meeting with midwives

I met with one of our midwives, Claudia, yesterday for my now weekly appointment. I am measuring at 38 weeks, which is two weeks ahead of where I am at right now. Every thing else was great--my blood pressure, weight, heart rate as well as Lennox's heart rate. Our two midwives, Claudia and Jen, come to the house for our appointments and usually stay between an hour and an hour and a half. The first part of the appointment is just like what happens at the doctor's office--weight, blood pressure, urine test, heart rate, etc. After that, we get to catch up on how things have been going, any questions or concerns that Levi and I have and/or information about the birth. They are amazingly patient, kind, knowledgeable and genuine. We are so thankful to have them in our lives. Levi and both feel very safe and taken care of and are so happy to have a home birth!

Many friends and family (and complete strangers for that matter :) have asked Levi and I why we have chosen to have a home birth. After researching options regarding labor and delivery shortly after I found out I was pregnant, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to have an intimate and 'normal' experience instead of a medically induced birth. We wanted to be able to be at home, where we feel comfortable, and I wanted to be able to move around a lot, eat, move to different spots and have the option of either laboring or delivering in the water. We watched the documentary, The Business of Being Born, which was informative and startling. The documentary was done wonderfully, and after watching it I had pretty much decided that I wanted a home birth. After talking it over with Levi, he agreed (a lot quicker than I thought he would) and we were on our way to finding our midwives. The first midwife I called was unable to work with us because was already booked for the month of October. She referred us to another midwife who then referred us to Claudia and Jen. We were so happy when we finally found our midwives :)

We had to go through a screening process to ensure that we had a low risk pregnancy, that I didn't have any pre-existing health conditions and that Levi and I were both in agreement that we wanted a home birth. At first, Claudia and Jen met with us monthly and then bimonthly and now weekly. They are both so helpful and have explained so many things to us that I have never heard anything about at the doctor's office. We started off with a different doctor than we have now at UC Davis Med Center--we didn't get Dr. Micks until I was half way through the pregnancy. Thank goodness that we did get her (it was seriously meant to be) because she is supportive of our choice, is open-minded and is amazingly kind. She even wants to talk personally with our midwives and coordinate services with them! In the event that I need to be transported to the hospital, she has given me her pager number and she stated that she will meet us at the hospital and will do whatever is necessary for us.

I know that I am rambling on and on, but one more piece of information for everyone--the following is a list of celebrities that have had home births with midwives present:

• Pamela Anderson
• Charlotte Church
• Cindy Crawford
• Ricki Lake
• Demi Moore
• Thandi Newton
• Kelly Preston
• Meryl Streep
• Leila Ali

Thank you all for being so supportive and open minded to our choice. We can't wait for our son to arrive so that you can shower him with the love and support you have given us for so many years!!! We love you :)