First Midwife Visit

Today, the day after I got my positive pregnancy test, I went to interview the midwives closest to us. I was really impressed! First they gave me a tour of the birth center, which is lovely. When you first walk into the birth center there is a large open area that contains their office corner, a corner that is set up like a living room, and another corner of the room that is full of toys for the kids. They have a bathroom in this front area also that is mostly for the checkups but also has a big comfy tub so that after the baby is born the mom and baby can take a soothing herbal bath together. Then, down the hallway is the exam room with an extra wide table so that your children can get up there with you to “help” with the exam. Further down the hallway is a kitchen for use during labor, and down the hallway from that are There are two bedrooms equipped to birth in and then there’s the water birth room, which is where I plan to give birth. They have a big, jetted, padded tub that just looks SO perfect! There is also another bathroom at this end of the house. You can see pictures of the birth center here.


The midwives (currently a mother/daughter team) spent SO much time with me just getting to know me, answering questions, and making me feel comfortable. An average appointment at the birth center is an hour. That is not 45 minutes in the waiting room and 10 in the exam room and 5 with the doctor. That is a full hour with your midwife! Talk about personalized care! After talking to Nathan I decided to use Emily, who is graduating in February (I think) but will be under Molly’s supervision. She is super nice and very knowledgeable.

I couldn’t be happier or more excited about this experience. I am VERY excited to get to know these lovely women, to have such special care, and most of all to have a lovely waterbirth! I actually talked to Molly and Emily about having had gestational diabetes with Shane and my concerns about getting it again with this pregnancy. They said that they start off from the very beginning of the pregnancy with nutritional counseling and a lot of attention to nutrition throughout the pregnancy, as well as homeopathic remedies should it come to that and that most of the time their moms who had gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies don’t end up with it again. Yay!

I have my first appointment at on Sept 20th at six weeks. Usually they don’t schedule appointments so early in the pregnancy, as they won’t be able to hear the heartbeat, but we wanted to get started right away on the nutritional counseling. I am so excited! Shane can go with me to every appointment.  He loved the toy area and the midwives and had a lot of fun.

10dpo...My Big Secret

I have a secret...does anyone know what dpo stands for? No? Well, maybe this picture can help shed some light on things.

That's right, Shane is going to be a big brother! And right now, he's the only one who knows! I told him first. He also was with me when I took the test because, well, I never get to potty alone.

I knew we wanted to get pregnant this month because I really didn't want to be pregnant during the summer--too hot! Since I've had irregular cycles since AF returned (14-36 days!) I bought an ovulation kit so I would have some idea of if/when I ovulate. I ovulated on day 21 (got the positive opk day 20).

Then, because I'm slightly obsessive, I started testing at 5dpo. (Dpo =days past ovulation.) Which, if you don't know, is WAY too early to get a positive! But at that point I'd been POAS (pee on a stick) all month so I was a little addicted. Plus, they are only a dollar at the dollar store ;).

I got negatives for several days, which I expected, but starting on Sunday (8dpo) I was exhausted.  And I thought I could smell better. But still, these could be symptoms of an impending period so I didn't want to get my hopes up. Then last night I dreamed in detail that I got a positive. I woke up assuring myself that I wasn't likely to get a positive today as it's still very early but, sure enough, there was a very faint second line! I was using a First Response Early Result  which, according to this website is the most sensitive test on the market.

I was so excited! But I wanted to be doubly sure so I tested on a digital. And it popped up PREGNANT. Woohoo! I had "prophetic" dreams last time I was pregnant too.

I'm so excited. All I could say was "thank you Jesus!" And I got an adrenaline rush that lasted all day. I haven't even gotten to tell Nathan yet since I don't see him on days I have class. I don't know when to tell him. It's a delicious secret! I did have to tell my teachers this afternoon, since in one class we use a lot of chemicals and another class is a lot of working out. I feel bad that they know before Nathan, but like I said I haven't even seen him yet today.

I have no symptoms yet other than feeling more tired and smelling well, which I would expect since I am only what, three weeks and three days pregnant?! You can't really find out much earlier than I did. I calculated my due date based on O date instead of last missed period (because of having such long cycles) and it looks like I'm due May 15, 2012. I'll have two kids under two for a half month!

14 Months

At 14 months you still weigh 23 lbs but you have grown a lot and are slimming down. Your 18 months clothes are on the tight side now so you'll be going into 24 months when we get home.

You have quite the range of facial expressions, and as soon as the camera comes out you run through them.

You are in general happy and easygoing. You learned to say "no" quite clearly this month which doesn't thrill Mama.  You also learned to sign please and thank you, and you say "what's that" and "this" a lot.

We took a walk to the park to feed the ducks a few times while we were here and you even got to feed a canadian goose out of your hand. There are two swans at this park and one of them came up to you in your stroller which made you happy and me nervous! You sure love ducks though, "duck" is one of your favorite words.

You have learned to scream when you want something and display a little bit of temper every now and then. It blows over quickly though. 

We went to a kiddie water park on your 14 month day and you LOVED it.  You ran around and tried to catch water and just had a blast. After a while when you got cold you would stop and squat and shiver. Then you went right back to running around!  

Your incisors finally broke through this month which puts us at the eight front teeth that are all the way through, three molars about half way through, and four incisors just poking through. That's 15 teeth total. Wow, kiddo!

One of the things you love to do is to play in the water. I often put you in the sink when I'm trying to accomplish things in the kitchen and you sit and play happily for quite some time. If the sink is not available you like to sit on the counter as well. 

I love you lil man!