Homebirth!!

Yes, you read that right! We are going to have a homebirth! Just before we moved, I found a homebirth midwife that actually legally practices in Virginia and lives near me! Unbelievable! And she accepts our insurance! It's my dream come true, for sure. And I'm sure, for many of you, you can't imagine anything worse or scary. But for me, ever since I became pregnant the first time, I have always been intrigued with homebirth, but the option was never open to me because the one place I could find didn't accept our insurance and it was pretty far away for all of my prenatals. So, my first 2 girls have been born in the hospital with midwives. When I found out I was pregnant again, I declared that I wanted a homebirth. I figured that this is my last baby (most likely) and this was my only shot. But again, I was presented with the same problem, I couldn't find a homebirth midwife!

So, literally days before we moved, I received an e-mail from some Virginia midwife assocation that sent me a list of midwives that I had requested months ago. And I saw one that actually lived near me! So, I called her, thinking that there was no way she would be available or something. But it turned out she was available and accepted our insurance and seemed really nice!

So, after we got settled in here, I gave her a call to set up a consultation for us to meet her and discuss switching my prenatal care to her. She (Peggy) came HERE last night. How great is that? So, she got to meet the whole family, including the dog. :) Brian and I both really liked her and felt very at ease with her. We were shocked to hear that she has 8 children! I guess she really likes birth! LOL

I was actually supposed to have an appointment yesterday at my other midwives for a prenatal, but I had cancelled it in the hopes of switching to Peggy. So, we decided to go ahead and do a prenatal right here! It was so cool! She gave me a cup to pee in and then we measured me and listened to the baby's heartbeat, right here in my living room, with my dog licking my face. :) It was very cool!

So, I have my next appointmenton the 25th and I'm already on 2 week appointments! Where did the time go? I'll go to her house (which is right near my mom's) for the rest of my prenatals, because for some reason, my insurance requires that.

I think my favorite part was how excited Emma got at meeting the midwife and seeing her "tools" and helping her hold the tools while we took my blood pressure, etc. She really liked her (followed her to the door when she left). It was so cute. We told Peggy that Emma really wanted to cut the umbilical cord when the baby was born and Peggy said she would write that down so we wouldn't forget.

For me, homebirth makes complete sense. I tend to have very quick labors and have never had any medication or IVs during labor or after, so it seems silly to go all the way to a hospital. Plus, both times, I ended up leaving the next day because I hate being in there. So, it just makes sense to be in the comfort of my own home so I don't have to endure that dreaded car ride when I'm in labor and don't have to wonder if I'm going to get sent home.

We probably aren't going to rent a birthing tub as it's a kind of expensive for us and since I tend to go so quickly, it doesn't seem all that necessary. I don't have any specific dreams toward having a water birth, so I'm probably just fine having the baby in bed or wherever the heck I feel like it! I'm so excited, I can't even describe it. :)

So, there's our exciting news. Maybe in the next few days, I'll post the girls birth stories for you all to read. I love reading birth stories. :)