I Love My Midwife

Watch the video below & see what's happening in the next nine weeks.

Braxton Hick's Contractions. Who knew?

At my midwife appointment last Thursday, Dale (my midwife) was feeling to see if Lily was facing head down yet since I had a strange sensation earlier that morning. As she was feeling around, I felt what I always thought to be Lily rolling around. I didn't say anything but then Dale said I was having a small Braxton Hix contraction. I never knew what they were supposed to feel like, having had nothing to base it on. I was surprised that what I thought was Lily was actually those contractions. They don't hurt, just a little uncomfortable. Maybe I'll still keep the mindset that it is Lily rolling so then maybe they won't hurt as much when they get stronger in the coming weeks.

When Dan and I meet with Dale, our appointments are always for a half hour but they never end up being just that. We always spend about an hour with her talking about what's going on with us and the pregnancy and going over any questions we may have. I love that because if I had stayed with the obstetrician, I would not have gotten so much as ten minutes with him. I'm more confident with being pregnant now because I can ask all of my questions and not feel rushed through the appointment. 

While going over when my next appointments would be, I was told that my next appointment would be in three weeks (the 29th of Nov), then every two weeks (until Jan), then once a week until labor. At week 36 Dale will do a home visit. I think that's so cool. I don't know exactly why she goes to the home of the patient, I'll have to ask next time I see her.

I went in for a Glucose Tolerance Test yesterday. Thank God for my midwife Dale, because I didn't have to fast or drink that horrid sugar drink. She said pregnant women should not fast because it's dangerous to do so while pregnant. Good thing because I always need to eat something in the middle of the night. In the morning, around 9am, I had a bowl of cereal. Then at 12:40pm I ate a slice of bread with peanut butter. At 12:45pm I chugged some Welch's grape juice which was in a bottle containing 47g of sugar (you need at least 45-50g of sugar for the test). My appointment for the blood work was at 1:45pm and I just had to make sure they did the test then because the blood needed to be drawn an hour after drinking the juice. Two vials were drawn and the results will be faxed to my midwife. I'll let you know what the results are when I find out. Hopefully I do not have gestational diabetes. That would suck if I do.

I bought and read a book thanks to my cousin (1st removed) Billy. He has a friend whose wife is a midwife in California and she wrote a book called Water Birth: A Midwife's Perspective. This book, even though it was written in 1994, is still prevalent today. It has great information about the benefits of water births and what your options are. If you have even the slightest interest in water births, I highly recommend this book.