Last Appointment

I'm sorry to say my last appointment today was a disappointment. I was excited to see Dr. Arof again and find out about my progress and ask my list of questions about the induction and talk about my doula. I was in the waiting room ready and waiting at about 15 minutes late, and I'm not sure if that wasn't the first mistake. The second was not asking sooner why the wait was so long. I was waiting about 45 minutes or so when I got up and ran into Dr. Arof on his way out. He was really sorry, and he should be, tho one can blame the nurse staff if you want to. Unfortunately for me, Arof's nurse Bridgett ("Bridge" for short--isn't that cute?) wasn't there today and when that happens I often get "oh we thought you were in an ultrasound and were waiting for word" or some other why-we-called-you-in-late exhuse. Which has cost me unpaid PTO time from work twice in recent past. Turns out also that Dr. Arof had a split office schedule today and the afternoon he was due in his Northbrook office. Which was the whole reason why I came in the morning directly to him when my NST was in the afternoon.

If I were a long-time patient of his or if I liked the other doctors as much it wouldn't be such a big deal. But the day before my scheduled induction, I really, really wanted to talk to him. And I'm sensitive already to the feeling of being without help or lost, as I felt with my first doctor. They rushed me in to see Dr. Katz, which is my 2nd choice for on-call doc (she's nice) but I was emotional and try as I might I couldn't manage to hold back my tears, and she didn't know what to do with me. She made a sad joke, "oh I know you're crying because you're so glad to see me." And the appointment was very rushed.

Anyway I'm still 2 cm dilated, and she didn't give it a percentage (so I don't know if I'm still 75% effaced or if this means more) but she said my cervix is "oh, yes, really thin now." Gosh it really hurt. Each time I get examined I am sore to the touch, but man did it hurt this time. She said she could feel the head and also the baby's back. The way it felt, my cervix must be all stretched out and wide, she could really get her hand around it/the baby's head. It was amazing.

My blood pressure it really good, 120/80, and at the NST 128/80 (after walking over there). The two gals at the NST, nurses both, Maggie and Karen, are so friendly and so talkative and excited it's not hard to cheer up around them. The baby gave excellent NST results and was extremely active, kicking against the monitors and rolling around. Baby has a very assertive physical personality. (I'm thinking girl's basketball, heh heh!) Maggie and Karen want a phone call or see a picture of the baby so I will probably send Maggie and Karen an announcement at their office. They are very sweet.

I have a few ideas about how to solve this disappointment from the doc appt. I can 1) call Dr. Arof at the Northbrook office and see if I can't ask him some questions, 2) set aside some time to chat with him before the induction in the morning so that I get my concerns met before the procedure begins, and 3) chat with Tanya my doula about some of the questions too and come up with our own plan.

I am very crampy and sore after the exam. Spotting of course. Some of it is low-grade contractions, not the serious kind, tho. It would be neat to show up tomorrow morning already in labor!