A letter to all that plan to love this baby...

Dearest Loved Ones and Friends,

One of our many goals to come for our first child is for him/her to be as happy and healthy as we as parents can strive to ensure. In this light, we have decided to go with some nontraditional methods in many areas of the entire process that lies before us. We beseech the support of all of those around us in order to be successful in our efforts.

We will try our darnedest not to find out the sex of the baby until we meet face to face :) Because of that, our choice of colors are limited to my favorites: Green, Yellow and White! Yea!

We hope to be having a completely natural, drug-free home water birth in Crozet, VA with the help of Holly Shearman, our Midwife.

We will be cloth diapering our baby for health, ecological and economical reasons among others.

In trying to nourish this little soul, we will try to keep him/her out of direct contact with anything that is treated with, made with or contains harmful chemicals, BPA, horomones, steroids, unnatural ingredients or products. We ask that all gifts be as natural, organic and as close to the earth as possible.

In the spirit of reusing and recycling, please feel free to use resources like Craig's List, Ebay, Free Cycle USA, and Gently-Used.com. Another great resource for information on the subject is GreenYour.com. Although we understand that items obtained from the above sources may not mesh with the "Organic" scene that we are trying to create, they will keep us from having to support the mad consumerism and pollution that we contribute to when we buy new items. Things like nipples, and teething toys should be purchased new for obvious reasons :)


Please know that we have not always thought this way, we have not always purchased organic cotton clothes, eaten organic food, or only bought natural wood furniture made in the US. We have only recently (the past few years) started really paying attention to how our actions and choices affect our health and the health of the planet our children have to live on. We are especially trying to be more aware of our choices now that they will directly affect another life.

Think me a freak all you want, but I have been preparing for this event for some time now. I have been collecting/hording/stashing gently used baby items from friends, yard sales and lots from Craig's List. Having a baby is a huge financial undertaking for everyone involved, so I started early...what!?! On that note, not to sound at all persnickety, but please ask me to see what I have already or check our baby registry to see what we still need :)

Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support that we know you will be giving us :) We love you dearly!

The Bean Goes Christmas Tree Hunting!

There is the bean! Riiiiight there!

Overlooking Ralph's Christmas Tree Farm in Vesuvius, Va

This is the one!

Daddy to be, sawing away :)

It's a tight fit!

"I love how cooky our tree is"-Alex

The First Heartbeat (11 weeks)

Last Monday, we saw Holly, our Midwife, to try to find the bean's heartbeat. There wasn't one yet.

We went on to have a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at Marilyn and George's house, during which we spilled the news and I slept and ate for four days straight, feeling the growth happening by the minute. Having the ligaments in my abdomen pulling and stretching with every movement is very uncomfortable but comforting in the same light to know that everything is progressing normally.

We made another appointment for the following Monday evening (last night) to try again. It didn't take long at all to find it this time. I squealed and laughed and cried as soon as I heard it, it was so distinct I didn't need her to tell me that that was it. Alex was welling up across the room and came closer as she tried to locate it again after my mini explosion :) Even Holly, who has delivered over 400 babies got a little foggy over our joy and excitement. I came prepared with my phone to record the momentous occasion and got a nice 20 or so seconds of strong beating heart.

That's the sound of life, my little bean, thriving inside me.

We've Found Our Midwife

Off of a reccomendation from our soon to be Bradley Method coach, we got hooked up with Holly Shearman, CPM/LM of Compassionate Care Birth Center in Fishersville, VA. She is a wonderful woman that loves mothers and babies and specializes in home water birthing. We've had three visits with her so far and have really hit it off :) She is a very caring and gentle individual with a soft and warming smile :) Please read a little bit more about her and her practice by clicking on the links above.

Honey (whisper)...It's Positive.... (6.5 weeks)

So, our adventure starts on the morning of October 29th, with a home pregnancy test. I rolled out of bed at 3am (I couldn't wait any longer), opened the package (heard Alex turn over in bed and his heavy sleep-breathing stop with anticipation) and peed on the stick. Not wanting to get my hopes to high, I went about getting ready for work. A few minutes went by and I looked at the test and it had a plus sign, but one line was much more faint than the other. I took out the directions and in really big bold print it said:

"IT DOES NOT MATTER IF ONE LINE
IS LIGHTER THAN THE OTHER."

I had my answer. I opened the bathroom door and could see Alex's eyes trained on me in the dark. I crawled up next to him and whispered that it was positive. His exact words were "Really? You're not f'**king with me? Really? REALLY?"...Hugs :)

My doctor ordered a blood test that day. Not able to wait, I completed another positive test on Saturday morning. We had to wait, painstakingly, until my doctor's appointment on Monday for the confirmation.