Prima visita!

I don’t know why, but by the time the doctor called me into her office for my first pregnancy appointment, I was physically trembling and my now ever-present all-day nausea was threatening to throw me over the edge. I’m not good with doctors; I don’t like to be poked and prodded – much less in the old ‘stirrup’ chair (if you know what I mean…) so, having waited the customary 50 minutes (she’s great but always running way behind), it was with some trepidation that I dragged myself into the consulting room and “made myself comfortable”.
The visit started with a half hour chat about how I’m feeling (sick!), what I should and shouldn’t eat (not an issue at the moment as I can hardly bear to let anything pass my lips!), what I should and shouldn’t do, and my fear of the dreaded complication (which shall remain nameless, but which has wreaked havoc for the women of my family for generations…). The doctor was - I have to say - fantastic. She put my mind at rest about a lot of things, saying things like “you don’t have to worry because if you do have complications, they are not your problem anyway; they’re my problem” and (talking about the illness) “if you invite her to the party, she might just come….. If you don’t invite her then she probably won’t bother, but if she does, try slamming the door in her face….”. A quick exam, a pregnancy certificate and a prescription for some anti-bacterial capsules, and I was done. Oh, she also gave me a two-month supply of folic acid to be getting on with, as well as some insider information about what goes on at the local hospitals – just so that I was properly informed. All in all I was pleased with how things went. I now need to organize my 12-week scan in Sardinia (we’ll be on holiday there for most of August and I hit week 12 on the 17th) plus a round of blood tests to do more or less straight away. Next gyno visit if all goes well will be at the beginning of September. Now I just need to get rid of this damn nausea and I’ll be much more capable of functioning like a normal human being…