39 Weeks - Still Waiting, Still Swelling

39 weeks.  A mere 7 days from my due date.  It's a serious 'how did we get there from here' moment!

Baby girl is so low right now I feel like she could just fall on out without a problem.  My EVERYTHING is swelling now.  Hands, wrists, knees, legs, ankles, feet - and hopefully my face though who knows if that's fat or fluid.  lol.

At last Thursday's appointment I had gained 7lbs since the previous week!!  Considering the amount of swelling I have, it's probably mostly fluid weight but good lord was that an eye-popping experience!!  No protein in my urine and my blood pressure was still good though.  When my midwife had me lay back to listen to the heartbeat and measure me I put my legs up and she noticed my ankles right away and wound up taking my blood pressure a second time for her own sake before letting me leave wanting to make sure that it was really okay considering the weight gain and how swollen I was.  But so far so good - apart from the annoyance it causes me that is.  Next appointment is tomorrow and hopefully I haven't gained much more - fluid or no!

I have been having some off-and-on contractions but nothing overly notable.  It's so hard to tell - I get contractions all the time of the Braxton-Hicks variety, and sometimes even those come regularly.  Everyone says you'll be able to tell the difference though, so I'm banking on them knowing what they're talking about.  I've had some today that I'd call 'more noticeable' than some of the others that were just a tightening feeling.. but nothing consistent and as someone told me -  our babies have a sense of humor even from the womb - so I'm sure it's a big ol' game of 'let's get mommy excited and have it amount to nothing'!  lol.

Oh and I did meet with the anesthesiologist before my last midwife appointment.  It was just a quick talking meeting where I told him what I'd been given before and what my reactions were and what my concerns were in the 'in case shit' scenario of birth though I truly hoped to never see him again.  He was totally cool with that and basically told me not to worry if for no other reason than they don't use those sorts of sedating/memory-taking medications (i.e. sodium pen and versed) typically in birth settings because you WANT to remember.  The only time they use sodium pen is if a c-section is a true emergency and they're putting you under general anesthesia.  Basically you only deal with them for an epidural in labor - which I'm planning not to have - or in the case of a c-section.  And in a normal c-section he said that they use a spinal anesthesia that is just numbing and that's about it.  He kept saying that they might give you something for after if you're having a hard time relaxing and I kept waiting for him to get to what they give you, ya know, WHILE they're cutting you open, but no - the spinal is the end of that basically.  So essentially he was like 'don't worry we don't use those things cuz you'll be awake!' and I'm like "stellar!!"  lol.  He did go on to say that they stay with you throughout everything and are able to take you to the next level of whatever it is you need to make you comfortable while protecting your airway and keeping you and the baby safe which was good to hear.  And he said that in my previous situations it wasn't so much that I couldn't be given any more meds, it was that I couldn't be given any additional meds safely in the setting I was in without an anesthesiologist there to monitor and protect the airway and take things to the next level.

But regardless of all that, I hope hope hope I never have to see them again because if I do it means that everything we've planned and hoped for has gone to hell and that's not something I'm looking forward to or want to focus on.  So tomorrow I'll have my 39 week appointment and see where we go from there.  So far my midwife has been very awesome of not pushing internal exams (I don't want one unless I go passed my due date and we have to start the countdown of how late they'll let me go) and thusfar there's been no talk of having to set an induction date (I know some people get pushed into scheduling an induction at their 39 or 40 week appts 'just in case' which would irk me), so hopefully that will continue tomorrow.  Or hey - maybe I'll have a baby by the time of my appt tomorrow - who knows!  hahaha... 

Oh and if you're keeping track - belly button is still sort-of in, but I don't know that I can completely call it in at this point.  We're at least at the half and half point on this one.  eep!

38 Weeks: No More Rings :-(

I've never been a patient person, I'm not gonna lie.  It's definitely showing these days as well.  At 38 weeks we pretty much have everything ready, we're just waiting on her and waiting sucks!  haha.  That's not true - we're still waiting for our nursery letters which JUST finally got shipped on Monday so we should have those this week - remind me never to order from THAT GUY again - it took him like 6 weeks to get these done and in the mail!!!  They're not even custom painted!  Just white!!!  ugh.  Anyway, maybe that's what she's waiting for - she feels like her nursery is 'incomplete' without her little name letters over the crib!  lol..

But the latest and greatest as far as things go is that I had to take my rings off yesterday.  I'd been wearing them on my pinky finger since the end of March/beginning of April (and sadly they actually FIT my pinky right away so clearly I should have been doing that long before I actually did it!), but yesterday I woke up and realized that they were tight and THEN realized I couldn't get them off and had to run my hand under cold water to loosen them and slide them off.  I almost made it!  Close but no cigar.  :-(  But my hands have definitely joined the 'swelling party' in the last week.  Not cool if you ask me.  Especially because now they hurt - like grasping things and bending my fingers and wrists.  Basically movement of the skin the way my feet hurt from the swelling.  Next appointment is tomorrow so hopefully my stats will still be good.

I got the results of the GBS screen that was done at my last appointment - and it's negative!!  I'm sooo glad.  I know that being positive for the bacteria is, in actuality, no big deal really, but in today's world of modern medicine it guarantees a heplock and antibiotics in labor on the very very slight chance that the baby might have a problem because of it (1-2% is what we're talking about here).  And so my jubilation is less for the lack of the bacteria and more for the lack of IV that it means for my labor.

I also have an anesthesiologist consult scheduled just before my appt tomorrow.  They thought it would be a good idea considering my lack of response to conscious sedation meds in the past, just to be prepared for worst case scenario.  She also told me that it's one of those things where if I go it practically guarantees that I won't need to use it because that's generally how it works and I agree.  Life is crazy like that - if I don't go, I'll wind up needing the anesthesiologist, but if I go through the trouble of meeting with and talking over my options and making a plan, I won't need it.  And that's a plan I'm a fan of.  :-)  I expect to walk in there and be like "Hi - I hope to never see you again but..."  lol.

