First midwife visit.

[rivka]

I went to the midwife at noon today, and all seems to be well.

I saw Kathy, the senior midwife of the practice and the one who was there for my D&C. She suggested B-complex vitamins for my nausea and had a mix of good and bad ideas for the poor appetite/hot weather combination. (Good: high-protein shake made from yogurt, frozen berries, and a couple of those pasteurized whole eggs that come in a carton. Bad: aspic, WTF.)

She was sympathetic about the incredible disgusting goopiness of progesterone suppositories and assured me that yes, some of the medicine stays in. I'm to take them through the 13th week, at which point I can stop because the placenta will have taken over production.

Normal protocol for this practice is not to do an ultrasound until around 18 weeks, when all fetal parts can be clearly visualized. I asked her if I could have one around 12-13 weeks for mental health reasons, and she immediately agreed. I'm to go for an ultrasound in the 12th week (the week after SUUSI) and then come for an office visit in the 14th week, when we should be able to hear a heartbeat with the Doppler. You know, if Nothing Bad Has Happened Yet.

We did an abbreviated exam because I just had a Pap and STD test six months ago. Kathy went into raptures over the beauty of my uterus, which is always flattering, I guess. It's already measuring 10-12 weeks, even though this is the first day of the ninth week - she says, "because this is your third pregnancy, and your body remembers what to do." Hence, apparently, the Amazing Expanding Pregnancy Rack of Doom.

I still can't shake the feeling that Something Bad Will Happen. Even with my beautiful uterus.

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

raptures over the beauty of my uterus, which is always flattering, I guess.

Yeah, whenever medical personnel do stuff like that, I never know how to take it. It's not like I have anything to do with my nice veins or whatever, after all.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you all, and hope the twelve-week ultrasound (*twitches reflexively*) shows nothing of concern.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, whenever medical personnel do stuff like that, I never know how to take it.

Well, particularly when the supplemental adjectives she used were "soft" and "boggy." Huh.

hope the twelve-week ultrasound (*twitches reflexively*) shows nothing of concern.

It's not a nuchal fold screening, which I think is what you had at 12wks, right? It's just a viability check. We pretty much reflexively refuse diagnostic tests for fetal problems, other than the big ultrasound at 18 weeks.

[kate_nepveu]

Mine wasn't meant to be a nuchal fold screening, it was just to check the date because the nurse who did my initial checkup thought I was measuring small. Nuchal folds were never mentioned (and indeed we'd decided not to do the first trimester screens). But when my doctor read the ultrasound after I'd left . . .

But it sounds like your practice knows your preferences and so that kind of thing shouldn't happen to you.

Edit: also, today's doctor at the routine visit I just came back from: "What a cute little belly you have."

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(Not my favorite doctor in the practice.)