Dec. 4 Intake Appointment

This morning I (Liz, here) met with Pat Houck, a Clinical Nurse at Hershey Med's Nyes Rd. office, for my intake appointment.

She gathered family history, asked me about a TON of diseases and birth defects I've never heard of, and pronounced that this little tadpole has a clean family history and genetics on its side.

Oh, and she verified that I'm not allowed to scoop cat poop until the baby comes. I had heard it was because of the dust in the litter, but Pat informed me it's actually the stool itself that is dangerous. Why? Because our felines may eat mice, birds or other small mammals that have a common parasitic infection called Toxoplasmosis, which could infect the fetus. Bottom line, Brian scoops all poop for the forseeable future. :)

I did have to giggle at her when we went through the following exchange:
PAT: And when was the first day of your last period?
ME: July 18.
PAT: WHAT!? You haven't had a period since July!?
Me: Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I'm no more than a month or so pregnant.

And then I went over the story with her. She just about jumped out of her skin though, thinking I was MUCH further along than she had anticipated.

I've always liked Hershey med for the fact that it's a teaching and research hospital (and because it's affiliated with Penn State, and that means cute Nittany Lions all over the offices), and here's a few more reasons I like this place:

#1: I got a TON of great materials today, and I'll probably be reading for months about everything from SIDS to car seats.

#2: The Women's Health center provides a "gift" to all new expecting moms - "Your Pregnancy & Birth," a 385-page book published by the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecologists. I was really impressed with this one, and it saved me $20 at Borders!

#3: Pat gave me a magazine called "As Your Baby Grows," which shows all kinds of neat (well, some are really kind of creepy) pictures of the fetus in different stages of development. And, Pat was very frank in telling me to just ignore all the formula ads in the magazine, and just take it for the pictures. :)

#4: I found out that as first time parents, Brian & I have the option to participate in a research project for Hershey, and they'll PAY US and FEED US regularly for our participation! Haven't gotten the details yet, but heck, I'll take easy money wherever I can get it.

#5: Pat was very open and honest in explaining what genetic tests are available and which and aren't typically covered by insurance. She also gave me a ballpark figure for the big one that's not covered. Yeah, since we have no family history of Cystic Fibrosis, I think I'll save my $300+ and the stress, since the test isn't 100 percent accurate.

#6: Holy cow, they offer over a dozen different childbirth and parenting classes! We'll have to see which ones/how many are covered by insurance.

My appointment ended in the lab, where they took FIVE vials of blood (ugh) and a urine sample.

Next appointment is Tuesday with CRNP Amy Stauffer, who will review the lab results and do an ultrasound to establish a due date.

And from that point, it looks like appointments every four to six weeks for the next five or six months.