My first appointment with a Midwife
Meeting the Midwife
I had my first midwife appointment last week. It was quite surreal! I was surprisingly anxious beforehand and burst into tears on arrival – but I think that’s my anxiety issues rearing their ugly head, as after about five minutes in the room I was fine. My midwife (gosh that sounds strange!) seemed very nice but quite firm in that matronly way healthcare professionals often have – personally I find that approach quite reassuring but think I may have to be firm back in future to make sure my wishes are met.
The day before my appointment I asked Twitter what to expect. The response was, ‘lots of questions!’ They weren’t wrong. I was asked a lot about my health history, my husband’s health history and our family histories – some of the questions I couldn’t answer as we’ve not yet told anyone that we’re expecting and I don’t want to go asking my mother questions about her pregnancy as it would arouse suspicion!
I was then asked quite a lot of questions about where I would like to have the baby. I was quite surprised by this, as I hadn’t really thought about much beyond that appointment and not having been pregnant before it wasn’t something I thought I’d be expected to know about this early on. However, I have underlying medical conditions so it’s likely that I don’t have much choice about where I’ll have my baby – consultant-led unit it is! I’m quite satisfied with this thought though as we live very close to the hospital and I can’t imagine having a home birth. But to be honest I can’t imagine having any kind of birth at this stage!
I was asked to provide a urine sample, which was returned to me to dispose of (that’s never happened before!) and they took some blood samples to test for various things, including my resistance to Rubella. I was also instructed to have a flu jab, which I’ve got coming up this afternoon.
Yesterday I received my appointment for my first scan – December! I’ll be just over thirteen weeks then – not sure I can keep the news quiet for that long – I already feel enormous and had to resort to buying a pair of maternity jeans this week, which at just eight weeks seems far too early! I know it’s bloating at this stage though, rather than baby. Unless of course there’s twins in there…
