12 Weeks! (1st "Official" Prenatal Appointment)

Tuesday we had our first official prenatal appointment with Dr. Stempel.  I was nervous going back to the same place where I'd had such a sad experience with our other little twin (about a month ago now), but was fairly confident that everything was okay since I have been having so much morningsickness lately.  :) 
We got there in time for our 8:45AM appointment, but weren't taken back until after 9.  Still, it wasn't a terribly long wait, and I appreciate that the staff seems to really take their time with each patient instead of just rushing everyone through . . . I'm happy to wait a bit in order to have that experience! 

Dr. Stempel's assistant checked my weight (136, so up a couple pounds from the last visit) and took my blood pressure.  I can't remember exactly what it was but it was quite low--98/60 or something like that.  I joked to her that I am barely alive.  ;)  She asked both of us questions about our family health histories and then me about any medical conditions.  I'm happy to report that we come from fairly healthy stock!   Then I was sent off to produce a urine sample . . . I think I will be doing a lot of that in the coming months!

This was the first time that Michael met Dr. Stempel and I was curious to see what he thought.  The doctor came in and looked through my chart which alread looked pretty full.  I joked with him and the assistant that it was a pretty thick file for only my first real visit.  One of the nice things about doing so much testing before IVF is that I've already had most of the required prenatal bloodtests.  They said they would check my thyroid and Vitamin D levels as both have been low in the past (and I currently take Levothyroxine {and follow a gluten-free diet} to help keep my thyroid levels balanced).  Another interesting thing I found out is that I am immune to the German measles (Rubella?).  At first I thought that meant that I'd been born immune, but Dr. Stempel said that most women are immune if they were vaccinated for MMR in the past.

After the paperwork, the doctor began the exam.  Since it's been about a year and a half since my last annual, I was a very lucky girl and got the full treatment yesterday.  :)  But the best, best part was when the doctor used the Doppler to listen for our baby's heartbeat.  It took him a minute to find it (the longest minute ever!), but then suddenly it was there.  It was so surreal, to realize that a tiny being with a tiny heart is growing in my womb . . . I started to cry and then laughed because my belly shaking from the crying interfered with hearing the heartbeat.  I said, "I can't cry if I want to hear the heart beating!"  It was a short and sweet experience, but made me feel so relieved that everything is still going well.  Dr. Stempel said the beat sounds just right and that my womb is just rising over the top of my pubic bone.  He said that in a couple more weeks, my stomach is going to "pop."  I said it's probably a good thing that I just ordered some maternity clothes then.  Everyone laughed.  :)

I asked Dr. Stempel how he felt about continuing to see me during my pregnancy in tandem with a midwife.  I reminded him of what I had said during our consultation--that I had planned on having a midwife when I thought I would just have one baby, but since we were expecting twins, I felt safer in a hospital setting.  He said that it was up to me, but that he feels the safest place to have a baby is in the hospital (I have heard this medical standpoint before), and he feels like I would best be served by having a single care provider during my pregnancy.  He added that should I choose to go with a midwife, and then later run in to a problem of some kind, he would be happy to work with the midwife to help me out.  I thought that was nice.  We talked about waterbirth and he gave me his opinion--not a fan, which I guess I was a little surprised about.  He thinks it's messy (vaginal secretions and sometimes poo end up in the water), and he said that it doesn't give the doctor a chance to "help" so as to prevent tearing.  I didn't ask but am assuming he meant performing an episiotomy.  One thing that may have colored his opinion on waterbirth is an experience he mentioned having during which he cared for an infant who inhaled chlorine during a waterbirth.  I'm not sure how this happened, because I thought babies under water wouldn't take a breath until their faces touched the air. 

At any rate, Dr. Stempel obviously didn't think waterbirth was a good idea, but he did say that it is up to me.  He even offered to do a little research and find out what Emanuel Hospital offers in terms of birthing tubs and what the policies are on giving birth in the tub.  I thought that was nice and definitely something he didn't have to do. 

We left the office with instructions to have some bloodwork done and come back in 4 weeks.  Our next appointment is on November 8th--I'll be 16 weeks!

Between now and then, I think we are going to try and tour Emanuel to check out their labor and delivery floor, as well as tour the waterbirth center I am interested in and talk with a midwife.  Hopefully by the time of our next appointment, we'll have enough information to feel like we're making an informed choice and one that we both feel comfortable with.