I'm currently 20weeks and a day. So far, I haven't seen any doctors. Due to certain insurance issues, I don't know if I'm going to be approved for maternity coverage until next month, yada yada yada.
Now, I know I will at least get some checkups from a 'pregnancy specialist' be that midwife or OB. My last birth was a c/s, and that does increase my risk a bit. I also had late term pre-e with my last pregnancy, which also needs a bit more monitoring this time around. Still haven't decided on homebirth though, mostly because the people I'm living with are NOT keen on it at all, and I don't want a stressful birth situation.
However, going the 20 weeks without 'checking in' has been amazingly freeing for me. My first pregnancy was back & forth to the doctors, being poked and prodded and eventually losing Joseph at 16 weeks due to premature labor that they wouldn't stop.
With ds2 it was constant surveillance since they didn't (and still don't) know why I lost Joseph. Constant stress. On bedrest, off bedrest. Being yelled at because I was overweight and gaining weight too fast, when in fact they were weighing me on 3 wildly different scales. My OB at least was reasonable when I explained how much weight I was gaining according to my home scale. But still only 'officially' used the varying office scales. Constant re-testing for diabetes (never got close). I won't even go into the labor/birth aspect.
And now, I'm actually enjoying pregnancy. Yes, I have the normal fears of a woman who's lost a baby before, but in some ways NOT having access to a doctor is forcing me to be calmer. I like this new feeling.
However, I know that with my two previous risk factors, I need to be monitoring at least something.
My sister is a nurse and can do daily BP checks for me. Is there anything else I should do to monitor myself? I'm good at palpating my fundus (see previous thread about measuring ahead), so I can keep track of that. With a previous c/s, is there any other specific monitoring I need to do?
I don't know if me being half way through is making me antsy, but I don't feel like my 'blissful ignorance' phase is going to hold out much longer. I want this baby to be okay, for me to be okay. And even though all the measurements in the world won't guarantee that, I know that it might show that something is 'off' and needs more looking at, kwim?
Ami
Now, I know I will at least get some checkups from a 'pregnancy specialist' be that midwife or OB. My last birth was a c/s, and that does increase my risk a bit. I also had late term pre-e with my last pregnancy, which also needs a bit more monitoring this time around. Still haven't decided on homebirth though, mostly because the people I'm living with are NOT keen on it at all, and I don't want a stressful birth situation.
However, going the 20 weeks without 'checking in' has been amazingly freeing for me. My first pregnancy was back & forth to the doctors, being poked and prodded and eventually losing Joseph at 16 weeks due to premature labor that they wouldn't stop.
With ds2 it was constant surveillance since they didn't (and still don't) know why I lost Joseph. Constant stress. On bedrest, off bedrest. Being yelled at because I was overweight and gaining weight too fast, when in fact they were weighing me on 3 wildly different scales. My OB at least was reasonable when I explained how much weight I was gaining according to my home scale. But still only 'officially' used the varying office scales. Constant re-testing for diabetes (never got close). I won't even go into the labor/birth aspect.
And now, I'm actually enjoying pregnancy. Yes, I have the normal fears of a woman who's lost a baby before, but in some ways NOT having access to a doctor is forcing me to be calmer. I like this new feeling.
However, I know that with my two previous risk factors, I need to be monitoring at least something.My sister is a nurse and can do daily BP checks for me. Is there anything else I should do to monitor myself? I'm good at palpating my fundus (see previous thread about measuring ahead), so I can keep track of that. With a previous c/s, is there any other specific monitoring I need to do?
I don't know if me being half way through is making me antsy, but I don't feel like my 'blissful ignorance' phase is going to hold out much longer. I want this baby to be okay, for me to be okay. And even though all the measurements in the world won't guarantee that, I know that it might show that something is 'off' and needs more looking at, kwim?
Ami
