Wednesday, 06 February 2008

• My First Prenatal Appointment in the Clinica Arequipa

  We had an appointment at 12 today, so at 11 I took a shower, packed a grocery bag with some snacks, my What to Expect When You're Expecting book, my id, a camera, and my vitamins, and we took a taxi over to the clinic. We went up to the doctor's office and didn't even have to sit down and wait. The nurse took us into the office to ask us a few basic questions. The office was pretty warm and behind the nurse on the desk were photos of the doctor holding different babies by their ankles, a couple family pictures, and apparently her and her daughter in India in front of the Taj Mahal.

  The doctor came in shortly after and said (in Spanish) that we were punctual and that she was glad because she is punctual also. She looked young for her age with really short brown hair and nice makeup. She seemed very professional and direct at first, but later on in the visit she smiled more. She told us that she knew a little English but was going to speak in Spanish, which she did very slowly. I appreciated that because I've never used most of these words before in Spanish, like urinate, constipation, and nipple.

  She asked me about my family history, and as far as I know I have an incredibly healthy family. (I hope that's true, I should've asked my mom before I went!) The nurse took me into the back room which was spacious and only had a little changing nook, one exam table, and two doors in it. She took me to the nook and told me to change into a robe and said "this part in back" a couple of times. I didn't really know what she meant, but I've seen people on movies walking around hospitals with their little booties hanging out the back, so I figured to part that ties goes behind.

  She did the exam and we could see the little baby's head and arms and heartbeat! Lee held my head up so I could see and I thought he was crying for a second, but I think he was just amazed at being able to see our baby already. That was over and we talked and she gave us an order for various tests to be done tomorrow morning. I have to fast tomorrow morning, but at least we can go to the lab around 7. We paid them a little over $30 dollars for the visit, kissed the doctor on the cheek on our way out, and we'll see them again in April!

   

  

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