What happened at your last OB/MW appointment?

[magpiedee]

Since I find myself wanting to come here and report after every appointment and read other reports, here's a thread to post about your most recent appointment with your care provider, if anyone else feels the same need to share.

Mine went well today at 33w3d. Blood pressure measured 150/40 the first time, to which I shouted, "That's a LIE!", so they took it again at the end of the appointment for a more normal reading of 117/70. Baby is head down with a strong heartbeat, lots of movement and fundal height of 33. I'm up a total of 27 pounds at 164, which is right on track. They took 2 tubes of blood, just to double check everything and make sure that my wacky BP readings are due to nerves, and because my endo hasn't sent results for my last TSH draw to check my thyroid. Everything looks good!

I really enjoy these routine little appointments, just seeing that everything is normal and on track and getting to feel where tadpole's head is and hear her big wobby heart. My next appt. is on 7/20, and I think I have the GBS test then, which doesn't sound very fun, but at least it's not the GTT!

Oh, and when I was having the BP done, I saw the little parade of pregnant patient pee cups, and one was nearly blood red. I asked the nurse, "is that blood or urine?", and she frowned and said, "I think it's urine, but i've never seen urine like that before!" Freaky!

[radiogirlgr]

Funny you should ask...

The nurse weighed me and then put me in the bathroom to pee on the protein stick. When I came out, my chart was sitting there, open, no nurse. So, I stood guard over my info-and happened to notice that she wrote down my weight gain wrong-she said I gained 7 lb in 2 weeks!!! I don't think so.

After that I waited in the exam room, when a PA student came in and politely asked if she could measure my tummy and listen to the baby. I said yes, and she measured me wrong. Rrrr.

Finally doc came in, and I clarified the weight thing with her, and she re-measured me.

So far? Up 23 lb at 32 weeks, measuring 29 cm (I was 4 cm small last time), bp was 110/60, so everything seems to be just fine. I will have another ultrasound at 37 weeks to check fluid and growth-I was induced at 40 weeks last time due to low amniotic fluid levels. I go back again on the 14th... I will have my Group B Strep swab at that time, and I imagine that she will give me my first internal exam then-which I am dreading as it always hurts this late in the game, and I end up with tons of BH for the rest of the day, and sometimes spotting too. Oh well.

[Azreial]

I was 39cm at my last ob amnt. I feel much much bigger than that though. I'm only up 28 or 29lbs.
I had an u/s and nst last week, that I already posted about. I have an u/s and nst tomorrow, another set next week and an ob appmnt. I have to change the ob appmnt because its at 2:20 and the nst is at 2. Last time it took an hour and a half :

[veganf]

At 33 weeks I was measuring 37 weeks.
I've gained 35 pounds; told her I wouldn't be getting on the scale again this pregnancy (which is what I said 2 visits ago, but decided to for some reason); she doesn't care in the least. She says I look great and aside from my belly really don't look like I've gained weight elsewhere.
BP fine, low.
No swelling.
Baby was head down but moveable.
Pee stick normal.

Saw photo album of midwife's own births. Talked about hiring a birth photographer.
Her kids were monopolizing every room in the house, including her office, where a toddler she was babysitting was napping, so she measured baby and felt/listened to baby in her bedroom, LOL. And I saw she has a big "turtle" collection, so that gives me ideas for what to give her as a gift after this birth. I was running out of ideas!

My next appointment is the 36 week home visit, the day before I'm technically 36 weeks. The other midwife will also be there.

- Krista

[nfbmom]

I saw the Dr on Monday. My bp was 112/70. I've gained a total of 20lbs. Urine had slight glucose but I was super busy that morning and drank very little water so Dr isn't worried. I was 35 wks 2 days and measured 40 cm (mw measurement, I had seen her that morning).

The Dr has gotten so that he just wants me to get far enough along that the baby does fine but is worried about how big baby is getting. So he didn't do any of the normal things since he already knows baby is getting very big. Just listened to the hb and told me what the plan is for tomorrow for taking the stitch out.

