Moving Along

I haven't written all that much about pregnancy so far, but thought a little overview was in order, for those interested. I haven't wanted to write too much about pregnancy and babies and whatnot because while I am in fact experiencing pregnancy, and there will be, in fact, a baby, I am still FUN. Right? RIGHT? KATE IS FUN!

Anyway.

I'm just over 18 weeks pregnant and things are going really well over all. Sure, I have my own internal furnace that has a broken control knob, and minor emotional outbursts [Minor, right, Keith? Keith? Why are you hiding in the corner?]. But, I am also feeling physically great, eating well (minus yesterday's run-in with far too many sour gummy candies bought in bulk from the grocery), and starting to look the part.

My current favorite pasttime

2 weeks ago I felt a large bump in my stomach and thought, Oh no! Some horrific growth that wants to eat my baby! I ran into one of my homebirth midwives that evening at the bus stop, and she was all, "Uh, do you think it was the baby?" Sure, okay... that's a reasonable explantation. That night my uterine monster had moved, and I concluded that it was, in fact, a baby.

1 week ago I awoke to something pushing on me from the inside, which was a very grounding and surreal moment. Keith and I sometimes joke that maybe I'm not actually pregnant, maybe I'm just eating a lot more and convincing myself I have a reason to sleep all the time. There are numerous stories of pseudocyesis where women were so sure they were pregnant and their bellies grew and they experienced all the same symptoms. With one woman, when her doctor told her definitively that she WAS NOT WITH CHILD, her stomach deflated on the spot. How peculiar.

Last night, as Keith and I were indulging on our current American TV favorite, Burn Notice (a program that, my brother tells me, one is most likely to become acquainted with on long, international flights), we were both able to feel the baby FROM THE OUTSIDE. This was cool for me, but it was really amazing for Keith, who no longer has to rely on my convincing arguments to believe that we really will have a baby in five-ish months.

According to babycenter.com, our baby is about the size of a bell pepper when measured from head to butt (legs will be added into the calculation in a couple weeks once they stretch out, so really s/he is probably around 8 or 9 inches).

I have yet to gain any weight, which, let's be honest, I'm not protesting. I'm eating my protein and produce, drinking udders-ful of milk, and mostly staying away from refined sugars, so there's not much else I can do. Except wait. And one day, I will wake up to what feels like another appendage hanging from my person, and I will eat these words and drown my sorrows in piles of lollipops and marshmallows.

Next week when we see our midwife we will get to hear the heartbeat for the first time, via a fetal stethescope. We opted out of the optional ultrasound for various reasons I will explain in a later post so hold on to your judgements until you can really let loose, and I am really looking forward to hearing this sound for the first time.

In Sweden the midwife model of maternity care is used (versus the U.S.'s obstetric model of care). This means that every woman receives prenatal care and gives birth with a midwife, and only sees an OB if they elect to, or if complications arise. The first midwife I saw wasn't fluent in English, and as neither Keith or I am fluent in Swedish, this clearly wasn't going to work. The second midwife we saw was truly great, so we will see her throughout the pregnancy (next week will be our second visit with her, our third in total). We have opted to have a homebirth (again-- it will be so much better to judge this decision if you wait until I explain myself fully!), which is not very common in Sweden (since their hospital care is so excellent, it seems), but it's something that was really important to me. So, we have met with the midwives that will attend the homebirth, and they are excellent as well. They each work in a clinic or hospital full-time, but attend homebirths on the side. This is a slightly different structure from the homebirth model in the U.S. (which is quite rare, as well). Typically, if you chose homebirth in the U.S. you will see that midwife for your prenatal care as well, receiving "continuity of care". I was a bit put off at first that this wouldn't be possible here (even if I gave birth in the hospital, I would not be attended by the midwife I see at the clinic). However, I am quite pleased with all the midwives I've met, so this doesn't bother me now.

So, that's my goings-on in a nutshell. Thanks for enduring.