We found out on July 3rd 2012 that we are having a baby! Our little one is also a girl! She is due in the middle of March 2013 and we cannot even begin to describe how excited we are. She is going to be such an awesome little girl with two adventurous parents who want to show her the world!
I realize that life is truly about the love you share with those that have been gifted to you. We are so equally blessed with amazing families and for about 7 years we have lived far away from them. I don't want to give up the things we love and that we want to instill into our child, but I believe the benefits of moving closer for a longer period of time and setting up a home base with family is the best thing for our futures. We will always be able to find great hiking and camping, most of all we need water to do the things we love. I hope our little girl loves to swim and go sailing. I hope we can teach her so many water related activities. The future is exciting, not so much scary, but open to new possibilities and seeing life through fresh eyes.
Anyway, We are here in Northern CA. I am grateful that I have awesome prenatal care. I love my Dr's and midwives. The birth center I will be delivering our baby in is a very human focused model of care rather than techno-medical which can treat patients and mothers as just a number on a time schedule. I feel like I will be allowed to labor and do my best to give birth naturally without the Dr. making quick decisions for me.
So finally, I am pregnant and loving it now. My first trimester was tough. Since week 17 I began to feel much better. Now the time is moving so quickly. I am 34 1/2 weeks and only 2 1/2 weeks away from being considered "full term". She grows each day and I can tell by how heavy I am feeling. At week 30 I began early disability from work so I could focus on my health. My weight had been declining and that is not healthy for either of us. My Dr. contributed this to stress from work and the inability to focus on my health. Since then, I have finally gained the appropriate weight although I am still on the low end of average for my height and beginning weight. I feel like I finally have a handle on it though. Our little girl moves all of the time. She is very active and kicks my ribs a lot. I love waking up and then she wakes up too. I find myself wanting to wake her up so I can feel her and say hi!
My braxton hicks contractions have begun. I have had them for 4 days now. It feels like my pelvis opens up and then closes. At times it takes my breath away but I consider this to be progress and one step closer to me meeting our daughter.
Ben and I are so thankful. I pray for patience and guidance. This is going to be awesome!
