Baby #2 weeks 10-17

Searching for a health care provider for your pregnancy is not an easy task! There are so many choices. Because of the enormity of choice, it becomes hard to find someone in the multitudes that will be right for you and your pregnancy. It's important to find someone who you are confident in and comfortable with so they can help enable you to have the birth you want. For me, I would like to have a natural birth with no pain medication. That's the birth I was blessed to have with Jane, after a bit of suspense and a transfer to the hospital that is. I would like to have that again, minus the suspense and a transfer to the hospital. ;)

The first choice I had to make was whether to have a home or hospital birth. If money was not a factor I would choose a home birth over a hospital birth. Because I had a birth center bill and a hospital bill with Jane, I ended up paying to have two babies and obviously, I only had one... The reason for this is health insurance companies do not list birth centers or midwives who provide home birth services as in network providers on their insurance. Which is ridiculous to me, because home birth is much less expensive and a safe option, but I digress. I won't be convincing any insurance companies that home birth should be in network...

Someone asked me why I didn't choose to go back to the birth center I went to with Jane. One reason is because where I was living at the time I was pregnant with Jane was much closer than it is to Kingwood. It's quite a drive from my house now. I don't want to make that kind of drive while in labor. The other reason is my insurance changed and it is now too expensive for us.

Because I didn't want to pay for two births again, I started to lean towards a hospital birth. Then I would be assured I wouldn't be transferred to the hospital since I would already be there! I talked to a few people who are supportive of natural birth about natural hospital births. Some were midwives, others doulas and some who have just had babies of their own. (I don't really have any experience, because the doctors didn't have a chance to do anything to me since Jane was born almost as soon as we arrived.) Pretty much everyone I talked to told me how hard it is to have a birth in a hospital without them pushing some intervention on you and that it's a fight to have the birth you want. It was disappointing to hear.

So I was back to square one and I wasn't sure what to do. My mom then told me she felt that I should contact a midwife that was referred to me by a couple of friends back when I was pregnant with Jane. I took my mom's advice and got in touch with Sallie. The reason I didn't contact this particular midwife when I was pregnant with Jane was because the house I lived in at the time wasn't close to a hospital. Also, I wouldn't have felt comfortable giving birth in that rental house.

From the first phone call with Sallie I could tell she was going to be a great midwife for me. I'm not much of a chatty phone person, but Sallie and I ended up talking for about an hour. She had lots of insights to my labor with Jane and ideas that we could have tried to help things along and not end up in the hospital. Of course, I'll never know if it would have changed anything. I learned a lot through my first labor experience and everything worked out in the end, but it was good to hear how much knowledge she has and how many natural ideas she has for helping labor progress.

The only thing that would have held me back from choosing Sallie as my midwife was the possibility having to pay for two births again if some complication should happen to arise. What gave me peace about choosing Sallie is the ministry she's done and continues to do. She has been going to abortion clinics for about 30 years and convincing women not to have abortions and choose life instead. The reason she became a midwife was so she could offer her services free of charge to women considering abortions and give them another option. One day she would like to go to villages around the world and teach women to be midwives and give them the ability to deliver babies safely. So even if I end up being transferred to a hospital for some reason, I know that at least some of my money will be going to someone I respect and can enable her to continue with her ministry.

That pretty much wraps up my search for health care provider for my pregnancy. I am very happy with my choice. She's been calming, encouraging and informative each appointment I've had with her. I feel that my baby and I are in good hands.

Little bitty bump. 14 Weeks.

As far as my pregnancy is going so far, everything is great! Baby's heart rate is healthy and he/she is already very active. I've been feeling kicks for the past week or so now. A lot earlier than with Jane. I didn't feel Jane until almost 19 or 20 weeks. The baby's heart rate is slower than Jane's was which might indicate that it's a boy, but of course, you never know! Similar to last time I don't have many cravings, but I always love a good burger! I do feel like I have more food aversions though, but I'm doing my best to eat healthy!

First item bought specifically for Baby #2

Second trimester is always my favorite! I love the feeling of little baby kicks. 17 weeks seems to be the time when I start feeling a lot better.  We'll be finding out whether we're having a girl or a boy in just a couple weeks. :)

My Babies. :)

Deuteronomy 30:19

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 

Baby #2 Weeks 5-9

When I was pregnant with Jane I hadn't started my blog yet. So I blogged about my pregnancy experience after it was all over. I'm glad that I did. It's fun to go back and read it now that I'm pregnant with my second. This time I will get to blog throughout my pregnancy. I'm looking forward to it!

Let's start at the beginning! I decided it was time to take a test when I went to the Astros game with my company on July 1st. The burger I ordered was way overdone and charred. I ate about half of it then let it sit in front of me. I couldn't even stand the smell of it! I had to wrap it up, so the smell would stop bothering me. A couple of other symptoms were that I was exhausted almost everyday and I was wanting to snack all the time! Oh and of course the obvious, I was late. (This might be TMI, but I only had two periods between having Jane and getting pregnant again. I could get used to that!)

I took a home pregnancy test on July 3rd and it was positive! The same dark blue positive line that I got with Jane. I was so happy! I thought I would be more relaxed waiting for the results than I was last time, but I felt the same nervous excitement that I did last time. I told Jane first. :) Of course she had no idea what I was saying, but when I told her she was going to be a big sister, she gave me a big grin! I'll take it as a good sign. :) I told Sam at lunch time, he smiled and said "Yay!" It's the same for us as last time, we need to get that confirmation from the doctor before we can truly let go and really celebrate!

