A Good Man

You're all going to think I have a love thing for my doctor and really, I dont. I love my husband. But Dr. Bailey... He is truly a good man. (As is Peter, in case he reads this and wonders why I didn't add that adjective to his name!) :)

As you may remember, I called Dr. B. a few days ago, to tell him of our positive pregnancy test and rising betas. He had asked at our last meeting, several months ago, to call him with an update so that we could decide when to meet, do the cerclage, etc. So, I called and left a message with the nurse around lunch time. That evening, my cell phone rings and it is Dr. B., from his private cell phone. (How do I know this, you ask? Because this sweet man, when I was in the hospital with Alexander, gave us his cell phone number to call day or night if we were concerned about our treatement THEN gave it to us again during my time of postpartum preeclampsia, in case I had any more black outs after office hours. Like I said, a good man.) In his typical, laid back voice, he expressed his congratulations and told me how happy he was for us. He laid out, briefly, that he'd like to do the stitch between 11 and 13 weeks, that he felt that would give us the best healing time before things might try to get hairy, and that he really felt like this would help us reach full term. He wanted to make sure that we both had his cell phone number, in case of a problem or question. And then he asked me to call him as soon as we had our u/s with Dr. Lee, to let him know how many "kids" to expect. (One of the things I always found appealing was that he always refered to our twins as "the kids". "Let's see what the kids are up to", he would say before an ultrasound. With Alexander, he used to say "let's see what your little boy is doing.") We parted with me promising to call him.

Fast forward to last night. I had a long day at work and didn't get home until after 10pm. (Who knew the life of a librarian could be so exciting... Ooohh... municipality meetings!) After Nicholas's dinner, which my perfect Peter so lovingly prepared, I picked up the mail and there was a card. It was from Dr. B.! In his doctorish script, he had written a short note, telling me it was nice to hear from me, congratulations, and that he looked forward to seeing us again soon. Then he signed it with his first name. Very laid back. Very friendly.

I wanted to cry. It reminded me of two other handwritten notes I've received from him, after the children died. He wrote these notes of condolence, telling me how sorry he was, how he was thinking of us and our kids. And I remember thinking... Wow... This guy actually sent us notes to say he was sorry. He must really care about his patients.

I remember being sad that there were too many safety risks that were possible with a homebirth with our midwife, after we found out we were carrying twins. She had told me that she knew a doctor who was very friendly towards natural birth and that she trusted, and would I like his name. I took it and made an appointment, and I remember him being so relaxed. He took so much time to just talk and explain things. I never felt rushed or that I was just another number. No matter how busy the office was, he always took a seat and spoke slowly. Every question we had was well answered. He never made us feel dumb for anything we asked and was impressed whenever we brought up medical points of interest. (We researched things before going to appointments, and it helps that Peter is a biologist.) We both just knew that he was our doctor. And with each pregnancy, he has earned more and more respect.

I feel so blessed to have such good doctors. Both Dr. Lee and Dr. Bailey are more than I could ever have hoped for. I've heard so many horror stories of both REs and OBs, and I feel like, somehow, we were able to get the cream of the crop. I dont know why we are so lucky.

One more week until our ultrasound! The research I've done has said that the heartbeat is visible on u/s a minimum of 22 days after ovulation; some sites say you should wait at least 30dpo before an u/s, just to be sure. I will be 26dpo (5w5d) and will be having a transvaginal u/s, which picks up the HB sooner. But, with our previous pregnancies, we haven't seen the heartbeats until six and a half weeks, and I know friends who've not been able to see HBs prior to the middle of the sixth week. So, I'm trying not to hold my breath. But I really, really am hoping! Trying not to stress too much.

Really felt our children a lot this morning. Some days, they are so strong. It was hard to leave the house. I just wanted to cuddle with their blankets, remember their smells and their touches, their little hands moving in mine. It was a happy thought. I want to keep that all day.