Midwives and morning sickness...

I finally got to talk to the midwife yesterday! Technically I talked to her the day before, but she was on her way back from California and was going through the mountains, so she couldn't hear me and asked if she could call me back the next morning. She sounds really nice, asked a few questions, and asked if I had questions (though some I'll wait to ask her until I see her). She has no problem coming this far, didn't really seem to think it was very far, and said she's delivered babies as far as the coast and Pendleton. Yay! She does have a partner, a 28 year old girl who is also a Christian. She said finding another Christian to work with took a lot of time and prayer! Anyhow, they like doing home calls apparently, so we don't even have to drive out, they are coming here! I think because she doesn't have an office or clinic, and obviously their homes are just that, their homes. So she said if I would rather I could go to one of their places, but they always like doing it at the mother's house since she's comfortable and everything they need is available. Fine with me! Just means I need to make sure the house is straightened up Sunday evening, and remember to spray the carpet before they come. The carpet is yukky. It has to go very soon. Anyhow, the midwives should be here about 10 on Monday, so I'm pretty excited! I've been reading a book called "Pushed", and statitically it is very obvious that a home birth is waaaay safer than any sort of hospital birth! We have a 1.5% ceserean rate versus a 30 to 35% rate in the hospitals....hmmm! out of 33 industrialized nations, the U.S. ranks at the top for amount of medical intervention during birth, and #32 for maternal and infant mortality. Interestingly, the three nations in the top three places for having the very lowest mortality rates are the three countries that believe home birth is the norm, and medical intervention is only for absolute necessity! Kind of tells you something.
I'm feeling pretty good this morning. Of course, every time I do feel good I worry that my baby isn't okay. Actually, the only time I'm relatively worry free is during the worst bouts of nausea. Anyhow, I decided to experiment with the potato idea, so last night before bed I had a baked potato. Still had to eat right off this morning since there was some of that "impending sickness" feeling, but the point is I was ABLE to eat, and now I feel pretty good. This definitely merits more experimentation, since yesterday I felt lousy the entire day. Jimmy was such a sweetheart, he took care of me and made sure I had whatever I wanted, encouraged me to try and get something down, and then we just plopped and watched "Much Ado About Nothing" when I was still feeling bad. Yeah, when the second baby and following come along I won't be able to do that, but for right now it was sure nice to do. :-) He helps out with chores and cleaning, lets me nap when I feel like it, and tells me I'm beautiful even when I feel not only like death warmed over, but actually not warmed over and already played with by the cat. I felt like such a slug yesterday, I dragged around, watched a movie, became ravenously hungry and devoured all sorts of chicken and veggies, and then fell asleep in a chair. When I awoke from my nap I promptly fell asleep again and stayed sacked out for another 45 minutes. Sarah called in the afternoon to invite us over for dinner, which was delicious pot roast and vegetables and amazing rolls, and then when we came back here I went to bed and fell asleep. Such an active day.... :-p
Anyhow, I read that my baby's esophagus and trachea are now separated, whereas they previously were one tube. And for those wondering, yes, that is of very great interest to me! His heart is now beating, and all the little digits are forming, and he even has tooth buds! He's an amazing little person, and I have a feeling that at this rate it won't be all that long before he can follow his large relation, Uncle Thomas, around gun shows yelling "WICKED TRIGGER PULL!" like he's supposed to. I'm very proud of my talented and amazing tiny person!! I still can't wait to find one of those shirts with the arrow that says "Baby!", and am delighted to find that maternity shirts make one look like one is expecting, rather than like one has a pooch, which is what I look like. Not that I mind, but I'd rather it was evident there was a little person! Kind of like Lydia hanging her hand on the edge of the carriage window as they passed I suppose. :-)
Gotta see if I can find an article about "The Blonsky" to post here... it absolutely amazed me!

My tiny apple seed!!

