My first midwife appointment

It worked out nicely that Ryan was able to come with me for my first appointment.  I saw my backup midwife, Anne (my primary doesn't start until June).  I'll be seeing one of the midwives once a month until 28 weeks, then every 2 weeks until 36 weeks, then once a week until delivery.  She seemed nice (maybe a little weird).

Anyway, I started off peeing in a cup and weighing myself.  I'm up to 165lbs, which means I've gained 5lbs since my last doctor's appointment.  I asked Anne if that's normal (to me it sounds like a lot), but she said that's in the acceptable range.  She told me that I'll be producing twice as much blood now, which makes me feel hungrier, but not to indulge in too many foods that turn to sugar (fruit, bread, pasta, potatoes, etc).

I explained my recent weight loss with Weight Watchers, but said that I'm now craving foods that are pretty far from program, so she told me to eat more protein.  She also gave me a "protein counter", which shows how much protein is in certain foods.  She said that if I get 100g of protein in every day, I'll start craving less carbs after the 4th day, so I'm going to do my best to stick to that.

At one point, I told Anne I wanted a hospital birth, which is totally fine, as they have special privileges at Grand River Hospital.

She explained the Integrated Prenatal Screening (IPS), which consists of two blood tests and an ultrasound.  This is a screening test that can determine whether our baby has Down Syndrome or Spina Bifida.  The trouble with this test is that there's a 15% chance of a false positive, after which there would probably be an amniocentesis, which has a 0.5% chance of miscarriage... Regardless of the risks, Ryan and I have chosen to go ahead with the IPS. I've scheduled my ultrasound for May 6.  I need to schedule the two blood tests still.

Anne also tried to listen to the baby's heartbeat, even though she said it might be too early.  We didn't hear anything. Ryan and I were a little disappointed, but she said there should be no problem next month.  Oh well.

I guess that's all for today...