A Stressfull Ultrasound...or How I Wanted To Commit Assault on a Medical Professional

Yesterday was both long and eventful, so I’ll begin at the beginning…



My ultrasound appointment was at 7:30am. We arrived and checked in. I waited for a few minutes before being called back. We went in to the ultrasound room and was asked “So why are we doing your ultrasound today?”. I responded “I’m pregnant. It’s my first trimester ultrasound.” She started to write ‘pregnancy’ on the paper and stopped halfway. She then asked if I was having any pain or cramping, to which I told her no. She stopped writing and looked at me as if to say “then why are you even here?”. I gave Kenny the wide-eyed “Oh I do NOT like this woman” look and he nodded in agreement.


I lay down on the table and she squirted the COLD jelly on the wand. My doctor’s office heats their jelly…unfortunately my insurance sucks and won’t let them do this for me…see earlier post. Strike one. She starts to look around and says “your bladder’s not full enough. You need to go back and wait for 15-20 minutes”. Can you tell I don’t like this *expletive deleted* already??


We go back in the waiting room and she comes back to get us. We go back into the room; I lay back on the bed…and more cold jelly. She says “your paperwork says you have irregular periods…”. I thought she said regular and said “yes”. I thought for a second and said “wait, did you say ‘regular’ or ‘irregular’?”. She said ‘irregular’ and I told her that other than my last period, they were regular. The conversation just went downhill from there…

Me: So, can you tell me what it is you’re seeing there?
Tech: Nope
Me: Are you serious?
Tech: Yep
Me: (under my breath)* This is some bullshit.


She then asks if I’ve ever had a vaginal ultrasound, which I have. She said “we’re gonna need to do that then”. At this point I’m HIGHLY irritated, so I said “knock yourself out. Why do you need to do that?” She replies “um, so I can SEE better…”.


Instantly I wanted to knock this *expletive deleted* in the mouth. She told me to go empty my bladder and come back so we could continue. I jumped off the table and went into the bathroom, where I proceeded to ball my eyes out. All I wanted to do was see my baby…see a shadow, a heart beating, SOMETHING. She wasn’t going to give me anything. I had all of Brie’s sonograms at the doctor’s office, and they were all so sweet, telling me exactly what they were seeing and what was going on. I was NOT going to have the same experience and couldn’t stop crying about it.


*Apparently I didn’t say that under my breath, because as I’m in the bathroom I hear Kenny’s Angry Black Man™ voice come out. I can’t really make out what’s being said, but he is NOT happy. When I’m done I go back into the room, and guess what? Miss Rude Technician 2009’s attitude has completely done a 180°. She explains that she’s not a qualified doctor so she can’t tell me if there are any problems, but she’d be more than happy to show me whatever she can. She also apologized for the questions, but told me they were a necessary history for the radiologist who will be reviewing the pictures. She was also very sorry that she caused me any distress.


Needless to say I got to see my little munchkin’s heart beating. It was one of the best things in the world! I’m measuring with a due date of May 4th instead of April 23rd, so either I knew I was pregnant IMMEDIATELY this time, or I’m going to have another small baby. Either way it will be just fine!

Fast forward to the ride home. I started feeling uncomfortable. No real pain, but definitely not “right”. I called the doctor’s office and they told me to come in at 1:05, just to be sure. Turns out I have a massive bladder infection, so that’s why I was feeling the cramping after the ultrasound. I have to drink lots of water and cranberry juice and take my antibiotics. Other than that, everything is swell!