You know that gel stuff they squirt on you for ultrasounds and for the Doppler thing for listening to the baby’s heartbeat? I distinctly remember that my former OB had it in a little warmer or something. It was always a bit warmer than room temperature, which was a fairly pleasant sensation. My current OB must keep hers in the fridge; it’s like ice. Yikes.
She does at least have little socks on the stirrups. I haven’t encountered her speculum yet. I just hope it’s not in the fridge next to the ultrasound gel.
The nurse who does the pap smears at my student health service is great. She runs the speculum under hot water, plays a pop music in the background, has nice pictures of tropical beaches on the ceiling so you have something nice to look, doesn’t use stirrups (she has you lie with your soles pressed together and your knees flopped to each side) and has a nice fluffy blanket to keep you warm and covered.
Sadly, since my cervix is in a very weird place, I still find the whole thing incredibly painful, but I can’t blame her!
Placenta delivery shock here, so I *will *spoiler it!
When WhyKid was born, the doctor, for some innane reason, decided the placenta wasn’t detaching “fast enough” (it had been 12 mnutes - I looked at the delivery paperwork this morning. Jerk.) and rather than do anything with tools, a D&C or the like (or simply wait the suggested 40 minutes), reached his hand and wrist up through my vagina, past the cervix and ripped the sucker out with a gloved hand. He was in nearly up to his elbow.
A little warning might have been nice! It was rather intense! :eek:
My current midwife reviewed the delivery log yesterday and nearly burst trying to be the professional and not critique her collegue in front of me. (There was no fetal or maternal distress by the way. But he did have two sets of twins ready to deliver down the hall.)
Another thing I just thought of that I hate about the gyno is that, when you go in for a routine exam, most gynos use some sort of lube when they do the internal pelvic exam, so they coat their gloved fingers with KY or something then shove them up you, and you have KY leaking out of you for the rest of the day. I hate that.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve always had a male gyno - two out of the three I’ve had have been great, very gentle. I really like the one I have now. Not only does he ask if he thinks he’s hurting me, he was willing to work in tandem with my neurologist when I was still having seizures, and I’ve found, at least at the hospital where I get most of my medical care, specialists aren’t so willing to work together. Plus, when I mentioned my husband and I are thinking of trying for a baby soon, he was almost as excited as I am. Still, when my current gyno retires or if we move, I think I’ll go to a woman.
So, after several years of encouragement from her daughters, an elderly woman made her first-ever appointment with a gynecologist. Ather the exam, she thanked the doctor, and said, “You seem like a nice young man. But tell me, does your mother know how you’re making a living?”
Just doin’ my part to lower the birthrate, ma’am. I’m thinking of hiring myself out to teen pregnancy prevention programs just to tell that story. Think it’ll work?
(heh. I guess we shocked her. But she did get warning!)
I joked a few days ago in this thread that I was going to hold an aspirin between my knees until menopause. However, after reading that spoiler I’m going to hold it until I die.
My new gyno looooves her job. She gets so excited about it! When she’s poking around in there, she keeps up a running commentary and asks if I want to see what she’s doing (!?!). She’ll have me put my hands against my abdomen and feel my uterus when she pushes it up. I just want to lie there and pretend I’m in my safe place, thankyuouverymuch.
WhyNot, that is not cool (not that you didn’t already know, but still).
Storytime:
My dad’s a general practicioner, and his partner is a bad doctor. This partner once used that same technique on a woman, and ended up pulling her uterus out.
Yes, you read that right.
It’s amazing that man’s only been sued once for malpractice. He’s horrible. I gots more stories, iffen ya want 'em.
Yeah, I know. There’s an old thread somewhere around here where someone was scoffing at the idea of uterine inversion due to manual placenta delivery, and we set 'em straight. I am very, very lucky. I am also very, vary glad to be working with someone else this time around.
What I minded the last time was the fact that afterwards I spotted for about two or three days. It was light, but still! I think she was a little rougher on my cervix than the last one who’d checked me out. I expect to spot the day of, I was surprised by the day after!
WhyNot, that story gives me the creeps. And I’m not planning on having babies at all!
That could have been because of the type of PAP. There’s a newer method that is superior for some reason, but involves a stiff brush instead of the ol Q-Tip on on stick. It’s better for testing, because they can re-test or culture anything weird without putting you through another PAP or something (my midwife explained it, but I was too busy fearing the speculum to pay close attention), but the brush causes a bit more bleeding than the old swab. She said spotting for a couple of days was normal with the new method.
You ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie! That was quite the surprise.
Kinda funny though - I’d just read this thread yesterday before I went in to get my IUD inserted, so I had a little bit of warning. Not from the doc, however. At least the SDMB looks after my health.
I’m thinking of hiring myself out to teen pregnancy prevention programs just to tell that story. Think it’ll work?