the first several weeks of her life. Rest up in the hospital because it's a lot harder once you get home. Great, but hard.
Anyway, there you have it...my two cents (or three or four).
Brooke
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