I’ve Never Felt So Low After an Appointment

sglemom

New member
I had my anatomy scan today (20 weeks 4 days). Almost everything they could get images of looked good and healthy. Visibility was slightly inhibited by my belly fat (BMI 42) and anterior placenta, so I have to return in a month to get the rest of the images we need.

But that wasn’t the part that crushed me. I had to go into a room after to do a tele-visit with high risk doctor at another hospital in my area. She immediately starts off by saying I’m being see by high risk because I’m “overweight, which pushes me into high risk.” Which whatever, I’ve heard about this happening, and I was high risk my last pregnancy because of blood pressure and a previous MC.

She then went on to say that even though I passed my 1 hour glucose I still probably have GD because baby’s belly is measuring in the 90th percentile and he’s already 15oz. She asked what I ate, and when I told her, she accused me of having to eat more because baby is gaining weight from something. She kept accusing me of eating more that what I told her. I told her my glucose levels I’ve been checking and she’s still convinced I have GD. Which is okay, I want all the monitoring for my baby’s health. My normal OB treated me so much more humanely at my appointment directly following this.

I just felt like all she could see and bring up was my size. I left feeling horrible about my weight, worse than my last, and I’ve only put on 3-4 pounds this pregnancy. I’ve been trying to keep the extra weight off, I had gained 15-20 pounds by this point with my last. I cried all the way home, she judged me and accused me of over eating the entire time. I’ve never had such a negative experience with a physician. I dread every future appointment now.
 
@sglemom As a pregnant person and as a nurse, this makes me so angry. I am so sorry you were treated this way. You didn’t and don’t deserve it. It sounds like the high risk doctor has some major biases. If you trust your regular OB, I would let them know about this. I would neverrrr see that doc again, telehealth appointment or otherwise.
 
@sglemom Hi! I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. My BMI was 30 and I still had to go through this. For heaven’s sake my short cervix issue was also blamed on me being overweight. Even though my husband and I have a certain body type, the physician was sure that I’ve GD and was not so happy when it turned negative-still kept telling me not to eat much. Unfortunately plus size women have to keep a thick skin for every appointment and just focus on staying positive for you and your baby. You need to trust your body irrespective of anybody else does or not. Happy to tell you that I delivered vaginally after 8 hours of labour (another thing that they doubted owning to my weight and thought I’d have to go for cesarean) Best of luck to u!
 
@sglemom This is bs. I’m angry for you. I experienced something very similar, and I just sat there and took it. I also have a BMI of 42 and have been treated like shit by my providers. I am 38/39 wks now and meeting a new provider today. I’ve had it with their crap, and want to deliver in a place that treats me like a human mother, wife, whole ass person giving birth and not a fat ass that stumbled on a dick somewhere. Is there anywhere else you can go?

You just did your anatomy scan and everything looked good! That’s amazing, congratulations! And you get to see your baby again in a month, how cool! And no GD, amazing! I’m so proud of you for keeping check on your weight through this process, it’s hard, and you’re doing a fantastic job.
 
@sglemom I’m sorry! What a cruel way to talk to someone else, let alone a patient you’re supposed to be helping.

My first kiddo was huge but I passed the GD test. My MFM is having me do two GD tests for my second pregnancy just in case, and I passed the first one with flying colors. We’ve settled on I just have big babies. Some women do! But she’s been kind about it the whole time, treating it as a possibility (among several) to rule out.

Maybe your doctor was having a bad day. Or maybe she’s just a jerk. In your shoes, if she spoke to me like that at a second appointment, I’d sternly tell her to stop speaking to me like that. You shouldn’t have to, and I’m sorry that she’s putting you in this situation.
 
@thiago My husband is 6'8, his whole family are tall humans with even the women being 6' and over. I'm considered short for my own family at only 5'6. My husband and I make big babies, this whole family is made up of 9-14 pounders at birth lol. We are currently 10 weeks with #3 and I have a 38 BMI, so I'm a little terrified to go through what OP has experienced as well.
 
@sglemom I am so sorry this shitty doctor made you feel this way. Unfortunately, it’s all too common in healthcare, but especially in obgyn. I have experienced a similar situation about a month ago.
Please let your voice be heard and stay far away from that doctor.

You deserve to feel heard during this time. You deserve to have a medical team who are supportive and believe in your abilities as a mother and as a woman. You deserve to be respected and seen as a whole picture instead of just a small puzzle piece of your picture. You did not deserve being treating like that. I am so sorry this has happened and I hope you are able to switch and find someone who respects you, your body, and your baby.

Your body is amazing. No matter the shape, size, weight, or BMI. Your body is bringing another life into this world and it deserves to be honored and celebrated for the amazing things that it is doing. It’s harder said than done, but please don’t let this make you feel like you aren’t enough or that you’ve done anything wrong.

I hope and pray you find another doctor who is worthy of bringing your amazing baby to this world.
 
@sglemom You could always request the 3 hour test to confirm GD or not. If you are at a practice with other doctors you can also request a switch and to not work with that doctor anymore. One thing I have learned through this is that you are the boss and do not to work with them if you don’t want to.

I am going to switch my main OB after birth to another doctor in the practice because I like her so much more than my current OB. My office requires you to meet with all the doctors when pregnant because depending on when you go into labor you may not get your main doctor at the hospital.
 
@sglemom This reminded me of (but is 100x worse) a time I was in weight watchers, I gained a lb that week and the instructor lady heard about it and kept asking what I did wrong. I was either a teen or early 20s at the time and I had followed my points and told her as much, but she kept pressing, asking what I had done wrong. I started tearing up and mumbled that I was on my period and if anything maybe that's why. I felt crappy the whole week and didn't continue much longer with her.

In hindsight, there was nothing I did wrong (convenient phrasing she used) and she was the one overstepping and with the issue. Who makes a young adult cry for gaining a pound? I was upset with myself, but I should've been livid with her.

Anyway, I didn't mean to minimize your experience by comparing it to my stupid memory, but just know you're not doing something wrong and the Dr who spoke to you like that sounds like a complete ass. If they are truly concerned about GD, they can do further testing (did they even mention doing a 3hr one? I assume that would be the first step) and communicate their recommendations better. At this point, if I were in your shoes, I don't think I'd trust that Dr anymore.
 
@sglemom Please file a complaint. I keep reading posts like yours and it has to stop but the only way is speaking up. What a horrible, horrible person. I’m so angry for you.
 
@sglemom As someone who was also high risk due to BMI and had GD during my second pregnancy, it really upsets me to hear that you were treated like this. Not once was I shamed by anyone during either of my pregnancies.

For what it's worth, during my second I went onto have a natural, low intervention birth (first labour was assisted delivery).

If you can put in a formal complaint about this doctor please do. She was not only unprofessional but also rude and the advice she gave out was her opinion only.

I passed my glucose test with both pregnancies. The only reason the GD got picked up the second time around was because the baby was measuring big but even then they made me monitor my blood glucose levels for 2 weeks before they made a formal diagnosis.
 
@sglemom My BMI is like 38. I’m 20 weeks today and I’ve gained about 15 lbs so far. 220 to start and just weight myself yesterday and 235. I haven’t been overeating and I’ve been walking a lot. My doctors have said nothing. They focus on bloodwork and blood pressure. Which for me has been normal. This high risk doctor is dumb and rude. They clearly are focusing on the wrong things.
 
@sglemom Your doctor sounds awful. The size of the baby is not indicative of GD. My husband was a 10lbs baby and his mother had him at 115 lbs. Some babies are just large. And yes my baby is bigger than average and yes I am worried about a 10 lbs baby but mostly for the sake of my body 😅
 
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