I had an appointment with my midwife Heather this morning. Now that I’m in my third trimester, we’ll be seeing each other every two weeks, and I really look forward to it. It was such a nice relaxing visit.
I slept in this morning and was still eating my breakfast when Heather arrived at my door at 9:30. Crook and Nanuq both snuggled with her as we chatted about my week; I told her what I learned from the physiotherapist and chiropractor and about my visit to the ER on Thursday.
Last time we’d met, Heather had asked me to keep a food diary for a few days, so I gave that to her and we had a great discussion about nutritional needs during pregnancy. For example, I should have protein regularly and she’s happy to see that I tend to have a bit of it spaced throughout the day because, hey, babies are mostly made of protein and fat. Also, the need for iron picks up in the third trimester because babies start storing it to use in their first 6 to 9 months of life. Besides meats, dark leafy greens are a good source of iron; vitamin C helps our bodies to absorb it, but calcium inhibits iron absorption. Some of this stuff was new and some wasn’t, but it’s great to have an idea of what to focus on when I make food choices.
We discussed how birth practices in North America are changing. Heather attended a vaginal breech birth a few weeks ago, which was fascinating. I’ve been interested in this topic for a few years because a friend of mine in Ottawa has been very involved in advocating for informed choice of vaginal birth vs. c-sections for breech babies. Heather told me that the Whitehorse Hospital recently changed its policy on vaginal breech births and doctors will now allow a trial of labour for breech births at the hospital.
We talked about things I could do while I’m still pregnant to try to strengthen my abdominal muscles so that I can avoid further separation and, I hope, ward off those nasty muscle spasms. I was surprised to learn that Kegel exercises can help. I know I should do these but I hate them, so I always end up conveniently forgetting. Besides, when Heather explained how to do a “full” Kegel, I realized that there’s more to doing them right than I ever gleaned from the literature. (She told me to lean back on a wall with knees slightly bent and picture a string behind my belly button being pulled up through the back of my neck.) Kegels actually engage a lot more muscles (like the abs) than I thought.
One nurse at the hospital on Thursday noted a trace of leukocytes in my urine sample and was concerned that this was a symptom of a UTI, which could irritate the uterus, which could lead to pre-term labour. (I thought the nurse was over-reacting a wee bit, don’t you?) Heather had mentioned at an earlier visit that there are herbal therapies for UTIs, so even though neither of us think I have this infection (since the urine stick showed neither blood nor protein) we talked about herbs that are good for urinary tract health. Apparently the Yukon is a great place to live if you have bladder issues. Cranberries (the “regular” kind, as well as high- and low-bush cranberries) and kinnikinnick both work really well as natural remedies, and both are plentiful around here. Kinnikinnick grows right outside our back yard, and both types of bush cranberries are easy to find close by. Heather said that high-bush cranberries are also good for back pain and knee pain, so I may go looking for them as an additional boost for my sacral health “program”.
We did a physical exam (blood pressure, fundal height measurement, gentle palpating to see where Nugget was lying today) and then Heather broke out the fetoscope. It was much easier to find Nugget’s heartbeat today and once Heather was finished listening, she passed the earpieces to me. It was the first time I got to try out the device and it’s so different from using a Doppler, which has a definite mechanical/electronic sound to it. With a fetoscope, it’s more like listening to something that’s happening underwater — which I suppose is exactly what’s going on!
We wrapped up our visit with a discussion about post-partum depression and set up our next appointment, to which I will bring Jade because I’d really like to have her involved so that she feels she is a part of the whole process. By this time, it was after 11:00, making our appoinment almost 2 hours long.
I know that in my initial musings I wondered about how much pre-natal care I really need and what a midwife would have to offer beyond the exams one gets in a doctor’s office. After learning so much from Heather today and having such a nice time on a social level as well, I’m feeling better than ever about my decision to choose a midwife.
