I'm tired ; ) Just got home from the Pre-natal appt. I was thinking for some reason they were closer to me than they are...they are really just right outside of DC but that's ok. They were very friendly at this visit and the visit was about 2 hours long. Most of that time was spent just talking to me about my health, my past pregnancies this pregnancy the hyperemesis and all that kind of stuff.
I didn't have to put on one of those ridiculous hospital type gowns and I was allowed to just pull my pants down for the internal and to hear the baby's heart beat. When she did the internal it was quick and she gave me a small model of a woman's pelvis so she could show me exactly what she was feeling for and what it indicated to her. I really appreciated that and Shawn thought that was very cool.
She couldn't find the heartbeat at first for the baby and it had me quite nervous. But then she found it and Zebbie got so excited and the midwife got all teary eyed because I did hehe <G> she said the baby's heart beat sounds wonderful!
You weigh yourself at this practice and according to their scales I have gained 2 pounds so far which she said was great considering how sick I have been. They want me to eat tons of tums or rolaids to see if that will help with the acid reflux. Zantac was the drug they felt was safest to take during pregnancy but I already tried it and I can't take it...it doesn't help and just makes me feel more nauseated.
She was happy to hear I am not vomiting too much anymore as that means hopefully the hyperemesis is going away. I swear though that is easier than the pain. It's always been this pain through the whole thing that is the worse.
We didn't sign any papers there.....she told us to take everything home so we can look it all over and make sure we have time to fully read it and realize what we are signing. We liked that a lot too. She said no tests are mandatory and they always offer all testing and info on it then leave it up to the parents to decide what they want. The next test they could perform is that AFP I think it's called where they can detect downs and all in a child. I don't really care to have it as I don't care if my child has downs or not and I've heard those tests are quite often inaccurate anyway. She agreed with me but said the choice was totally ours.
She said they will refer me out to a doctor for the sono and that at my next appt I can make arr's to get one between my 18th and 22nd week or so. I'll be 17 weeks along at my next appt on Sept.23. We are hoping we can be referred to the doctor up there by them that does the 3d and 4d sonos! That would be so awesome! Shawn thought of that...I was just going to go with one closer to us down here but he said the drive back up there would be worth it to get that type of sono ; )
The only down side is it is mandatory for you to use a birth assistant with them. Insurance does not cover that and the closest one to us is 500 dollars. So we have to some how pay for that out of pocket which won't be easy. She said if we call and talk to the different ladies though that she's sure they will be willing to work out a payment plan for us or something. Here's hoping!!!!
The birthing rooms are small and quite intimate. They do have a jacuzzi you can labor in, a birthing ball and different things like that to use through out the labor. I've already told you all about how it's like a little suite with a kitchen and sitting area and all...really nice, like home.
Guess that's about it. Shawn really liked them. He thinks it is great they let you make the decisions and get you so involved in your own care (weighing yourself, checking your urine and such) He really liked how they sent all the info home with us to further look over instead of just saying...here sign this or this test wll be done on this week and this one on that week. He likes we get to decide to have what done when and if at all. So I am very happy that he likes the birth center as much as I do.
Of course there is no pain meds used there but she said if for whatever reason I decided I wanted meds they could transfer me to the hospital and one of them would accompany me and of course you get transferred if an emergency comes up they can't handle.
I really liked this visit and felt very relaxed through the whole thing. Zeb was totally welcomed the whole time and completely involved in it all. It was not like any ob/gyn visit I've had before.
