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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Doctor, Doctor

As a woman, and I know many of you can relate, there is a certain level of comfort involved with having the same doctor. You don't want someone different diggin' around down there every time the impending "annual" comes around. There really is a certain level of security associated with exposing one's self to someone familiar. I think the same can be said for having the same OB/GYN as is relates specifically to pregnancy.

It is not new news that Sara and I are starting down the road for baby number two. Since this was a path that we paved once before, we were relatively comfortable with the process...meet with our doctor and the fertility nurses, pick a donor, buy the goo, inseminate, get the legal crap together, have the kid, finalize the adoption, the end.  Oh, if only it were all that simple. At least we get the same doctor.

We scheduled an appointment to meet with our doctor and the fertility nurse. It was deja vu sitting there in that office all over again. The smell of hospital and magazines, the staff at the front desk, the glare of the florescent lights overhead. Everything was very familiar. Even the fish in the aquarium were the same; a bit bigger, but the same nonetheless.

Sara was called back to the patient room shortly after we arrived. I followed. Flutters of nerves and excitement filled our bellies as we prepared to start our journey all over again. We were met in the room by our doctor, our beloved doctor, with whom we related to very well. We share the same lifestyle, have similar interests, and he saw us through my pregnancy with Graisyn.

"Well," he said after taking several minutes with us to catch up on life, "It's pretty cut and dry. We'll do some preliminary tests and get the ball rolling for you."

"Great!" we replied, "Anything else we need to be thinking about? Anything we else we should be doing?"

"Yeah, there's one more thing," our doctor noted, "I have taken on a new role with the facility as the Medical Director (or something fancy like that). While I'll be here at the office, I am no longer seeing patients. You'll want to be thinking about who you want for a doctor."

"Wow! We what a great opportunity! How exciting for you!" And how completely unexciting for us.

Wrapping up our conversation, our ex-MD lead us down the hall where we would meet with the fertility nurse. There she sat in her office looking exactly the same as she did about three years ago. She took care of all of the nitty, gritty details. Did we want to do the ultrasound before insemination? What about fertility drugs? No, these are not the kind that make you an octomom either, people. Have we selected a donor? Did we think about how many vials of "seed" we wanted? Oh my God! Slow down. Please! What about our doctor?!

Ahh, yes. Our doctor. The one who wouldn't be this time around. So who then? Our fertility nurse went through a list of the MDs names with us. She noted who was "friendly" because, whether or not you want to believe it, not all doctors practice equal care for patients. Sara and I experienced this discrimination first hand when we were started trying to conceive Graisyn. Anyway, with the recommendation of our nurse, we selected a new doctor. He would be respectful and kind she noted and that he himself said he doesn't have an issue with the way we live our life.

We finished our appointment with a to-do list which is, I think, a requirement when you're creating a baby the way we are. Sara was sent to the lab for blood work to test hormone levels. We had medications to order, a donor to select, and ultrasounds to schedule. We were all set for when we decided to move forward and we even had a doctor who would be okay with us. Phew! That was all the easy stuff!

1 comment:

  1. Dislike having to choose a new OB. My one comfort of know who was going on in a world of what is going on is gone.

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