Doctors visits

In the last two weeks we've been to been to no less than six appointments.

Last Monday, I went to my baby doctor for the first appointment. Technically I saw the midwife and I'm good with that. I've delivered four of my babies as vbacs (vaginal birth after cesarean) with midwives. I like the care I receive with them. I have to say though, I really like the doctor who did my surgery when I had my ectopic pregnancy in June. I feel blessed I got pregnant as quickly as I did. The doctor and midwife work together.

The next day (Tuesday) I had to drive nearly 2 hours to a medical center and get child number three (C3) evaluated again for ADHD. We had him evaluated last summer and his behavior was borderline ADD at the time. His inattention and hyperactivity has gotten worse, so we took the referral from our nurse practitioner and had him evaluated there. The evaluation lasted several hours and as we still have lingering coughs with our bought with the swine flu, we had to wear masks the entire time we were there. Thankfully I made a chicken and dumpling recipe from the gluten-free crockpot lady and food was ready when we got home. All told, we were gone 8 hours or so. I'm grateful Dear Hubby (DH) worked from home to watch the youngest two. Diagnosis--ADHD.

Wednesday morning saw us at the orthodontist. C1 has had an expander in the top jaw for several months now. He will be getting a "retainer" of sorts, so they took out the expander, took a mold and we'll be going into the office in a few hours to get the retainer in. C2 will also be reevaluated to see if he needs orthodontia yet.

Friday I finally got into the endocrinologist's office. My original appointment was not until the end of November, well after my first trimester would be over. The midwife was concerned and insisted we pester the doctor to get me in sooner. I've been having thyroid issues, but I'll post more on that later. It's one of my frustrations.

Tuesday I had to go into the gastroenterologist (sp?), because though the thyroid is a major concern, there is a possibility that celiacs disease is an underlying issue. I have been wheat and gluten-free for a month or two now, but ate a sandwich on Monday night, a bagel on Tuesday and wheat cereal as well in preparation for any possible tests. (A good friend with celiacs told me I'd need to have some wheat and gluten in my system if I wanted anything to show up in the tests).

The doctor would like to do the biopsy that is the best test for celiacs, but as I'm nine weeks pregnant, he'd rather wait on that. Instead, he told me to eat wheat and gluten for two weeks and then get a blood test. Not the best of detection methods, but an option nonetheless. I suspect C5 might have some issue as he breaks out in a rash every time he eats oats. (Which I do my best to keep from him, though he still manages to get some sometimes).

Today, as I said, it's back to the orthodontist office. I am grateful we have health insurance--which is a topic for another post. I don't think Obama's plan will really work, but I do think a change needs to be made. I'll post on that at another time.