A Glimpse into our World - Hospital Visits

The doctor visits are very different from the the doctor visit in the states.  In the states you get a time to go in to see the doctor and then go from there.  At my hospital you are given a number to see the doctor that you have to wait for that number to be called but you also have to have another number to check in and get your ultrasound. Here is the beginning procedures for when you go to the hospital for a regular check up (when you are pregnant).  This could change at different hospitals but this is what happens at my hospital & with my doctor.  I really like the repetition of it all because for the most part everything is in Chinese.

First you grab a number -- sometimes you can get in right away and sometimes you have a wait a long time.  Notice behind Little N and Little M -- they are 4 behind in signing in.

After that you go and pee on a stick...when your number is called to sign in you show the nurses.  I'm pretty sure that I have messed up on this and gotten some results that weren't correct because of how long I've waited for my number to be called or just not doing it correctly.

Then you weigh yourself and write down how much you weigh.  The first time you visit you weigh yourself and then you see how tall you are.

Then you take your blood pressure....usually I wait for this, because I'll have walked over from the apartment and I've found that my blood pressure is a little high because of the walk over, until my number is called so that it's close to normal as possible.

You sign in and you are given a sheet of paper that you bring over to the ultrasound room.  Then you wait for your number to be called.  They do an ultrasound at every single visit so I've seen this baby lots, haven't gotten good pictures of her but I've seen her.  They measure the head, stomach & leg to make sure the baby is growing properly.  They also tell you how many grams the baby is based on the ultrasound.  I haven't put much faith in the ultrasound size because it's so subjective. :-)

After my ultrasound I drop off my paper work to the doctor and wait for my number to be called.

The nurses call me in (by my Chinese name) and I see the doctor -- she tells me what's going on & then checks my legs and then I'm on my way.  Sometimes I have to go and get blood work drawn but this is a pretty standard pg doctor visit.