German Hospitals...visit 1

Ok, so this morning was my first doctor's appointment since I got to Germany (and the first one I have had since Jan 3...FYI, that is bad- you should not go 2 months without prenatal care, especially in the third trimester...in case you were wondering).  I got the referral to the hospital I wanted (Leopoldina) with the doctor I wanted (Dr. Heinrich).  My appointment was at 9:30 this morning, so we made sure to leave around 8:30, so we had time to find out exactly where we were going, get there, find parking, the office, etc.  Glad we did- being as we are in Germany, all the signs are in German...and parking garages in German can be VERY confusing if you do not read German. 

After finding a parking place (it was free...I don't know if this is all the time, but it was this morning..) we walked up to the hospital and to the desk...where we completely ignored the American flag halfway down and tried to get directions from a "random" information person at the help desk...she shook her head and pointed...(dumb Americans).  We did finally get some help (take the elevator to -1, go down the hall and follow the signs...)  Easy enough- unless you are Mark and try to pull open doors instead of push them open...and then push buttons to try to get them to open lol.  A very nice custodian lady helped us get to where we needed to be, and thus the morning began.

 You have to ring a bell to get in, and then you wait for someone to answer you.  The nurse working today was named Lisa, and she was VERY nice.  I went in and she handed me a clipboard and asked me to fill it all out...ok, fine- no problem.  Then she brings me a cup and points to the bathroom and tells me she needs "urine"...Now, Lisa (being the sweet girl she is) speaks English pretty well, with a heavy accent, so it took me a minute to get what she was saying.  Then when I asked her again, it wasn't because I didn't understand, it was because I wasn't sure I could pee right then.  (FYI...my "specimen cup" was a clear dixie cup...that you pee in and leave on the shelf in the WC- water closet or bathroom).  Then, Lisa comes back, takes my weight and blood pressure, and I return to the waiting room (again.).  By now it is about 9:30.  A couple ahead of me is taken into a room with 3 beds...little did I know, I would be joining them.  Lisa sent us into this room with another couple, where I was shown to a bed, and strapped up to monitors (for a Non-stress test for the baby, but we weren't told this).  Now, the couple I was in there with was only in there a max. of 15 min?  We were in there for almost an hour...laying on a bed with bright egg-yolk yellow sheets (in a room with egg-yolk yellow walls), with my shirt hiked up and my pants pulled down, and a little paper marking the baby's heartbeat. 

After an hour, Lisa came and got us, and we went BACK to the waiting room.  After waiting for a while longer, another lady came and got us (I believe she is a "professor"- she works with the doctor) and took us back past the room where Lisa was in to take blood.  She looked at me and said she needed blood, that apparently they had tried and couldn't get any from me.  This was news to me...no one has asked for any of my blood until then...so she goes and asks Lisa, and sure enough, no one had tried (duh).  So, she has a little box (like a Tupperware container) of plastic tubes that she plans on getting blood into.  Here was the fun part- the way she intended to get my blood.  Now, in the States, they usually use a needle with a little pipe on it, running into a cup that you insert the vials into to get blood.  Not so much here- this was just the needle with the cup on the end...and the needle was big (not long, thick).  She put the band on my arm (which is unlike the rubber bands they have always used on me in the States...it was an elastic band with a tiny airplane seatbelt on it...(no really, that is what it looked like!) and asked me to pump my hand...while she looked very hard at my arm.  I told her "good luck".  After about a minute of looking, she said "can we check the other arm? Is it normally better?"....I told her yes, she could check, but no it wasn't any better....so after a minute of squeezing and searching, we went back to my left arm.  She did get the needle in, and she did find a vein...and she filled all but 1 one the vials- the last one she unclipped the band too early and I quit bleeding...so Lisa came and clipped it back and she finished up (Good job Lisa!).  This is the result of taking blood....

I am finally taken back to see the doctor.  I am asked to sit down next to her and we go over my “health history” for my mutterpass (a booklet of my doctor appointment documentation that is needed at every appointment and after the baby is born at my WIC appointment).  After that, she asks me all sorts of questions about the pregnancy so far, and then tells me to lay on the table for an ultrasound.  She and the other lady (who took my blood) do the ultrasound, and measure his head (which is down like it should be), belly, legs, take a look at his heart, and brain….and then discuss all the measurements.  He is still measuring big- his head and belly are measuring 37 weeks, while his legs are measuring 33.  She also switched to 3d and took a picture between his legs and said “dis is de balls” (duh…) and then tried to get a good picture of his face, but of course Roy was not having any of that.  After all, he had already been squished with bands during the NST (which he kicked at the whole time…), and poked.  She also shared that he is weighing (according to the ultrasound...) about 6 pounds.  This nearly doubles the gals in my birth club who have shared what their doctors have told them the weight of their baby was. 

After my ultrasound, she wanted to check my cervix…and told me to take off my “trousers”.  Now, in the States, if you are to undress, the doctor leaves the room, gives you a sheet, whatever…not here.  In fact, as I was taking off my pants, another nurse comes in like it is no problem.  I also got to experience my first “German Pap” today…no stirrups needed apparently.  The ultrasound showed (for those of you who care) that my cervix is still closed, and all is well in that area.  She showed me my “pretty full” bladder and Roy’s head and said everything looked fine.

Now, about this measuring big- I go next week for a 3 hour glucose test to make sure I have not developed gestational diabetes.  I was tested earlier in pregnancy to make sure I was not diabetic pre-pregnancy or up to that point and passed…so we will see what this holds.  I tried to get some information about if I did have it what was the next step, and if I didn’t what was the next step, but the only information she would give me was that if I was, I would see their “team” to discuss it and if I wasn’t she didn’t know yet.  Lol…very comforting.  We shall see.

 Here is what I have observed today-

1.       As with restaurants (apparently), you do not go to the doctor to be in a hurry- we did not leave there until around noon- and I was not seen by the doctor until around 11:30 I think.

2.       German mineral water (which was offered in the waiting room) is yuck.  If you like it- more power to ya.  I don’t care for it.

3.       German doctors (as I was told before) do not always tell you what is going on or why they do things…you are the patient and they are the doctor.  Dr. Heinrich did do a very good job explaining things, but kinda irritated me with not discussing her next plan if he is just a huge baby…