10 Weeks

The major event this week is that I had my first prenatal appointment with my midwife. It was everything I expected and nothing like the appointments with my GP. It started with a bunch of questions about my health and the history of our families. Then she explained how midwifery care worked. Each mother is placed in a "pod", which is a group of 4 midwives. Throughout my pregnancy, delivery and for 6 weeks postpartum I will see only those 4 midwives. I will be delivering in a hospital that the midwives are associated with which will most likely mean less medical intervention. But, if I did suddenly need it, the doctors aren't far away.

My appointments are always an hour long instead of the usual 15 minutes which I was thrilled about. They've also got their own "library" in the office so I've got plenty of recommended reading material and dvd's at my fingertips. When it came time ask if I was going to have testing done, she actually went through all the steps involved. She explained when each test was to be done, and all the risks that came with them. That was something my GP never went through with me. This really has been an eye opening experience for me and I'm really looking foreward to the rest of my appointments.

Speaking of... I've got my first ultrasound in three weeks!! It'll be for the nuchal translucency screening and of course to set my fears at bay. The midwife did try to hear the heartbeat with a Doppler but I had put body lotion on and there was too much static. I'll just have to wait until my ultrasound.
Well my lil' bean has grown to be the size of a kumquat and is officially a fetus now! There is no more webbing between the fingers and toes and the nails are starting to form. The vital organs have started to function and he/she is swallowing amniotic fluid. Although his/her size has doubled in the last 3 weeks, it's not stopping here. It will double again in the next few weeks. I'm almost at the end of my first trimester and so excited.