Monday, December 14, 2009

8w5d and H1N1

I had my first OB appointment this morning. It went really well!

We met with a nurse practitioner who was a little over-the-top, but very darling. She did my annual exam, since it’s been a year and a half since I had one, and then gave us tons of information. It’s a little overwhelming. Luckily, my hospital has one of the best birthing centers in Northern California, with water births, midwives and doulas, and very relaxed rules about everything. I’m looking forward to taking childbirth classes and touring the birthing center! Not sure my husband is looking forward to all of it, though – it’s going to take up a lot of time.

We did get to see the babies on ultrasound! They looked so cute, quite a bit bigger than a week ago, and we could see their heads, their heartbeats, and even their tiny little arms and legs. I’m so excited for the ultrasounds when we get back from Italy!

We’re going to have a lot of prenatal testing, but I still don’t understand whether I’m supposed to call and make those appointments myself, or if someone will make them for me. Why don’t they tell you this stuff?

Our appointment was at 9:45, and since we’re traveling to Italy in a few days, I called last week and tried to schedule my H1N1 vaccination this morning, too. The Women’s Health center didn’t have any preservative-free vaccine, so they told me to make an appointment with my regular doctor. I don’t really have a regular doctor, but I called the last doctor I’ve seen, who has now moved to the next town, and told them I wanted an H1N1 shot. They asked my age, and because I had a feeling they were trying to tell if I was in one of the priority categories, I said “I’m 31 and I’m pregnant.” They said, “OK, you can come in at 8am on Monday morning”.

So this morning I had to get up early, miss work, and drive 10 miles to the next town for my vaccine, only to be told when I got there that they didn’t have any preservative-free vaccines and they couldn’t give me a shot. I was SO pissed.

At my OB appointment, I told them what had happened, and they said that since I was traveling, I was at risk for H1N1, and that while the preservative was controversial, there was no scientific evidence that it caused any harm, and the risks of actually getting the flu were much worse. So I got the shot with the preservative. Oh well – I guess you win some and you lose some.

We’ve also been telling people about the pregnancy. It’s still early, and I’m a little nervous, but it’s hard to pass up big events like holiday parties where we can tell a lot of people at once and everyone is in a celebratory mood. And we’ve now seen the heartbeats 4 times, so I feel more comfortable about it.

So far, so good. And I think today is technically 2 months. Almost 9 weeks! And then – Italy!

7 comments:

  1. Glad that appointment went well! It's amazing how fast they grow, isn't it?

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  2. Yeah! Glad it went well!! It is amazing how quickly the babies will grow. My h1n1 vaccine had the preservative as well.

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  3. I'd say with all the travel etc the shot was a good idea whatever version. I'm glad the appointment went well and hope you have a good trip.

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  4. Congrats on the appt! And I wouldn't sweat the shot -- I ended up getting the preservative-laden one as well. My regular doctor gave it to his pregnant (with twins) wife, so I figure it was probably OK!

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  5. YAY heart beats and wiggling limbs! Sounds beautiful. Enjoy your trip and have fun celebrating you GREAT news!
    *HUGS*

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  6. Make sure you get some compression socks for the plane and that you get up and walk around every couple of hours. It's very important so you don't get deep vein thrombosis. Also, my advice...take food with you on the plane. Plane food is gross and you might not eat it. Plus with twins you'll be STARVING and starvation leads to queasiness and queasiness combined with turbulence can lead to barfing in a paper bag. Trust the one who experienced it.

    Also regarding the H1N1. I had the same dilemma about the preservative. But we've been getting those shots with preservatives (and full on mercury!) for years. The thing to me that is scary about the H1N1 is not so much the preservative but the fact that there wasn't very much time to test the vaccination before distributing it. So the long term effects are unknown at this point. That being said, the risk of you getting H1N1 is far higher than something adverse happening with the vaccine so you did the right thing. Have a lovely time!!!!

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!