Baby Mueller #2

In deciding what to write about today I thought I would pick from one of my Old Years Resolutions and go into more detail, since I did promise that after all… and scrolling through I found my favorite one: Have A Baby!!

So yup, this post is all about Baby Mueller #2. Yesterday I had my first prenatal appointment, and it went fabulously! When Jake and I were expecting our first, we talked extensively about care options.

I knew I did NOT want a hospital birth; I wanted to avoid that like the plague. Jake was fine with a midwife, but he was not completely comfortable with a home birth. Unfortunately, there were no birth centers in the area at that time, so hospital or home birth were our only options. We decided to interview a few midwives and see how we felt after that.

We did find a midwife we loved, she was a Certified Nurse Midwife, which made Jake feel much more comfortable, and she was able to answer all his questions about what she would do in difficult birthing situations, such as a cord wrapped around the neck or meconium aspiration. With a bit of trepidation and a LOT of excitement, we moved forward with the home birth. I loved the experience; you can read about it here. There are only a couple of things I would have changed… like getting more pictures… but overall it was more wonderful than I ever could have expected.

However, due to our current housing situation, it may not be possible to have a home birth this time around. Luckily, the wonderful midwife we found this time around is opening a birth center this year in Racine. Woot! It’s forty minutes away, which is a bit of a drive, but doable. Our appointment was at the birth center; the area is absolutely gorgeous. It’s right on the lake in the old part of town, so all the buildings and architecture have that character appeal to them. There’s also lots to see and do, so if we can manage to get there in early labor maybe we can go for a nice lakeside walk and do some window shopping. The inside of the birth center… well let’s just say I’m not going to make any judgments right now as it’s technically not open for another month. But the rooms are very spacious, and each should have a built in birthing tub!

We got to hear Baby’s heartbeat, which was amazing and totally unexpected! We thought I was only about 11 weeks along, and usually you can’t find the heartbeat before 12 weeks. But it was no trouble finding it at all, and the beat was loud and clear at 140 bpm. I am also measuring around 13-14 weeks, which can be normal for a second pregnancy, but we won’t know for sure until 20 weeks when mommies who are measuring ahead usually level out again. For now the tentative due date is July 25th, but it could be sooner than that!

My midwife is also going to be referring me to a local chiropractor for some pain that I’ve been having. I was a little concerned at first, since we can’t really afford that on our own. But I called Samaritan Ministries, the health sharing ministry Evangeline and I are on, and they said that chiropractor visits for pregnancy are eligible needs for up to 25 visits! So, I should be able to start seeing a chiropractor sometime soon, which is great, because that was so helpful with my last pregnancy.

All in all, we are very excited to welcome our new baby and Evangeline’s little sibling. I am so blessed to be a mommy of two!