The First Midwife's Visit (first of many...)

Hi Everyone,

I went on my first visit to the midwife on Monday this week.

Upon my GP's advise, I checked out the Wellington Hospital's Midwife service instead of trying to go it alone and find one without any referrals etc (back then we were not yet 'public' with our info, and there were not a lot in the Mt Vic area where we live).  Also, since we will be delivering at the said hospital, it seemed like a no-brainer to just go directly to the source.

Now, since I am with the hospital's service, I do not get assigned a midwife, but see all of them based on their roster's rotation.  On Monday, I met Bronwyn, the first of many lovely midwives.

We covered a lot in our first visit.  She updated all my medical records, got all our details noted (including Andrew's), my blood type, all the previous scans and tests recorded.

Oh, by the way, forgot to tell you all the good news - the Muir Baby is very healthy, and did not test positive for Downs or... the other one... that I forgot! The chances of developing Downs was 1:4,300, so very very low.  I was very relieved to hear that I won't be required to go through with the CVS test (yay!).

*CVS test is where they stick a really long needle into the ovary and prick the baby a bit to get the baby's blood (?!).  High chance of miscarriage, which is not what we need.

Anyways, back to the midwife consult...  She also signed me up for an ante natal class (cos everyone has told me this is REALLY important!!!) at the hospital.  They run a free course which has friendly hours between 6pm to 7pm, and the actual midwives are instructors, so I will get to know all of them really well by the end.  

Bronwyn also gave me a breastfeeding DVD and I could sign up for a breast feeding course as well!

Those done, I also got her to get me a referral for an ob-gyn consult regarding my lower abdomen discomfort, and she signed me up for a physio consult as well.  Like I said - very productive!

Before the end, she also checked my blood pressure, checked for urinary infection and weighed me.  I've always had a low blood pressure, but she says I am a bit too low... so I am now drinking lots of liquids, walking about everyday, and going to sign up to a pregnancy yoga class with Andrew's workmate Becs, so hopefully that will rectify the situation.

I also seem quite low on the weight gain, where my weight has only increased by 400g since pregnancy.  Apparently that is also normal, as some women even loose weight (must be all the throwing up in the first trimester!).  I try not to worry, but its a bit hard to give up that hobby now.

All in all, I felt that I'm in good hands, with a lot of professionals on hand to help me out.  I'm a bit ambivalent about the ante natal class, but will see how I feel closer to the time.