First appointment at NMI

We had our first prenatal appointment with Nurse Midwives of Indianapolis today. It went very well! We went into this feeling unsure if the birth center was really the right place for us and this baby, but we left being 100% convinced!

Upon arriving at the birth center, we were excited to see that it's really just a house. From the outside would could see a screened-in porch, a picnic table, a glider swing, beautiful mature trees and lots of play equiptment for kids - swingset, slides, playhouse, etc. The good thing about being due in July is that Lolli will be able to take advantage of that play equiptment (barring any rain I guess) while I'm inside (or outside, I suppose) laboring away! After we entered the center I filled out the usual paperwork while Lolli and Molly played with all the toys in the waiting room. Lolli liked the play washer and dryer the best and Molly liked the lego blocks.

The receptionist showed me to a bathroom with real hand towels (you all know how I hate the paper stuff...) where I was to pee in a Dixie cup and stick the test strips into the urine all by myself and mark the results on my chart. I know this is nothing complicated and anyone could do it, so it felt great to be "trusted" and made part of my own care that way! The scale was also in the bathroom so I got to weigh myself in privacy. It felt very comfy and homey.

Next we went on a quick tour of the birth center. There's a kitchen with all the appliances available for use by the laboring woman and her friends and family (except the oven - that's gotta be kept available to heat the blankets for the baby!). There are 2 labor/delivery rooms, both of which have large comfy-looking beds. The main room also has a shower and jacuzzi tub. In the event that 2 women are there at one, but one closest to delivering gets the tub room, but can move to the other room (across the hall) after birth if need be. There are 2 exam rooms at the birth center, one upstairs and one downstairs, because there are 2 midwives, Barb and Andrea.

We met upstairs with Andrea today. She went over how the birth center operates, costs, philosophies, medical history, health and nutrition during pregnancy, how to get ahold of them 24/hours a day, all that good stuff. She also encouraged us to question her if we ever feel like she's treating us as just another patient, or if we don't understand why things are happening or if we have ideas about different ways to do things, etc. She believes midwifery care should be high-touch, low-tech, which is awesome. She believes in empowering women through education to take charge of their own health care, bodies, and pregnancies. I think I love this woman, ha ha.

We learned that during the pregnancy I will meet both her and Barb, because Barb is on call every other weekend so there's a chance she could be the one attending the birth. We also learned that my chart will be reviewed by Doctor Soper at 28 weeks and again at 36 weeks. Other than that, Dr. Soper won't see me during the pregnancy unless a complication arises and/or the midwives have a concern. At that point, I can either transfer care to Dr. Soper if necessary or she and the midwives will provide team care. Either way, Dr. Soper is available for consultation with the midwives throughout my pregnancy and delivery. I love that I already know, like and respect the backup doctor! The birth center is 7 minutes away from Methodist's front door in case the need should arise for emergency transport (which is rare due to the care taken to find out about possible complications during the pregnancy and taking action then!).

After going over everything, Andrea used the doppler to listen for the baby's heartbeat. It took several minutes to find it, and every time she did, the baby would move away. Must be a wiggle worm :) Anyway, she finally got the baby to hold still for the standard 15 seconds so she could count heartbeats. The heartrate was 150, which is kind of middle-of-the-road, and is what Lolli's usually was. Then they took my blood pressure (good!), scheduled the next appointment (February 2!) and that was that!

For those of you who may be wondering about the qualifications and exprience of a midwife, Andrea is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Nurse Midwife. She became a CNM in 1987 and did home births in Northern California for several years as well as managing a local birth center. She's served women from there to the St Thomas Hospital, US Virgin Islands, and a Missouri Birth Center! She came to Indy in 1997 and worked at the Birth Center as well as Methodst. She left and went to Planned Parenthood for a few years before returning to the birth center and is once again also delivering at Methodist. Her bio says her pet peeve are "midwives using power over women and the medicalization of birth." She's currently treasurer of the Indiana Midwives Association and is an active NRP and CPR instructor.

Anyway, Zach and I are so excited to have settled on a care provider and birth place! I'll update again next month!