Today was the much anticipated doctor's appointment! We'll start with the good news.. We did get to hear baby's heartbeat which was recorded as 150+. That apparently suggests that it could be a girl, but it is far from 100% accurate. From what the nurse could tell, baby is very active and healthy which is the most important thing! My iron count was slightly low, so back on the iron supplement I go, but everything else was fine with me as well!
Now for the frustrating stuff. Women here apparently get two ultrasounds, which is all fine and dandy with me, but seeing as I missed both of them (one is early on and the other is just before 20 weeks), I don't get to have one. This is frustrating for two reasons... 1. If they had let me go a month ago, I would have been sent for an ultrasound. The nurse that I saw today was far from the only nurse there, so there had to of been one available before today and we still don't have our Kela cards, but they saw me anyways. Ugh.. I don't get it. 2. Back in the good ol' states, they don't have set deadlines where if you don't get an ultrasound you simply miss out and don't get to have one. You'd think that since the only ultrasound information I have is from when I was 6 weeks pregnant they'd want to do one anyways. My paperwork from my doctor in the states is useless in every other aspect and every other test (blood, urine, etc.) has to be redone here (which I'm obviously not amused about as I hate to give blood), so one would think that an ultrasound would be part of that.
I do have the option of going to a private clinic and getting an ultrasound done there and paying out of pocket, but that isn't cheap and apparently I'd have to have an "internal exam" as well which would only add to the cost. I'm not quite sure why I'd have to have the internal exam just so I could get an ultrasound, but who knows.
All of this was topped with a very clinical, cold, unwelcoming environment and a nurse that had a hard time communicating with us and thus I'd need a translator at every appointment. So all in all, I'm happy that baby seems healthy and everything seems to be progressing normally, but really frustrated with the whole Finnish healthcare system (at least the maternity side of it).
Oh, and David finally gave in to finding out the sex of the baby (Yay!), so the whole no ultrasound thing was an even bigger disappointment to me.
I'm very happy for you about the most important stuff (healthy baby and momma and all that), but so, so, so sad for you about the whole experience! People in the States go through a lot to choose the perfect doctor, the one who really respects their birth plan, and who makes them feel comfortable. To imagine going through pregnancy and birth in that environment ... whoa. I know that the most important thing is a healthy baby and mom, and you'll get that, but I empathize with how hard it must be to be in your situation.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I think you should splurge on one ultrasound to find out the gender! And you know, I bet there are family members that want to know so badly that they would help out with the cost ... hint, hint! :)