Beyond all that, I've been trying to do some walking - which typically I do in stores since we live on a giant hill and especially at this point I'd die trying to get back up it.  I've actually gone to target, not gotten a cart or basket with no intention of buying anything, and spent like 45 mins just browsing.  This is something I can do easily and Jeff's LEAST FAVORITE skill of mine.  hahaha..  He thinks it sounds torturous - I don't even notice.  Walking is definitely not comfortable for any real stretch of time (think like 3+ mins here!) but I know it's good for me and the potential of labor.  I've also started drinking Third Trimester Tea by Earth Mama Angel Baby - which is the closest thing I can find to red raspberry leaf tea locally.  It's listed as the first ingredient which works for me.  I do tire of mint teas quickly though and this one is no exception.  Spearmint is the second ingredient.  But I know that red raspberry leaf is supposed to help ripen the cervix and provide tone to the uterine muscles so drink it I shall.

Come on baby girl - we can't wait to meet you!!

37 Weeks: Full Term!!

Meet the "full term bellah"!  :-)  Our little girl is finished developing, just gaining wait at this point, and can come whenever she wishes now.  Hooray!  She's somehow gotten even lower recently - which didn't seem possible, but there you have it.  I had a midwife appointment on Tuesday the 4th and all was well, but she had to go waaaaaay down low to get the heartbeat!  Consequently, I still only measure 36 but she said that once they drop you often won't make it to 40 so they're not concerned about that at all which is good.  I also only gained 3lbs from my previous appt that was 2 weeks before.  At this point it's expected to gain a pound a week so after the 7lb jump the last time, I was definitely thrilled to be right where I should be.  And most importantly, my blood pressure and urine samples were all normal so there's no concern about my swelling at this point which is great.  I'd rather NOT be swelling like this but it's definitely good to know it's just inconveniencing me and not causing a true problem.

They also did my Group B Strep culture at the 37 week appointment - still waiting to see how that will come back, but they did tell me they send the culture with request for sensitivities since I'm allergic to penicillin and that usually what they wind up using is Clindamycin which is actually something I've used topically before as an acne medication.  Added bonus is that it's given every 8 hours instead of every 4 like the penicillins are.  And even if it is positive, I don't need to show up at the birth center until my water breaks - so fingers crossed I labor like my mother (in more ways than one) and my water doesn't break until pushing!  Though basically they told me that the pediatricians like to see a dose of antibiotic at least 4 hours before birth, so I'm feeling better about being able to still labor at home regardless of which way the culture comes back.  I'm not thrilled about the thought of possibly having to have a heplock IV line, but will deal with that if it turns out to be a reality.

We also had our "pre-birth meeting" with our doula last night where we were able to go over any updates in the pregnancy and our plan and desires for the birth.  It really made it hit home that it could happen any time now!  But it was good to see she was on the same page with us and to know that we'll have someone there for us that actually knows what's going on and will have at least a certain level of detachment that is not something that Jeff or I could ever get in the situation, and sometimes you need that. 

I actually had a weekend of tummy upset last weekend that got us both a little excited thinking that things might be gearing up, but so far not the case.  And as piece of TMI, I think I've started to slowly lose my mucous plug between weeks 36 and 37.  No idea if it's actually 'gone' yet or even if that was just it getting ready or something, but I've heard not everyone loses it all at once and that sometimes they lose it over time more liquifying than just popping out.  Shrug.  I also know that you can lose it multiple times and it can regenerate so it's not really the best 'labor sign' out there.

But we're ready, that's for sure.  I know I keep saying it's getting harder and harder to move around, but now it DEFINITELY is hard to move around and do things.  Just going out to the store can be tough - my back starts to really hurt, and my feet start to hurt because they don't fit well in my shoes anymore (even my flip flops!).  My heartburn/reflux is INSANE at this point, which would actually be interesting if it didn't suck so bad because she's so much lower than she was so my digestive bits have more room than they did - so why is it worse?!  It's a problem at night - I usually wind up taking some tums one of the times I get up to pee in the night and still have problems, so needless to say this is one of those things I'm hoping goes away fairly immediately.  I mean, goes away to the extent it was gone before I was pregnant - i.e. managed with meds.

Despite all my discomforts though, I know I'm going to miss feeling her wiggling around inside me, knowing that she's with me.  We both definitely can't wait to meet her though, to see what she'll look like and to learn about her little personality.  So we sit and play the waiting game.  :-)

35/35 - 35 Weeks Pregnant and 35 Days to Go!

35 days left!  Still growing by leaps and bounds.  How do I do this?  I'll tell you how - by gaining 7.5lbs in 2.5 weeks that's how!  I had a midwife appointment where, incidentally, I met the last midwife in the practice I had yet to meet and didn't like her, which is most unfortunate as I now know I'm only going to be content with having 3 out of 5 of them at my birth.  However, the fact remains, I gained 7 pounds in 2.5 weeks.  I was NOT expecting that.  She gave me some flack (which is the first time the whole pregnancy that any of them have said anything about my weight gain being anything other than fine btw even when I've been concerned) and she said if I was still gaining like that at my next appointment we'd talk nutrition.  Really?  Cuz you had me book my next appointment at 37 weeks so...  seems kinda silly to talk nutrition then!  Not to mention I'm not an idiot and am fully aware of what is healthy and what is less so, but I'm also not eating particularly differently either.  They also took my weight before having me pee.  Who does that?!

Apart from the "weight before peeing" bit, I have also been experiencing a definite distinct increase in swelling since my previous appointment.  Exhibit A: my feet.  Now if you've never seen my feet/ankles, you probably don't know that they aren't usually little toe sausages stuck onto puffy troll-like feet supported by tree-trunk-like ankles squeezed to death by socks.  But let me assure you, this is in no way normal for my feet.  I start the day only slightly swollen, but by afternoon they're usually all sorts of ginormous.  Good times.  I mentioned the swelling at the appointment but she didn't seem to care, said to drink more water.  Thanks!  I mean my blood pressure is still good so I guess there's not much to care about, but she could have at least wanted to look at it ya know?  Anyway, I suspect that I am carrying a fair amount of fluid weight at this point.  I'm trying to actively lay off the salt (alas my beloved salt!!) and drink constantly and keep my feet up whenever I can - so if I have a day where I do a lot and my feet are crazy puffed I'll try to lay low the next day and rest and keep my feet up.  Doesn't always work or make a difference, but I make the effort all the same.

Other random things, we've installed the car seat bases into both of our cars - still need to get them inspected, but they're installed nevertheless.  We got our baby monitor, sheets for the co-sleeper and pack n play, I got my awesome Ergo, we got some more decorative/storage things for the nursery and pretty much are about ready to go.  Still need to pack the birth bag, that's a big one.  I washed all the itty bitty clothes, still need to wash the dipes along with sheets/blankets/etc.  so there are still some things to do.  I'm having a diaper bag made by someone on Etsy, so I still need to get that and we have some wooden letters to spell her name out above the crib that were being made by someone on Ebay that still have to arrive.  But we're definitely getting there!  Slowly but surely.  :-)

34 Weeks: And It's All Starting to Come Together

34 weeks down, 6 left to go.

