19-7-2009 - My OB/GYN isn't the greatest... :(

My mood while writing this blog: A little frustrated!

Ok, some background: I am 40 years young :) during this pregnancy, so of course, doctors treat me as though I were somewhat a freak of nature ... Don't they read? Many woman are having children later in life now, some their first child, even. Anyway, my doc is fairly old, I thought he mentioned being in his 60's, so one would think that he'd have a lot more practice and knowledge under his belt than, say, a newer doctor, right? Well, apparently not... :( Or, maybe he's just stuck in the "old days" of doing things?? IDK!?!?

My doc performed my NT scan and informed me that the nuchal measurement was on the higher side of normal, he referred to it as "borderline". Mine was done right around the 14-week mark, and came back at 2.2 - he said that if it came back around 5, then he'd be more concerned, blah-blah-blah, YET he & his assistant acted as though I was CERTAINLY carrying a child with Down's Syndrome, so OF COURSE I freaked!! Who wouldn't??

Anyway, during the scan, I was SO-OOO involved in just watching my little one dance around, that apparently I left my brain out in the hallway 'cuz I know that the presence or absence of the fetal nasal bone in this scan can be an important indicator and I TOTALLY didn't even think to ask about it UNTIL after the scan. When I did ask him about it, he sort of him-hawed and said he couldn't get a good look ... well, that's funny cuz the picture they gave me from that scan, is a full-body profile, and I can see the nasal bone!! Why I never thought to take a closer look until last night is beyond me - I guess cuz I was too busy looking at the nuchal translucency... ? My doc DID mention measuring the femur, and said that it was "good", and that can be an indicator as well, but still... ?

For any of you that have EVER had a doc tell you there was even the slightest of possibilities of something being wrong with your baby, you KNOW you run to the nearest computer & start GOOGLE'ing your ass off!! So, of course, that's exactly what I've been doing - and, making myself crazy in the process ... I swear, ignorance really IS bliss, sometimes! I never had these fears & worries with my earlier pregnancies - and, in thinking back, I probably should have been a little worried the first time around because I remember them telling me that the placenta was low-lying and they'd have to check later on in my pregnancy to make sure that it moved up and away from my cervix by the time I delivered, which it did, Thank God! I was young and very naive to things, so I really didn't worry about it too much after an older friend with 3 kids told me it can be normal in early pregnancy. But, boy, if they told me that now, I'd probably be a nervous wreck!

Like a dumb-ass, I went ahead and had the Quad-Screen done, even though I have already been told that my age alone will probably set off a red-flag, and I'[ve seen so many women freak-out over their results only to discover that they were false-positive (Thank God!). But, I guess in a way, I wanted to SEE the results for myself, since I feel that they are leaving SO much out - I really may just request a copy of all my medical charts they currently have, just so that I can SEE for myself - can I just ask for a copy, do you think?? Think they'll be offended? Do I even care? Not really, but at the same time, I don't wanna build up a wall of uneasiness between us while I'm still in their care - sort of along the lines of not pissing off your hair dresser WHILE she's cutting your hair, you know?!