We went to see the midwife and back-up doc today. It was our most exciting appointment yet! For one thing, I've only gained 2 lbs in the last month. That's enough to throw a party for in itself! Oh yes, and we also GOT TO HEAR THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT! Woohoo! It was amazing to hear it steadily wooshing away, loud and clear. The midwife said it was about 150 bpm. My husband recorded it with his fancy phone and turned it into an mp3 file. You can click HERE to listen to it. It's probably not that interesting to anyone else, but the novelty has not worn off for me yet. I'm really thankful that DH thought fast enough to record it.

My uterus is well above my pubic bone by now, so it was easily palpable when the midwife and her apprentice felt my abdomen. It measured at a little over 14 1/2, which is just about right since I am 14 weeks and 1 day today. After our appointment with the midwife, we went down the road to meet our back-up doctor. I felt so comfortable with her. She LOVES midwifery and all things that have to do with natural birth. She used to be a midwife before she became an OB/GYN and had 3 out of 4 of her children at home, UNASSISTED....and that was before she became a midwife! She backs up a lot of the midwives in the area and is a wonderful advocate for homebirth/birthcenter births. I had a pap smear done and the nurse offered to do a Doppler, but I declined since I had just had one done @ the midwife's office. After my exam, the doc sent me over to the lab to get my standard pregnancy panel done. The doctor said she is proud of us for making the choices we've made about childbirth and she was wondering how we came to the decision to deliver at a birthcenter with a midwife. I told her that I'm not exactly sure how we came to embrace this choice, but it immediately seemed like the right thing to do. My family is pretty "conventional" about pregnancy and birth, so I was raised to think that birth always had to be some big medical event. Beats me how I came to a different conclusion. I knew a long time before conceiving that I would like to shoot for a drug-free, epidural-free birth outside of a hospital. My husband is the one who originally brought up the option of homebirth, which I think is very cool. I've heard/read about a lot of women who have trouble getting their husbands on board with the idea of birthing outside of a hospital, so I'm thankful that DH supports and encourages it.

I don't know if it's pregnancy hormones or what, but I'm feeling especially sappy about my wonderful husband. It has been really nice having him right there with me during my appointments. I feel like this baby and I are being very well taken care of and I'm very grateful for that. I can't imagine going through this journey with anyone else.

I praise the Lord for the healthy little person who is growing in my belly. I am so blessed to be the "vehicle" for such a wonderful thing! It's even more amazing than I thought it would be. Can you tell that the appointment today really gave me a little boost of confidence and peace?

Labels: midwife, pregnancy, pregnancy milestones, prenatal appointment