Further Rumblings in the Tumbly

I came home from work today to find Allyson in the tub. I asked how she was doing and she said that Binker wouldn't quit moving, so she took a bath to try to relax him.

My immediate thought was "what the heck is going to calm this little critter down about sitting in some water? He spends all day every day in water!"

Well, my skepticism must have shown on my face, 'cuz Allyson called me over and put my hand on her belly. And after a second, lo and behold, I felt the little fella kick!

It was a really cool experience. I mean, throughout life in general, things kicking aren't too fun (e.g. horses), but feeling that thump in Ally's belly really brought it home that she's not just picking up a healthy bon-bon habit. She's definitely growing something in there.

And I sure hope it's not one of those things from that movie Aliens.

The Belly's Progression

...Getting bigger!

Binker moves

So last night I had my first, undeniable baby motion. I had seen/heard the binker kick me numerous times in ultrasounds and doppler checks but last night I definitely felt him run his head or rump along about 3 inches of my stomach. It felt very much like a wide butterfly walking across my stomach. Unlike the hundreds of odd sensations that have made each day of this pregnancy fascinating (if not challenging), this time I really knew what was going on. We were thrilled.

4-month Ultrasound

We're just at the end of our fourth month, and went in for an ultrasound. This was our final meeting with Linda, Allyson's favorite midwife to date--we'll be starting up with the nurse midwives soon.

This ultrasound was a mixed bag for me. We had gotten spoiled with fancier ultrasounds before this, and the topical method they used left us all with more of an impression than a full-on image of Binker. However, Binker was putting on quite a show! Once I had a handle on what I was looking at, I could see his head, body, hands and legs. And he was squirming and kicking and punching!

He's still too small for Allyson to really feel his movements yet, but she has a definite impression when Binker likes something, as well as when he doesn't.
For example, today when Binker was doing his first 5K, Allyson said she could tell that he was happy and had calmed down significantly. But when she lays down at night, Binker gets restless. Basically, he seems to like movement.

So I'm working out a way to make an Allyson-sized wind-up swing for her to sleep in at night. She's pushing her luck, though, and says she'd prefer a hammock that I rock back and forth and for me to fan her and feed her grapes.

We'll see.

We took a drive this afternoon and met with the first set of Nurse-Midwives. They are an organization of four nurse midwives who deliver babies in a hospital. This is different from the registered midwife we met with last night, whose main focus is on home births.

This process of interviews has really helped to settle Allyson and me on what things we find to be important in the birth of Binker. We knew at the outset, for example, that we didn't want to have the baby through the network of OB-GYNs here in town. When Allyson was first pregnant, they refused to even meet with her before her first trimester was complete, and during a delivery, it's a matter of who's on call that night to determine who does the delivery. We're more relationship-driven than that, and wanted to have someone we have spent some time with and are comfortable with when we welcome Binker into the world.

These nurse midwives struck us as an extremely good blend of opportunities--the midwife aspect provides more attention to the family, allows Allyson to have a specific birthing plan and to deliver in a manner that feels comfortable to her, and yet takes place in a hospital, where if something were to go wrong we have all of the necessary facilities at our disposal.

So we have been weighing the options of whether we would prefer the comfort and familiarity of our own home, or the security and solidity of a hospital. And, after much discussion over a (much needed) Indian dinner, we've come to a conclusion. We feel that the important aspects of our delivery are that it be with a trusted and supportive caregiver, and that the baby be born in a safe manner. There is a ceremonial aspect to the home birth that, while appealing, isn't vital to our experience.

So we've decided to go with the nurse midwives.

May Day.

Today we had our first midwife interview. This one was about the home birth. We met at a nice tea house before heading to her office.
We were with her for about an hour and a half. This was about as much time as I would spend in total with an OB-GYN over the next four months. We are getting clearer about what we are looking for, both in a maternity and in a labor experience.
I think like most parents-to-be, the most important thing is to maximize our probability of having a healthy baby.

Tomorrow our information-gathering process continues, as we head out for an interview with the nurse-midwives at the hospital out of town.