| I've been feeling very unwell recently and have grown increasingly concerned about the pregnancy. Its probably just the usual problems which I tend to forget about in previous pregnancies and which Steve is keen to remind me of his theory that he believes I'm allergic to pregnancy. The sickness has grown and my body cramps and aches. I'm suffling around like an old war veteran. I called my OB the other day and left a message with a midwife and receptionist outlining my concerns and heard back from the OB much later in the afternoon. She questioned why I wanted to change my appointment on the 14 April. I said it had nothing to do with my appointment and repeated again how I was feeling. She was shocked that there could be such a breakdown of communication and apologised profusely for not getting back to me sooner. She said she was in surgery most of the following day but could see me on Friday (this morning) first thing. I appreciated that. At the crack of dawn, the crew and I set off. It took us 40 mins in rush hour to get to the hospital, so there is no way I'll make it if I go into labour at peak rush hour! When we arrived, no one was expecting us and I grew tired of the disgruntled receptionists making comments about disorganised OBs, broken promises, big workloads, etc. I gritted my teeth for approx 20 mins before telling Steve that we were leaving. Its one thing to swallow this crap in the public system, its another paying thousands for private care only to receive the same treatment. I dropped Steve off and headed for the Hutt Valley, which I must say looked beautiful in the Autumn sun. Golden leaves and clear skies. Autumn is by far my favourite season and I'm particularly looking forward to cooler temperatures during pregnancy. My mobile rang and it was the OB wondering where I was. I told her quite honestly that I didn't appreciate my treatment and I felt I wasn't getting my money's worth. I wasn't rude and I wasn't angry, I just felt drained and hopeless and wanted to explain my unhappiness without sounding balshy. I did reiterate a rather unprofessional comment made by a receptionist about her and suggested it didn't sound good to other waiting patients and could imply a lack of faith. She was very good about it all, apologised and made a special concession to see me at a private hosital after a surgery she was doing. She said she would open the hospital especially for me as there aren't usually consults over the weekend. She went on to question how I felt and I explained that I was still feeling unwell and I was having a real run of braxton's hicks. She was sympathetic to this and agreed it was better to see me sooner rather than later. I usually feel quite soothed when someone makes an effort following a complaint, and lets face it, living in NZ there are a lot of services I can complain about! But I didn't and I still don't. My energy levels have dipped so low and mustering the strength of walking up and downstairs is taking it out of me. I'm so tearful right now, anything can set me off. Yesterday evening I puked in Steve's car and although I expected him to be rather cross about it, he was so sweet and diligently set about trying to clean it up during the night, with a torch and bucket load of febreeze! It still smells in there and I really, really feel bad for him. The house is such a mess, I'm embaressed frankly. I'm spotting cobwebs in corners, floors needed to be thoroughly vacuumed. I did manage to scrub all the toilets the other day, so I'm pleased that at least the important things are taken care of and the kitchen is being cleaned with antibacterial sprays to keep us all in good health. But there is dust and finger marks over the tv. When the sun is setting you can see dust accumulating. Its infuriating for me as I can't stand mess. I tried to get some quotes for cleaners, but they are quoting an absolute fortune! Its so bad that I just want to spend the day in the bedroom which is far easier to keep clean. Pip is so miserable, there seems to be about 3 teeth coming through at the same time, so at night she's not sleeping very well - keeping us all awake. During the day she screams and moans and looks absolutely exhausted. I'm sure toddlers arent supposed to look that tired! Anyway, here's hoping for a better week. |