Dr. Appointment

Yesterday I had an appointment with the Perinatologist (high risk fetal maternal doctor guy). As I mentioned the other day, I was less than pleased when they called me Monday to remind me about my appointment and also informed me that children are not allowed in the office. This was a big surprise as we've brought LO to almost all of our appointments so both hubs and I could be there. So I was already irritated before I even got to the office.

When I walked into the office, I was even more irritated because there was a 4 or 5 year old boy in the waiting area with his mom. WHAA?? Ya. I proceeded to check in and while I was at it, I mentioned to the check-in lady that I did not appreciate the fact I was given less than 24 hours notice that children are not allowed at appointments. She told me there have been signs posted, but I promise you they were NOT there at my last appointment 2 weeks ago. She said they call people the day before their appointment to inform them about the new rule, and I said that just isn't enough notice for a stay at home mom to find someone to keep their child. I wasn't rude, but the lady most definitely had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. I let it go, figuring I'd share my thoughts on the subject with Dr. Greig when I saw him.

((Note: Hubs met me at the doctor's office and took LO to run errands while I went to the appointment by myself. I'm still quite irritated about this whole thing, but there's nothing I can do about it.))

So after about 15 minutes I went back for my ultrasound. The tech was nice and was checking several things to make sure Chase looked good. Everything she saw was great! I had to specifically ask her to measure his abdomen again, which she did, and confirmed he's in the 61st percentile! Praise the Lord! I was VERY pleased to hear this wonderful news. I also asked for his weight, but she said they don't do weight measurements each time -- usually every 3 weeks.

After the ultrasound, I was taken to a little room to wait on Dr. Greig. Five minutes... ten minutes... fifteen mintues... twenty minutes... almost TWENTY-FIVE minutes later, a NURSE comes in to ask (1) when my last OB appointment was and (2) IF I have an appointment scheduled with the Pediatric Cardiologist, Dr. Horne. I said I saw my OB last week, and that YES, I have an appointment with Dr. Horne next week HERE IN YOUR OFFICE! Seriously? Can they not look at their own schedule to confirm I have an appointment already scheduled? Ugh. Then, the nurse says I'm FREE TO GO! Whaa?? Where's Dr. Greig? Why have I been waiting 25 minutes for Dr. Greig if I'm not going to see him at all? Why couldn't you come in here 20 minutes ago to tell me I won't be seeing Dr. Greig today and save me from wasting 25 minutes of my morning while hubs and LO had been waiting for me in the parking lot??? I was seriously irritated.

Since I'm already on my soapbox, let me continue a step further. After our last appointment 2 weeks ago when they told me my son's abdomen growth was in the 16th percentile, I voiced my concerns to Dr. Greig AT the appointment. The next day, still not overly convinced at what he told me (eat a lot and rest a lot and "magically" his abdomen growth will improve), I sent him an email voicing my concerns over how this percentage could change from 61st percentile to 16th percentile over the course of 2 weeks. Dr. Greig CALLED ME and basically told me the same things he told me at the appointment the day before. Still no warm and fuzzy from this guy. I specifically asked him to confirm for me that this 16th percentile data they saw is in line with what his abdomen growth had been over the past several visits, and he AGREED! So now, magically, 2 weeks later, his abdomen growth is BACK in the 61st percentile. How is this possible?? What it comes down to is a BAD MEASUREMENT at our last appointment. Chase just wasn't in a good position to get a good measurement -- this I know. But WHY couldn't this doctor take the time to admit this? Did he even look over my previous ultrasound results to confirm that a 16th percentile measurement was a bit of an anomaly? Seriously, folks. I'm so tired of dealing with inept people that aren't willing to take TWO SECONDS to do their jobs! I mean, would it have taken him that much time to actually review Chase's growth over the past 14 weeks? Isn't that his JOB as a high risk doctor, to monitor the growth and development of my baby?? And would it have taken THAT MUCH time for a nurse to tell me after my ultrasound yesterday that Dr. Greig was behind schedule and I could either (A) go ahead and leave (without waiting 25 minutes for nothing) or (B) go ahead and wait on Dr. Greig, knowing that it would probably be a good 30 minutes before he could see me? It's called customer service, and it's something that does not exist these days (at least not in our experiences).

Whew. Okay, sorry about all that complaining. I just get so irritated that we keep having situations like this happen to us over and over and over again and it always comes back to the simple principle of customer service/patient care and taking two seconds to think about others. My hope and prayer is that we'll have the excellent care I've heard so much about once we get to MUSC for Chase's birth and surgery.