Quote:
Originally Posted by
MadiMamacita 
I will be 12 weeks by then, which seems pretty late for an initial visit.. What have you guys been doing in your prenatals? I am taking my vitamins and not eating/drinking things I shouldn't (for the most part!) I don't do any of those scan things that test for chromosomal issues.. Is there something crucial I'm missing? Is there a reason I can't just wait until she is seeing patients again? I don't think she'll take that long off- I imagine I'd get in by around 14-16 weeks..
I would check with your midwife about that, but I can't think of a lot of good reasons you would need to get in before 2nd tri, esp. since this is not your 1st babe. If you have any questions about the due date that would be important to figure out early on since an early US is the best gauge of fetal age.
My first prenatal isn't scheduled until 10 weeks. 10w4d to be exact :) The front office staff told me that they usually schedule the first prenatal for 10-12 weeks. Then they made me an appointment for 9w3d with a Nurse Practitioner in the practice, not my regular family practice doc (who is a family friend and very natural-minded, delivered dd). It's their standard practice to have the NP do the first prenatal, not the Doctor. Which suggests to me that they aren't really that serious about the first prenatal, maybe? I called back and rescheduled my prenatal for the next week WITH MY DOCTOR thanks very much. I want a better chance at hearing that heart beat at my first appt so I wasn't crazy about being scheduled a few days before 10w. I'd also like a chance to ask my Dr if she'd be willing to do a home birth for me. She does home births for the Amish mothers in our community, but she wasn't willing to try it for me last time since she felt like it was a little more risky with first time mothers. My birth didn't go completely smoothly either: DD's head was cocked to one side and I pushed for almost 6 hours! If I had been home I would have been transferred to the hospital for sure, and maybe ended up with a cs. So I'm a little on the fence about whether or not I actually want a home birth... To tell the truth the biggest reason for going to the hospital for me would be the jacuzzi. It was super nice to labor in. We don't even have a bathtub in the house, just shower, and I don't like the idea of messing with a big blow-up pool in the living room - that would stress me out! Our hospital is tiny and there's hardly ever more than one mother in labor at a time so you have the attention of the entire staff and they're very accommodating. And they have that nice jacuzzi in a cozy little dark room. My biggest reason for wanting a home birth would be so that I wouldn't be separated from DD for as long. But eight months from now she'll be a lot older, too...
