"Caregivers"

I have threatened several times to discuss the pre-natal visits we have had thus far, so I will try to condense it down to hit the salient points and give it a try.
Our first visit was on January 9th and was with a practice that included a doctor recommended by another doctor. Most OB practices tend to do a rotation through their people so that you meet everyone and get comfortable with them in case they are on call for your actual delivery. In this case, we started off with a different doctor then the recommended one, but we were fairly eager to know what was going on and get information so we decided to go for it. This experience turned out to be awful, despite having an excellent and kind doctor. They had apparently had some major scheduling errors on that day and were so backlogged that it was an hour and change before we were in to see the doctor. I understand some wait times as unexpected situations arise, but this was not good. As I joked in a previous post, a waiting room with angry pregnant women overflowing and having to sit on the floor since the chairs were all taken is not a fun place to be. The long wait caused a lot of anxiety and annoyance for Angie as well, and by the time we were face to face with the doctor she was ready to leave. So much so that when the doctor asked if we had any questions, which we did, Angie said "No. I am tired and grumpy and hungry. I want to finish this exam so I can leave and eat something." There was also a mumbled threat from her about kicking me out of the room if I did anything to extend her stay. This simply goes to show that being highly recommended is great, but even the best OB in the world can't care for their patients when they are really annoyed. Needless to say, we thanked them for their time and left to feed Angie.
Our second experience was Monday morning, and was quite different. It had one odd component: the doctor we saw was Angie's doctor already, but had stopped doing the OB side of things since she had her kids, so we were going to be referred to one of her OB practicing partners. This struck me initially as a waste of time, and that we should go straight to the partner, but I was quite incorrect. First I should mention that there was no dilly-dallying and over crowding, it was all expedient, but soft and cuddly, and much less clinical. Seemingly hundreds of baby photos and birth announcements adorned the walls, with staff showing up in most of them with a big smile and small bundles of baby. It was a very patient-friendly place, with several nice sitting areas spread about in case you had to wait again as they moved you from exam room to blood-work room, etc. All the staff we had met thus far were amusing and friendly, and we were all having good laughs and learning things. In fairly quick fashion we made it in to the doctor, who I was meeting for the first time. After a quick introduction, Dr. C began to educate us. I don't mean that educate sarcastically, she was amazing. She simply began telling us exactly what was happening and what to expect, as well as her own experiences. She only stopped long enough (barely) for us to ask one question at a time, but her answers were the real facts, not the ideal or the worst case, but the information we needed to know. All the raving about her aside, she was definitely more energetic than I had expected, kind of like a hummingbird. But her demeanor was great if not rapid, and her answers were all the good things that pregnant women need to hear, and expectant fathers need to relax about. She also allowed me to run through our extensive list of questions about the pregnancy, but emphasized at the end that the pregnancy was merely a blip in time compared to the rest of the child's life and to not get so hung up on it. That was something that we both new and discussed, but it really helped to hear. As we left, Dr. C recommended a specific partner who she thought we would have fun with, and would be a good match for us during the process, so on February 12th we have an appointment with Dr. E. Most importantly, Angie was comfortable during the exam and the Q and A, and we both felt much better informed when we left.
So there is the pre-natal info so far....sorry about the length, there was a lot to say.