A decision?

I had my first prenatal appointment yesterday. That is really hard to believe. When I was pregnant with Caleb, I wanted to get in there just as soon as I had tested positive. It's amazing how age and experience sort of mellows you out. I waited until I was 19 weeks, 6 days along for this appointment.

I met with the doctor who was actually the backup doctor for my attempted homebirth with Abby. He is just such a nice guy and so sympathetic to people who don't want to necessarily do things "by the book". My intention was to ask him for a referral to the nurse-midwives at the hospital, but after speaking with him (at length) we decided that we would just remain with his office. He has a female physician that he's trained that I can see on a regular basis, but he will maintain a somewhat supervisory role over the pregnancy. That way, I still get to see a female (which is very important for my comfort level) and yet the "authority" remains with someone who is, by his own admission, more like a midwife than a doctor. If I had transferred to the nurse-midwives, in accordance with Nebraska law, they are all under absolute authority of the OBs in their office and thus my care would ultimately be in the hands of doctors who are most likely more "medically minded" when it comes to birth.

I did mention to him that I do live 90 minutes away and that we would be brushing up on information needed to catch our own baby because if my labor is anything like last time, there is no way I'd know that I was ready until my body said "Push!" My labor was just so easy that I (and the midwife) was shocked to find that I was actually dilating. He agreed. He said that if the baby was lined up correctly, I might not even make it out of the county.

Anyway, we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time. It is so comforting to hear that whoosh, whoosh, whoosh beating so fast (142 bpm) and to know that everything is okay. He said I am measuring perfectly so far and that baby is quite a squirmer with lots of room to grow. No wonder I grow them so big. He does want to keep an eye on gestational diabetes because of my history of big babies and now my history with Abby of polyhydroamnios (excess amniotic fluid).

I go back in about 2 weeks for an ultrasound. I think we are going to try to be surprised by the gender this time. We'll see if we can stand the suspense.