Oh, I got on preg.fertilityfriend.com, and they said our baby is now the size of an apple seed!! It's fun being able to picture the size. :-) I agree about the fruit thing, it would make eating a grape rather odd, but an apple seed I don't mind at all. :-) They also said that your baby "has formed a distinct head with the first stages of eyes and ears. The spinal column and cord are formed. Buds that will grow limbs have also formed. The heart is starting to beat and...the kidneys, liver and nerve cells have also begun to develop. Ten dental buds are growing in the jaws. Blood circulation has begun and primitive red blood cells circulate. The neural tube has closed over along your baby's spine. The optic vesicles, which resemble tiny discs of pigment set in cups along the sides of your baby's head will develop into your baby's eyes."
Goodness, for a tiny person he sure is busy!! I love seeing the pictures of where he is in development. He is so obviously a tiny baby human, even this early!! And early it is, not six weeks until Wednesday. I'm happy every Wednesday when I can mark off another week, and I think 12 weeks will be a relief. :-) Almost half way there! I think it's great how we get a jumpstart on the first part and get that bonus half a month automatically, lol!!
No morning sickness this morning, though it was clearly barely held at bay. I staggered up and ate something, which may have held it off. Also, the night before I had taters. I heard that eating potatoes the night before can stave off morning sickness, so it will have to be experimented with. Possibly a coincidence, but it would be a good experiment anyhow. :-) I'd love some taters right now if I hadn't eaten them all already! Actually, what I want right now is some of the baked omlet Mom made the other morning. Oh, that was delicious once I could start eating it! I just ran out of eggs though, so that'll have to wait. Anyhow, I like the morning sickness coming since it means all is well, so that makes me happy. On the other hand, just enough to let me know all is well, without being *too* much, would be good. At the moment food is on the mind because it's been a little over two hours and I'm starving again. I think I'll go eat something...
I think we're going to call the midwife tomorrow! I'm really excited, getting to meet her, and down the road doing the prenatals, and then the heart beat! I'm really looking forward to getting to hear my baby, and already have a stethoscope! Eventually, a fetascope, but for now this is good!
The other thing is baby names. We don't have a boy's middle name or any girls names yet. Not surprising, it is very early still. But I am having fun looking at names and thinking about them! I think waiting to decide until we can feel the baby would be good, see what kind of kid this is. :-) But looking sure is fun!!

Five weeks!!

I'm five weeks today, and took another test this morning. I had another one, and while I thought I may as well take it, I waited till this morning, partly because I only had one more and that second line is soooo reassuring, had I taken it last Thursday I'd be more prone to worry now. The other thing is that by waiting till today I was that much further along, and I really wanted a dark, strong second line-- which I got!! It's a beautiful thing. :-) Even more beautiful is what our baby looks like! I got a book from the library yesterday with pictures they took at all the stages using a wierd camera that can do it, and they have five week pictures there; he is so amazing!! God is so amazing, the way He makes a person, and how incredibly fast He does it!! Finger buds, heartbeat, blood vessles....tooth buds, for pity's sake!! My little guy is barely three weeks old, and he has tooth buds already!! And, oh happy day! the doctor said yesterday that the pregnancy was a really good thing, turns out a lot of people who have what I do actually improve with pregnancy because it produces it's own cortizone and anti-inflammatories! And he took me off Septra and I'm decreasing to nothing on the prednisone! Praise the Lord! No septra will be so much better, I won't have that baby worry to deal with. :-) They say it's mostly an issue the last trimester, but I still don't trust it. Anyhow, I don't have to go back for four months unless something comes up!! Which means, I'll be halfway through pregnancy by Charlie and Amber's wedding! Wow, there's a thought....!!!
Tomorrow, off to see the fam and bring down some root beer floats!!!

Chili...

I doubt, at not quite five weeks, that I could possibly be having food cravings yet, but I am definitely ravenous. I usually eat at meal times, and as long as I do that I don't really ever feel hungry. Now, however, I'm starving two hours after a big meal. I thought Shannon was funny getting hungry so early, but now my laughter has come back to haunt me. However, I have found that chili is the most amazing thing ever, aside from chocolate. I've been wanting to eat it, and see, much to my delight, that one serving contains 19 grams of protein!! There are two servings to a can, which mean 38 grams in a can, and if anyone were to eat both servings (not that *I* would, of course!), they would be getting a lot of protein in a deliciously amazing way! I'm assuming that homemade chili would probably have a lot as well, though the last two batches were from a can. I have been able to stay away from the leftover cheesecake brownies, and actually they don't temp me nearly as much as the chili. Like I said, it seems early for a craving, but if that's what I ended up wanting all the way through, it would not be a bad thing. :-) I am feeling very healthy right now because I had an omelet, some potatoes, and yogurt for breakfast (spaced out about three hours, not all at once!), which was nutritious, had dairy, eggs, meat, and vegetables, and exceeded 35g protein, then an orange, and now chili and a dark leaf salad with carrots, broccoli, and celery. With lots of water and raspberry leaf tea. Of course, one can't feel too smug sitting here with a cold and no voice, but hey, at least it's something!
We have a Dr. appointment tomorrow and will have to tell him I'm expecting. He's okayed it and I think will not be at all surprised, but may change my medication around a bit. He's been changing it anyhow, but I think will review it slightly differently with this in mind. We'll see what he says. :-)

