Today was a long, and challenging day, for Mrs. J and I.
For anyone who comes across this blog, and doesn't know me, I manage retail. As such, I had the pleasure of working a midnight release event for the latest Call of Duty video game. It just so happens that this event fell on the night before our appointment, which equaled out to less than four hours of sleep for me.
Anyone who does know me, knows that I function very, very poorly on that little sleep.
However, in spite of that, I made sure that we made our 10:00 appointment with our new doctor. Though Mrs. J was willing to reschedule, I felt that since it was a new doctor (our prior OB may as well have been the boogeyman for pregnant women), that we kept our appointment.
I'm sure glad we did. Due to some misinformation from our previous doctor, we were told that our health insurance would not cover any form of first trimester chromosome defect screenings. Apparently, that was false information. Fortunately for us, though, that we found this out in the last week of her first trimester. As such, our fabulous new doctor was able to call in and get our local(ish) perinatal group to squeeze us in.
Unfortunately for us, that perinatal group is about 40 minutes away.
Ah, I'm rambling... Long story short, we had a minor heart attack in the office, as our medical group only normally does three total ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy: early pregnancy, anatomy scan/gender peek, and pre-delivery. Otherwise, they normally just use their doppler machine to listen to the heartbeat between those. For some reason, our new doctor was unable to pin down the heartbeat, and got nothing but static from her machine. Queue my panic attack. Now, I'm not an overly emotional man, however I'm an eternal pessimist - as such, I immediately assumed the worst. Luckily for me, this doctor moves quick. She had her ultrasound machine in the room in a jiffy, and was able to see the heart beat via ultrasound, and determined that my wife has a "tilted uterus," which can make it almost impossible to hear a heartbeat unless the baby is in the perfect position.
So, in spite of a small-scale anxiety attack, we ended up with a new photo of our little Bean... Which, consequently, looks less like a bean, and more like an alien now. However, I don't think that "Alien," is nearly as catchy of a nickname as "Bean," so we're going to stick with that.
After all was said and done, came the flu-shots. Now, I've never really gotten vaccinations, short of a Tetanus shot after a small work injury a few years back. I've got nothing against them, I've just never done them. Mostly on account of the fact that hypodermic needles are one of the few things in this world that can turn me into a screaming five year old girl, but also that I've just never made them a priority. However, in the interest of Mrs. J's health, and the health of our little one, I felt that I should man up, and stop being such a sissy. Although, in truth, I did almost chicken out after reading through all of the short-term side effects of the Influenza vaccine. But, once I saw my pregnant wife take the shot like a champ, I figured I was kind of obligated to follow through with mine - my manliness was on the line.
Next stop:
The car dealership.
Now, you're probably asking yourself, "But J, I thought this was about doctor's appointments!"
And you're right, it is... mostly. However, in light of the fact that I've been driving a mid-sized, front wheel drive luxury sedan, with a malfunctioning automatic rear passenger lock, and an interior size that was just not well suited for a baby... Or me, for that matter (another note for those who don't know me: I'm huge)... and being that my mom happens to work for the largest automotive group in our area, I had her put some feelers out for a more safe, and family friendly vehicle.
Also keep in mind, that I live in an area with absolutely unpredictable weather. Some years it may snow an inch, some seasons it might snow 18 inches. You can never tell from year to year, and while front-wheel drive vehicles do okay, a lot of times they don't... Unless you want to drop the cash on snow-tires, and in the case of my previous vehicle, it was serious cash, because the genius who designed it used an abnormal tire size.
That being said, we've been in the market (for some time now) for an all-wheel, or 4-wheel drive vehicle.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of my car, but let's face it: it was a Saturn. A damn nice Saturn, but it was a Saturn with some minor electrical problems (nothing serious, just interior bells and whistles). Pair those up with the fact that it did awful in inclement weather. Now, bunch all of that up with the fact that Saturn is out of business, and it was losing more and more value by the day (well, maybe not the day, but at a much quicker rate than I could pay it off). All of this just made it more and more of a priority to get our stuff together, and get into a car that was more suited for our growing needs.
