Is my doctor a bad doctor?

This is exactly how my appointments go:

Appt time 2 p.m.

2:00 Nurse calls me back
2:02 Pee in a cup
2:05 Weight and blood pressure
2:07 Go to my room
2:09 Nurse checks the hearts
2:10 Doc comes in and says "everything looks good"
2:10 Measures my stomach
2:11 Says, "any questions?"
2:12 I say, "when am I going to have these babies?"
2:12 She says, "I don't know, but I won't induce until you reach 38 weeks."
2:13 I say, "darn"
2:13 She smiles and says, "see you in two weeks"

Is that how your appointments go? She is so fast in and out! I feel like asking her "what looks good? You just picked up my chart and opened the door"

I am so cranky lately, at my last appointment I asked the nurse what the doctor was going to do at this appointment and she said, "oh the same as the other appointments" I said, "so basically nothing huh?" My husband just about died. He said, "we REALLY need to get these babies out"

My peri gives me so much more feed back than my OB. He really looks over things and is so informative!

Is it just me or is she cold?

 

She does sound a bit cold and hurried. My ob did a lot more and always made me feel good about my appt and gave me detailed updates- even reviewed the u/s reports that the peri had sent her. She never made me feel hurried. Some doctors are just like that and it's too bad. Sorry you're dealing with this- and good luck getting those babies out- are you 37 weeks?? Great job getting that far- it won't be long now!!

 

Um.... just an opinion, but YES.

Are your twins di/di or mono/di?

If they are mono/di, or if they aren't sure, she should be doing at least a quick in-office ultrasound every week to check fluid levels, etc. Also, if you are mono/di or unsure you should be having appointments every week at this point!

She isn't checking your cervix or anything like that? I'm really surprised she isn't...

How is the nurse checking heartbeats? If it is just a doppler, this isn't satisfactory, do you also have non-stress tests too? Tthis should be done for all twins, at least after 32 weeks or so.

IMO, I would hate your doctor. I like doctors who go over the top with all tests, informaiton, etc.... IMO I would think your doctor is a bad doctor (for me.)

 

A good place to start would be how far along are you? Closer to delivery I always make sure that I get in all my questions about how the delivery will pan out and what I can expect and all of the senarios and how wed approach them.

Those do seem pretty fast appts but in that respect you're lucky. I have to wait at least 45 minutes before I get called back to pee in the cup and get weighed and get all of my vitals taken. Then I wait usually about an hour more if not longer to see the dr since he is the only one qualified in the next town and surrounding areas (darn rural living). However when he does come in he takes his time which is also why the wait is so long.

He asks how I've been doing any new concerns.
Checks my measurements and the babies heartbeats.
Looks at my feet and ankles for swelling.
Then he goes over any test results in urine or my ultrasound results (I always ask for a copy of the results)
Then I go over the list of questions (I keep them in my phone so I always have them on hand when I need to add one.)
These appts can be short or longer but it really depends on the questions I have.

Hope that helps a little.

 

That doesnt sound like a very patient-friendly doctor to me. lol i wouldnt have that. that is how my old dr. was and it drove me nuts!!!!!! but now i go to a high risk dr. and she is GREAT! i told her from the get go that i need a dr. who is very informative and would give me 20 minutes of their time to explain things to me and answer questions no matter how stupid they are. and trust me, she is in there for at least 45 minutes with me just talking up a storm. even about silly things. which makes me very very comfortable and puts us on a more personal level. so i would talk to me dr. if i was you or write an annonymous note to the office about it and see if maybe those things will wake her up a little. Patient friendly doctors are better doctors. they show they are in that practice because they have a passion...not just for the pay check. good luck!

 

My appts. went similar. I wouldn't say the doctor is bad. Perhaps laid back and not to 'warm,' but doesn't sound bad in how you described her.

 

I haven't met all the doctors in my group yet because I had to change groups. So far they are all nice and easy going. They ask if I have any questions and I usually don't ( I feel guilty because I don't but I've been pregnant before and get the whole 'twin pregnancy is different' because to me it's really not that different).