It's amazing someone so small could make such a difference! I don't feel pregnant at all, but I love him so much and I'm scared of anything happening to him!! Every twinge or odd sensation down there and I worry! I shouldn't, I've read so many books on midwifery you'd think I'd know more what was going on and what was normal, but it doesn't help the worry!
I'm home from Church today, my cold was better last night, and although I don't feel too bad this morning, I sound awful.... coughing and no voice at all. I suspicion it's worse because my immune system may have been lowered with certain 'events' recently having to do with a very tiny person. :-) We put the baby screen saver on Jimmy's computer yesterday, and he is indeed tiny! Not much shape just yet, but another week and he should look more like a baby, lol! And at about six weeks he'll have a heartbeat! We have one guess so far that it's a boy. I sort of think girl, but have no reason to think that.... I'll have to give it a few months and see if I still think girl. :-)

Midwives

I was looking online for local midwives... yes, it is early, but better to be prepared, right? Besides, I have to do something with this excitement or I'll bust! I already talk Jimmy's ear off about it, and he's as excited as I am so he's happy to have me do that, but one can't only talk. One must DO something! So, I googled local midwives. :-) I'm pretty picky-- she has to like completely natural birth, be a granny sort, no medical or state intervention type stuff. And I want one who will be a proper midwife, not one of many where you get assigned a midwife and then hope she's on call when you go into labor. I want to get to know her and know she will be the one there with me. And I have to like her face-- not a liberal hippie type who looks like they don't shave.... sorry, but I just would not be comfortable with someone like that around in such a rather personal time!! So I have to like her face, I need to be able to be friends with her, she has to like having Daddy involved (Jimmy already said he wants to catch the baby if he can!), and I would like a Christian. I'd prefer a DEM, although I may have to go with someone who is certified, since there are very few lay midwives left, especially in this are! Long list..... but not impossible, right? Right..... The great thing is, we may have found her! There is one who pretty well fits the bill, her name is Kori Muth, she's local, a Christian, has six of her own, and I think she's a DEM!! She graduated from Birthingway in 1995, but I don't think she's licensed...yay!! I put a link to her page on the side so you can see it. I think we'll wait another few weeks before we call her, and then we can set up an interview meeting. I have to make sure that Oregon City isn't too far away... some midwives might not like driving that far, but we'll see. Usually they don't mind so much as long as there is a hospital nearby, which there is. I hope so, I do like her face. :-) If not, perhaps she can reccommend someone closer?

I felt rotten today, but it's this miserable cold which gave me a bit of a headache. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's a combination of things, I doubt a cold would have made me this tired by itself. :-) Now I totally understand what Nichole was just saying about feeling tired!! I sense naps in my future.... I still can't believe it's real, that there is really a baby there!! I don't feel pregnant....I can't wait till I start showing, but that'll probably be awhile. Maybe not as long as some since I'm starting out with extra from the medication I've been on. I got a head start, lol!! At least people will 'blame' it on the baby and not on me looking chubby! Hooray for that! I can't wait to tell everyone!! We're waiting till next Thursday just to give it another week, since I'm all kinds of nervous about something happening to my baby. Can't wait too long though, and besides, I want to shout it out! I'm so excited, I want to tell everyone! And wait till Shannon and Nichole find out we're all within three weeks of each other!

It's still a baby!!

I took another test today... somehow, I wanted to see confirmation! We "only" bought three tests, so I'll have to be good and stick to that, but I know girls who have gone through as many as ten doing one a day, so at least I'm not alone in this wierdness!! And, much to my relief, there again were those two BEAUTIFUL lines!!!! I shouldn't have been nervous, I suppose, given the miniscule odds of a false positive, but I was! I think I'll keep the last one for next week, right before we drive down to tell the family. Besides, these lines are faint, which only means it's very early on, but it would be so much fun to get a really dark line!! I've got a slight cold, which is a nusiance, but otherwise feel pretty good! Morning sickness isn't supposed to start until about six weeks, so I should be fine for awhile. I wonder if I'll get much...?

It's a baby!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out today I'm pregnant! I can't believe it, we were hoping so much to see those two little lines on the test, but had to wait till we bought them, got home, etc., and I was so nervous taking it for fear I'd only see one line...I had to leave it on the counter and go thaw some chicken while I was waiting, since "A watched pot never boils", and I wouldn't want that to hold true for the test as well, lol!! But no, double lines!!! That means I'm 13 days pregnant, or almost four weeks by doctor reckoning. Hard to believe it could possibly be true, or that it could have already been almost two weeks without us knowing!!! I'm due the 22nd of December, my parent's anniversary. Could be a little Christmas baby!! With two sisters due only a few weeks before, this should be an awesome holiday season!!