The First Prenatal Visit

Today was my first official prenatal visit. We decided to go with the UNC Midwives so we could get a bit more personal care. There are six midwives in the practice compared to many many doctors. I should get more hands on care during labor and delivery while still having all that UNC hospital offers right down the hall.

I met the first of the midwives today and she was very nice. She made me feel very comfortable and answered all my questions without making me feel like I was being difficult, and I did have a lot of questions! They did all the normal prenatal stuff. They made me pee in a cup, took four vials of blood, did a pap smear, and made me get a seasonal and H1N1 flu shot.

After much set up about how she might not be able to find a heart beat with a hand held doppler and how I shouldn't worry if she didn't find it, there was a good strong quick heartbeat of 164 bpm. Several people have told me that a faster heart beat may mean it's a girl, but I'm not putting too much stake in that. I was just happy that there was a good strong heart beat. So far, everything seems very good!