This I Believe

Going to the doctor office shouldn’t be a hassle or argument. Have you been to the doctor’s office knowing that you were really sick and the doctor saying that there was nothing wrong?

Why don’t they listen to their patients? They act all big and mighty because they have a paper that says they are smarter than you.

I remember getting pregnant with my first baby. I was so excited and nervous at the same time not knowing what to expect. I wanted to be sure that I had picked out a good doctor to take care of me and my baby. I had so many questions, I could just explode. I found a doctor that had great ratings and went to see him. I was so happy and scared all at the same time. I knew I would feel better after talking to him.

Hearing my baby’s heartbeat for the first time was amazing! The doctor had told me that I could call at any time to speak to him or a nurse. What could be greater than having a doctor on call, maybe

one that would listen to your concerns. I had called the office a few times concerned about my baby not moving for at least 12 hours at a time. He called me back to tell me that the office was closed and that I needed to call back during normal business hours.

I had to go in and get a ultrasound to see how things were going, since I hadn’t been feeling well. During the ultrasound I asked the doctor if everything had looked alright and if he could tell the sex of my baby. He let me know that I had to have an extra $50.00 to get an extensive ultrasound, if not I could just wait. He looked around for about 1 minute but still had nothing to say. I didn’t have nothing to do besides wait for my next appointment.

I went in for my 38 week checkup to see if all was well. I had been feeling sick and had not felt my baby move around at all that whole day before. I went to the doctor’s office hoping to find out what has been going on. The doctor walked into the room and began to measure my stomach and the baby’s fetal position. He grabbed the microphone to listen to my baby’s heartbeat and couldn’t find anything. He moved it all around my stomach searching for any faint sound. He found nothing. Of course I asked what was going on and he wouldn’t say anything. He grabbed the ultrasound machine to take a look, but there was no movement and no heartbeat detected. Before I could say anything he patted me on the leg and said, ”sometimes these things just happen.” He got up from the stool to walk out and turned

to tell me to walk out of the side door so the other patients wouldn’t see me upset.

I believe that if my doctor had listened to me in the beginning, I would have had a different outcome.