Pregnancy Update

Last week we had our first prenatal visit with our fabulous midwives! We got to hear Tadpole's heartbeat for the first time which was amazing! We could also hear him or her kicking, but I still can't feel it. Everything is going great so far; Tadpole's growth is right on track and my pregnancy symptoms are very manageable. We will have a prenatal visit every four weeks until I'm 28 weeks along, and then every two weeks. In 4 weeks or so we will have the anatomy ultrasound, which looks at all of Tadpole's organs and limbs to make sure everything is ok. Hopefully we will both get a clean bill of health!
For those of you that don't know much about birth centers, I will be delivering at Charleston Birth Place. Most birth centers, including this one, are run by Certified Nurse Midwives. They have two back-up obstetricians and practice privileges at a local hospital in case more help is needed during pregnancy or labor. This video shows a tour of the birth center, and they also have a Q&A page. It is a very different environment form a typical hospital labor and delivery unit! I have worked at Charleston Birth Place for almost three years, and I will also be catching babies there in the weeks before I deliver! It is a wonderful place!

This is a beautiful (albeit long!) and non-graphic video of some professional labor and birth photography from the birth center.