I had my first appointment at the birth center today. As I anticipated it went really well and I am happy to have made the switch. I get to test my own urine and see the glucose, protein and nitrites levels myself, rather than pass a cup to someone on the other side of a window and never hear about the results. I weigh myself. I also get to read pregnancy and birth books from a bookshelf in a rocking chair while I wait for my name to be called. Little differences.
For the first time, I walked in to an appointment feeling confident. The hand help doppler on the table did not make me feel anxious, and I didn't rush through the talking portion of the visit without any asking questions just so we could, 'get to the heartbeat, already.' When we did get to the listening and measuring part of the visit, the midwife found the heartbeat immediately. It ranged from 145-157 as he moved around inside. My fundal height measured right on track at 22 cm.
This practice has six midwives. The goal is that you will always know the midwife attending your birth because you most likely had appointments with each of them on more than one occasion. Patients choose whether they want to deliver at the hospital with a midwife or at the birth center. The only potential bummer (or positive to some) about choosing the birthing center is that they operate under hospital regulations, so they are very conservative in their policies. The oddest example: if you are just 7 days past your due date, or 41 weeks, you cannot labor or deliver at the birth center, even if your and the baby's vitals are completely normal. You can still follow the same birth plan with your midwives, you just have to be at the hospital instead. 41 weeks seems overly cautious to me. I know many friends (and my mom) who went a week past their due dates. Do IVF pregnancies even go past 41 weeks? Normal gestation is 38-42 weeks but is this really normal gestation or the margin of error to account for variation in menstrual cycle length?
Interesting questions, but I have many weeks to go before the home stretch and there are so many other things to focus on now. Good things, milestones and growth. And approaching viability.
5 comments:
I'm glad you feel so good about the birth center! I wish we had one close. I did a midwife assisted delivery at the local hospital, and it went AWESOME. I still wish I'd have had the birth center experience, but having a provider who "has your back" will go a long ways towards helping you have the birth experience you are hoping for.
IVF pregnancies do go past their "due dates." 37-42 is considered full term, and there are about a gazillion (you like that scientific term?) reasons why women deliver earlier/later. I have quite a few friends who went to 42w as first time Moms though - even with very accurate dating. Also, for us, it wasn't quite as accurate as IVF (we did IUI), but I had Stella at 38w. Each pregnancy is different. You pretty much just hope they're somewhere in the 37-42w range and healthy!
Approaching viability -wow. Time is flying!! SO happy for you. :)
Delighted it went so well! The birth centre sounds fantastic!
As to your question, here IVF pregnancy are treated with extra care when it comes to birth, so you are not let go overtime (I have to check this with my new OB and see if he agrees). Personally I would not want to go overtime for a series of reasons...the placenta is well aged by then, it's unlikely the baby wil get any extra benefit from staying inside another few days, and I would just be a nervous wreck!
But it really depends. Imagine that here IVF pregnancies cannot be followed by the midwives only (we have a midwives scheme) and you always have to have a consultant either private or in the public system, and I don't know any of my IVF buddies who went public once pregnant, I think we all need that extra reassurance that your OB will follow you thoroughly and give you his mobile number too just in case you have a silly question! Much love, Fran
Sounds like things are coming together! Looking forward to you hitting 24 weeks and beyond!
What an awesome place.
Funnily, your extra-relaxed birth center reminds me of the extra-high risk office I went to. They went WAY out of their way to make you feel calm and relaxed -- there was even a spa connected to it that specialized in pregnancy massage, etc.
So happy that you are happy!!!
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