May 2 Doc appointment

Yes, I know I wasn’t supposed to have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. But I got a call at around 11 am from my doctor to ask me if I was coming in and I said “no” because he had given me the choice of Tuesday or Friday this week and I chose Friday. The conversation went something like this…

Doc: “I’m sorry, I forgot Friday is a holiday. Can you come in today?”
Me: “Ok, but I need to have a shower and arrange a ride to the hospital so I can’t be there before 12:30.”
Doc: “No problem, I'm here all day just let me know when you can come by.”

Insert rant here:
I have to say that I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that hospitals here are closed everyday after 5pm, Sundays and holidays. This is complicated by the fact that doctors work out of hospitals and not their own office and that service is on a first come, first served basis.

So I picked up my list of friends to call in an emergency or when the “time” comes and started dialing. I left lots of messages and headed for the shower. I had a nice long hot one. Even shaved my legs. I got a hold of Eiko once I was all clean and moisturized and she said she’d pick me up at 1:30 so we could be at the hospital by 2. So I did the dishes and putzed around for a bit, wrote a note to Sean saying I wasn’t in labor and already at the hospital etc.

We get to the hospital and the doc makes his first real mistake he’s made with me the whole time we’ve known him. He hands me an “advised letter of consent” nicely and officially drawn up in very good English for a pelvic x-ray and induction. Wow, what a shocker. I could literally hear the iron gates of my defenses slamming down all around me. I had anticipated the topic of induction would come up but I didn’t think I was going to have the x-ray conversation again and I certainly didn’t think I’d be asked to sign any sort of letter of consent for either procedure. I was needless to say, “visibly agitated” but I can’t tell you how happy I was to have Eiko there. After all kinds of discussion in Japanese and English I headed in for my appointment. Got weighed, got my blood pressure taken (how it wasn’t thru the roof I’ll never know), tinkled in the cup and then headed for the physical part of the exam. All the while I’m letting off these huge sighs and the doc finally put his hand on my shoulder and said it’s ok, I’m sorry for upsetting you, we’ll talk about this as much as you want later…after your non-stress test! Well, it’s actually the Kid’s non-stress test not mine. The kid was totally unstressed while I sat in the monitoring room with my notebook propped up on my belly frantically writing questions about the letter and its contents.

Afterwards Eiko, the doc and I went over my questions. It turns out he personally doesn’t think I need an x-ray to determine if the baby is too large to fit thru my pelvis. But it is his hospital’s policy to do one if the baby reaches a certain size or if an induction is required. This is an unforeseen circumstance that Sean and I had no way of knowing was in the future for us. You simply can’t ask every possible question at the outset. On the topic of the x-ray I did grill the doctor on the associated risks, the hospital’s role in taking responsibility for the risks, what level/time/exposure of x-ray was being suggested and what proven side effects have been documented. I told him again that such a procedure would never be considered in North America given my size, family history, the baby’s current approximate weight and our health. I also told him it wasn’t even suggested women get dental x-rays when they are pregnant just to be safe. And that generally I was uncomfortable with his hospital’s policy and any form of x-ray that included my pelvis and our unborn child’s head. He told me he had no problem if I refused the x-ray but the risks associated with doing so would fall on our shoulders. It didn’t occur to me at the time but when I got home and discussed it with Sean we were left wondering if this is an insurance issue for the hospital. Perhaps if they don’t tick that “pelvic x-ray” box off in our file and something goes wrong then the hospital is on the hook. This seems highly likely given this culture’s love affair with being over-prepared. Another question we’ll have to ask. The doctor assured me that the x-ray was very low level and that it posed no risk to the baby or myself. Japan has been doing this procedure for well over 30 years and they have recorded no side effects thus far. He showed me the x-ray from another patient and he explained that it was very faint because they just need to see a shadow of the baby’s skull, shoulders and my pelvis for their purposes. We’re pretty much on the level on the topic of induction. They would want to induce me if the baby is not born before May 17th and they recommend using an oxytocin drip which we’re both fine with (I hugely oppose the production and use of synthetic hormones but this is one of those cases where I’ve chosen to cave). Both issues of x-ray and induction will be totally abandoned if the baby decides to make it’s way to the outside world on it’s own. We wrapped up with deciding I would come in on Saturday, May 6 for another non-stress test and then the following Tuesday for a regular appointment. On Tuesday we’ll give the doctor our decision on the x-ray and induction. So I left the hospital feeling a bit anxious but I was satisfied that all of my questions had been answered. I did have an overwhelming desire to talk to Sean and I knew he wouldn’t be home for work yet so Eiko and I did a bit of groceries and then headed home.

The lighter side to my day came after Eiko helped me carry the groceries upstairs. She left her car parked and running right outside the entrance to our building. Sure enough while she was on her way back down the stairs Sean rides up, recognizes her car and his first reaction is “Holy smokes, it’s go time”. Thoughts going through his head were “Is Nancy ok?”, “I’ve gotta wear this sweaty shirt to the hospital” and “My child’s first impression of me is going to be that I stink!” I stuck my head out the window to say good-bye to Eiko and witnessed the exchange between the two of them. I sure was grateful for that bit of comic relief at the end of such a stressful day!