I didn't even try to pretend I could tell what happened during what week during my fake updates the last few weeks, so this will have to serve as one big catch-up update from where I was.

First and foremost - I'm pretty huge now and still getting bigger!  As I was posting these pictures even in just the last 3 weeks I can't believe it!  ANNND, by some sort of miracle, my belly button is still inside - though it's crazy stretched and hurts and does NOT look like it wants to play this game for another 6 weeks!  I'm not 100% convinced I'll make it to the end without it popping, but only time will tell.

I've been into appointments every 2 weeks for a bit now and was able to meet one of the midwives I hadn't met yet at my last appointment.  My next one is Monday April 19th and I'll finally be meeting the last one of the group that I hadn't met yet, which is good.  At the last appointment the midwife confirmed that she's in a head-down position which I'm psyched about.  I could tell mostly what position she was in, but couldn't tell her head from her bum and so it was a relief to know that it's her bum that's been in my ribs all this time, particularly since she's been favoring this position for ages now.

I've also been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions now.  They don't hurt really, they're just not my favorite thing.  I'd describe them like having someone take a super wide rubberband and tightening it across your belly or something.  Or maybe your belly IS the rubberband that someone is pulling on both sides of.  Either way - not pleasant but not the end of the world either.  I also have a lot of pressure way down low on my bladder now when I'm on my feet.  Sometimes with every step I take it's like someone's pushing on my bladder and it's full - even RIGHT AFTER I've peed.  That drives me crazy!  And my pelvis is way loosened up so that when I sit for a little while and then try to stand, it takes a minute for me to get all the parts going where they need to and have it and my legs actually support me properly. 

I'm also only sleeping for about 1.5-2 hour stretches at night because at this point I have to lay on my side, but the pressure of all of me on one hip starts to become uncomfortable after that amount of time.  So even though I'm "only" getting up to pee once or twice a night, I still wake up and have to flip over constantly.  And let me tell you, flipping over in bed is soooo not what it used to be.  I'm like a beached whale now, so it's a huge to-do when I need to move at all to flip or get out of bed.  Poor Jeff.  Lol.  Then there's the issue of heartburn/reflux.  Most nights I spend some time with that keeping me awake.  I'm still on the Protonix for GERD but will have to stop taking it for breastfeeding.  They want me to switch to Zantac, which is what I took BEFORE they started  prescribing proton pump inhibitor class meds to me and it wasn't working enough.  They've increased the OTC dosage available though so I'll give it a go.  But none of the PPI class meds were cleared for breastfeeding so I'm not sure what I'll do if the Zantac doesn't cut it.  Burn out my esophagus I guess.  Lol.  So yeah - DESPITE being on prescription heartburn/reflux meds, I'm still getting crazy heartburn/reflux at night and even during the day.  Wonderful!  I've gone through more tums than I've taken in the last 4 years combined!!

We also just had our last Bradley birth class this past Monday.  I can't believe that it's been 12 weeks already!  It seemed sooo long when we started, like it would last forever, and still I mean, that's 3 months, ya know?  That's a good chunk of time!  But it really kinda flew past.  It was bittersweet to have it end, but I'm pretty sure my pelvis wouldn't have taken another week of 2 hours on the floor.  It'd been getting progressively harder to sit like that the last couple classes but this last one was the worst and when I got up at the end I felt like I had to pop all my lower bits back into place.  Yeah, no fun.

Sunday the 11th was our last baby shower for Jeff's side of the family (and other Eastern MA-ers), so now we're all done with the showers as well.  It was at The Village Green in Danvers and they did a nice job.  We had a huge room which seemed strange at first but Nell's daughter, Lily, was there along with a little girl, Paige, from Jeff's people and they were able to take the other half of the room as their 'play room' and run around which was great for them.  It was a very nice shower and we got some nice things, but I have to say I'm glad the showers are done with because they are EXHAUSTING!  I don't have any pictures yet, but am hoping that someone can provide some for us.

My mom also came up for the weekend so she could attend the shower as well and so she finally got to see the nursery and all our baby stuff put together (and the massive avalanche of clothes that we've been given!).  We did some shopping too and she got me a few 'warmer weather' maternity clothes which I'd been hesitant to spend money on not knowing how long postpartum I'll be wearing my mat stuff, but it'll definitely be good to have an option or two for a while, just in case.  :-)  And she took us out to dinner which is always fantastic.  Moms are awesome.  :-)

Last week we received the disk with all the pictures from our maternity photo shoot.  I'll put up my favorite here.  We got some really good ones and some not so good ones, but she gave us every picture she took so that's definitely to be expected I would think!!  Overall I'm very very glad that I got them done.  It's such a special thing to experience as your body goes through these insanely huge changes, and while I can't imagine forgetting I know that having these pictures will certainly help in that area.  Plus it'll be fun to have our baby girl on the outside and say "this is what you looked like while you were inside of mommy and this is what MOMMY looked like when you were inside her!"  haha..

So that's all for now - maybe I'll add a few more maternity shots in the next post - which I'm vowing to get on schedule with for these last few weeks!!

30 Weeks and First Baby Shower!

Okay so I don't have any superb pictures from our baby shower yet because pregnancy brain caused me to forget to take my own camera out of its case, but I'm hoping to get some soon.  The shower went really well though was utterly exhausting to me.  The food was great, we got some great presents, and mom got us a fantastic cake that we've been eating leftovers from ever since.  If you ever need a cake in Western Mass, Cerratto's Pastry Shop is absolutely fabulous!

Also, on the drive to the venue there was like *the* most amazing rainbow ever.  So bright and clear - you could see all the colors all the way down to purple clear as day.  My brain WAS functioning at that oment and we attempted to get a picture of it, but I swear it was the most camera-shy rainbow ever and as soon as we stopped the car to take a picture it immediately started to fade so you can only barely see it in this picture here.  But I promise you it was absolutely phenomenal at its prime!!  There's nothing more

promising to me before a 'thing' than to have a rainbow pop up.  It's like a great big smile from Mother Nature.  :-)  Anyway - if you squint reeeeally hard you can see the hint of rainbow left about the tree-line in the middle of the picture.  No I'm not crazy, I promise it's there.  lol.