MW and I are, of course, not worried at all about a big baby. Tomorrow the cervical stitch will come out and then I won't have to see him anymore cause the mw will just continue the prenatals until baby decides he wants to come out. Not that I haven't liked the appts with him. He really has been a great Dr and so sweet to keep me with my high risk issues and not send me off to an OB (he is my GP).

[KarmaChameleon]

Ha. At my last appointment I cried uncontrollably for 45 minutes because I am not sleeping and I am hot and miserable...and terrified of the pain of giving birth. Like, waking up at might fearful and anxious (mind you, I have given birth natrually twice with no fear and no problems).

The midwives suggested some homeopathic remedies, which have worked wonders for me and I am not fearful anymore. Still an emotional wreck, but not scared, just depressive. Not myself. 5 more weeks til the real me can please stand up.

Up 21 lbs at 33 weeks, measuring a couple weeks ahead, baby in good position, all systems a go. Just need to get control of my tentative mental state:

[AmieV]

Well, I gained 2.5 pounds in the last 2 weeks (between my 30 and 32 week appt's) but that's ok. I think I'm up almost 30 pounds at this point. No worries, I don't feel that big and it all fell off easily last time. BP was 102/60 I think? My BP actually drops during pregnancy and I have no idea why. One appt it was actually 98/50 or something crazy. My m/w's are convinced I'm doing some crazy yoga or have kicked my husband and toddler out of the house or something. Pee stick normal. Belly measured 30cm which was no fundal growth from last one, but m/w felt the baby and it felt like it had gained almost a pound so no worries there. I'm just carrying so low that I think that has something to do with it. I've been a couple cm behind the whole time. Heartrate was 134-139 so still in boy range! M/w guesstimated baby's weight at 3 lbs, how she can do that I have no idea.

Re: the red pee. Could it have been a post partum client? The only other thing that I could think of is that AZO stuff for UTI's but I don't think that's safe for pg.

[ColoradoMama]

Well, everything looked great at my last appointment. Perfect pee, perfect bp, no problems - baby measured 4 cm big (5 for me since I always measure small). M/w asked me if I would be really disappointed if I didn't get my water birth because I didn't get the tub in time. We went over all my dates and there's just no way I could be wrong. Scheduled my home visit. Then I freaked out all the way home.

[sprout 1]

last appt my mw goes "your boobs have gotten bigger than your belly!" Yeah we were talking about my huge boobs anyway. We went over more UC stuff and DH got to ask some questions, looked at some pictures, then measured and listened to the heart. I was measuring 30 (at 33w) but she said if the baby wasn't so far low in my pelvis I probably would have been measuring 35. He's head down and all is well.
She's coming here next week (36w) so she knows her way in case we need her for some reason during the birth or if we want her to come check the baby after he's born.
We don't have very regular appointments, but when we do get together we talk for hours. Mostly us picking her brain!

[peilover010202]

All is well here, bp is good, pee is good, measuring just a tad on the small side (31 at 33 weeks), heart rate is good - 140-ish.

Talked about the GBS swab and skipping the VE at my next appt.

[mrs rockstar]

I have to go in for the every two week checks now, bah. At last check my blood pressure was fine (118 over something), pee stick was normal and I had gained 4 pounds. My doctor told me that was the perfect weight gain for a month...and I didn't remind him that he had only seen me 2 weeks ago I'd rather not listen to him lecture me on gaining too much weight...I swear I cut back on the pasta!!!

So far I've gained between 32 and 37 pounds (don't really know what I was when I started). I don't know what I'm measuring, my doctor hasn't ever measured, though when I was with the midwives they did. Had a quickie sonogram (he always does them), and baby is head down and ready to go.

[Robynee]

I'm am starting to go every week now, which is a real drag because it is a pretty long ride.
I had my 36 wk appt. today. This is all getting so routine: check in, pee in a cup, stand on the scale(I gained two lbs. over the past two weeks which puts me at a total of 18lbs.), BP check(normal), heartbeat(good), measurement(right on), do have any questions?(nope), ok, see you in a week.
Can you tell I'm getting bored with this? Next week we're going to spice things up a bit. I have my GBS test.: I am also going to bring in my birth plan, so the appt. will be considerably longer than usual.

