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Below is a list of doctor visits we
currently have scheduled. After each visit we will
update the site with all of the happenings.
Check back often for updates. |
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August 4, 2005;
1:30 -
North Florida Women's Care (Nurses) |
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Pearl's first visit with
North Florida Women's Care took place today. We met
with Angela, the orientation nurse who provided us
with lots of documentation and helpful information
for first time parents. The majority of the
documentation that was provided can be found in the
links to the left. Our next appt. is scheduled for August
18th, where we will meet Pearl's doctor,
Dr.
Kenneth McAlpine. Also, we will have our first
sonogram on this date as well. And the big news of
the visit was that we learned Pearl's due date is
March
17, 2006. |
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August 18, 2005;
3:30 - North Florida Women's Care (Dr. McAlpine) |
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Today we
met with Dr. McAlpine for the first time. We found
him to be very nice and cordial. He answered all of
our questions and made us feel comfortable. In
between Pearl's last visit and today, she had lab
work done to check for various harmful diseases. We
can thankfully say that everything is normal and she
is perfectly healthy. Pearl has gained two pounds
since her last visit. The doctor reassured her that
no weight gain is common at this stage. The doctor
estimated that Pearl is 10 weeks along in her
pregnancy. Oh yeah, and the big news of the day was
that Dr. McAlpine did a sonogram. The sonogram was
very cool, both of us were overly excited to see our
baby. We were able to see the head, body, two legs,
two arms, and the coolest part was we saw the heart
beating. Our baby is 34mm long at this point and
growing. Dr. McAlpine took several pictures for us
to share. You can see copies of them by clicking on
this link. For now,
that's about it. Pearl's next doctor appointment is
scheduled for September 15th at 1:45. |
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September 15, 2005;
1:45 - North Florida Women's Care |
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Today we
once again met with Dr. McAlpine. Since Pearl's last
visit on August 18th, she has not gained any weight.
Unfortunately Dr. McApline did not perform another sonogram on this
visit. We did however hear the baby's heart beat
for the very first time. What an exciting
opportunity that was to hear our baby's heart beat.
The heart was beating at about 155 to 165 beats per
minute. We were both very excited and happy to
hear such a wonderful sound. Since
Flu Season is
right around the corner we decided to ask Dr.
McAlpine what his opinion was on whether or not
Pearl should receive the vaccine. We were happy to
hear that Dr. McAlpine recommended Pearl receive the
flu vaccine, which is in line with the CDC's
recommendation on who should and shouldn't receive
the vaccine, for more information on CDC's
recommendations for flu vaccination,
click here or the ACIP's recommendations,
click here. If you are interested in the
Unfortunately Pearl had a minor case of the flu last
season so we will certainly take time out to go and
get our flu shot from our Primary Care Physician.
Pearl's next doctor's appointment is scheduled for
October 20th. This will be a big appointment for us
in that we will hopefully be able to learn the sex
of our child. |
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October 20, 2005;
3:30 - North Florida Women's Care |
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Today
was the big day we'd been waiting for. Today we
found out we will be having a baby girl. We tried
not to get our hopes up for fear that we wouldn't be
able to find out the gender but low and behold the
baby was in the right position for the nurse to
tell. You can see all of the sonogram pictures by
clicking here. The
baby's heart beat was beating strong which was a
very good sign. She has also been very active,
moving around and making Pearl uncomfortable, but
she's getting used to it. Pearl was
finally able to get her Flu shot last week, since
she is considered High Risk, it was good that she
was able to get that done as well. Pearl had not
gained any weight up until this point, so when the
nurse told her that she gained 3.5 pounds she was
all to excited.
We also
received the results from Pearl's recent lab work
which we are happy to report is negative. This
testing was done to determine the level of
Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP)
in her blood. AFP is a substance naturally
produced by the liver of a fetus.
The amount of AFP in the blood of a pregnant woman
can help diagnose whether the fetus may have such
problems as
spina bifida,
anencephaly or
Down syndrome Pearl's
next doctor's appointment is scheduled for November
16th.
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November 16, 2005;
4:00 - North Florida Women's Care |
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Today
was Pearl's 5th visit to North Florida Women's Care.
Unfortunately, Dr. McAlpine was busy in the delivery
room so we were unable to see him. The good news was
however that we were able to meet with
Dr. Vikki McKinnie (there must be an Irish thing
going on here). Dr. McKinnie is new to NFWC and
although a graduate of UF, she was really nice. It
was good to meet the other doctors just in case Dr.
McAlpine might not be available when the time comes
for our baby to come out.
Dr.
