11 weeks

So here we are at 11 weeks and, my friends, there is definitely a belly bump. Sometimes it's larger, sometimes it's smaller, but there's no denying it. And having watched some neat-o YouTube montages of women's growing bellies, it should be only two or three more weeks before I start to actually look pregnant instead of like I'm drinking too much beer. This will be a relief.

Tomorrow morning we have our first appointment with our midwife, Barb. Yes, a midwife.

We have a terrific OB whom we're continuing to retain for at least another month but we've pretty solidly decided to welcome our little bean into the world at home with a midwife and doula. Perhaps in a big ol' kiddie pool. We have read lots of books, watched videos, and interviewed people to fully inform ourselves before making this big decision, and we feel very comfortable with it. Excited, even. It just feels right. As long as our baseline testing comes back to show that this is a low-risk pregnancy, and as long as I don't develop any high-risk symptoms, birthing at home feels like the absolute right thing to do. We feel that birth is a natural process, and that my body will do what it is supposed to do without the assistance of drugs or medicalized surveillance. Midwives monitor the fetus for distress in the exact same way nurses at hospitals do (with a fetal heart monitor) and we live literally (no exaggeration, here) two minutes from the largest hospital in the city in case anything should require a more technological, medical approach.

If this makes you uncomfortable or perhaps you think we're nuts, I highly recommend watching the documentary, The Business of Being Born. Yes, it has an agenda. But everything we've read has confirmed what we saw in the film. And we've read some very even-handed stuff - books meant to help partners decide what to do, rather than trying to convince them to take one option or another.

You might still think we're nuts. But we're pretty passionate about this decision, and we'd love to talk to you about it - your concerns or your excitement.

And now, two very different renderings of our little alien at 11 weeks. The first is from babycenter.com, a great website that sends me emails each week to tell me what's going on down there. Isn't it cute?


And now, what the fetus actually looks like. Not so cute, fairly freakish, but still quite lovable:

It has fingers and toes! In fact, by next Wednesday, all of its organs and systems will be formed and it will spend the next six months maturing and growing into all of its full baby glory. And it will become much cuter.