Heartbeat (and, I heart my midwife)

So my first official midwife appointment (aside from the interview) was last night and we had a great time.  Chatted, took vitals and checked my urine for protein, sugar, and other bad things, and then for the grand finale we got to listen to the heartbeat on the doppler.  The assistant needed to practice on women not that far along, and she found it pretty quickly, kind of over on the left.  I have to say it was pretty cool.  And the fact that I was lying back on my own couch and could go watch Glee immediately after the appointment made it that much better!

NT scan is tomorrow, and I feel less nervous after having heard the heartbeat.  My first inquiry about Bradley classes went out today.  Looks like we are really going to do this thing!

Huge major, score yesterday!

So my former co-worker is done having kids, and hates clutter.  She gave me a call in a panic about a week ago because she HAD to get this dresser with a changing table top out of her apartment and the building would only store it for two weeks.  I said we would be right out.  We loaded the car full and  This is what it looked liked when we got home:

Our haul included:

-Dresser
-Crib mattress
-Full bedding set (jungle animals, our theme!)
-Ergo carrier
-Babyhawk carrier
-Pregnancy pillow
-Boppy
-Bundle Me
-Car seat neck wings
-Sleep positioner
-Maternity coat
-Aden & Anais swaddling blankets (new)
-Bibs, burp cloths, and receiving blankets
-Swim diapers and disposable bibs
-Avent bottles and breast milk storage bottles
-A few toys and books

And this was just round one...apparently round two includes a stroller, higher chair, activity mat, and exersaucer.  What a generous friend!  We are so thankful!

First ultrasound today...

and it was amazing!  My doc found the baby right away, and the heart was beating at 160 beats per minute.  We could see the little hand paddles.  I measured right on track, 8 weeks 2 days.   1.8 cm.  The look on Steve's face was priceless, and I teared up just a little.  I feel like it is waving "Hi!" to us...

Midwife interview #1...

She was an adorable, tiny little thing.  Not too many people are shorter than I am!  She seemed warm and I liked her immediately.  She spent an hour going through her materials, which answered most of my questions.  I only had a few left.  The things that impressed me the most were:

-6% hospital transfer rate for first time moms, 3% C-section rate.
-100% success rate in turning breeches.
-Super knowledgeable about nutrition and herbs - she believes nutrition can make a huge difference in preparing for delivery and avoiding complications.
-Takes on only 3-5 clients per month, so the likelihood of missing my birth is low.
-Works with a local OB who sounds really birth friendly - he delivers twins and breeches naturally!
-Has a great relationship with my insurance company, and can get in-network approval.  This means that instead of her $5,500 fee we could pay nothing or just a little bit.

So I am keeping the appointment with midwife #2 next week, just for comparison purposes.  I feel like I want to make a fully informed decision and not be able to second-guess myself.

Told the family last night...

It was an elaborate set up.  My parents and sister were here from Sweden, Steve's sister was here from North Carolina, and we invited Steve's parents and brother and sister-in-law (with baby niece) under the guise that it would be nice to get everyone together.  My father in law said that he might be too busy with work, so he had to be strong-armed.  John was too busy working on the house, so Steve had to put some pressure on him.  Luckily everyone made it! 

We had dinner and then had a slide show of our vacation pictures from Sweden.  Towards the end the slide show started freezing and Angela said that she had to take Sara home.  I freaked and begged for 5 more minutes.  After probably 10 attempts, we got the slide show back up and raced through the last pictures to the picture of the digital test.  Angela jumped up and screamed, "I knew it, I knew it!"  My mom cried.  I cried.  Everyone congratulated and hugged us.  It turned out great!

I'm making blood...

Apparently that is why I'm starving, thirsty, and sleep 9+ hours a night.  I didn't think I would feel anything so soon, but I definitely do.  It's strange.  Normally I have a hard time drinking enough water but now I really crave it.

I am meeting with a midwife in 2 1/2 weeks!  She was SO nice on the phone and I can't wait to meet her.  She will be coming to our house and I'm already figuring out what to bake...I want to make a good impression!  I hope we like each other and want to work together.

Pregnant!

I have known for five days but it still does not seem real.  We are cautiously excited, after a year of trying it just seems too good to be true!  I don't really have any symptoms yet, maybe when they kick in it will feel real.  I will keep updating as things really start to happen!