Turning the Annual Exam into a Field Trip

This week I went back to Special Beginnings Birth & Women's Center for a well-woman exam (same thing as an annual exam or yearly physical) with the midwife who delivered Cameron. It was the first time I had seen her since the day Cameron was born, and she didn't skip a beat remembering us.

My midwife and one of my moms preparing a syringe of pain medication.

As soon as I saw her face light up and her arms open for a hug, the reasons I chose a midwife came flooding back. Cameron sat on her lap while she asked me questions about my physical and emotinal health. We rehashed the details of Cameron's birth and the possible reasons for why his heart rate dropped during the pushing phase (it was most likely due to me being dehydrated when I arrived at the birth center and Cameron deciding to fly through the pushing phase in about 15 minutes). During the physical exam, Cameron sat in his stroller and mouthed a plastic monster from my midwife's bucket of toys.

For my blood work, I sat with Cameron on my lap in the same comfy recliner I had been in for a stress test near the end of my pregnancy. My midwife called the next day to give me the blood results, which included borderline low levels of vitamin D (and I thought oxytocin was my only problem).

If I have another baby (and let's be honest, I probably will), I'll most likely choose Special Beginnings again for my prenatal care and birth. I've had access to the best medical technology has to offer—prenatal testing, pain medication, IV fluids, oxygen, pitocin—in the context of personalized, hands-on care. It doesn't get much better than that.