@ki1244 thanks for the details. I have a high pain tolerance level and don’t really take meds in general. I also can get away with not taking regular doses to reduce my pain when I do have it. Like a headache or something. I would just be afraid it would be too much. I did deliver two unmediated so I know I can do that, I just don’t want this one shooting out like the last and being so intense so quickly. I ended up having some back issues postpartum due to the speed of delivery. My plan each time when they asked has been “don’t ask me about meds…the end”.
@emeraldcity603 they asked with my last birth if I wanted anything at the point I said I was “done” but then I had her 20 minutes later. I will have to ask them when a good time would be to ask if I wanted to do it, as I transitioned very quickly with the last two and pushing was minutes, not hours.
I have an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow morning to get checked out after my car wreck. I really hope it didn’t cause my hematoma to start bleeding.
I have my first appointment with my midwife this afternoon - I feel very unprepared for it, what sort of questions should I be asking her? This will be my first time using a midwife, I went the OB route last time.
@wendy838 some people have questions about the number of births the midwife has attended, what the criteria is if you need transferred to a hospital (if you are doing a birth center or home birth), or if your midwife will attend you at a hospital how will she help you keep your birth low intervention. Most of the routine prenatal care is the same, but a little more hands off, so you might ask about that if it interests you. I’m still doing blood work, glucose test, anatomy scan, etc at the birth center I’m using.
It’s also ok to not have questions. When I went to meet my current midwife I mostly just wanted to get a feel for the place and see if it/her would be a good fit. She asked me if I had questions and I said “should I? What do people usually ask?” (She provided me with examples above lol)
@tumbleweed-1 very helpful, thanks! I was going to go in with an open mind and get a feel if we'd be a good fit, but I also wanted to make the most of our time together.
I had my first prenatal appointment today. It went great. I really love my midwife. She is a little crunchier than I would like but I just disregard all her super crunchy recommendations. She did my genetic blood draw and told me I should know in a week. I’m excited to find out the gender. If anything comes back abnormal on the screening we will not do additional testing but proceed as if we need to prepare for whatever the needs of the baby will be.
My nausea is better today but appears to be building slowly so will likely be raging by late afternoon.
I had my first prenatal appt with my regular OB today! He busted out the Doppler first thing and was able to get a heartbeat! He said normally they go 4 weeks between appts but I’m a special patient and they want to see me in 2 weeks to ensure everything is continuing perfectly. We also did a pap since my annual was up last week. But everything is great so far! I have an ultrasound scheduled for 2/17!
Editing to add that my stomach bug is largely gone. I’m not 100% and still nervous to eat anything heartier than toast but everything is staying down so far today. I’m at least feeling human today.
@gingermama29 glad to hear you are feeling better! My first OB appointment is next week! Got labs back yesterday and I’m trying not to read into them but I had one come back “abnormal”. I want to make it through this pregnancy full term and healthy this time! We will see what they say next week.
@gingermama29 I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Stomach bugs are the worst. When they found the HB on the doppler how far up from your pubic bone did they look? My midwife was 3 inches below my belly button when she finally found the HB. We were both a little shocked. I told her that may be why I have been struggling to find the HB. I’m looking too low.
@emeraldcity603 I just had my NT scan and I was surprised how far up she was holding the wand on my stomach, like directly under my belly button. I'd felt some weird popping in that area, but discounted it because of how high up it was. I just remember my daughter being so much lower.
@msjaay I have felt some things that could possibly be early movement but I have also had a ridiculous amount of gas so I can’t possibly say that what I have felt isn’t gas. 😆 Plus, I have an anterior placenta. The last time I had one that was full on anterior like this I would feel sporadic movement early on but it didn’t get regular until week 16-18.
@emeraldcity603 he had to go pretty far down below my belly button but I’m also just shy of 10 weeks. It was challenging to get a read consistently just because of that but we saw 156 light up the Doppler for a solid 10-15 seconds so he was confident all was well
@emeraldcity603 I was just going to ask if anyone thought they felt “flutters” yet. I thought I was just making things up this morning, but this is my third. I was sitting, legs crossed this morning and I was like “what is that”. I questioned if it was gas, maybe it was. But I also thought, maybe I’m just in the right position and that is where baby is sitting. 🤷🏻♀️
When my OB found baby's heartbeat last week I was kind of surprised how low she was looking -- like JUST above my pubic bone. I didn't actually realize that's what she was doing at first (thought she was doing something to get ready for my pap) but then we heard it loud and clear. Guess this kid is low and everything above them is food baby. Whoops.
@ki1244 I told my best friend about how high she found the HB and my friend was like, no wonder you look so huge. She wasn’t saying anything hurtful but we have been talking about how big I look. It is definitely mostly bloat because it’s smaller in the morning and more pronounced by evening. But baby is getting high enough it could actually be a baby bump soon.
@novelblessings you definitely feel movement earlier with each pregnancy. I had regular movement by 12 weeks with one of my pregnancies. It was obviously one with a posterior placenta. I expect to feel regular movement later with this pregnancy.
I had my first in person prenatal yesterday. Dr couldn’t find the HB with the Doppler, but I’m not worried. She sent off my stuff for the NIPT which I’ve not done before. The standard testing here is still maternal serum, but since I’m ~*AMA*~ I have the option of paying for NIPT. I figured I’d just get it all out of the way in one go now, vs the maternal serum even if it means paying OOP.
Long way of saying: my appointment was uneventful and next thing is the NIPT.
@novelblessings Yes! Flutters started for me this week, and I’m only 9/10 weeks (but this is pregnancy #7). Baby seems to dislike my seatbelt, as I almost always feel some flutters now while I’m driving.
Ok I don’t feel so silly now. I was in the middle of a session with a client and I was trying to hold back tears. So I dismissed it a bit. Nothing since but that is ok because I know eventually they get obnoxious and kick you in all the wrong places LoL.
I’ve thought I’ve felt flutters a few times but not 100% sure and it’s not daily either so that makes me second guess it lol it does seem to be in the same spot each time though so maybe!
@novelblessings I started to feel the flutters last week at week 13 and it freaked me out bc I wasn’t sure if it was baby or gas but I was pretty sure it was the baby. Yesterday (14w) I felt the same thing and my SO was able to feel it too and it was definitely flutters. Exciting and don’t feel crazy if you think it’s early. Every person is different!! I cried too 🥲
@novelblessings I’m 14w and have definitely felt a few odd pops in the past few weeks that are hard to mistake for something else. It’s not regular by any means. I was closer to 19w with my first before I felt movement but it’s in the exact area they keep finding the baby this time.
Re: January Appointments
Long way of saying: my appointment was uneventful and next thing is the NIPT.