I have come to the conclusion that they have mics in the office so when you get to the point where you say "where is this freaking doctor?!?! I don't want to wait ALL day!!" they walk in the door ^_^

 

That is basically how my appointments went too, although my doctor was more patient about listening to my list of complaints before telling me that everything sounded normal to her. I think it's all in the delivery. Do you think your doctor would listen if you did have any questions, or is she giving off a clear vibe of "please get out of my office?"

As a PP said, it also depends on whether your twins are fraternal or mono/di or mono/mono -- mine were frats and I had no particular danger signs or risk factors. So while I was confident that my OB would notice something bad if it happened, the fact was that there wasn't a whole lot for her to do as long as everything continued to be normal (even if I was uncomfortable as hell).

I do think it's nice that she doesn't run late. My OB was always pretty much on time too, but I've heard stories of people routinely waiting more than half an hour past the time of the appt.

So, I guess my answer is that yours is not necessarily a bad doctor, though if you're asking the question, it sounds like her style is not right for you. However, at this point, unless you really, really hate her, it's probably best to stick with her until you deliver! :hug:

 

That was my typical appointment early on as well. My doctor is very honest that she leaves a lot of the "informative" stuff to my peri because he has much more experience with this type of pregnancy. I do get an u/s at every OB visit but I think that is about to stop and she is basically there to check in on me as her patient, answer any questions I may have and make sure I'm progressing normally. The peri is more in tune with the health of the babies and see him every 2 to 3 weeks so I'm very satisfied with the attention I get from my medical team.

 

My appointment were simple far along too, although I had a sonogram every time.. He was quick, but I was well informed..

 

Sounds standard....and I am so jealous that she is ON TIME. I dont think I had 1 appointment w/ OB or Peri that was even 45 minutes close to my scheduled time ( they were seriously overbooked, but around here everyone is).


She DID ask if you had ?s. I would write all your ?s down and talk with her if you have concerns. She should stay and answer them, but it sounds like she felt all was well and if you weren't concerned, neither was she.

 

Mine are pretty quick too. He does do a quick u/s every visit to check fluid and heartbeats. He asks if there are any questions ad then I'm done. I will say that when I do have a question, he takes the time to make sure I understand and doesn't just brush me off.

When you call with a question, who calls you back? The one thing I really don't like about my OB is that he's part of a large practice and when I have a ?? I have to call and leave message and the triage nurse calls back. She covers the entire office, so sometimes my doctor doesn't even know I've called.

 

I think that is pretty cold. My appointments were much longer and I was made to feel very comfortable with asking any and all questions. I never felt rushed. I think thats the way it should be, especially with twins because you have SO many questions.

 

I would say my appts went similar, but I had an ultra sound every time I went in. I think that is very important not to mention it made me more relaxed during my pregnancy. My doctor is very confident and I think that is why he was so laid back. It is what ever makes you comfortable. Don't worry about hurting the doctors feelings if you think she is bad than she is a bad fit for you and you need to switch.

 

I am 36 weeks and seeing a peri also as of 33 weeks for low fluid. Before the peri I would have a sono every 4 weeks and yes when they would check the heart it was just with a dopler. Now I see the peri every week and I love him. He does the NST's and checks fluid, umbilical cord flow, heart rate, etc and is VERY informative. My first appointment with him lasted over an hour!

That is just her personality I guess. I ususally do write down questions, but they seem so dumb when I read them back that I end up skipping most of them when she is in front of me!!!

Well hopefully all this worrying will be over soon! I am due Oct 30th and she said she would not let me go past 38 weeks!!!

 

I would hate that!! My doctors always did a quick ultra sound because they said they would not be able to distinguish between the two heartbeats. they never even bothered with the doppler. and for most of my pregnancy I was seeing my peri once a month and the OB once - but we arranged it to where I was seeing a dr every 2 weeks. - at 30 weeks I was seeing the peri and OB once a week - so I had appointments twice a week. ultrasounds at both. the peri ultrasounds lasted every bit of an hour.