I've finally got round to sitting down and telling you about what happened at our booking in visit a few weeks ago. A very nice midwife called Deb (funnily enough our daughter was delivered by a midwife called Deb) came round to our house to book me in for antenatal care. The day started with a bit of confusion. It was my niece's birthday that day and we were due at her party that afternoon and so wanted to get the appointment out of the way early in the day.
When it was booked we were just told a date and when I asked about clarification on time we were told to phone after 7.30am that morning and someone would tell us who was coming and when. So we duly phoned at 8am only to be told 'the midwives don't start till 9 so you will have to phone after 10'. So, waiting to phone back at 10 I took the opportunity to dash into town (just the other end of the street) to grab a card and wrapping paper for my niece's present. Of course the best laid plans... At about 9.45 I remember that my mobile is on silent and grab it out of my bag to switch it over to ring only to find a message at 9.20 from a midwife asking if she can come in 10 mins and then 4 frantic messages from F_ trying to find me. I turn up at home at 9.50 to a relieved F_. Turns out the midwife had turned up at 9.30 at the house but luckily there was a newborn baby over the road she also needed to visit to she went there and then would come back.
So at least she came back and we got started. She hadn't been sure if we were first timers so brought a mountain of leaflets for us, many of which were old hat but she did also bring something useful that either we hadn't been given or which wasn't around the first time, the Pregnancy Book. The appointment was much quicker that our appointment had been with baby O. She didn't seem at all surprised when we said we wanted a home birth, although she was a little surprised when we said our daughter had been born at home - in our new home town they are not keen on first time homebirthers.
We explained that we had a nuchal scan booked in London and that we would appreciate it if she could expedite our dating scan appointment to fall before that date and she said she would see what she could do but didn't think it would be a problem.
As I had been having short cycles of 23 days for the few months before getting pregnant my due date is likely to be a little earlier than would be calculated by the standrad wheels and charts which are based on a 28 day cycle. I was, however, a bit surprised to find that she had just noted 'Mid to Late October' on my notes as the Estimated Due Date. I guess we will find out more at the dating scan.
As the visit was taking place on Easter Saturday she didn't do any bloods as the labs weren't open to process them and instead she made me an appointment to visit the hospital instead. This is in work time and as work still don't know I am pregnant I got it as near lunchtime as possible to allow me to take an early lunch and get back without any questions asked.
When it was booked we were just told a date and when I asked about clarification on time we were told to phone after 7.30am that morning and someone would tell us who was coming and when. So we duly phoned at 8am only to be told 'the midwives don't start till 9 so you will have to phone after 10'. So, waiting to phone back at 10 I took the opportunity to dash into town (just the other end of the street) to grab a card and wrapping paper for my niece's present. Of course the best laid plans... At about 9.45 I remember that my mobile is on silent and grab it out of my bag to switch it over to ring only to find a message at 9.20 from a midwife asking if she can come in 10 mins and then 4 frantic messages from F_ trying to find me. I turn up at home at 9.50 to a relieved F_. Turns out the midwife had turned up at 9.30 at the house but luckily there was a newborn baby over the road she also needed to visit to she went there and then would come back.
So at least she came back and we got started. She hadn't been sure if we were first timers so brought a mountain of leaflets for us, many of which were old hat but she did also bring something useful that either we hadn't been given or which wasn't around the first time, the Pregnancy Book. The appointment was much quicker that our appointment had been with baby O. She didn't seem at all surprised when we said we wanted a home birth, although she was a little surprised when we said our daughter had been born at home - in our new home town they are not keen on first time homebirthers.
We explained that we had a nuchal scan booked in London and that we would appreciate it if she could expedite our dating scan appointment to fall before that date and she said she would see what she could do but didn't think it would be a problem.
As I had been having short cycles of 23 days for the few months before getting pregnant my due date is likely to be a little earlier than would be calculated by the standrad wheels and charts which are based on a 28 day cycle. I was, however, a bit surprised to find that she had just noted 'Mid to Late October' on my notes as the Estimated Due Date. I guess we will find out more at the dating scan.
As the visit was taking place on Easter Saturday she didn't do any bloods as the labs weren't open to process them and instead she made me an appointment to visit the hospital instead. This is in work time and as work still don't know I am pregnant I got it as near lunchtime as possible to allow me to take an early lunch and get back without any questions asked.