We also made washcloth duckies for the tables as our shower favors.  We'd seen this done at our friend Arwen's shower a few years back and I knew when I saw it that I so wanted to do that for my shower when it was our turn.  Thankfully she still had the directions and it wound up being way easy to do - the worst

 part was seriously having to buy 80+ washcloths in our preferred color scheme!!  We wound up with a few shades of purple, pink, and green, and then a couple yellow, white, or cream ones.  We got them from Ocean State Job Lot where we were able to get a deal - but the quality was less than stellar.  I figure people can still take them apart, pull the eyes off (they're just white glued on) and use them as kitchen rags rather than for washing babies or faces or whatever.  That's what I'm planning to use our extras for anyway!  Call it my way of slipping some eco-friendliness into the shower without people knowing.  Bwahahaha!  :-)

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us though.  This coming week will be my last of working at Timberland - official last day is 3/26.  My next midwife appointment is April 1st because I'm up to appts every 2 weeks now (!!) and then on the 3rd we have our maternity photo session booked and Easter is the 4th.  Then our next shower is the following weekend on the 11th with Jeff's family, and the week after that I'lll have another midwife appt scheduled at some point and then that weekend is Erin's wedding shower on the 17th!  Total craziness!

My last appointment was on Wednesday 3/17, and I'd gained 3 pounds from my visit 3 weeks ago - so I've apparently hit the 'pound a week' segment of pregnancy!  But they're happy, and my blood pressure is still wicked good (108/60!) which is good to know because I've started getting some swelling off and on in my ankles and my fingers so was starting to wonder.  But that's all good.  Baby girl's heartbeat sounded great - holding steady at 140bpm most of the time now and I'm still measuring right on track.  Oh - and belly button still inside!  Woohoo!

27 Weeks = Third Trimester!

Here we go with the third trimester!  Two-thirds of the way down and coming down the home-stretch!  And speaking of stretch - good lord will my body make it these last 3 months?!?!  I'm continuing to marvel at how big my belly is and the knowledge that it's going to get bigger still.  Continuing to marvel at how such a small (relatively) little being inside there can wreak such havoc on my digestive system, my comfort level, and all of my joints.

Other than my whining about intense reflux despite my daily meds and various other discomfort, things are continuing along just fine.  The midwife appointment I had on Thursday 2/25 showed our little jelly bean is measuring exactly where she should be - despite how much bigger I look than other people in the same place as me.  She said it was just due to the length of your torso, how you're carrying, and baby's position.  Weight gain is up 28lbs so far (!!) but they're happy with where I am and said that they like to see people gain between 25-35lbs and that you usually don't gain quite as steadily through the last 4-6 weeks.  so that's something I guess.  But it sure explains why I'm huffing and puffing when attempting to do anything!  The added weight plus decreased lung function is all the explanation I need!  I also had my 1hr gestational diabetes test (GD test).  So far I haven't heard anything on the results - they said they'd call if there was anything abnormal and expected results on Friday or Monday so hopefully tomorrow goes by without a phone call.  I felt like there was more glucola this time than the first one they made me do at my first appointment, but Jeff thinks that I just forgot how much I had to drink that first time.  Yick.  And it's definitely NOT any better the second time around when you're burping it up.  Just fyi.  bleh.

Our first shower is coming up quickly as well.  While I'm still adding and deleting things from the registry from time to time, both the Amazon and Babies R'Us registries are essentially done.  The invites for the first shower have gone out including the registry info.  We went shopping for an outfit for the shower as I realized that including this one, I only had 2 more shopping weekends left! 

Which brings me to my next rant: maternity dresses.  Okay so you see the pictures online of maternity dresses and they look cute.  In general, I like dresses so figured it'd be a good way to go.  HA!  Let me tell you, the two dresses I tried on made me look like a HOUSE!  And normally I know my belly's fairly big and am fine with it - but i felt like a grandma in a muumuu or something just because the dress comes up over the bump but then just drops down and keeps going.  There's no shaping at the bottom like you get with pants and tops.  So needless to say, I'll be wearing pants and a cute, flattering top for my shower.  Bonus for not needing to shave anyway, right?  :-)

Oh and for anyone that's wondering - belly button is still in!  Woo!  Looks friggin WEIRD but fingers crossed it can make it the next 3 months..  Only time will tell.  :-)

23 weeks - More Big Purchases and Birthing Classes!

Movement is picking up!  I feel bouts of movement several times each day now - most commonly during/after eating.  I'm soooo happy to finally feel her - it's just such a comfort to feel her in there doing well and have that reminder.  To not have to just assume things are fine just because nothing bad has happened, etc.

According to the books, she now weighs about a pound, which for some reason seems monumental to me.  We're no longer talking about fractions of ounces anymore, but measuring in actual baby weight measurements!

We have also been working on our registries some more, and finally have a fair amount of stuff on there.  We may still add something here and there, but we've made the bulk of our decisions and between Amazon and BRU are pretty much covered.  Soooo glad that's over.  It's very hard to think of all the things and then to pick between the gazillion options out there and what's the best/safest one to choose?  How do you know?  What's just a gimmick and what's for real?  It's crazy out there.

Some of the biggest news is that we purchased our crib and ordered our dresser!!  The crib was almost a disaster to try to get home - it didn't fit in the back of my full sized SUV!  I couldn't believe it!  It takes a pretty big box to not fit inside the back but there was no way it was going in.  So they got us some rope and we did a bang-up job tying a ton of knots to secure it to my roof-rack. I canNOT wait to put them together.  I'm in love with them.  So pretty.  The crib will become a toddler bed, day bed, and full sized head and footboard as well.  They truly are gorgeous!  We got an awesome deal too - between the two pieces we saved $200 with a $100-off coupon plus a 10% off coupon that worked on your entire purchase when you add to your registry in-store. 

Now THERE'S a story - adding to our registry.  Doesn't seem like something that would imply a story,  right?  Yeah.  So we spend like an hour and a half

walking around with the little registry gun and wound up adding about 54 items.  We go to turn in our gun and the registry they print out and hand us?  ISN'T OURS!!!  They programed the wrong registry into our gun so we'd just spent all this time adding things to someone else's registry!  The "good" news was that this other girl's due date was in 2009 so it wouldn't affect hers, but we wound up having to sit at the registry desk, checking off each item we thought we added to the registry so that someone could manually add it to ours.  The confusion came when she found someone with the same name living in MA.  I apparently set up the registry under Nikki and not Nicole.  And the fact that this chick's due date was last year didn't register I guess.  So yeah.  Craziness.  And definitely NOT something that happens when you register for stuff online!!  lol.

