Last week I had a checkup with my birthing center. I met another one of the midwives this time, meaning that I've now met all 4 of the midwives that work with this center. (The policy is that you rotate through the midwives at each of your prenatal visits so that by the time the baby comes you have a good relationship with all of them. Then at your delivery, two of the midwives attend you, maybe only one if they have a really busy day.) I like all of the midwives just fine, so far. I haven't had much of a chance to really get to know them individually yet, but that will come with time. They all have very nice bedside manner, though. And they all seem very supportive and attentive. At this checkup, I didn't have anyone lined up to watch Mira, so I just took her along. I brought some activities for her to do while I was being examined, but it turns out I needn't have brought anything. She was fascinated by watching me get checked out. She watched every move the midwife made. She got to listen to the baby's heartbeat with the doppler, which she thought was pretty cool. And all the staff at the birth center thought she was just adorable. They responded really well to her being there, which makes things so much easier for me since it means I don't have to try to find babysitters for my future prenatal visits.
It was just a routine appointment, so the most note-worthy thing that happened was that when I weighed myself, I discovered that I had lost 2 pounds since the previous visit a month earlier. I was so relieved to see that. My belly keeps getting bigger and bigger, and in my mind that translates directly into weight gain. But apparently, that's not necessarily true, which is great for me. My goal for this pregnancy is to keep my total weight gain to under 20 pounds, and so far I'm at negative 7 pounds. So that's a really great start toward meeting that goal. (Disclaimer: if you are of a healthy weight when you begin your pregnancy, it's usually not necessary to set weight goals and is healthier to just let your body do what it needs to. However, I am beginning this pregnancy overweight, still carrying excess weight from my previous pregnancy. I've consulted my care professionals about my weight goals, and they agree that they are healthy and achievable for me.)
The other bit of good news was that we scheduled the anatomy ultrasound, which is hopefully when the gender of the baby will be determined. We'll be finding out if we have a boy or a girl on Monday, August 30th. We'll be sure to update the blog with u/s pictures and results shortly after that visit, so stay tuned!
4 comments:
That's yet another thing I love about midwives-- you can bring your kid along to check-ups. D needs a bit more entertainment, but my midwives' office has a play kitchen and a bunch of toys there to help keep him occupied. Very nice perk. =)
I've taken Mira to my OB/GYN's office before, too. I felt that she was just as welcomed there as at my birth center. My doctor was especially pleased to see her, since he had provided all my prenatal care for that pregnancy. But I suppose that is something that is individual to each medical office. I've just gotten lucky, I think. ;-)
I guess it never even crossed my mind as a possibility to try to bring him since I figure it'd be too stressful/difficult to try to keep him entertained and not messing with everything in the office.
Ah, gotcha. My OB keeps kid's books in his office, and Mira LOVES books, so that was never a problem for us. Plus Mira's kind of an easy kid to keep out of trouble. (Yet another way I've gotten lucky!)
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