I got a midwife! - Page 3

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Broccolilover

well the first appointment was just a meet and great. my next appointment is physical and hopefully we will hear the heart beat. i will be 9 weeks, and i believe it will be with elaine again.

My first was a meet and greet too.
What kind of physical would they do at an early midwife visit?

[Broccolilover]

i think it is mostly blood work and swabs, ruling std's.
also a weigh in, blood pressure and hopefully get a listen .
and my name is deborah

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Broccolilover

i think it is mostly blood work and swabs, ruling std's.
also a weigh in, blood pressure and hopefully get a listen .
and my name is deborah

I guess things go differently here! The bloodwork is done at a lab, no swabs (of what?) and we don't get weighed. Blood pressure will be done at 16-18 week visit.

Interesting!

[go4it]

Yeah, actually my bloodwork was done offsite. I think it's a basic obstetric history, complications in previous pregnancies, deliveries, etc.

If you've never had a mw before, they may explain the rules for transfer of care, which seem pretty strict. Like, they cannot attempt breech delivery, and certain other conditions during pregnancy may require xfer to an Ob.

They explain how the practice works, set you up with pager #'s, tell you when to call if you're concerned.

I dunno what else. I guess they find out what prenatal screens you're interested in, and start talking about options & support system for the birth.

Oh - I think weighing-in is optional... I don't think they ever asked me my weight and I said I wasn't interested in weighing in regularly.

I remember most of my mw visits as being distinctly NON-medical in nature. We mostly chatted the whole time. Nice!

[Broccolilover]

i guess every mw clinic is different.
my last one they took the blood on site (which was nice not having to make an extra stop) and they were pretty paranoid about std's, there was no reasoning for it they said they were like that with everyone.

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by go4it

Brisen: So far, you're the only one!...Maybe that's a good sign; you'll have them all to yourselves, not have to cross your legs to slow down labour like Broc (do you have a real name? I feel stupid calling a grown woman Broccoli!) & I will when it starts at the very same moment!

For bloodwork -- I think it just depends on how their office is set up. At my fam doc, they have a blood lab place next door, so she would write up an order and send me over. The first MW group I was with (Womancare, in London) did the blood work there. The next (Thames Valley Midwives, also in London) was in a small medical building which had a blood lab on site, so I went to that room for the blood draws. I'm hoping that Community Midwives does it on site.

And ugh, I just realized that we want to move soon. On the one hand, it might be better to move after the baby is born, as dh will be taking parental leave and he'll be able to do the packing and such, but all of the places we've looked at are out of the catchment area for Community Midwives. I don't want to lose my care halfway through my pg.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Brisen

And ugh, I just realized that we want to move soon. On the one hand, it might be better to move after the baby is born, as dh will be taking parental leave and he'll be able to do the packing and such, but all of the places we've looked at are out of the catchment area for Community Midwives. I don't want to lose my care halfway through my pg.

We're thinking of moving this summer. It's this summer, or not for another year because I can't imagine moving with a newborn and 2 other youngsters.

[Brisen]

Yeah, I figure it will be hard moving with a newborn and the other kids underfoot... but, dh can take up to 9 months of parental leave, and I think that, in the end, it would be easier for us to move when he is at home all the time to do the packing and stuff, than for me to do all of the packing while he's at work and I'm pg and tired. With M, he took off 6 months -- we were living in a townhouse and he tore out the kitchen and downstairs bathroom a week before M was born, and spent most of the rest of his time off renovating. I had no idea he was starting this; he did the tearing out while I was visiting my parents with the kids. We found out when we opened the door and our house looked like a war zone. Luckily the fridge was still plugged in, but we had no stove, just the microwave in the basement, and the laundry tub for water and a place to wash dishes. When M was born, the washer was unhooked, the dryer hadn't been working for months anyway, and the microwave decided to die when the midwives tried to heat up water for the herbal bath. So, I don't think moving with dh around to do the work will be too bad.