Other things going on with me are that after my last midwife appointment we decided that I would get an upper abdominal ultrasound to screen for gallbladder problems.  I've been having this awful ache way high in my right ribs, right under my boob, that seems to start after eating.  I have it every day, usually multiple times a day, and have since just before Christmas so definitely been a while at this point.  The thing with the appointment is that it's supposed to be an 8 hour fast beforehand which obviously makes for some cranky pregnant ladies if the appt is not in the morning.  I was supposed to have it scheduled on the 28th at 2 in the afternoon but because of a scheduling snafu it is now scheduled for Feb 4th instead and now it'll be at 7:30 in the morning which of course is much better in terms of fasting.  I'm fairly convinced at this point it's NOT a gallbladder issue as the pain does not fluctuate in intensity or frequency based of the fat content of what I'm eating.  I can get it after a bowl of chicken soup or salad the same as I do after a burger and fries.  Nothing is different about it.  My hypothesis is that my stomach has squashed up into a bad spot and presses in on my ribs when it expands with food and that is causing the pressure/pain.

Also!  We started our birthing classes!  I randomly happened to contact a local Bradley class instructor to find out when her next session was going to start on Friday the 15th, and come to find out it was supposed to start that Monday the 18th!  There was some snow on the 18th and so the first class was postponed until this past Monday the 25th.  It's at the instructor's house in Newburyport and there are 3 other couples in this session.  I'm the second earliest due date in the class!  That's something.  The first class was good - I'm actually the only one giving birth in a hospital setting though!  Two couples are using the free-standing birth center in Stratham, NH that I was going to look into if I didn't like Anna Jacques at our tour, and the other couple is having a homebirth.  It's costing us $350 and classes will be once a week for two hours and last 12 weeks.  I've heard so many good things about how Bradley classes really help a couple have a natural birth and so I'm hoping it really works out for us as well.

20 Weeks = HALF WAY THERE!

I cannot believe I'm halfway there.  The first half of this pregnancy flew by faster than I ever would have believed.  It only stands to reason the last half will too which means time to get our butts in gear and get this place ready for our bean!

I had my repeat ultrasound, everything missing was accounted for and measured and checked out great.  10 fingers, 10 toes, 4 (right?) chambers in the heart.. it was neat but this tech was all business and there to get her pictures and be done.  The last thing she needed to get was the right hand and our little girl was playing hard to get holding that hand behind her head for the whole time.  I had to keep flipping from one side to the other before she FINALLY woke up and started moving around and stuck her hand out.  we didn't really get much for pictures this time - three only.  two of the face in raptor mode (which was slightly less raptor-ish because of the gain in bits of fat happening now) and one of the foot.  Jeff wasn't able to go to this one and was sorely disappointed in my spoils.  :-(  I wish they would have gotten a picture of - after she started moving around and got her hand from behind her head - she had both hands out together then started grabbing for her feet.  It was *so* cute.  But alas.

So obviously I'm continuing to grow ever bigger.  The 'secret' is officially out at work now which is nice.  I've been feeling pretty good - except for a pain under my right ribs that comes and goes but typically seems to come most often after I've eaten.  My real guess is that it's gas, but I can't help but be concerned that it's something gallbladder related just because of my previous issues with IBS and GERD.  What's left to go wrong in my digestive system, ya know?  lol.  But 'hopefully' it's just an issue of trapped gas and a full stomach pressing on my ever crowded organs all stuffed up into my chest.  Poor organs.  My next midwife appt is on the 19th so I'll bring it up then unless it becomes intolerable before then.  Sometimes it's worse than others and when it's not as bad it's easier to shrug it off as nothing.

We are continuing to formulate a plan for the nursery - slowly starting to make real decisions though everything is still a 'rough draft' in my mind.  It's still progress though.  I've been doing research in my down time on cribs and bedding and gliders and monitors and tons of other stuff.  We STILL haven't actually created our registries, but are getting closer to doing so every day.  Mom and I are starting to discuss plans for the shower for sometime in March.  Once we set a date for that, it will definitely provide fuel for the fire to get me into getting everything registered for and all that.  I have lists on paper, but nothing 'official' yet.  Definitely time to get on that!

Week 18: Our Hippy Baby Is A GIRL!!!

YAY for girls!!!  We had our 'big' ultrasound on the 21st and suspicions of our hippy baby being a girl were confirmed - I am *so* excited.  I wanted to have my daughter first - and son second - so this is totally playing into my 'ultimate plan' hahahaha..  but seriously - we can't wait to meet our daughter.

I'm still not feeling much movement but the u/s tech told me that I have an anterior placenta - which doesn't mean much except that's the side that the little brat implanted on.  It shouldn't cause any problems for delivery like a full placental previa would - where it covers the cervix.  Right now it just means that instetad of feeling little movements and kicks, the placenta acts essentially as a pillow between me and baby and cushions her movements from the nerve-filled uterine wall.  I'll still feel her eventually though - just later than I was hoping. 

So getting down to it - here are some good shots from the anatomy scan at 17 weeks 6 days.  There's a whole slew of pictures/measurements etc that the tech is supposed to get at this scan and there are a few she wasn't able to get because baby wasn't in a good position, so I'm going back for a repeat ultrasound on Jan 6th to try again.  Yay for seeing our little girl again so soon though!

When we started the ultrasound she was sitting essentially indian style with her legs crossed under her bum.  DEFINITELY didn't seem to want to play along with our 'hey show us the goods' game one bit!!

  hahaha..  It took some doing but she did eventually turn and move so that we were able to get a good look at her bum (second picture here).  I was holding my breath because the tech wanted to look multiple times and get the baby to move some while she looked to make sure nothing 'popped out' while the legs were kicking around that wasn't visible before..  But sure enough nothing did and you can see the three little lines that they look for in girls at this stage.  Eventually those lines will actually turn into totally recognizable girl parts, but for now just look like lines.

This third picture I refer to as 'baby raptor' because it's taken head-on.  It's really amazing to see the difference between the profile shots where baby looks like a 'normal' baby and then you get straight-on and they turn into little skeletors..  hahaha..  My mom pointed out that in this picture it looks like she has a little leaf stamped on her forehead.  Probably sinus cavities - but I like to think of it as a leaf.  A tree-hugger from fetus-hood.  lol.

