*Baby R*

Everybody's wish came true! Marshall and I are going to be parents. Baby R is due the first week of January 2013! After a heartfelt talk in late February, we decided to try for a baby in March, but April ended up being our lucky month. We found out on April 24th, the three year anniversary of my college graduation and our engagement. It was quite a special day.

I told my boss at 6 weeks, which is very early, but I started having morning sickness and feeling emotional. I wanted her to know so she wouldn't be alarmed if all of a sudden I was calling out sick or coworkers came to her with concerns about my behavior. Thankfully I only came in to work late twice and only 30-60 minutes. We told the rest of the family around week 11.

I wasn't afraid of being sick because I knew it was a healthy, expected part of pregnancy, but I did want to understand what my body needed to help me not feel so icky. I learned that if I woke up in the middle of the night, but couldn't fall back asleep within 15 minutes, I needed to eat something or I would throw up. It was small understandings like this that helped make my morning sickness very mild. For about 2 weeks straight I would come home from work every day and take a nap. It was at almost 13 weeks when I started feeling better with my energy. Now I am 16 weeks, and I feel back to normal. :D

We are using a birthing center instead of a hospital for a few reasons. First, financially it is about 25% of a hospital birth. When we decided to try to get pregnant, my health insurance would not cover maternity care, and I didn't want to pay $12,000+ for a natural delivery at a hospital. Second, I was really interested and curious to learn about pregnancy and labor through a holistic approach. Third, the birthing rooms at the center are amazing! I want to use the Art room (below) if it is available when my time comes. The walls are the same color as our front living room, hehehe.

What will happen when I go into labor? I'm sure yet at what point I need to have Marshall drive me to the center. We'll check in, and I pick which room I want to use. I can move around the entire room and give birth anywhere I want to. I'm leaning towards doing a water birth in the big tub at this point. The midwives have some herbal remedies to help take the edge off pain, but there will be no actual medications. After delivery, a nurse will come in and teach Marshall and I how to do Baby Care 101. We'll get to rest and be discharged 8-12 hours after delivery.

What if something goes wrong? If something goes wrong during labor such as I stall out or more severe complications arise, the midwife, Marshall and I will go to a nearby hospital that the center has a close relationship with. The midwife will be with us in the room, but I'm not sure if she will be able to deliver the baby. In the very least, she will be more like a doula or birthing coach. We will still have to pay for the hospital bill, but the good news is that I have health insurance through my work that dramatically reduces the cost to us. I'm not sure how the discharge from the hospital would work, but probably not as quick as the birthing center.

At three days old, we'll get an at-home visit from a nurse/lactation consultant who will make sure baby is feeding probably, answer any questions, check on baby's health, etc. At 6 weeks, we'll go back into the birthing center for a general check-up. They will provide us with a list of pediatricians that their other parents have recommended over time, and then that's the last link to the birthing center.

Leading up to delivery though, the center offers birthing classes during month 7 of one's pregnancy as well as prenatal yoga in the evenings. I'll start doing the yoga in September probably.

I have a routine appointment with a midwife on July 26th. There won't be an ultrasound, probably just more questions, checking blood pressure, and listening to the baby's heartbeat. Then I will get to schedule the 20 week ultrasound! I want to get it on Tuesday, August 21st because Marshall and I already have an 8am dentist appointment together (so I'll be taking off some time from work anyways). If the ultrasound can be that day, I'll request the whole day off and we'll go to lunch and spend the day together. I can't wait to see Marshall's reaction to watching and hearing Baby R. We definitely want to find out the gender, and aren't buying anything until after this ultrasound. Please oh please, Baby R, show us the goods!!

So far I haven't felt any movement, but that's normally the exciting element of week 18. I do have a bump, but my clothes still hide it pretty well. I can't lie on my stomach anymore. I've been sleeping really well lately, which is a vast improvement from the first trimester. I'm itching to go to garage sales and find good deals on baby things, but instead, I'm using the next four weeks to research and brainstorm what really needs to be on our registry.

Let me know if you have any questions about Baby R and I'll be happy to answer them!!