3rd midwife appointment

I had my 3rd midwife appointment on Friday.  It went well!  I saw another of the five midwives (this time I saw Denise, last time I saw Terry, and my primary midwife is Jen).  I'm making the rounds through all 5 in the practice so I know who is in the delivery room with me.

Denise answered all of my questions as though it's perfectly normal to arrive at every midwife appointment with a list of questions and a notebook to write the answers in.  I have a new list for every appointment... honestly, the midwives have been so much more receptive and eager to answer than either of my family OBs were (hence the switch).

Answers include...

I'm to go to the birthing center when my contractions are 3-4 minutes apart, a warm bath doesn't stop them, and I have to stop talking when they hit. 

Daughter's position appears to be in "vertex" or head down position.  She was pretty positive she felt the bottom at the top of my belly but she couldn't feel the head very well.

During labor and delivery, I'm able to use whatever position feels good.  That's great!  A couple of weeks ago the birthing class video included a birth in which the the mother was told she'd have to switch positions right before the baby came because the midwife didn't think she could catch the baby.  The baby ended up coming mere seconds after the midwife told her this, so she didn't switch, but that could easily stress me out.  The mother was kneeling on the bed and leaning on the head of the hospital bed which was raised.

Walking and yoga are great exercises.  I'm walking about 1/2 mile a day and still doing some gardening (my weeds are doing great!), and she said that was great for this late in pregnancy.

I asked if I could see the same midwife group with a future pregnancy if I were pregnant with twins.  She said yes!  And that if they were both vertex (head down, I learned that new word appointment, too!) they support vaginal delivery.  Wow!  That's awesome!  Back in the twin cities, where we used to live, there wasn't a midwife group I could find to see me with my twin pregnancy.

If Daughter is in the wrong position they try to turn her.  But Denise stressed that I raelly shouldn't worry, as the odds are very slim that would happen.

She also recommended a maternity support belt for my back aches.  But going by how hot I am all the time, putting on another layer could just roast me.  Maybe if they get worse...

She then recommended ice on my wrists for 20 minutes before bed to help with my pregnancy carpal tunnel.  I've been doing that for the past few days now and it's nice.  I generally have to use the wrist braces part of the night, but it's not as hot as wearing them all night.