[2 in August]

Last week was a good one. Met one of my ob's partners she was super nice. Found out that after the super high protien test (that we all think now was wrong) they had discussed me. She said "Oh, now I know who you are. We were talking about you and that high protein level"

I actually lost 2 lbs : don't know how. My bp was the best it's been all pg. Urine was still at +2 for protein. Heart rate was fine. They never tell me my measurements. I don't really worry about it anyway since I'm well padded anyway. This week I'm seeing my ob. I'm bringing my birth plan too. We shall see how it goes. I'm also going to ask to do another 24 hr urine just to see if it's staying ok or going up further.

[BetsyS]

I'm at the 2 week visits, too, and like the PP, they are all kinda the same.

They tell me all sorts of excuses why the baby doesn't move all that much (you're working, you just don't feel it, blah, blah, blah, you should feel it more in the car, etc, etc) Well, I've just taken to keeping track for an entire day once a week to reassure myself. It's about 15 movements in a day, and it hasn't really changed, so I'm okay with that.

I'm measuring 32 at 31 weeks, which is great. I've gained 19 lbs, urine is fine, BP is fine. Have you toured the hospital? Any questions?

I wish I could skip some of these appointments and that nasty hour long drive.

[NewAtThis]

Well everything was fine with me and thumper at yesterday's visit. I didn't look at the scale, baby's hb sounds good and strong (120-130) and I'm measuring 33 weeks at nearly 35 weeks, so I guess that's good.

The big news was the bomb my mw dropped on me that she is closing her practice and retiring...in 9 days...

And the backup midwife isn't covered by my insurance...

So if I still want to have my birth center water birth with a midwife, it's all going to be out of pocket. If I wanted to switch to a local obgyn and have a hospital birth, it's all covered, but that is the absolute last thing I want. Especially when I've been dreaming of the birth setting for the past 8 months...

And it was the one visit my dh couldn't come to because he was out of town, so I had to sit through the whole thing myself trying desperately not to cry.:

At least when I talked to him last night he seemed really supportive of somehow coming up with the money to have the birth we've been dreaming of and planning for. He's such a sweetie.
I'm up to weekly visits now, so hopefully, by next week, I won't feel like I'm in limbo anymore and I'll get to meet the new midwife and figure everything out.

And I thought I was just going in for a routine check-up! Boy, how quickly things can change sometimes...thanks for letting me vent!

[veganf]

Originally Posted by NewAtThis

The big news was the bomb my mw dropped on me that she is closing her practice and retiring...in 9 days...

Ack! That's terrible to give you so little notice!! I'm so glad you're able to try and pay out of pocket. I can't imagine changing gears so late. We pay out of pocket too, and it's not easy, but it is worth it. I hope the transition to the backup midwife goes smoothly!

[ColoradoMama]

Wow! That is so unprofessional of her! Good grief. I'm sorry. What a pain for you to have to deal with this late. I'm so sorry.

[Bay Area Babe]

NewAtThis - I can't believe that she didn't give more notice. Most likely this wasn't a new decision. I hope that things work out for you.

[NewAtThis]

Thanks for the kind words...I wish I could wave a magic wand over the healthcare industry and make it all better. As much as I want to be mad at my midwife, it's not really her fault her malpractice insurance company is no longer covering midwives (at all) and the new company charges so much she can't afford it. It sucks for our community too, because it was so nice to have a birth center and a midwife as an alternative, especially one that contracted with major insurance companies. At least there is a backup midwife...
Oh well, this baby is going to come out one way or another. I'm just trying to focus on the final product right now!

[Azreial]

wow closing up shop in 9 days mama

I had my u/s bpp and nst today. Babies are doing well Baby B turned, he's nice head down back to my left however baby A is transverse, head on the right, belly down :
These babies are crazy though their heartbeats are almost always within 1-2 beats of each other. They even move together most of the time. Its def. two diffrent babies that are being monited though because sometimes the hb is diffrent, but within a couple of beats and the listeners are way away from each other.
We're starting to wonder if they might be identical :

My bp was 113/58. I've been having quite a bit of swelling the past couple of days so it was nice to see that my bp was about the same