Being your own advocate

Here's my story. Learn from it.

15 or so years ago I had a seizure. Since then I have been on some serious meds to control my brain from having another. Good news is for 15 years I have not had another seizure. Bad news is my neurologists over the years scared me from getting pregnant. My med is a class D which means it has been known to cause birth defects.

So after being married for 3 years and having massive anxiety over having a baby even longer, I decided to find out more info on the topic. My first step was to consult the internet. Terrible idea. If I thought I was frightened before...first rule: Stay away from the internet in researching meds, conditions, symptoms, etc. I found that it is difficult to sort through what info is most recent. And, when it comes to your health, it is key to get the most recent studies.

The internet did however, prove to be a great way for me to locate a top notch doctor who specialized in exactly what I needed. I was lucky to find one nearby in NYC. So I made an appointment with her and she completely eased my mind. She assured me that my med was best in terms of birth defects. She showed me that although there was a slightly higher risk for some defects, the chances of having a perfectly healthy baby was FAR greater.

So once I got knocked up, I called up my old neurologist in NJ (no lnger seeing him) and he told me it was in my best interest to see a High Risk OB to monitor my pregnancy due to the med I was taking. Cool? Not cool. He wouldn't write the script for me to go to the High Risk/ Doctor of Maternal/Fetal Medicine. And get this...neither would my OB. They both agreed that I should see one, but no one wanted to do the other's "job."

What a predicament! So what did I do? I fired them both. I found a new OB who took my condition as seriously as I did and stuck with only the NYC neurologist. Best choice I ever made. Now I feel I am in the best possible care.

Lesson learned: Be your own advocate. If you feel your doctor(S) are not providing you with the attention/care you need, find a better one. No one is going to do it for you. And, in the end the most important thing is your baby's health and it's your job to protect him/her.