On June 17th John discovered that he was going to be a Dad. Shani had known for two days, but was waiting for John to come home from Napa to tell him in person. She gave him "In My Nest" a birdy children's book and said that she was excited for the adventures our child will have with Daddy. Not being out of the norm for Shani to buy baby stuff, John thanked her and didn't think anything of it. Until Shani said, "Well...are you ready?" John's reply--"Ready for what?" To which Shani answered with tears in her eyes, "To be a Dad." This was exciting news for us as we had been trying for several months to get pregnant, lived apart for 2+ years, and celebrated 6 years of marriage. There were definitely tears of joy!
Thankfully, the pregnancy has been easy on Shani. She hasn't had morning sickness, crazy cravings (other than a sweet tooth), or anything else that prevented her from doing her normal activities. Initially, there were some concerns, but with the help of acupuncture, herbs, chiropractic, and knowledgeable midwives we got through the 1st trimester smoothly. She even played soccer until 14 weeks pregnant! She eventually had to give that up, but she stays active and goes to a pre-natal fit class and yoga class each week to help keep her butt in shape. She wants to work as long as she can (hopefully all the way until she delivers).
Being a little on the non-conventional side, it's not a surprise to most people that we will be having a homebirth. We are very excited about it and think it's what's best for us. We have amazing midwives who helped us even before we were pregnant and we look forward to birthing with them. We have decided not to find out whether we are having a boy or girl, we are just excited about having a baby! The baby's movements were noticeable to Shani around 19 weeks and within that week John was feeling the baby too. We think that the baby is taking after us already...big feet!
We just had our 22 week appointment which means we are more than half way through! Momma Donna and Shani heard (John was in Arizona for the week) the heartbeat with a fetoscope (almost like a stethoscope) which was really amazing since our little one is not even one pound, yet we can hear the actual heartbeat. Shani doesn't feel too comfortable with ultrasound and is happy that we no longer have to use the Doppler to hear the heartbeat. The perks of having midwives! The babies heartbeat was 152 bpm and Shani is measuring 21 cm. So far everything is looking good and healthy!
Now for the fun part. We will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible with pictures. So far they are pretty boring, but once the baby comes I'm sure they will be a lot more exciting.
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| 16 weeks 20 weeks |
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| 20 weeks- wedding in Yosemite |
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