I won't bore you with all of the details, but our options were extremely limited due to the depreciated value of our existing car. Or so we thought. We were shopping the used section with the saleswoman that my mom just raved about, and things were looking fairly bleak. Until she came across what I can only assume to be a diamond in the rough. In our travels, we discovered a vehicle that had just re-arrived on the lot after some minor repair work - a 2008 Cadillac SRX-4. Now, I never thought I'd ever drive a Cadillac, not because I don't like them, but because they're generally pretty expensive. Not knowing the cost, we looked at it anyway, and discovered that it was perfect. Roomy in the back (and I mean room), and an absolute goldmine of cargo space. Still skeptical, we asked for our saleswoman to get a price.
When she came back, we were shocked to discover that not only was the vehicle in our price range, but also very well kept, maintained, and even though it had higher mileage than what we were trading in, had a great extended warranty option available. Once we found out all of these details, I had to drive it. That's where I fell in love. Just before pulling out of the parking lot at the dealership, I discovered a plethora of safety features that even the saleswoman was unaware that it had: backup sensors, OnStar, tilting mirrors in reverse, and front and side curtain airbags. Both Mrs. J and I fell in love with it, and the one other option we were originally presented suddenly became not an option at all.
This step isn't one that I think a lot of new parents think about, but it's something that had been weighing very heavily on me for some time now. No matter how I looked at it, our previous vehicle was becoming less and less of a realistic option as something to trust our family's safety and comfort to. I tried to think it out, but just couldn't find a way to make it add up.
Now, if you've made it this far into the wall of text, I promise that I'm almost done for tonight.
Our Last Stop:
Perinatal Associates. We arrived right on time to our appointment, which happened to fall right in the middle of our vehicle purchase.
Fortunately, they were very understanding of my need for punctuality, and let us take a brief pause to get there on time. However, what I didn't know, was that my need for punctuality didn't apply to this appointment. Mrs. J finished her paperwork approximately 5-10 minutes after our arrival, which we've found to be a pretty typical time frame for this sort of thing. However, what we were not expecting, was to be kept waiting for almost an hour after our appointment time. We were scheduled at 2:30, and Mrs. J didn't enter the exam room until almost 3:30. Now, I'm fully aware that stuff happens - especially at a doctor's office. However, that "stuff happens," mentality is difficult for a very hungry, and very pregnant woman to deal with. Couple that with the stress of our snag at the car dealership, and I saw a look on my wife's face that I can say I've honestly only seen once or twice in our 9 years together - anger. Mrs. J doesn't get angry. She just doesn't, and it's one of the most beautiful things about her: the innate ability to roll with any situation, and make the best of it, helps make her who she is. When I see that look of absolute anger on her face, I know that stuff's about to get very unpleasant for whomever incited that anger.
Fortunately, she was able to keep her composure, but in speaking with her after the fact, it wasn't the time that upset her, more that the girls behind the glass were just laughing, eating their lunches, chit-chatting away, without so much as an acknowledgement of the doctor's tardiness, or some indication that they were aware of our plight, and were trying to get us in. The staffers at the office chose to ignore both of us, and go about their day.
Come to find out, after speaking with the Doctor, the issue was the result of him needing to spend some extra time with a patient that had issues arise with their testing, and it taking longer than he expected.
No problem dude, stuff happens... But it'd be nice if you teach your staff some common courtesy.
Once seated and comfortable, we watched the Doctor do his thing. He wasn't a very talkative man, but I don't suppose he needs to be. Honestly, I was too busy with my jaw on the floor, watching our little one bounce around and turn circles. The little bugger even mooned us once or twice.
Unfortunately, at this point, we won't know the results of our testing until next week, but I think we'll make it through. Our doctor was pretty reassuring prior to the appointment, and I think that'll get us through.
Thanks for joining us again, and I apologize if this post dragged - I'm going to use my lack of sleep to excuse it, or that the flu-shot I got earlier has been kicking my ass for the past several hours. I get chatty when I'm tired... And pretty philosophical, or so I've been told. However, I'll refrain from imparting my Voltaire-worthy anecdotes on you all this evening.
Until next time!
-J
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