by Kristi | Dec 19, 2015 | birth stories, Ob-Gyn, Pregnancy |
This week, I heard the best birth plan EVER. But first, let me preface this with my spiel I give every pregnant lady who asks about birth plans or my take on their delivery. I tell them: It’s your body, your baby, your delivery. My job is to keep you both safe and explain everything along the way. You can do whatever you want, as permitted by state law. My one rule is you get an IV placed. You don’t have to use it, you just need to have it in case you hemorrhage or get sick fast and we need it. You can eat, walk, monitor or not, have cervical checks or not, be induced (39+w) or wait for labor, go medication free or get your epidural as soon as you hit the door, you can be in whatever position that suits you, delay cord clamping, have immediate skin to skin, breastfeed, bottle-feed, use a paci, opt for an elective CS if you listen to my rationale for why it can be a bad idea- because it’s your deal. You can have no birth plan or a 10 page birth plan, as long as you know that all good plans can go to shit and the Murphy’s joke is Birth Plan = CS. I will tell you what I recommend and what I don’t and why. We’ll discuss it all as it comes up. If we don’t see eye to eye on something major, we’ll bring in someone else to weigh in. That being said, the best birth plan EVER: “My clients ask me about my birth plan...
by Kristi | Dec 4, 2015 | Uncategorized |
What follows are my thoughts on how I talk to my kid about body parts and why I think it could change the world if we all did it EARLY and without made up words. A patient of mine, in for her annual exam, had her 3.5 year old twins in tow. They quietly, meandered around the exam room while she and I talked. Then, when I did her pelvic exam and pap smear, they both wanted to know what I was doing. “What are you doing to her woo woo?” Like so many women I encounter, this sweet patient shooed them away to sit down. She mused, “How on earth do you talk to a 3 year old about THIS kind of thing?” “This” of course meaning her vagina and her gyn exam. (Note: This example is fabricated from the collective of many strikingly similar encounters I have with my lovely patients. It is NOT conveying a private, actual interaction. Any similarity to real patient encounters is coincidence.) In situations like this, I’m immediately frustrated and think, what do mean, how do you talk about this kind of thing? You use your words, lady! However, after reflecting on my reaction, I had a face-palm-obvious epiphany that made me feel sheepish: the innocent discomfort with discussing intimate body parts with toddlers isn’t a defect or one particular person’s fault. It likely evolved from generations of people not talking openly about this anatomy. The grown women I see, like so many of their peers, are often not accustomed to talking matter of factly about genitals. So, it’s absurd for me...
by Kristi | Aug 18, 2015 | Gynecology, Ob-Gyn |
Vaginal discharge: Is it normal? Why does the vagina have ooey gooey weird stuff come out of it? Vast majority of the time, it’s normal. Why? Think of your vagina like your nose or mouth. Both places make moisture: the mouth makes saliva and our noses make mucus. The vagina and cervix do the same thing, but they are hanging upside down and you can’t swallow or sniffle to adjust the discharge. Normal discharge can be clear, white, grey, cream colored, blood tinged, brown, maroon, or even have a yellow/green hue to it. It can vary in how it smells from odorless, to pungent, to metallic depending on where you are in your cycle. How do you know if it’s NOT normal? The take home message is this: If you ever notice discharge that’s really unusual, smells terrible, or is associated with notable, persistent pain, irritation, itching, painful sex, see your doctor so they can verify what’s going on. Here are the simplified nuts and bolts: Does the vaginal discharge smell like really, REALLY strong fish? Does this smell & discharge increase after sex or your period? If yes- it could be a simple bacterial imbalance called bacterial vaginosis (BV). This is not a sexually transmitted infection (STI). It’s fixable with an antibiotic that rebalances the bacteria in the vagina. Does it itch? Does it really, really itch- as in- it’s difficult to leave the house for fear of itching your labia or vagina? If yes, it could be a yeast infection, but the only way to know for sure is to visit your Dr. This is...
by Kristi | Aug 5, 2015 | Gynecology, Ob-Gyn |
If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I’m passionate about Pap smears. (Yes, I know this statement would sound really strange proclaimed by anyone outside of women’s health.) In my daily work, I run into many misconceptions about Pap smears. So, today, let’s dive into a few of them. The Pap smear is synonymous with a woman’s yearly exam. In the office, I talk about pap smears an average of 27.8 times a day, for a total of 2h and 5 min per weekday. Or perhaps, I spend my entire day talking about them. I lose track. I joke because somedays, I feel like ALL I do is talk about Pap smears. It is one of the topics my patients and I discuss frequently, because in the last 10 years, there have been many fundamental changes surrounding the rationale behind how often we do them and thus, there’s, understandably, a lot of confusion and many misconceptions. This confusion stems from the fact that although our knowledge about the utility of the Pap smear has changed dramatically, this doesn’t always equate to how doctors practice or to how people think about their visit to the gynecologist. I want everyone here to have a rock solid understanding of what a Pap does and what a Pap does not do. All this to say, if you’re on the up and up with the 2012 and beyond guidelines, you can skip this entire note and jump on over to Facebook where we can chit chat about cute cat videos or period humor. If you’re not, stick with me. Did you know that most of us should not get yearly Pap Smears? Now,...
by Kristi | Jul 24, 2015 | Life + Work |
Starting this blog came with a steep learning curve. I’m no tech whiz and I’m learning as I go along. One of the things I’ve really struggled with lately, in addition to multitasking and rushing (see my post on slowing down) is how to find a sense of ease with consistently writing blog posts and emails. Ease with writing. Sounds so simple, right? Come up with an idea from a common concern I hear at work. Do a quick outline: intro, discussion, common questions, conclusion. Proofread. Copy/paste to blog. Add a picture. Press Publish. Rinse and repeat. It’s not as if I’m aiming to write the next great short story or poetry collection. I’m here breaking down topics about periods, vaginas, and menopause. Pretty concrete, cut and dry things. So, what’s the problem? Well, I have been grappling with perfectionism that was limiting what I produced for the blog. Then, I had an epiphany about my stress with writing: Much to my chagrin, I realized that I was struggling to create emails and posts because of a fear of not being good enough and a fear of not being liked. Yes, indeedy. My name is Kristi Angevine, I’m 38 years old and I’ve been working this blog like I was going to get the smack down and be the last kid chosen for dodge ball, all because of my mediocre writing. As you can imagine, that felt ridiculous. Although I used to write a lot in college, (thanks to my humanities-heavy course load and UT-Chattanooga professors, Jackson, Hood, Fulton, etc), it’s been ages since I exercised the skill of...
I am an Ob/Gyn and I love helping people really, truly understand their bodies and live healthy lives. I believe true wellness comes from more than just a pill. When not working I love to mountain bike, cook, learn to sew, and go on adventures with my husband and our daughter.