11 weeks... size of a lime!

     I suppose it's actually going to happen... a baby is on it's way! We were excited up to this point, but now it's undeniable and we're WAY more excited than before. We heard a heartbeat last night! There actually is something renting out space in my abdomen and the tiredness, nausea and mood swings are the cause of that little something. It's nice to actually have some proof since we haven't yet had a doppler or ultrasound appointment with our midwife yet. But now we know!

    I thought it might be a good idea to start a blog (that word still makes no sense to me and is irritating) so that interested friends and family could keep up with where we are. A few basics for now:

   1). No, this isn't why we're getting married (admit it, some of you were thinking it)! Chris proposed, we enjoyed our road trip to Utah and Vegas, enjoyed a night out with friends for our "engagement party" and then... you got it. I peed on a stick and got a tiny pink plus sign.

   2). If you don't already know, I've been interested in midwifery and natural childbirth for a while now. I attended a doula workshop in February and March and have done tons of research and reading over the past few years about women's choices when it comes to pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I'm not exactly sure when or how, but I decided that I would never give birth in a hospital (unless it's absolutely necessary). So we've chosen a water birth center here in Portland (waterbirth.net) and are happy with our choice of care. Please do not share your horror stories about out-of-hospital birth with me. I know and fully believe that births at home or at birth centers (and without pain medications or unnecessary interventions) are completely safe and you are not going to change my mind. Please be respectful of that.

   3). We are not rooting for one gender or another. Eventually, I would like at least one of each, so I'm just going to say it... we just want it to be healthy. Though, being a girl myself, I would love to have a little girl and I'm sure Chris would love to have a boy. And of course, if it's a girl, we're already set on a name (or rather, I'm set and Chris just happens to like the name as well). I don't think I want to announce it just yet, though. For boys, I do have a few names that we both like. We'll let you know what name we've chosen once we find out the gender (sometime during the 5th month. Come on, you can wait 2 more months to find out!).