The last picture shows how, even though I can't feel it so much yet, that this little girl's definitely a mover and a shaker!  She was kicking her arms and legs up and

down like crazy - the tech was like oh do you feel that??  And I'm like - uhhhh, no???  Oh well.  Soon enough I'm sure she'll be keeping me up at night with all her moving!

So it was fun to be able to tell everyone for Christmas that we were having a girl.  We got some cute baby books from people - "mommy" books and "daddy" books and other little things for baby.  And now that we know gender, we can truly start planning out the nursery and thinking about various baby gear that we'll want and finally start our registries.  I know some people can't believe we haven't started them yet!

As far as appointments, I have the repeat ultrasound now on Jan 6th and then the next midwife appointment is 2 weeks after that on I think the 14th.  I'll be past the halfway point by then.  It's already so soon - I can't believe how quickly time flies!!

Happy Thanksgiving! 14 Weeks and First Doppler Heartbeat!

Not the greatest picture but Jeff starts to get cranky after taking so many one after another so this is what you get.  :-)

14 weeks!  First full week of 2nd trimester.  And I'm still sick most mornings.  Hoping this will end soon.  We had a midwife appointment on Monday and she seemed surprised that I was still getting sick and said it usually lets up for most people between 12-16 weeks.  So hopefully soon.  I've been saying that for a few weeks now though, lol.  But I am having more days here and there that I don't get sick rather than literally every.single.day so that's....something, right?  A step in the right direction anyway.

At this midwife appointment they listened for the heartbeat with the doppler for the first time.  SOOOO cool - whoosh whoosh whoosh.  It was kinda a crappy machine with tons of static which was annoying, but when she got the right spot there was definitely no mistaking it!

At 14 weeks baby is now the size of a large lemon or the size of an average fist!!  Close to 4 inches at this point - give or take.  Soft cartilage is turning into solid bone (as evidenced by the bright white spots shown in the u/s pictures from last week).  This week a fine hair begins to develop all over baby's body called lanugo.  This helps protect the delicate baby skin in all that water for so long but is shed (usually) before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser - more normal hairs.  Perhaps this is why I had that dream that I had a little girl and then she turned into a furry little kitten!!  Hahaha..  Another random interesting fact is that at this point baby has eyebrows but no eyelashes yet. 

So our next appointment is in 2 weeks - which is just a basic lab appointment.  They'll take blood (again) and test for proteins secreted by the baby that will indicate Downs, Spina Biffida, or other neural tube defects.  Then 4 weeks from now - on 12/21 we have our next real midwife appointment and most importantly the "big ultrasound"!  This is the 18 week one where they can definitively tell gender and do an anatomy scan to make sure all the bits are there and where they should be and there aren't any obvious problems.  Though we got a 'guess' at gender at the NT scan, this is where we'll find out if her guess was right or not.  What a wonderful Christmas present that will be!!  :-D

13 Weeks, 2nd Tri, and NT Ultrasound!

  I know I've totally gotten of schedule this time.  Trying to play catch-up here.  I normally post on weekends but was dealing with repercussions of my lovely tummy upset and didn't get to it, then Monday blogger wasn't letting me upload pictures.  So here we are.  A week late.  lol.  oh well.  I'm busy growin a baby over here, what do you want!  :-)

So 13 weeks - my itty bitty bump is growing.  This week was 'peach sized baby' week.  Still getting sick most mornings - but am skipping more days here and there which is something.  At 13w3d - last Friday - we had our Early Risk Assessment Test - ERA.  That included the NT Ultrasound scan where they measure the fluid at the base of the baby's neck to assess risk levels for Down's and two other chromosomal irregularities.  Our measurements looked great - nice and small which is good.  And the difference between the 13 week u/s and the 10 week u/s was huge!  It looked like a baby-ish critter before but it really looks like a baby now!  And the tech even felt that she could give us an 'early guess' at gender though she made us promise not to go shopping till our 18 week scan.  :-)  But the guess was that it's a girl!!

We got some great zoomed in facial profile pics.  You can see the jaw bone is developing, the nose, the spine, even all the itty bitty ribs were visible during the ultrasound.  So amazing.  I still can't feel any movement - I'm dying to feel something.  It's so crazy to watch the baby flip flop all over the place and not be able to feel it at all!

The first picture you can see baby sucking her thumb!!  Already!!  Little thumb sucker..  The last picture you can see the hand coming towards the face a bit.  DEFINITELY a mover and a shaker, this one!  :-D  But my mom actually was the one that noticed the thumb sucking in the last picture - I thought it was just a good full profile picture, ya know?  But it's doubly cool that you can see the thumb sucking too.

You can see all five fingers on the little hand in the second picture.  It was the very first picture the tech took - it was totally awesome.  Like baby was saying "hi mommy hi daddy!!!" as soon as we started looking!  So at least we have all 5 fingers on one hand accounted for!  Gotta get the other hand now.. lol.

The day of the scan was also my last day in the first trimester!  Being offically out of 1st tri is a huuuuge relief.  I have had more energy the last few weeks already - I think after the basic blueprints are laid down you get more energy back which is nice.  I'm only half a zombie now instead of a full-on zombie!  Woohoo!!  I'm still falling asleep on the couch most nights but function much better through the day now.

So that's the last week of 1st tri.  Updates on week one of 2nd tri to come along with the 14 week belly picture - sooner than a week from now I promise!

12 Weeks, Maternity Pants, and First Cloth Diapers!

So 12 weeks has come and gone.  I'm just starting to get a little bitty bump - more noticeable if my shirt is tight or my belly is bare, but it's definitely there.  :-D  I also gave in last weekend and got myself some maternity pants.  I wavered between the idea of getting a belly band - stretchy fabric made to go over your pants to basically hide the fact that you're not buttoning them, etc and keep you in them a bit longer - but really that just wasn't something i'm comfortable with and honestly i think since they're visible it's really more of a giveaway in the case of work.  I mean who's gonna think I'm just wearing the SAME black tank every day ya know?  lol..  and the other option was buying pants in a larger size, but really the probably was with my expanding belly area just being an uncomfortable place for pants to cut into.  I was able to get maternity pants that will fit me now, and barring a huge body weight gain in legs and butt, should fit me through the rest of my pregnancy and after as well.  This seemed like the better investment to me.  I was admittedly a bit uncertain about the panels in maternity pants at first, but after trying some on in the store I was completely convinced.  All 3 pairs I got are infinitely more comfy than any of my other pants at this point.  So there you have it.  Some of my other pants I couldn't wear at all, others I could squeeze into but they were varying stages of uncomfortable - particularly as most of my day at work is spent sitting.  One thing about the maternity pants is that they allow my belly to buldge more than my other pants did - which kind of 'muffin-topped' things more.  I'm wearing the mat pants in this picture and I think it adds to the belly you see because it's just kinda doing its thing rather than being all constricted/confined etc.

