I went to my 16 week checkup this week and found out some bad news. Nothing with the baby: baby is doing fine and his/her hearbeat was strong at 155 bpm. My OB/GYN is leaving for a vacation on December 27 which is very close to my due date (December 29). For those of you who have watched "Knocked Up" it was eerily similar to the plot of the movie.

My doctor gave my two options. One is to induce labor using a drug to "ripen my cervix" called Cervidil, administer pitocin intravenously to get my contractions going, and hope that my body reads the signals and kicks into gear. The other option is to find another provider that will be around for the holidays and continue my prenatal care with them.

Option 1 didn't sound very appealing to Gene and I. We've been aiming for a natural childbirth so the idea of so many medical interventions wasn't what we wanted. So now we're on the search for a midwife. Certified Nurse Midwives are advanced practice nurses who specialize in women's health, labor, and delivery. Their approach is a more supportive of a natural labor process and more in tune with our "granola" mentality.

Hopefully things work out and we find someone soon.

As my second trimester gets underway I've found that I have more energy and I've started to feel the baby move (especially after eating). Other symptoms I've been feeling are:

headaches
my eyes are sensitive to bright light
cravings for Haagen Daaz strawberry ice cream

I'll keep everyone posted on what happens. Four more weeks and we'll find out if it's a girl or boy! And yes, we've picked names...

If it's a boy: Marley
If it's a girl: Marlena ("Marley" for short)