Start the ball rolling...

I had my first midwife appointment few days ago at the Bronovo Hospital.
2 weeks ago when I was there to register myself, I already noticed that this hospital is so much more organised compared to the previous one that I visited. This time, I'm impressed.

I spent about half an hour for this first session. The midwife went through a list of questions, just like what the gynae did to me. He recorded the medical history, the due date and also my weight. Unlike other health professionals that I met previously, he particularly asked whether I take any form of health supplements. He recommended me to consider some pregnancy supplements and folic acid, and he also explained to me what are the benefits.

Not that I didn't know, my daily colostrum intake has basically covered my daily required vitamins. But I guess no harm taking another one. I highlighted this because, when I asked my GP what additional vitamins or food that I should particularly take more or avoid, he replied saying that nothing, just normal food will do. The gynae that I met didn't mention anything about health supplements. So, I'm a bit surprised to find that a midwife, whom many foreigners do not consider them qualified, is telling me what I have read in lots of pregnancy resources.

He was also kind enough to let me listen to my baby's heart beat. This time, he used a simple machine (not ultrasound) that, I figured, it is something similar to an amplifier. He rubbed some gel on my tummy and proceeded finding out where is the baby. Of course he had to scan a few rounds on my tummy to find out where exactly is the baby's heart. I'm again amazed at the wonders of "how do you know...", because, as he scanned through the tummy, he was telling me "no, this is the umbilical cord... not here... this is also the umbilical cord..." I was like, how do you know that is the umbilical cord and not something else? And finally he found the heart beat right above the panty.

It was a very secured feeling to be able to listen to the heart beat again.

He also helped me to arrange for my next ultrasound appointment... hehe... this is the 20th week ultrasound which we will be able to know the gender of the baby! I'm excited!!

Oh, by the way, the midwife that I met is a male!

Surprise? Well, I knew that there is a male midwife in Bronovo, but I didn't know that I'm so lucky to meet him in my first appointment. However, it's a Dutch's practice to let the mothers meet with all the midwives in the department before delivery so that we get to know them all. This is because anyone of them can be on duty during that lucky night when your baby decides to meet the world.

So before I left, I asked him, "So, do I call you midhusband?" He said, "No no no... I'm and 'mid' and you're the 'wife', so you still call me midwife." And then he laughed and commented, "I've asked so many English people about a term for male midwife, but they couldn't give me an answer..."

I've also arranged an appointment with Baby Vision in Delft that helps parents to scan their baby in the form of 3D or 4D visuals. The usual ultrasound screen projects a 2D visual of the baby but the machine that Baby Vision has is super high-tech, they can record the 3D and 4D visuals into a DVD. We figured it will be a nice gift for the baby when he/she grows up later to watch himself/herself in the womb. Something which we don't have and technology unable to achieve during our time.