Week 32, Day 6 (Meet #2 Midwife)

I was a tiny bit nervous about meeting our back-up midwife. After all, I'd been warned she was 'quite blunt' and the facial expression on the girl who said this indicated something to the far right of Atilla the Hun.

But Robyn (#1 Midwife) had endorsed Carol saying "You two will get along well."

Robyn was right (as usual).

Carol is very 'hands off', and is open in her expectations that impending mothers take responsibility for their own bellies, babies and births. That works for me :-)

I hate the description "big" when people mean fat. Big means something along the lines of Andre the Giant. Fat means fat. Mind you, I have seen the odd person who qualifies both ways, and I have to suppress the overwhelming urge not to run up and stand next to them so that I look possibly svelte (well in my own imagination, anyway).

Carol is what I would call "significant" but this is an overall description, and signifies her strength of personality as much as her physical type. When I reported my weight for that week, she rolled her eyes at me and said "I don't ask my ladies to watch their weight - I'm much more interested in their health. You look well; do you feel well? Tell me how you're feeling."

(Cool! Robyn watches my weight like a hawk, and I thought I'd probably get it in the neck from the backup midwife even more so.)

We did the pee test (no blood, yay!), and the BP was 125 over 72 which is also a big yay. Time for the physical prod part (which I don't enjoy, being overly sensitive and ticklish as hell). Carol pushes down just as hard as Robyn (ow) but she did whip out a tape measure (which is a new thing) and measure the fundus: I think I heard her say 35cm?

Her prognosis is that baby is growing well, but not ahead on 'dates' as much as a very good sized baby. The usual weight for a baby of 32 weeks gestation is around 2 kilos but Carol says our baby is closer to 3 kilos. Wayne asked for a translation into pounds and she said "around six pounds". It gave us a laugh that with seven weeks to go, Wayne's son is already heavier than Wayne was at birth! (Mind you, Wayne was a month prem)

Eee... no wonder my bladder complains!

Carol said that baby is not oversized for me, as I'm built to carry and birth big babies. She made frequent mention of my generous hips and strong build, and said it was not surprising I have made a very solid baby. She reckons his birth weight will be around 9lb 2 oz, if he arrives on his due date (and of course could be a lot heavier if he goes over!).

So I mentioned my fear about getting this baby out (horror stories I've heard from riding mates who've had to be cut like chickens), and she snorted at me in amusement.

"Frankly, I've noticed our riding ladies are more inclined to push the baby out faster rather than get hung up in the works. Don't fuss about your muscles - they will work for you not against you."

Oh yeah... I hadn't thought about that....! Cool!

She asked about antenatal, and after a pause we fessed up that we thought it was mostly a waste of time, but had some good points. When I said that it hadn't covered the bits I wanted covered, ie demonstrations of things not easily explained in books, Carol asked me for 'for instances'.

Well .... breathing exercises and birthing positions, for a start.

Another snort - "You've been breathing all your life, and birth is no different. Listen to your body and breathe how you need to. If you start panting or hyperventilating, Robyn will tell you to slow your breathing down. You're going with gas, right? (Nod from me) Okay - you have to breathe properly with gas otherwise it won't work. So stop worrying, you'll be fine and if you go wrong, your midwife will sort you out."

And as for birthing positions: "Listen to your body. Change as you need to. Every time you change position, you help inch the baby further along. If you need to get up and walk, then walk!. Do what makes you comfortable, and your body will tell you by increasing the discomfort if you're in the wrong position for your baby's progress."

Oh...! Okay, that works for me :-)) She advised me to keep my expectations as flexible as possible, and to 'go with the flow' as much as humanly possible, remembering it is just a few hours duration compared to the rest of my life.

I asked her if it was like a wedding day, ie the bride who micro-manages everything to the nth degree is the one whose day goes to custard in every possible direction, whereas the second-time around bride knows to adopt an attitude closer to "yeah, well.. shit happens" and as a result has a much more fun experience.

Carol grinned and said "that's exactly what I mean."

So all in all, I really like our backup midwife. I feel very confident in her experience and manner, and I can relax and trust her as easily as I would Robyn. Despite being very different in personal style and manner, they often choose to team up which means they are a good partnership.

Oh yeah.. one last thing. I've got to be a bit cryptic about this in case the Powers That Be get wind of this blog, but let's just say there is a good possibility that I will get my choice of birth venue .... despite the "Official Line" to the contrary. We'll have to wait and see ... ;-)