Three encounters with doctors in Maadi; a pediatrician, a dermatologist, and our OBGYN

After we got back from the hospital on Friday I got a headache. Now this may not sound all that odd, but in fact, I’ve only ever had a headache probably less than ten times during my entire life, so for me, it was something quite out of the ordinary. The headache was not debilitating, but it was bad enough that it bothered me. We still had friends over for dinner on Saturday; it was nice but they stayed late, and I got very little sleep. On Sunday I still had a headache, and the boys & I had a slow school day.

We finally went to see a pediatrician; during our trip to Alexandria a biology professor discovered a wart on William’s hand, and I wanted the pediatrician to freeze it off. As it turns out, even though this particular procedure involved a child, pediatricians here don’t deal with warts, and he referred me to a dermatologist instead. I did get to talk to him about the birth of the baby though, and he told me about the procedure that he usually follows. He said he routinely does not put the baby in an incubator immediately following birth unless there’s a direct need for it, however he does administer a Vitamin-K shot, and usually he would give the baby an eye ointment to prevent any possible infection that might have been present in the vagina during the birth, however since the birth will not be vaginal, he agreed that this would not be necessary. He said that after the initial check-up, usually he hands the baby to the nurses so that they can clean him off and dress him. We asked to do this ourselves (or rather; Courtney will do it, since I’ll still be stuck on the operating table), and then, that should be it. All this seems agreeable to me, and I could mark off another worry on my list of things to deal with before the birth.

This visit to the pediatrician was only the first of three medical visits these past three days. Yesterday I took William to a dermatologist who, instead of freezing the wart off, used something that looked like a soldering iron to burn it. First she numbed the area, and William was quite upset about the shot, but once it was done, and he realized it wouldn’t hurt anymore, he was very good. When the anesthesia wore off about an hour later however, right before bed time, he cried because it hurt. I gave him some ibuprofen and today he seems fine.

Finally today, I had a regular pre-natal check-up, which went well – nothing out of the ordinary. The Dr. didn't seem too concerned about the headaches, but prescribed me blood pressure medication that I can start taking just in case something changes. Courtney came with me to ask about the payment of the birth; how does it work, who charges what, when and how. It all seems quite complicated actually, but in light of everything else, it’s nothing we will worry about too much. As long as the insurance pays us back!