This morning, I had my first Kaiser appointment for prenatal care, and all-in-all, it went well. I really like that the facility has everything on site, especially now that I am 6+ months along. I started with a nurse, who took all my vitals, then went up to the 4th floor to the lab to draw my blood. Maybe I just got lucky, but every time I went somewhere new, I was taken in/back in less than 5 minutes, just enough time to open a magazine, get into the middle of an article, then have to put it down.
I went back downstairs to radiology, where they set up my final ultrasound appointment. Then, back to OB to meet with the doctor to conduct a full prenatal assessment, and discuss my lab results. I couldn't believe it- it had been less than 20 minutes ago that they were drawing blood, and they already had the results. Cool!
Everything at Kaiser is stored on a computer, which I actually kind of like. I know others feel like it's private information, but guess what, if I have an emergency, or the doctor needs an immediate answer, they can look it up, practically from any room in the facility.
The doctor was really nice, she explained that they work as a team, that I would be assigned a midwife, and that they were going to take good care of me. We listed to the heartbeat, and she said it sounded fantastic. Not just good, but fantastic! That's what I like to hear. She also said that Ginger is sitting really high (which is normal, everyone carries differently), which I already knew as I was showing practically by 4 months!
All in all, I got in and out within a few minutes over an hour, and with my previous doc (who didn't have onsite anything) between the labs and the ultrasound scheduling and driving to all of the different facilities, that easily would have taken me more than a few hours. And on different days, as they all didn't really talk to each other the way that Kaiser functions.
So, I'm happy. I've learned in the past 6 months to have a healthy dose of skepticism with all of the ups and downs I've had with service, but even so, this first visit was great. I have my glucose testing next week, which I've been warned is not the tastiest stuff to swallow. Hope all goes well!
Under Construction
7 years ago
2 comments:
See, it's not bad huh? :)
I forgot to share a hint with you that my doctor shared with me. She said that if I ever need to see her all I need to do is call and say I need to see the doctor today. She said they are only scheduled for the AM and the afternoon is left open for same day appt's. And I love that I can e-mail her any time I want and she'll respond within 24 hours. I also love that everything is online. I had blood taken this week and I had the results by noon. Dixie had an appt Wednesday morning and her record was updated by noon, too. It's awesome! I have never waited longer than a few minutes.
Anyway, glad Ginger has a strong, beautiful heartbeat!
Glad to hear your first experience went well! Good luck on the glucose test. I failed the first one and then had to take the three hour one and got poked 4 times. Not fun. :/ Glad to hear Ginger is doing well too!
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