So what's up with baby this week you're wondering?  Now that all the major organs are formed, there isn't much left to form.  Both liver and pancreas have started to function, pituitary gland has started creating hormones, and baby develops reflexes!  Vocal cords are also developing and the brain is now fully developed.  Baby can be seen (sort of) in this picture here sucking its itty bitty thumb even!  Eyelids are now fully formed and eyes will remain closed until the 7th month to protect the developing optic...bits.  lol.

We scheduled our ERA - Early Risk Assessment test - for this coming Friday November 20th.  It will involve meeting with a genetic counselor, some (MORE) bloodwork, and an NT scan which is I believe a higher resolution ultrasound that will allow the specially trained techs to measure the nuchal translucency at the back of the neck which can be a tip-off to genetic abnormalities or things like Down's, etc.  Hopefully this assessment will show that everything is as it should be with our little bean and will be a nice chance for us to get to see him or her again!  I've heard there is a chance that the tech might be able to make a guess at gender at this point - at the appointment I'll be 13w3d (last day of 1st tri!!!).  I'm hoping this is the case.  I'd love a guess by someone who has something they're going on.  I had a dream last night that I had a little girl and she looked just like me...but then at some point in the dream she turned into a kitten...so I doubt that's anything to go on.. lol.  I'm trying not to get my hopes up for a good guess though because I know it's not as reliable for another month or so.  Fingers crossed all the same.  :-)  The following Monday, November 23rd, we have our next midwife appointment where we should get to actually HEAR the heartbeat with the dopplar (which we weren't able to do at our last appt because of my tipped uterus).  And that will be super exciting.

This week we also received our first order of "fluffy mail"!  I scored a great deal on some gently used Kissaluv Size 0 fitted diapers (KL0's) from a mama on Craigslist and they arrived yesterday.  They are *so* cute and soft and cuddly.  These diapers (fitteds) will require a cover as they do not include a waterproofed outer.  Pictures of those to come when they arrive.  I can't stop looking at these little squishy diapers and thinking how tiny they are and what it will be like to put our own little baby's bum in them.  Jeff is still skeptical on the whole cloth diapering thing, but especially with the deals that I've scored so far, he seems, at the very least, to be coming around to seeing the cost savings involved.  I know many many mamas that cloth diaper (CD) and promise me that they would not continue if they didn't love doing it for their babies and if it was truly an immense amount of work.  I am looking forward to joining them and being able to help show other new mothers that it's definitely doable.  When I started to think about HOW MANY disposable diapers go on a baby, and then into landfills where they will stay forever leaching chemicals into our planet...it's just SO MANY.  It's always more work to wash something rather than throw it away and get a new one, but I believe that the extra work will be minimal, and that it will be more than worth it to us both financially and personally in the end.  :-)

10 weeks and First Ultrasound!

Ten weeks down and finally my bloat is down too!  I've taken bare belly pics that I haven't posted in the last few weeks and the progression of my bloat is truly amazing.  Still no real baby bump to speak of, but at least my pants are fitting better again - I was afraid I was going to have to move into maternity pants at 10 weeks!

Baby is the size of a small plum now, and has graduated from 'embryo' to 'fetus' status.  All the basics of the body and organs are laid out now.  I've been a busy little baby-grower!!  I'm still getting sick every.single.morning unfortunately - and still am sooo ready for that to end.  I feel slightly less tired than I had been though - not anything remotely like 'energetic' mind you - just 'less dead to the world' more than anything.  Baby also lost its tail!  So sad - I liked that my baby had a lil' lizard tail, but Jeff is happy to know it is gone.  hahaha.  Eye color is also determined by this week, though we are expecting a brown eyed baby as that is what we both have.

We also had our first ultrasound this week and midwife appointment!  It was seriously the most amazing thing ever.  Of course I was terrified they'd look with the u/s probe and there would be no baby there or no heartbeat, etc etc any number of terrible circumstances flashed through my mind.  But other than discovering I have a tipped uterus and thus the baby is further back from my tummy right now and thus giving us lower quality pics than we otherwise would have gotten, everything was great!!  Heartbeat was measured at 176bpm which is on the 'higher' end of normal and the old wives tale is that girl babies have a faster heartbeat.  I know one person who's having a boy and hers was lower, but someone else whose was close to mine and is also supposed to be having a boy though so you never know.  I wish we could know now though!

It's a little hard to see in the pictures - the first one is the best profile shot we got - you may be able to click the pictures to enlarge them to full-size which will help.  The second picture I think was taking when we were watching our little bean flippity floppitying all around in my uterus.  You can see the little leg sticking out on one end and I think next to the profile is an arm.  I couldn't believe how it could move and flop around in there all while i have no idea.  I think there's another month left till I'll feel any movement though when the arms and legs are longer and stronger.  The last one shows a good shot of the little foot.  The tech marked it but it was pretty foot-like.  We were both shocked at how human-like our little one is already.

They did measure for growth and I'm right on target - measuring one day ahead actually of my due date based on my ovulation but right on target with the due date calculated on LMP so we're using 5/25/10 now.  They'll continue to keep track of growth through u/s and potentially change my due date accordingly as necessary.

Right after the ultrasound, we met with the midwife who I absolutely loved.  I will see the rest of the midwives in the practice so that they are familiar with me and I with them as you get whichever one is on when you go into labor, but I really really liked the one we saw.  She was goofy and fun and was thrilled that I came in with a huge list of questions for her and even better than that, the answers she gave to the questions were almost all what I wanted to hear.  We didn't get to listen to the heartbeat with the doppler because of my tilted uterus - the larger distance can make it harder to get a heartbeat for a few more weeks, but by our next appointment on November 23rd we should be all set to hear it.  I can't wait.  Seeing that little flicker on the u/s screen was amazing but I know actually hearing it will be even moreso!