McKinnie told us that Pearl is progressing nicely
and growing at an average rate. Pearl has gained 8
pounds in total since her first visit. Unfortunately
Pearl is going to have to go back and do some new
lab work. This time they are going to be testing for
Gestational Diabetes. This is a common test
because gestational diabetes is one of the most
common health problems of pregnancy. After hearing
our baby's heart beat and making sure everything was
okay, Dr. McKinnie sent us on our way. Our next
appt. is scheduled for December 20, the day before
Rob's birthday. |
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December 20, 2005;
10;30 - North Florida Women's Care |
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Pearl's
6th visit to North Florida Women's Care started off
with filling out form after form, what fun that was.
Apparently NFWC is going to an automated patient
care system and all of the documents had to be
updated. I guess it was a good thing that we got to
the office early. Once we finished the forms, the
nurse took us into the back where she took Pearl's
blood pressure, which was normal and put her on the
scale as well. Pearl has gained a total of 20
pounds. Rob told her it was probably off because of
the five pounds of boots she was wearing but she
wasn't buying it. We're not really sure where she is
putting the weight, because she is still so tiny.
Once the
routine check up was complete, we were then able to
see Dr. McAlpine. As expected, he told us Pearl is
progressing normally and her stomach is growing on
an average pace as well. Using a fetal heart
listening Doppler, we were able to hear our
daughters heart beat once again. Her heart rate was
about 140 beats per minute.
After
talking to Dr. McAlpine about nursing classes and
pediatricians, were sent on our happy and healthy
way. Our next appointment is scheduled for January
17th, 2006! Only two months to go once that date
hits. |
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January 17, 2006 |
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Unfortunately, Rob was unable to attend this doctor visit as he was in
Miami for a meeting. This was the first doctor's
appointment that he missed. To be honest, it was
probably a good thing that he missed this
appointment. Pearl had to wait over 2.5 hours to be
seen. According to the nursing staff, 4 of the
doctors on staff were all called away almost
simultaneously to deliver babies, so needless to
say, there weren't any doctors available to perform
checkups.
Once Pearl was able to see Dr. McAlpine, he
indicated that she is growing nicely and the babies
heart rate was normal, about 130-140 beats per
minute.
Pearl told Dr. McAlpine we had chosen
Doctor Robert Middlemas
as our pediatrician. Although Doctor Middlemas
is a University of Miami Graduate Dr. McAlpine
mentioned that he is highly recognized in the
pediatric field.
Pearl's appointments will be moved to every two
weeks after this visit, so check back more often and
look for an update after the next visit on January
31st. |
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January 31, 2006;
3:00 - North Florida Women's Care |
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Today
marked 33 weeks and 6 days,
click here to
see the week 34 calendar and what Pearl is feeling
this week and how the baby is growing. Only 6 weeks
left, plus or minus a week of course (according the
doctors that is). As I mentioned in the last up
date, Pearl is now required to get checkups every
two weeks. About a month or so before our daughter
is due, Pearl will start going to the doctor every
month.
Dr. McAlpine was on call again today so
unfortunately we were unable to meet with him today.
Fortunately for us, Dr. McKinnie was scheduled to
fill in for him; we've come to like
Dr. McKinnie. Dr.
McKinnie was accompanied by a 3rd Medical student
from Florida State
University College of Medicine (GO NOLES!) by
the name of Tristan Altbuch. Tristan was a nice
young man who assisted Dr. McKinnie in the checkup.
Rob of course had to give the student a hard time,
in jest of course. As a condition of his internship,
Pearl and I were to grade the student on his
demeanor, experience, etc. We gave him excellent
marks.
Pearl's checkup once again went very well, she is
growing at a healthy weight; she gained 3 pounds
since her last visit. The baby's heart rate was once
again normal at 130-140 beats per minute. Some women
at this stage in their pregnancy start to feel
Braxton Hicks contractions. Braxton Hicks contractions are a painless but sometimes uncomfortable tightening of the uterus. The contractions may be mild enough to go unnoticed or may be strong enough to make the woman stop what she is doing.
Pearl has probably already felt these types of
contractions since our little girl is so active.
At Pearl's next visit, the doctors will
test for
Group B Streptococcus which is a type of bacteria that causes infection among newborns, pregnant women or women after childbirth, females after gynecologic surgery, and older male and female patients with other serious diseases.
The bacteria can be found in 10-30% of pregnant
women and can be passed to babies during pregnancy.
Check back on February 16th for updates from our
next doctors appointment. |
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February 15, 2006;
3:00 - North Florida Women's Care |
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Future Doctor
Visit |
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Future Doctor
Visit |
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Future Doctor
Visit |
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