Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Fortnightly Reviews

I had my fortnightly appointment again today with my midwife Susan. Alvin wasnt able to bring me but luckily i have some very nice friends here and i didnt have any problem gettin to the clinic.Emily brought me to and fro and also saw the midwife with me :) Isnt she sweet;) I must thank god for having thoughtful and helpful friends around.

So here are my reviews:

Weight: 68.1kgs (i gained 3kgs in 3 wks! Oopssssss)
Fundal Ht: from 27 to 29cm gd progress on baby's part
Heart Rate: 136 which is gd (Emily said it sounded like a train!)
Blood Pressure:120/71 very good!
Xray reports: Good
Baby's Head Position: Downwards

So basically the midwife said that everything is looking great! Its a relief and i hope i continue to hear this till the end :)

I had a few questions for her today and here they are in case u want to broaden ur knowledge in Pregnancy and Labor.

What if the babys' head is not in the downward position when we approach labour?
In case he turns or shifts position, they will give an injection to relax the uterus and then the doc will try and move the head in to position or allow the fetus to move into birthing position on his own. As much as possible, they do not do C-sections. C-secs cause complications sumtimes and also make it harder for women to conceive easily in the future...so they are best avoided if possible!

My other concern was Episiotomy.
Episiotomy-an incision into the perineum and vagina to allow sufficient clearance for birth. She said this is the cause of worry for many first time mothers. Here they do not do episiotomy uless really required.Phew... bt wear and tear is unavoidable...it heals pretty quickly though and u wont feel a thing while in labour...u have bigger concerns at that time than to worry abt this ;Pbesides an anesthetic is given in anycase to numb the pain...

It was good to hear positive feedback from Susan. She's really nice and reassuring. I like the way their medical works here..For one,if u have an appointment at 93oam at 930am you are in the docs office chatting away with her...no waiting required!



They are friendly and very service oriented, fast and reliable...any concerns, leave them a voicemail and they get back to u almost immediately. There are times when i am a bit anxious during blood testing.. the nurses tell me to sing a song or talk to me to keep me distracted... in other places i know of, u will get "aiyoh! blood test u so scared how to give birth like that" kinda comments! Also if u do a blood/urine/glucose test, they give u the results instantaneously!

They believe in natural births and keep ultrasounds to the minimum.Xrays are unheard of during pregnancy elsewhere but here they make sure that ur lungs dun have any infection that u can pass on to ur child at birth.They explain every procedure to u and make sure you understand why a certain thing is being done... they take time to reassure you...

Its as good as it can get!
I'm glad and very thankful that i have an opportunity to give birth here in Sweden!

We went for breakfast at conditori after that... its been raining and what could be better than sipping on a mug of hot chocolate and muffin! :) I'd like to express my gratitude to Emily once again for being there for me and with me whenever the need arose! Thanks dear!