Another Appointment

We met the second doctor at our latest appointment. This doctor is a bit younger than the other doctor and only joined this practice a couple of months ago. He was very nice and seemed eager to answer all the questions I had.

I asked him if he was concerned that I have not been weighed at any of my office visits. He said that how much weight I gain is more of an additional way to assess that the baby is growing at a normal rate. He said he could feel that my uterus comes to just above my belly button and that is where it should be at 21 weeks. With the holiday over the weekend, the ultrasound tech's report did not reach the doctor's office yet, so the doctor didn't have those results as additional confirmation that the baby is growing fine. He said the tech will usually call the doctor if something weird shows up on the ultrasound, so he thought the tech probably didn't find any problems. He wasn't concerned that that the baby is too small or that I would gain too much weight considering how I'm doing now, so basically it doesn't matter!

I have been getting an estimate of how much weight I've gained by having Tim hold me on the scale and then he subtracts his weight (which I appreciate very much). Since we started this at the beginning of the second trimester, I've gained around 8lbs. That is pretty good, I think, considering that I'm sure I lost weight in the first couple months. I'd like to gain about a pound a week the rest of the pregnancy.

I also talked to the doctor about who I would have for the delivery. He said I can request to have a midwife or a doctor if I want, or I can just take whoever is on-call at the time. He said the midwives are good about calling a doctor in if things get more complicated than they are comfortable handling. I'm thinking that I would rather have a doctor this time since I don't know how it will go. I'd rather not take risks with my baby that I don't have to take! Both doctors have now told me that I can plan on a natural delivery unless other complications arise. If things go well this time around, maybe the next pregnancy I will feel comfortable with a midwife. I'm going to be at the hospital regardless, so I'm sure a doctor is not too far away if I need one!