Postpartum Check-up

One week ago today, I had my 6 week postpartum check-up with Dr. N. I was actually 7 weeks and a few days postpartum at the appointment because he was out of the office the entire week before, and I didn't want to see anyone but him. 

In the past, Chris and I have taken our entire family to the postpartum appointment. Dr. N doesn't do any kind of physical exam, and it's fun to show off our new baby to the nurses and staff. This time, however, I was kind of conflicted about what we should do. It would have been SO much easier for me to go to the appointment by myself, but at the same time I wanted to take the babies in. We finally decided that we would just drag our whole circus up there - and yes, we are certainly a circus these days! *grin*

As usual, I scheduled a morning appointment with hopes that we wouldn't have to wait too long to see Dr. N. We were called back by his nurse fairly quickly, and he came in the room after only about 20 minutes. That's not bad at all for his office! There are several doctors in the practice, so they have quite a few nurses and staff. However, Dr. N has two nurses that primarily work for him. One of his nurses I like really well. She's friendly and competent and upbeat. She is the nurse who came to the hospital to observe my delivery. His other nurse is not my favorite. Whenever she would call me back to do my weight and blood pressure readings when I was pregnant, she was very quiet and not friendly. I think I had only seen her smile one time. I always had to ask what my blood pressure reading was, and sometimes when I would ask her questions she would act annoyed. When I had to have my rhogam shot, my not-so-favorite nurse gave it to me. She was seriously yawning and sighing while she was doing it! Very unprofessional! 

The one I don't care for is the one who called us back at this appointment, but I hardly recognized her. She was smiley and friendly and chatty and kept telling us how precious the babies were. I was shocked but happy to finally see a different side of her! My weight was one pound above my pre-pregnancy weight according to their scale, and my blood pressure was 122 over 76.

Our not-so-little family waiting for Dr. N to come in:

Brooke was awake and a little fussy while we were waiting.

My sweet Baby A :-):

Brecklyn was sound asleep in her carseat, so we just left her there!

Bren was being so cute. I think he was excited to see Dr. N again.

Brianna has a hard time with waiting, so this was good practice for her.

Of course, it didn't take long for Bren to be done with the waiting, too. Ha!

It was a little surreal to be in that office with the babies on the outside of me. I felt like we had come full circle.

When Dr. N busted in our room, he was waving two little pink blankets and saying, "Yaaaaaay, I get to give away two blankets! Yaaaaay!" Haha! Then he looked at the babies and said, "Wow! We have a Mommy and a Daddy I see!" Brooke was still fussing a bit, so he took her and she calmed right down on his shoulder. He said, "I don't know what the problem is here, Mom. She's as calm as can be." Chris said, "She likes loud people." Ha! Dr. N pretended to act offended, so Chris said, "Like you don't already know!" We all got a laugh out of that. 

As he was holding Brooke, he made several comments about how Brecklyn was so chill (she was still sleeping in her carseat). He said it was because she got all of her drama out in the delivery room :-). As scary as her delivery was, it does make for a good story. He kept referring to it as "the one-legged breech delivery". 

After just a few questions about how I was feeling, the appointment was over. He gave Brooke back to me, patted my shoulder, said, "Good job, Mom" and walked out of the room. Thankfully, Chris was there with me and remembered to ask Dr. N about my belly button. In all the excitement/commotion that is Dr. N, I went completely blank on the questions I had for him!

When I was pregnant with Brenson, my belly button herniated pretty badly. He told me then that after I was done having babies, I would probably need to get it surgically repaired. It did mostly heal after I gave birth, but as soon as I became pregnant with the twins, it popped out again. And this time, it was much larger and more severe than it had been before. Dr. N had warned me several times during my pregnancy that I would likely be having surgery on it not long after I delivered. 

After I gave birth and my stomach started really shrinking, we could see how bad the hernia really was. It sticks out about an inch, and is at least an inch wide, as well. Sometimes, it causes me a lot of pain, but I can push it in and that will often help it feel better. Dr. N looked at it through my clothes, felt it quickly, and said, "Yep, you need to see a surgeon." He had his nurse, Tiffany, call in a referral for me, and I actually have surgery scheduled for just a few weeks from now. I'll do another post all about my appointment with the surgeon. One more pat on the back, and we were all through with our appointment (for real, this time). 

I was a little bit surprised with myself after we left Dr. N's office. I couldn't help but feel really sad to be leaving. The girls are very likely our last babies, and I will see Dr. P (my RE) for my gynecological needs from now on. The thought of never going back to that office or seeing Dr. N just made me more sad than I expected to be. He's a great doctor and has been part of some of the biggest moments of our lives. I will truly miss going to that office! 

Also, I immediately regretted how several things went during our appointment. Obviously, I had the camera with us, so WHY didn't I take photos of us with Dr. N when he was in our room?!? It just completely slipped my mind. Also, Tiffany was there but wasn't the nurse who called us back, so she didn't see the babies. I did see her in the hall when I was getting weighed, and I wished I had asked her if she wanted to come see the girls. She saw them briefly in the delivery room, but I wanted her to be able to see them in a calmer environment. I was just distracted and wasn't thinking straight. So, not only did I feel super sad after leaving, but I had regrets, too. Booooo.

However, I am feeling less sad now and just thankful to have had such a good and special doctor in our lives. Thank you, Dr. N, for everything (photo from the hospital when I girls were one day old)!