Centering Pregnancy

First of all, our midwife practice is amazing. Second, they offer a unique group option for prenatal care called Centering Pregnancy. (Click here for more information on the concept and practice model)

Each couple gets assigned to a Centering group according to their due date (so that everyone in the group is at similar stages of their pregnancy) and begins meeting with this group every two weeks after the 20th week of pregnancy. There are a total of 10 meetings and most groups have between 6 and 8 couples. We've been to three of our Centering group meetings so far and we are really loving it!

Our group has 5 couples, most of them are close to our age and we're all due sometime in February. Nick & I are actually the first due date in the group so we joke that we're the guinea pigs for everyone else- haha! We all bring snacks to each meeting and it's becoming a fun, social way to get the care we need.

The experience has been wonderful so far. Having an opportunity to talk with other couples about concerns, fears, and experiences really does help the learning process and preparation for our own baby. Our group meets with the same midwife every time and our midwife, Susan, is amazing. She is the director of the midwifery practice and has decades of experience. She is supportive, calming and passionate about what she does, which I  really appreciate. We really enjoy the focus that Centering places on individually-driven health care and the importance that is made of providing us with the tools and education to make the best health care decisions for our family. Every couple is given a binder that has educational materials, worksheets and tracking tools so that we can be involved in our prenatal care- Susan even taught all the Dads how to measure the uterus to track the baby's growth and how to use the doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat. Now, at every appointment, Nick gets to do all of my prenatal measurements (blood pressure, weight, fundal height and heartbeat measurement) which is really cool. I think it's great that he gets to be more involved than he would be in a typical prenatal care environment.

I would definitely recommend this model of care to anyone who is expecting and has the opportunity to be involved with a Centering group. It makes a huge difference, especially for the Dads who can sometimes get pushed to the side in a typical prenatal care environment, and is really a wonderful way to create a social support network while learning about our pregnancies.

much love, L&N

also...

It's Election Day! Today is like the Super Bowl in our house and we're so excited to hang out all night watching the returns :) Nerd alert!

Go VOTE! 

But remember: 

So here's the thing: I am a passionately political person with strong convictions about the direction of our country. But so are a lot of people, and we don't all agree. That's the FANTASTIC thing about this country. We get to talk, openly, about what we believe. We get to VOTE based on our opinions and convictions. We get to disagree, openly, about the decisions our political entities make. THIS 

IS WHAT MAKES AMERICA (and others) SPECIAL! I'm not going to tell you who I think you should vote for because, to be honest, those of us that already know who we're voting for aren't going to change our minds and those of us that don't know who to vote for should be figuring it out for themselves, but I will tell you this: No matter what happens tomorrow, 10 days from now or 15 years from now in the political sphere- remember that just because someone doesn't agree with you DOES NOT make them stupid or unworthy of respect. It makes them different. And even though we don't teach it the way we should, DIFFERENT ISN'T BAD! It's what makes this place we call home so incredibly amazing. -(copied from my Facebook status of Nov. 5, 2012) 

much love, L&N

some electronic thank you's

We have a couple posts in the works on the 26 week belly and other updates but I wanted to take a few minutes to send out some virtual "Thank You's" to some people who have sent us some wonderful gifts!

The baby gear is definitely increasing and the more stuff we get, the more excited we get for him to be here and use it all :)


First, here's a shot of some of the great things that my Mom & Dad have sent our way over the last few weeks.

Our first batch of cloth diapers!, an adorable gator bib and some toys and accessories

We were so excited to get our first set of cloth diapers (we're using the Elemental All-in-Ones by Bum Genius) in orange for Halloween! Also, the pillow will look so cute in the rocking chair where I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time :) Thank you, Mom & Dad! We are so appreciative of all you do for us and for the little one! 

Here's a photo of the contents of a wonderful box that was sent to us by a life-long family friend, referred to as Aunt Kiki by my brother and I. 

such necessary stuff!

I was pretty excited to get this box full of goodies, especially since I've been freaking out lately about not having "the essentials". This is all stuff that we definitely needed and kept forgetting about! Thanks again, Kiki! We really appreciate it :)

This wasn't gifted but we got such a great deal that I wanted to brag a little ;) It's a Medela Pump-in-Style breast pump with the Metro bag and removable pump, plus some accessories like bottles, storage bags, and a cooler. We knew we needed to get a breast pump before the baby was here because we're hoping to go breast milk only. We had been stalking Craigslist for weeks to find a good one and we were so thankful to find a woman who was willing to cooperate with us from a distance (she was in Atlanta). I know, a lot of people think buying things like breast pumps used is gross and unsanitary but everything that has touched milk or breasts can be sterilized and/or replaced with new parts from Medela. Also, there are so many women who buy pumps and then either can't or choose not to breastfeed which leaves them stuck with a very expensive and practically new pump. We figured there was no reason to spend almost $400 on something that we could get for less than half of retail, especially since the one we found is less than a year old and was only used for a couple of weeks. We snagged all of this (which includes more than a brand new pump would) for $125! Bargain baby shoppers, unite! :)

This next photo is a virtual thank you for Vicki & Jes, who have sent us so many cute outfits over the last couple of months! We love all of them and are so excited to finally get to see him in all of these adorable get-ups in just a couple months :) Thank you!! 

This last photo is actually to commemorate the first clothing purchase that Nick & I made for little man :) We hadn't bought any clothes before we knew his gender so after we found out, we went and bought him his first outfits from Mommy & Daddy. So sweet!

This last photo is a belated shout-out to my cousin, Anna who made (yes, made! so crafty!) us this adorable elephant :) We're thinking of adding his name to it and using it as a door hanger for the nursery but we were so happy to have one of our first pieces of decor. It made it even better that it was handmade by one of his amazing family members! Thanks again, Anna! (Also, Anna has two wonderful blogs of her own, Pura Vida and Kindergarten Khronicles. Check them out!)

Keep watching for our 26 week update this week and the name reveal (for those who don't already know) in a week or so!

much love, L&N