First appointment at NMI

We had our first prenatal appointment with Nurse Midwives of Indianapolis today. It went very well! We went into this feeling unsure if the birth center was really the right place for us and this baby, but we left being 100% convinced!

Upon arriving at the birth center, we were excited to see that it's really just a house. From the outside would could see a screened-in porch, a picnic table, a glider swing, beautiful mature trees and lots of play equiptment for kids - swingset, slides, playhouse, etc. The good thing about being due in July is that Lolli will be able to take advantage of that play equiptment (barring any rain I guess) while I'm inside (or outside, I suppose) laboring away! After we entered the center I filled out the usual paperwork while Lolli and Molly played with all the toys in the waiting room. Lolli liked the play washer and dryer the best and Molly liked the lego blocks.

The receptionist showed me to a bathroom with real hand towels (you all know how I hate the paper stuff...) where I was to pee in a Dixie cup and stick the test strips into the urine all by myself and mark the results on my chart. I know this is nothing complicated and anyone could do it, so it felt great to be "trusted" and made part of my own care that way! The scale was also in the bathroom so I got to weigh myself in privacy. It felt very comfy and homey.

Next we went on a quick tour of the birth center. There's a kitchen with all the appliances available for use by the laboring woman and her friends and family (except the oven - that's gotta be kept available to heat the blankets for the baby!). There are 2 labor/delivery rooms, both of which have large comfy-looking beds. The main room also has a shower and jacuzzi tub. In the event that 2 women are there at one, but one closest to delivering gets the tub room, but can move to the other room (across the hall) after birth if need be. There are 2 exam rooms at the birth center, one upstairs and one downstairs, because there are 2 midwives, Barb and Andrea.

We met upstairs with Andrea today. She went over how the birth center operates, costs, philosophies, medical history, health and nutrition during pregnancy, how to get ahold of them 24/hours a day, all that good stuff. She also encouraged us to question her if we ever feel like she's treating us as just another patient, or if we don't understand why things are happening or if we have ideas about different ways to do things, etc. She believes midwifery care should be high-touch, low-tech, which is awesome. She believes in empowering women through education to take charge of their own health care, bodies, and pregnancies. I think I love this woman, ha ha.

We learned that during the pregnancy I will meet both her and Barb, because Barb is on call every other weekend so there's a chance she could be the one attending the birth. We also learned that my chart will be reviewed by Doctor Soper at 28 weeks and again at 36 weeks. Other than that, Dr. Soper won't see me during the pregnancy unless a complication arises and/or the midwives have a concern. At that point, I can either transfer care to Dr. Soper if necessary or she and the midwives will provide team care. Either way, Dr. Soper is available for consultation with the midwives throughout my pregnancy and delivery. I love that I already know, like and respect the backup doctor! The birth center is 7 minutes away from Methodist's front door in case the need should arise for emergency transport (which is rare due to the care taken to find out about possible complications during the pregnancy and taking action then!).

After going over everything, Andrea used the doppler to listen for the baby's heartbeat. It took several minutes to find it, and every time she did, the baby would move away. Must be a wiggle worm :) Anyway, she finally got the baby to hold still for the standard 15 seconds so she could count heartbeats. The heartrate was 150, which is kind of middle-of-the-road, and is what Lolli's usually was. Then they took my blood pressure (good!), scheduled the next appointment (February 2!) and that was that!

For those of you who may be wondering about the qualifications and exprience of a midwife, Andrea is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Nurse Midwife. She became a CNM in 1987 and did home births in Northern California for several years as well as managing a local birth center. She's served women from there to the St Thomas Hospital, US Virgin Islands, and a Missouri Birth Center! She came to Indy in 1997 and worked at the Birth Center as well as Methodst. She left and went to Planned Parenthood for a few years before returning to the birth center and is once again also delivering at Methodist. Her bio says her pet peeve are "midwives using power over women and the medicalization of birth." She's currently treasurer of the Indiana Midwives Association and is an active NRP and CPR instructor.

Anyway, Zach and I are so excited to have settled on a care provider and birth place! I'll update again next month!

Lolli Update!

Lolli is definitely not a baby anymore- she's an on-the-go toddler tornado :) She says a LOT of words: mama, dad, woof, mooo, duck, quack, roar (the sound a bear makes), yellow, yuck, hot, hat, zap, Zach, ball, Smush, fish, apple, banana, waffle, water, please, up, help... there are many more, plus she's started imitating almost every word imaginable. She still signs for all done, thank you, baby, milk, and a few other things.

Today Lauren taught Lolli to kiss the baby in her belly, so now Lolli has been giving her baby brother or sister lots of kisses :) And Lolli nursed her baby doll today, which was cute AND a good step towards her accepting Lauren nursing the new baby in 6 months! Lolli slept from 10-8 last night and only nursed this morning, but she's usually still requesting mama milk once or twice each night. She eats all sorts of foods except for nuts. She loves yogurt, waffles, peas, carrots, chocolate (ha), hot dogs (although lately she's been saying those are "yuck" - good girl!), pizza, kiwi, avacado... she's a girl of varied tastes, for sure.

She rides rear-facing in a convertible carseat and loves it. She dances every time she hears music, swaying back and forth and spinning in circles. She loves sitting on her potty while Zach or Lauren go pee and she insists on having her own piece of toilet paper for put in the big potty and wave bye bye to. She loves petting otis, Smush and Boo. She can get down off the bed now and often gets out of bed before Lauren and Zach (although the door is closed so she can't get out of the bedroom). She LOVES being outside and asks to wear her coat and hatseveral times a day. She enjoys coloring, especially in the tub with her special water crayons. She really likes sitting in her high chair seat, even when she's not hungry for some reason. She still enjoys being worn in the mei tai when she and Lauren are out and about, although soon that might get uncomfortable for Lauren - so far so good! She still loves to shower with Lauren or Zach and enjoys "drinking" from the shower. She's 15 1/2 months old and weighs 215 pounds.

Pregnancy Update

Lauren is 13 weeks, 5 days pregnant as of today. Her weight consistently hovers between 190 and 192, but the past 3 days it's been 189 because she got a stomach bug over the weekend and threw up for the first time this pregnancy (and peed her pants at the same time, LOL). Of course that's about 50 pounds more than Lauren should weigh, but the good news is that she hasn't gained any since she's been pregnant. With Lolli, she topped out at 217 and her goal for this pregnancy is to come in at or below that number. So far, so good!

This morning Lauren looked down in the shower and realized her belly button is once again drifting to the right, just like it did when she was pregnant with Lolli. How funny! She's felt the baby move a handful of times in the past week or so, but only when she's sitting or laying still. Lauren has an appointment tomorrow at Nurse Midwives of Indianapolis and is hoping to absdolutely love the place and the midwife, Andrea. Fingers crossed, that's where she'll be delivering.