I got a call today from one of the nurses at the hospital where we're delivering the baby - they have scheduled an appointment with the pediatrician so that he can see the baby (on ultrasound) before she's born and they can be prepared for her birth, as well as us having a greater knowledge of what is likely to happen after she is born as well. The appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday - the 29th.
Unlike the geneticist who will be involved in finding and confirming a diagnosis for our daughter, the pediatrician will be involved in her care immediately from birth. If she has do go to NICU (something that our obgyn said was almost definite), he will be the one supervising her care for her first few days. He probably will also be the one who will be ordering the x rays and blood tests that she will need.
I'm looking forward to being able to prepare ourselves for what is likely to happen once she is born. When Lana was born, she needed to go to Special Care for observation for about 12 hours or so and I was completely unprepared for it and found it extremely difficult as a new, first time mum. Everything happened so fast that I wasn't really able to ask questions and really understand what was going on at the time - and I was still recovering from the childbirth as well (AND it was past midnight by that time) so I was encouraged to go to my ward and sleep while my newborn was placed on a different floor to me.
I think that with Lana's situation, if I had been able to know about it in advance, it wouldn't have been as hard on me as it was. So I'm really grateful that I will be able to talk with the pediatrician (and not just the nursing staff who often convey messages between the patients and the doctors) and get a better idea of what to expect once our little one gets here :)
The annoying thing is though - on Tuesday, I've got a prenatal appointment at the hospital at 9:30am, then I've got this appointment there at 2pm. The hospital is quite far from my house - it takes an hour to get there by public transport - so there's not really any point in coming back home. So I'm going to be at the hospital pretty much the entire day - something I'm not looking forward to! But I guess it's good practice for when the baby is born...
5 weeks today til my due date!
Wow 5 weeks to go! Sounds like you are doing a good job getting things in order! I know how you feel about being in the hospital all day long, but I do like how you are looking at it like a practice run! Pack a lunch or don't and check out the cafeteria. In our hospital where we take Sonya all the time, I'm not too impressed with their cafeteria, but they do have a cafe with delicious food! I would have never known if I didn't go exploring one day! Maybe this is your chance to explore the hospital a bit more!
ReplyDeleteIt's the same hospital where Lana was born so I've been there before. The cafeteria food is pretty abysmal - but they DO have a Starbucks at least - I'll probably end up eating lunch there...
ReplyDelete