First Appointment and 8 week belly picture!

So I haven't had a lot of time to update - I started working on Monday of this week and between working and being completely and totally exhausted when I come home, coupled with our very needy kitties and a shower to take and dinner to make and eat - well you get the picture.  Work has been good though - it's really phenomenal to work for a company - and a person for that matter - who treats you really well.  I really hope they decide to keep me permanently sooner rather than later!

So - Tuesday 10/13 was the first appointment.  It was about an hour and fifteen-ish mins.  Height, weight, pee in a cup, 1 hour GD (gestational diabetes) test - which was pretty early for most places and i suspect will be repeated in 20 weeks or so - and they also took 6, count them SIX vials of blood.  I was not pleased.  Aside from that it was taking a history of the two of us, family diseases, talk about genetic testing, do this and don't do that, etc etc etc.  Very un-exciting and anti-climactic - and I got the joy of throwing up the orange glucola drink when I got home - also lovely.  The nurse also kinda got on my nerves with the fact that she ignored the bbt chart I brought with me to show when I ovulated so they could set my due date accordingly (and NOT according to the LMP that assumes you ovulated on day 14 which I didn't).  She asked if I plan to breastfeed or use formula and when I said we were going to breastfeed she said "oh you're going to try that" which just sort of irked me.  She also informed me they no longer do water births at Anna Jaques - so I'm interested to see on the tour next week if they actually have tubs because on their website tubs are one of the two pictures they show on the birth center page so.....???  Yeah.  Unimpressed.  I will go to the tour and my second appt for my u/s and meet the midwife, but I'm def also going to check out my other options in the area and ask a LOT of questions.

So that's quite a bit about me - what about what's up with baby?! Well the end of week 8 will be offically 2 months pregnant which is awesome - come on end of first tri!!  :-)  This week is 'raspberry baby' week if you're following the baby-to-foodstuff ratios.  Eyelids, tongues, earlobes and the tip of the nose are forming!  Cartilage and bones will begin to form this week, and  Baby can move those tiny little arms and legs as well now, though I still can't feel it and won't be able to for several more weeks (unfortunately!).  I'm really looking forward to being able to feel movement.  It will also be a relief to feel the movement as right now I only have my constant yarking and super sore boobs as a sort of check to make sure things are 'okay' in there.  It will be nice not to have to yark to know things are still fine.  Lol..

This is actually a fun picture that labels the little bits and pieces of baby at this stage.  My little alien baby.. hehehe..  Sometimes I wonder if our cinema 'image' of alien beings came from u/s images of babies.  There's definitely some correlation I think!

So in case you can't tell, I'm still getting sick most every morning - today was the first day I got sick at work which was fantastic.  I sit reeeeally far from the bathroom which is seriously unfortunate.  They're renovating the bathrooms and the closest ones to me have been closed and the next closest ones only have two stalls and are NOT close at all.  I'm hoping that I definitely don't start making a habit out of that in any case.  They called in a script for Reglan at my appointment, but I haven't taken it yet.  I don't know that I can take it soon enough in the morning to have it keep me from getting sick right away and that's the worst of my troubles.  I may try it soon though.. we shall see.

The nursing line actually called and left me a message today that just said to call them back as soon as I could.  Which of course then sent me into some kind of panic - sure that somehow (despite getting sick this morning) the blood pregnancy test they took must have come back negative, or some other massively bad thing showed up.  Then I called back right away and of course they're at lunch and apparently don't do a rolling lunch schedule so someone always covers the phones or anything so I had to call back in an hour.  Apparently I have a UTI I didn't know about and they called in a script for me.  That's all.  They really ought to work on their message leaving skills.  Oiy.  It was after that that I wound up getting sick at work so I probably upset myself during the course of eating lunch and it unsettled my stomach.  Boo on them.

5 weeks and first belly picture!

On 9/23 I was exactly 5 weeks pregnant (for those who don't know they count from your last period not conception!) and wanted to get on the ball with taking weekly belly pictures.

I'm now sorry that I didn't take a picture at 4 weeks or even the day I found out to more accurately document my 'pre-pregnancy belly' - I thought I had plenty of time!  But at 5 weeks I have most noticeably grown a pot belly of bloat.

Yes ladies and gentlemen that is NOT a baby belly you see there that is most decidely bloat.  I'd also like to note that in this picture I have a cold and could really have lived without having my beautiful face puff documented in the bowels of history but I'll consider it one among the many sacrifices I'm sure I'll be making for our growing spawn - aka the lizard baby.

Lizard baby because this is what our little bean looks like at this stage of development - salamander-like in my opinion!  Actually this pic may still be in the 4 week development range but you get the picture.  I am growing us a lil' lizard!!  :-D

Symptoms so far haven't been too crazy.  Only one cookie tossing episode so far and some moderate queasy moments.  I've definitely had cramping though, and a ton of gas (even for me!) and massively sore and expanding boobage.  For some reason my cats seem to think now is the most excellent time to walk on said boobage despite my numerous attempts to explain that in reality it most decidely is not!  Dang critters!

Also of note - the first appt was scheduled for 10/13 which will mostly be a 'history and labs' appt, and the first u/s is scheduled for 10/28 at which time I will be 10 weeks.  Our little bean's first picture!!  Squee!  Immediately following the u/s we will have our first meeting with the midwife as the first appt is run by a nurse coordinator.  It is insanely nerve-wracking to wait for these appointments to ascertain that everything is going along as it should be - so many things can go wrong in 1st tri..  But with every cramp (without bleeding) and every moment of queasiness or sore boobage I remind myself that this is a sign that our little lizard is growing strong and hanging in there.  But for this reason we've optted not to share the news with extended family until the end of the 1st tri (or at least after our u/s if we can't wait!).

We will also be able to tour the Anna Jaques birth center in Newburyport on 10/21 - one week before the first u/s and midwife meeting.  I like this because it will allow me to see the facility and meet the practitioners.  I am not 100% set on where we will give birth and want to fully explore all of our options to ensure the best fit, however I had already had care established with Women's Health Care which operates out of Anna Jaques so have set up my initial appts with them.  I also would like to tour the North Shore Birth Center in Beverly as well as the Coastal Family Birth Retreat in Stratham, NH as free-standing birth center alternatives, and plan to interview a few homebirth midwives as well.  This is an exciting time full of big decisions but it's good to have some dates set and things set into motion already!