First Stop - The OBGYN

It makes perfect sense that my first try for help would be with my obgyn that delivered Sydney. Seems pretty simple to me....my symptoms started as a result of giving birth so clearly my obgyn will know how to help me. For the purpose of this blog we will call him Mr. "By the Book." I am giving him that name because he represents the large majority of doctors that read about something in a book, take a test on it in school and never stop to think outside the box. He is a one size fits all kinda guy. If he has to deliver a 100% healthy baby with no complications with the mother then he is your man!

Anyways, back to the story. I was about a week into the not-sleeping routine and it was really starting to mess with my mind. I see now why lack of sleep is often used to torture people (at least that is what I have seen in the movies). One night at 3:00 in the morning I just couldn't take it any longer. I had already taken an ambien which gave me a whole hour worth of sleep. I finally went out to the living room to get Chip up and ask him what I should do. Poor Chip, how was he supposed to know?

I decided to call Dr. "By the Book" and see what he would suggest. I was so desperate at this point, I can look back now and see that I wasn't thinking straight. What was he going to do for me at 3:00 in the morning? I called his office and he happened to be the one on call that evening...lucky for him! Within minutes a very groggy doctor answered the phone. I quickly told him in between sobs that I couldn't sleep and I didn't know what to do with myself. He told me to take a second Ambien and he would see me first thing in the morning. Seconds after hanging up, the doctor called back. Chip answered and he asked Chip if I was going to be ok? I am sure something finally clicked in his head that this was not normal and he better cover his back!

I took the 2nd ambien and slept a whole 2 more hours. But if any of you have taken ambien you know that in many cases you do not feel rested after taking the sleeping pill. I was no exception, my head hurt and I still felt like I hadn't slept in weeks.

We met Dr. "By the Book" at his office and he quickly surmised that my inability to sleep was due to being anxious about being a mother. He prescribed a mild does of Klonopin to be taken whenever I felt anxious. Along with the Klonopin, he prescribed a different sleeping aid and to top it off a little bit of lexapro for good measure! I knew that I was not anxious about being a mother but I decided to hope that he knew what he was talking about. At this point I did not care what was wrong with me I just wanted it to stop.

Chip and I left his office armed with lots of new prescriptions and a hope that everything would be normal again. Little did we know that we would spend over $6,000 on prescription medications that year (and most of that was just by paying co-pays) in an attempt to find the "right" medicine.