Three Topics for Today

One--Midwives. That's right, those of you who know me well should not be surprised that James and I will be using a midwife to deliver our baby. There is an incredible amount of research out there that midwives are actually safer for mothers and babies than regular doctors in low-risk pregnancies. If I was feeling more energetic, I would find and post this research here for your perusal, but I am lazy and so it seems too difficult at the moment. Remind me later and I promise I will prove to you that midwives are a great choice for a birth attendant.

However, James and I feel as if we might have trouble finding a midwife that we like. We wanted one in a solo practice, covered by our insurance, who was willing to do a homebirth. (Yes, again, you should not be shocked that I am interested in a homebirth. Before you lose your socks, do your research, homebirth is just as safe, if not safer, than hospital birth for low-risk pregnancies.) So, we are put in the position to somehow compromise. Luckily, the fees of a homebirth midwife are generally about 1/4 of the cost of a hospital birth, and include all prenatal care as well, so if we are forced to go with someone not covered by our insurance, it would be okay.

While you reel from the news that I both plan to use a midwife AND may give birth in my own house, I'll distract you with a new topic:

Two--Telling. As I had mentioned, very few people know about the pregnancy so far. (Four, three of which are medical professionals, two of those happen to also be friends, though). All my online friends told people within minutes of the pregnancy test drying, including their parents, friends, and their network of Facebook acquaintances. As I mentioned before, given the vast array of chemical pregnancies I have gone through, my plan was always to wait.

But as the waiting got longer and longer it started to feel more and more funny to tell anyone about it. Around 8 weeks I thought I had developed a telling phobia and would not tell until people could know because of my huge belly. But then, around 9.5 weeks, I did start to have the itch to share my news with my dear friends (and there are so many of you, really).

But folks I have finally broken the telling ribbon. I hung out with Amy on Wednesday and she asked how trying to conceive was going, and I said "Well . . . " BIG SMILE.

Now, don't be jealous that you didn't find out sooner, if you are reading this and are not Amy. Basically, when I decided about a week ago that I wanted to start telling people, I thought that: 1. I wanted to tell them in person, and 2. I wanted to tell them in more of a personal setting.

James wanted to tell a table full of Norm, Jessie, Sagar, Amy, Karl, and Tim when we ate dinner with them on Sunday (before Laccone's show), but since I had told zero people, telling all those people at once scared the wits out of me. But the plan now is to tell you, dear friend, when I see you and hang out with you. Though I have been a socially withdrawn bad friend and family member (which now I can at least partly blame on bedrest), I do miss you and love you and hope to see you and tell you soon.

And another topic:

Three--Belly!! Yep, I've got a little one. James, Yaling, and Amy have assured me that it is not noticeable, but I think that is because it generally resembles my gluten belly. You see, I always have had sort of a round belly. Many of us have laughed about past photos in which I look 20 weeks pregnant--however, it turns out that this swollen belly was a reaction to gluten. When I stopped eating gluten, within a few days, my normally round belly had suddenly gone flat. I was flabbergasted. I began to notice that when I DID eat gluten, the bloated round belly would come right back. Weird, right?

Anyway, my 10 week belly very much resembles my gluten belly, and so, may not be noticeable to the untrained eye. And yet, the size 6 pants that I looked quite cute in a few months ago might as well be size 2's for how well I can button them. Luckily I have an ample supply of 8's and 10's to see me through for some time.

But fear not, dear reader, I have further proof:



I know it isn't a HUGE difference, but there is a bit of a difference. I will have to update on Sunday when we take our week 11 picture, I feel like it has really popped out this week.

Anyway, those three topics are probably enough to wrap your brain around today.