Spontaneous Fishermen

Saturday afternoon we were a bit bored, so we grabbed the fishing stuff and went to one of the lakes on post. Jeremy and Cooper caught this little guy! Isn’t he cute? Cooper was pretty excited about the whole gig until Jer reeled the fish in; to which Cooper exclaimed “AH! Poor little guy!”. What a sweetie. He was scared of the fish and wouldn’t touch it till Mommy touched it. That’s power kids…Mom power.

As always, check the flickr site by clicking here to see more pics of our recent fun times!

1st OB Appointment!

Today, I had my OB Orientation at the Family Clinic at Madigan Army Hospital. This is my first experience with Army medicine (pregnant, anyways) and it’s definitely all new to me. I was actually really pleased with everything today; from the level of care to the kindness of the doctors, nurses and staff. I can honestly say I was pretty impressed! (Though I think you should get a book on this stuff when you join the Army because everything is different and you always seem to end up feeling like a moron.)

I chose the Family Clinic because I REALLY didn’t want to have a different doctor every time I had an appointment. I want to be able to trust and know my doctor throughout this pregnancy…which I think is both reasonable and what any momma-to-be would want. (That was a major goal for me only because I’ve heard stories.) So that is a check off my list. I don’t have to call a 1-800 number to schedule my appointments, I just call the clinic directly! That may sound dumb, but it means a lot to have more personalized care.  I have names and numbers and I get to see and know the same person -yippie!

The appointment today lasted about an hour and boy, did I ever forget all the paperwork and tests they want to run on you when you are prego! I decided to turn down both the HIV test and the genetic testing…somehow I just don’t feel it’s necessary..he he he. Especially since the genetic test could give you false positives…no thanks! During my consult with the nurse practitioner, I got presents! You know…all the usual stuff you get when you leave the hospital?…I got it now. So a diaper bag (with a super cute changing pad) and all kinds of samples, samples, samples. That’s always fun…even though I’ll have to purchase a tres chic bag once we find out whether this bambino is a girl or a boy!

Then…the yuck came after my orientation. I had to go back to THE LAB for MORE blood work. Only this time…they took the 9+ viles of blood. It didn’t fare well. I gave the kids in the lab a bit of a spook. I had the same gal as last time and told her the same schpiel: “I don’t do this well”. But then this Colonel walked in and walked over to me asking if I’m ok…because he said I did not look ok. I wasn’t. I slowly went down hill. Somewhere in there they got my sissie self to a reclining chair, threw ice packs on my head and my neck and got a fan on me. Then this other doctor came in very concerned and I just apologized, apologized, apologized. They asked me if I ate today… Of course I did…I’m pregnant. I couldn’t have gotten through the car ride to the hospital without food! HA!

Anyway, it was all over and done with pretty quick. Afterwards I STILL had to go “void” in a cup. (Can you belive that Julie Ross? They took my blood AND my pee? You’re kidding right?) I saw myself in the mirror when I was washing my hands and whew…I looked as white as a ghost. I can only imagine what I looked like as I was going down! HA!

Oh well, everyone needs something to talk about at the end of the day right? I was glad to be of service. So I go back on the 1st for an ultrasound (which will be fun to hear the baby’s heartbeat) and more tests and then I go back again on the 15th for more tests. Sheesh. Pregnant ladies are such lab rats.

Confirmation

Got my phone call today from the infamous lab at Madigan. We are indeed prego. Whew…. I was worried. I thought maybe my intense nauseou all flippin’ day was just in my head….

Yay….

Fun at the Lab…

Ok…I took the big dumb blood test today. AND IT WENT GREAT! But to give you the full picture….let me just share with you my experience in Army medicine. (This is public healthcare people…remember this when you vote.)

So,…you all know I’ve got to get a blood test before I can even get an appointment with my doc right? Well, this means I’ve gotta go into the medical mall of the hospital on post and I actually go into the lab. I take a number and sit in the ginormous waiting room. When my number is called, I go up to the front desk, show my military id and say “hi” (yes…that’s all because they know why I’m there). The gal prints out some stickers, hands them to me and says “thanks”. Hmmm…ok, “now what do I do?” (I seriously asked that because hello, I’m not psychic) She says go back into the waiting room and then they’ll call you back by your same number.

So I sit back down and yup, they called me back by my same number. (Which, incidentally was 282. That may not be significant to you but it makes me laugh because I think of a big football player shouting “BLUE 282!” or something like that.) I go back to this open room with chairs (scary look’in chairs too) and sit down. There’s a nurse there who says hello. I squeamishly say “hi” as I’m pretty nervous at this point. I mean how much blood are they gonna take? A little? A lot? A finger prick? Oh…nope, not a finger prick as she ties that blue rubbery band on my arm, tells me to make a fist and starts poking around for a vein. I finally just looked at her and said, “hey, I’m sorry but I don’t do this very well” to which she just looked at me and said nothing. I opted just to not look-at all. So I did what she asked and turned my head.

It was over before I knew it! I know..you guys are all laughing at me and thinking I’m a total sissie…It’s ok I’m pretty sure my nurse thought the same thing. Like I said before…I’m strong in other stuff.

And that was it. The nurse just said “thanks” and walked away.

Now I just have to wait for my positive results and then I can see a doctor. Whew… What’s funny now is that I’ve found myself doubting if I really am pregnant…he he he. Nothing like a lab test to make ya doubt even yourself.