Midwife Visit & Baby's Heart Beat

I officially have a midwife! I never did interview any others, or even make more phone calls like I originally set out to do. Honestly, after meeting Kimm I just knew in my gut that this was the woman that would help bring my child into this world in the comfort of my home.

Michael and I went to see her today so that they could meet each other and to ensure that the three of us were on the same page. It was a quick meeting at the end of which we all agreed that we'd work around my pending insurance application and start prenatal visits with her as soon as possible.

My next (and last) prenatal visit at the free clinic is on Tuesday the 12th where I'll ask them to release my medical records to my midwife and finally be done with that place. I already caught a glimpse into the comfort of my visits with Kimm, since her home is her office. She sits on these cool pillows on the floor and I loved the fact that she checked for peanut's heart beat on her own couch.

Today was the third time I got to enjoy hearing peanut's heart beat but it was the first time that I got to record it. Strong and healthy and 145bpm I got overly emotional (as I usually do) and couldn't stop mumbling the words "There really is a baby in my belly!"

Needless to say, today was an amazingly spectacularly magical day. :) I couldn't be more pleased with how everything is turning out and hope that things will continue along the path of the peaceful home birth that I have envisioned.

Here is a sound clip of Baby's Heart Beat 4.8.11 :)

MIdwife Meeting #1-possibly my last!

Today's meeting with my first prospective midwife went so much better than expected. I am still giddy and warm inside from how much I connected with this woman!

She became a midwife after having a negative experience birthing her daughter in the hospital and she has been advocating for women's rights ever since. She is vegan which is just the best news ever, I thought it'd be impossible for me to find a vegan midwife. In fact, that was my Hubby's only requirement! She only takes on a handful of clients at a time so that she is always available to them and she just relocated within walking distance of where I live. How perfect is that?!

She's willing to work with me while I wait for my insurance to go through which is great because I am extremely eager to make the switch. She seemed to really click with me too and at one point even said I had balls and that I would do great in my pregnancy. I am telling you, I love this woman!

I will still meet with at least 2 more midwives because that is what logic dictates and Hubby won't have it any other way. Plus I learned that she isn't a package deal so I'll also have to start searching for a doula and that might be an out of pocket cost for sure.

All in all it was a gorgeous spring day to spend walking around in Manhattan with dreams of the blissful, peaceful natural birth that I want at home. :)

Midwife Interview Tomorrow!

I am so fed up with the runarounds that I'm getting at the clinic where I'm currently going for my prenatal visits. I still have not received word about Medicaid application and I feel like I'm in limbo. Unhappy with my current doctors (they change every time I go) and unable to start seeing a midwife without insurance (I'm looking at an out of pocket bill of anywhere from $5k to $12k).

I've decided to be proactive and in the meantime I am going to start "interviewing" midwives who do accept Medicaid to see if any are a good fit. Ideally Hubby would be participating in these little meet and greets but he feels we should wait to hear from Medicaid. However, I have been told it could take up to 90 days from when I applied to get an answer and that leaves me with another 62 days of waiting.

I have my first meeting tomorrow and I'm very excited. Below are the questions that I plan to ask, some of which I found here thanks to twitter friend @twopinklinez. I've organized them in the order that I feel I'll actually ask them.

If anyone has suggestions of what to add or things I should be looking for in a midwife I'd love to hear them. This will be my first midwife experience and I'm excited but a little nervous because I don't quite know what I'm doing!

I will of course blog tomorrow about how my first interview goes. Wish me luck! :)

QUESTIONS I'LL ASK MY MIDWIFE

Why did you become a midwife?

What does your fee include? Prenatal, birth, postnatal care? Postnatal for how long? Lab work, sonograms?

What kind of Medicaid do you accept? What is your fee if paying out of pocket? By when would it have to be paid in full?

Will I ever need to go anywhere besides your office for lab work, sonograms or other testing/consultations?

How many patients do you usually have at a time?

When would I start coming to you? How often will we meet? What can I expect at our visits?

How many births have you attended?

Have you ever lost a mother or a baby at a home birth?

Do you work with a doula or birthing assistants? How many? When will I get to meet them? What role do they typically play?

If you don't work with a doula or birthing assistants, how do you feel about me hiring one outside of your practice?

What are your normal guidelines for weight gain or do you just stress good nutrition?

What do you normally do while I am in labor? 

During labor, how active would you be in checking me and the baby? What do you use or how do you check us? 

How do you feel about me eating, drinking or showering while in labor?

How do you help manage pain?

What medications, if any, do you bring?

What supplies and equipment do you bring? What should I have ready at home? Birthing stool, birthing ball?

Do you perform water births? Will you provide the tub? Where can I rent or buy a tub?

Are you affiliated with a hospital and/or a medical consultant? What is your recommended hospital to transfer to?

How often have you had to transfer a mom to a hospital?

Under what circumstances do you transfer?

Do you stay with me after the transfer and offer support for my decisions the best you can? 

How familiar are you with procedures in the hospital? 

What conditions make me high risk ? How would you treat these conditions before they make me high risk? 

If I develop a condition that makes me high risk, do you have a doctor you normally use to transfer my care to? 

At what point would placenta previa make me high risk?

Do you also try to use this doctor for transfers during labor? 

What is your cut-off for considering a baby to be premature and requiring a hospital birth? 

What happens if I go past 42 weeks? 

How do you feel about episiotomy? Under what circumstances do you do them? 

How do you work to prevent tearing?

How long are you willing to let a client push, or do you base it solely on the baby's stress level? 

If my water breaks before labor starts,  how long will you wait before trying to start labor, or transfer to the hospital?

What would you consider to be urgent or an emergency? Do I call you first or go straight to a hospital? WIll you meet me there?

Have you ever performed a natural, vaginal breech birth? What is your method of turning the baby?

What happens if you are unavailable to meet me? Who will attend to me?

Are you ok with someone video-taping and/or taking pictures throughout the entire birth?

What do people do with the placenta and the "mess" after giving birth at home?

What procedures do you do after baby is born? Weighing, mucus suction, cutting the cord, fingerprints/footprints?

Can daddy-to-be "catch" the baby and/or also cut the umbilical cord?

How soon after giving birth do you re-visit?