BUMP AHEAD! We were so happy to announce to our families the week of Mother's Day that we are expecting our first child! After 2 1/2 years of marriage we'd been wanting to start a family but issues kept arising that seemed to prevent us from moving forward. During the October 2011 LDS General Conference we watched a talk given by Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the very subject of having children. We felt as though Elder Anderson was talking directly to us:
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When a child is born to a husband and wife, they are fulfilling part of our Heavenly Father’s plan to bring children to earth. The Lord said, 'This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.' Before immortality, there must be mortality."
"Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: '[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.' She then adds: 'Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.'"
"Across the world, this is a time of economic instability and financial uncertainty. In April general conference, President Thomas S. Monson said: 'If you are concerned about providing financially for a wife and family, may I assure you that there is no shame in a couple having to scrimp and save. It is generally during these challenging times that you will grow closer together as you learn to sacrifice and to make difficult decisions.'"
After listening to this talk we decided to pray about our desire to have children and when the right time would be to start trying. There were many things to consider: our financial status, lack of health insurance, Tommy's commitment to studying for and passing the CPA Exams, and no promising leads in Tommy's efforts to establish a career in the accounting field. After prayer and consideration, we received our answer that if we put our faith in Heavenly Father, He would take care of the rest. We started trying just a couple weeks before Christmas. Four months later, I was pregnant! And I'm happy to say that over the past four months we've managed to secure health insurance for myself, Tommy has one passed CPA Exam under his belt, and has some great career leads with companies here in San Diego.
The BUMP
Can you see it? It's there! A tiny bump is forming to accommodate our growing Little Bean! We couldn't be more excited! We found out we were pregnant the morning of April 19th. I'd been charting my fertility using the Fertility Awareness Method and was days away from testing. However, on the 18th when I went out for my usual run I suddenly lacked the energy to get through it. I had to keep stopping to catch my breath and even had a bout of dizziness at one point. I had my suspicions so decided to test the next morning:
Two BFP (Big Fat Positives)! We didn't waste any time and by the next week we had already toured the Best Start Birth Center and set up my first appointment for this Thursday, May 31st. As of today I am 10 weeks, 2 days pregnant and my EDD (Estimated Delivery Date) is December 22, 2012!
What is Best Start Birth Center?
Best Start is the longest established state-licensed, nationally accredited, free-standing birth center in Southern California. They are not part of a hospital or HMO and are a private practice owned and operated by midwives. Best Start has physicians associated with the practice whom they consult with and refer clients to as needed, but they are not there for deliveries -- it is the midwives who do the deliveries. Best Start is also the only state-licensed, nationally accredited facility in San Diego offering Water birth. Best Start does not offer epidural services and IV's are not used routinely.
WAIT... WHAT?? I know this all sounds crazy, but I plan to do natural birth in a bathtub, also known as a Water birth. To deal with the difficulties of labor, I will be using Hypnobirthing, which can be best described as meditation through labor and delivery. But more on that later...
San Diego Hypnobirthing:
