Congrats on the positive results! What a huge relief for you!
Don't get too excited about the public doctors. I went home crying the other day : (
After waiting THREE hours, I finally got to see the doctor. She was absolutely horrible. HORRIBLE. All I wanted to do was go home...and I don't mean the home that was a bus ride away. I wanted to go back to the States so badly. This woman's English was horrible; I am not trying to be mean because my Cantonese consists of about five phrases, but I am not in a profession that forces me to interact with foreigners about extremely important issues. She was brusque and rude. Again, I understand that they are busy, but honestly, it is not my fault that one of the doctors came in late...don't take it out on a pregnant woman! She refused to actually listen to me, she wouldn't make eye contact, and when I showed her my earlier ultrasounds, she didn't even look at them all, just handed them back to me...
As she was attacking my uterus (she was very rough and it was painful) she asked if I was going to do the Downs screening privately or publicly. When I told her that we weren't planning on it, she looked at me like I was some kind of freak and then proceeded to talk in Cantonese over my body to the attending nurse. I am getting seriously angry just sitting here.
She didn't write a thing down (there were spaces on the "first visit" page for information such as fetal heartbeat, uterus size, etc)--nothing. She didn't say anything. After being at work all morning, waiting for three hours, then getting barked at by this b.... I was already tearing up in the office. My husband finally asked what blood type I was because he is B-. She responded saying that I was O+. Stare. My husband asked if that could be a problem...she just got up and walked away. Finally, she came back and said no. After we all just sat there, she said, "If you are done, you can leave now."
Thank God, I had been going to a private doctor or I would have completely lost it--11 weeks and I would have had absolutely no real prenatal care, actually it would have been until 17 weeks (my next appt) or 20 weeks (what would have been my first ultrasound). She never asked about vitamins, never said anything about food...I have five ovarian cysts that have been causing a lot of discomfort--it is in my file from the registration visit, she didn't even bring it up. When I finally did, she asked what the private doctor said. When I told her that they had to be monitored, that seemed to be enough for her...guess I will be paying for that one myself.
So anyway...when you go, be prepared for the worst. Be ready to be assertive. Have the questions you want answered written down so that if you have a horrible wait or an annoying doctor, you can still feel at ease with the (free : ) appointment.
On a brighter note, when I went to register, though I had to wait for a long time, the nurse was lovely. She was kind, patient, helpful, and spoke clear English. I am hoping that next time I go, I will have some better luck and end up with a more competent doctor. I don't need to be coddled or pampered, but I do need to be treated like I am vaguely human
