No one told me.

I had an obstetric/pelvic ultrasound recently. You know, the kind you get when you're pregnant? (No, I'm not pregnant, and no, this is not an announcement.) The doctor's office called me to schedule the appointment for said ultrasound over the phone. Whomever I talked to neglected to mention an important detail: you should have a full bladder when getting this kind of ultrasound. (So for all of you pregnant ladies or ladies who plan to be pregnant, just tuck that away for your information.) For some reason it helps them see stuff? I don't really get that, but I'm also not an ultrasound technician. It might be kind of cool if I were one, though.

I arrived for my appointment and they asked, "Do you have a full bladder?"

"I kind of have to go to the bathroom, and I haven't gone for a while," I replied. (Why are they asking me this? I feel kind of weird about telling this to the receptionists, I'm thinking to myself.)

Then they laughed at me a little and had me take a seat to wait.

I went into the ultrasound room and the tech asked me about my bladder level, too. Weirdo. So I told her that no one mentioned I should have a full bladder, but I didn't say this until after she had already squirted the warm gel (I always thought that gel was supposed to be cold?) on my abdominal area. Then she asked me about my schedule and told me I should maybe drink some more fluid and come back in about 20 minutes for another go at it.

At this point, I commenced my search for water. I didn't have my water bottle, sadly, so I couldn't really utilize the drinking fountain for my needs. I thought the search would be easier! In the pharmacy, they had bottled drinks but no water. I didn't want a bottled drink other than water, so I left and walked around the building more, considered asking someone in one of the offices for a cup, considered driving home to get my water bottle, and then I went back to the pharmacy and bought a grapefruit juice drink (not juice, which would've been my first choice) for one dollar, drank it, refilled it with water, drank that. Refilled the bottle (clearly labeled Do not reuse.) with water again, and drank that.

Needless to say, when I got into the ultrasound room for the second time, I felt a little bloated.

Moral of the story: Know before you go.

Second moral of the story: I sort of hate going to the doctor.