OB changes...

First off, I'm 13 weeks along! w00t! This is the last week of my first trimester and I never thought it would ever come. It's been kind of a rough 13 weeks but I'm really looking forward to the next six months. :o)

And here is where the baby is at:

How your baby's growing:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.


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We had a bit of a scare yesterday afternoon. I went to the bathroom around noon and noticed sticky, brown blood in my underwear. It wasn't enough to soak through but it was definitely enough to alarm both Mark and me. I called the physician's exchange but somehow left my voice mail in the wrong place. In the meantime, I laid down and took a nap and the spotting subsided.

Around 6pm I still hadn't heard from the doctor and I had started to spot a bit. So I called again and I guess I left a message in the correct place because the doctor on-call called me back within minutes. I explained to her about the spotting. She asked if I had been cramping, which I had but only a bit. She also asked if I had thought I was getting a bladder infection or if I had had sex within the past 24 hours. I said no to both. She told me that spotting at 13 weeks was not normal, which freaked me out. I was to call and make an appointment to see Dr. Bryan first thing Monday morning and to take it easy the rest of the evening and drink plenty of fluids.

This morning I made an appointment for 11:20am. I left work early, met up with my husband and got to the doctor's office on time. You can imagine how pissy I got when over an hour later I still hadn't been seen by the doctor. Hello. I'm spotting and cramping and you've left me in a back exam room to be forgotten? Only when my husband complained did Dr. Bryan show up.

Ok, so here's where I get extremely pissed -- Dr. Bryan walks in and says, "So I see you're pregnant, congratulations!" Um...what? I then said to him, "I just met you two weeks ago." He kind of gave me a blank stare, looked from my husband to me and then said, "Oh I did see you not too long ago." WTF?! Seriously?

I know that doctor's offices are busy but this man is going to be delivering my child in less than a year and I would expect he would at least try to get to know me. So that put me off right away.

Dr. Bryan used the dopplar and found the baby's heartbeat which was strong. Then he did a pelvic exam and said that my uterus was nice and thick (a good thing apparently) and that the baby is where it should be. There was no bleeding in my uterus so he figures that the spotting was just one of those pregnancy quirks that just happens sometimes. So physically I was ok and the baby was ok. I just hate it when a doctor says, "I don't know."

Since our original monthly appointment was supposed to be on Tuesday and obviously I wasn't going to come back, I asked him about changing delivering hospitals. I explained to him that St. Luke's was way too far out of our range and that I wanted to change to Barnes-Jewish. I mean, they did give us information on delivering at Barnes so I figured it wasn't a big deal. I was wrong. He told me that even though they are on-staff at Barnes, they don't usually deliver there unless you're high-risk. Especially if I were to go into labor on a weekend when only one doctor is on-call for five physician's patient's. Then it would put them into a "sticky situation." What? Why give out the info if you won't deliver there? He said he would have to discuss it with his partners and let us know.

Um? Did you forget we're coming from ILLINOIS and that 40 is closed for like two years? Dr. Bryan then said, "You could deliver at Missouri Baptist." Uh, no. I would still have to go the 170 detour just to get in the hospital.

I just let the subject drop and he scheduled me for another ultrasound next week as well as a follow-up. As soon as he left, my husband and I looked at each other and said, "We're finding another doctor."

When I got home, I went through my provider directory and chose an OB in Maryville, Dr. Thomas Hulsen. I called his office, explained my situation and got an appointment for 2 and a half weeks from now. The nurse said that if I continue to have spotting or if anything gets worse, just to let them know right away. In the meantime I need my records from Dr. Bryan's office sent over. That's always the worst -- telling someone you're leaving their practice. I have a good reason though.

I'm just really irked that Dr. Bryan didn't even remember me. Or he could have at least pretended. Didn't he even READ my chart before he walked in? That's so unprofessional.

However, I am very happy that the baby is ok. I had such horrible nightmares last night, thinking something was seriously wrong. It's just so hard to know especially when the baby isn't big enough to move around yet. Well, he/she is moving around, I just can't feel it.

So here's to a much smoother second trimester...