So after the disagreement between Dr. E and the Radiologist at the Beddington EFW location, I was booked at the Foothills EFW for this ultrasound. Other then the fact that it's further away (20ish mins vs 5m), morning rush hour traffic, and the difficulty in finding the building (poorly labeled, or rather not labeled at all), and having to pay for parking, I had a great visit and really liked this location/staff.
I was actually surprised at how big/spacious the wait room was (Bdgtn is soo small!) and partially surprised at how knowledgeable the staff are. It has me wondering if the staff at this clinic have a higher level of training or deal more with high risk pregnancies? When I went in for my pre-u/s consult the Radiologist was very familiar with my case history, gave her condolences over my loss last fall, asked a bit more about it and discussed a bit of her knowledge on a weakened cervix. I did not feel like she was brushing me off or felt I was a panic-y pregnant woman who was imagining thing. In short I liked her and liked that she felt my own Doctor's concerns were justified. At the other EFW each time I mentioned my weakened cervix I either got brushed off or told "I have no knowledge about w/c". Considering they are equipped to deal with high risk pregnancies, and 20% of all losses in the 2nd trimester can be accounted to a w/c, it surprised me to hear the Techs and the radiologist say this.
Next, I met Kelley, again she gave her condolences over my loss last fall after introducing herself. She did a quick check of baby, she's 1.5lbs now, is measuring on par with what my dates are (23w4d), heartbeat is 131bpm (which seems low, since she is normally 145-155bpm) and everything looks great. We (and I say week bc I get to put it in! oh joy) did a trans-vaginal and my cervix is a "great" 4cm and my waters are not funneling at all.
Final stop was to visit with another Radiologist who went over the u/s results with me a bit more in depth and said that she wants to see me again in 2-3w, bc while things look great now, we are not out of the woods yet. On that note she let me know they will be seeing me every 2-3w until I am 32w. After that point if I were to go into labour, the statistics show that babies born at 32-34 weeks fair just as well as those born at "full term". I asked again about the percentage of survival at 24w (I've read 50% but also as low as 36%, not taking into account complications as a result of early delivery) and she did not want to discuss it too much in depth (more so the complications from early delivery vs survival). She told me that she preferred not to cross that bridge and for both of to concentrate on getting to 32w. It sort of made me chuckle, as she seems to have the same frame of mind as Dr. E in a way. She tossed out some statistics but did not want to dwell on it. :0)
I also liked that she trusted in my Doctor's diagnosis, did not take it lightly and did not brush me off. So for the rush hour traffic, having to pay for parking and the trouble finding the building, the care I received was well worth it. :0) She gave me a form to take to the front desk and I got to book my next appointment. I love that I got to pick the day/time (within reason of course, but at least I had a small say!) and not wait for them to call me and tell me this is when you can come in. At least it's more on my schedule and what is convenient for me.
Tomorrow morning is my bi-weekly doctor appointment. Dr. E is on vacation (how dare she!! ;0) ) so I'll be seeing her fill in. I'm actually a bit happy about it. I want to talk to her about H1N1 vax and then ask Dr. E about it. I'm interested to see if they both feel the same or have very differing opinions. Right now I do not plan to get it, but it never hurts to ask for an opinion.
I also remembered today that I never mentioned to Dr. E about having retained tissue after my delivery with Natasha. Must have a note made on my file about that. I also plan to check out the placenta myself.
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