We discussed whether we would tell anyone before the doctor's appointment. We decided that we had to tell my mom so that she could watch Jane for us. My mom can't keep a secret from my dad, so I told him too. I showed my mom a picture of this shirt and let her read it and figure it out.

She looked at me with wide eyes and said, "What?! Really?" Then she gave me a hug and said to Jane, "You're going to be a big sister!" I showed the same picture to my dad and he studied it for a while... looked at me suspiciously then looked down at the picture again. He said, "huh? Oh my... Already?" They are both excited to have another grandbaby to love on. :)

The shirt is even cuter with a toddler in it!
Just a little harder to read.

I wanted to keep Baby #2 a surprise from most people until I had an ultrasound picture, but then morning sickness hit me like a ton of bricks! I was about 6 weeks and I felt terrible, almost not able to function, way worse than last time. So I figured if I saw anyone I wouldn't be able to act like I felt ok. So pretty much anyone I saw during the time my morning sickness started and before I announced it, I went ahead and told. I made sure that they knew not to spread it around quite yet so we could still let everyone know ourselves. Feeling pretty bad is also the reason why I haven't been very active on my blog.

Scott and Anna had the best reaction so far. I showed them the shirt I got for Jane and they jumped up and said, "YES! I knew it!!" and gave me a big hug. Apparently they had both suspected a baby would be on the way soon. Anna's sister has a daughter 4 months older than Jane and is pregnant with her second which will probably be about 4 months older than my second baby. :D Anna had a hunch our kids might be the same distance apart again. She was right! Scott and I have a sort of twin telepathy thing even though we're not twins. So somehow he knew too. :) We are pretty much Irish Twins.

I am feeling much better than the first week my morning sickness started. (I think I was writing this segment around 8 weeks.) I realized I really needed more sleep. So I'm going to bed earlier, sleeping in longer and taking naps when I can. My morning sickness is still hard to manage and I am eating snacks and drinking water constantly to keep it at bay, but at least I can function like normal for the most part!

I had my first appointment on July 27th with a doctor I hadn't seen before, but had good reviews on the internet. (I had to get a new OB/GYN because I had new insurance.) I was not a fan of her's at all. For one thing, obviously, I'm pregnant and also drinking water all the time so I don't throw up. So I needed to pee pretty badly once she finally came into her office to meet with me. We talked a little while about my first pregnancy. I told her I was considering a home birth and she quickly responded saying,  "Oh, I wouldn't." In a tone that said to me, "You're crazy for considering that." She continued with, "No one in the medical industry would advise a home birth, they are just too unpredictable." I also told her I would like a natural birth and she said, "You can labor anyway you want, but there is nothing wrong with an epidural." She went on to tell me that she had epidurals with both her pregnancies and she loved them. I felt like she was already trying to talk me into one! (I don't think there is anything wrong with someone getting an epidural, I just would like to avoid one personally.) She also said I had to have an IV and she would induce me at 41 weeks no matter what, if I hadn't already gone into labor. I really seemed like just another pregnant lady to her. Like I would just be another statistic and she wouldn't give my pregnancy an individual touch at all.

After we finished our chat she said, "Ok, let's go do your ultrasound." I was like, "Uhhh, is it alright if I go to the bathroom first?" She said, "After your ultrasound." I then assured her I wasn't sure if I could even make it through the ultrasound. She replied, "Well, let's see if I can see it from the top then we'll let you go." UGGG! Really??? You won't let me go to the bathroom? Are you my mother?? If this is any indication of further care, I do not want you to be my doctor for the rest of my pregnancy and labor! (I didn't say that but those were my thoughts.) I mean I know she was trying to avoid a vaginal ultrasound, but I would rather have been given the choice. I would have chosen the vaginal ultrasound just so I could go to the bathroom first and not be afraid of peeing my pants.

When we did get to the ultrasound the doctor started moving the doppler around on my belly and said, "If you look real close you can see the arms and legs starting to grow." I did see them, it was so cool. Then she said, "There's a strong heartbeat!" "Yay!" I thought, along with "I still really have to pee..." She followed with, "Yeah, that's what I tell everybody, you're the proud parent of a blob with a heartbeat." I wanted to say, "No, that's my baby not just a blob, thank you." But I let it go. Then she said, "Wow, your bladder is really full! I'm impressed!" NO, REALLY?? Did you think I was lying??

I'm really glad I didn't see her with my first baby. She would have taken all the joy out of seeing my baby for the first time. The second time around I knew what to look for on the ultrasound and wouldn't let her steal the specialness of my little bitty baby. Also, she didn't try to listen to the heartbeat, which I thought was strange and a little disappointing. Anyway, after all of that, it almost goes without saying, I would be looking for a new provider for my next appointment. (By the way if you live in Kingwood and want to know who this doctor is, shoot me a message and I'll tell you.)

We did decide to announce on Facebook the weekend after my appointment. I'm always so relieved once everybody knows. I don't like keeping such a big secret. Here's that ultrasound picture!

Little blurry baby. :)

Anyone have any suggestions for books about a new baby or being a big sister? I know Jane won't understand much of it, but I also know that kids can pick up on a lot more than we realize.

Next, I began my search for either a midwife or a doctor that was supportive of natural birth. I was also trying to decide whether to have a home or hospital birth. I will expand on that in my next post.

John 16:33

"These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."