Our First Baby Appointment and Ultrasound

After finding out we were pregnant, I began looking at my options immediately. Hospital, home birth, birthing center...what to do!? I decided to look into birthing centers in Houston...I wanted a more natural birth...without all the medical interventions that could lead to complications. I found a birth center in The Woodlands called Nativiti birth center and Adam and I took a tour. It was fabulous! The mid-wives were so personable and it was close to a hospital just in case. The rooms looked like hotel rooms...so cozy. Each room had a huge tub for a water birth. They let you eat and drink during labor (a huge plus for me since I am always hungry, lol), they are trained to know if things are not progressing normally and you need a doctor's help, you can keep the baby with you at all times, and you can leave soon after the baby is born instead of being stuck at the hospital for a few days. They say that doctors are needed for surgeries (c-sections), but if you are healthy and have a normal pregnancy then you don't need a surgical doctor to give birth naturally...makes sense!

So we set up an appointment with the midwives at Nativiti. We were so excited when the day finally arrived! It was a 1.5 hour appointment where we could ask questions and discuss the whole process. The first thing they did was take my vitals and weight...all good. I had gained maybe 4 pounds! At this time I was 8 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Then they took us to the ultrasound room...we were totally surprised by this as I was told during the tour that they wouldn't do one until I was at least 12 weeks. We looked at each other with excitement!! She oozed the gel on my belly and put the wand down. She found the baby right away...it was amazing to see. I think I said..."Wow, there really is a baby in there!" Adam and I both teared up a little. The baby was moving around a little and we could see the heart beating. Then she let us listen to the heartbeat...that was so cool! It was fast...I think 182 bpm. Then she said she would look around to make sure there was only one baby. She asked if twins ran in our families. I immediately said no and asked Adam if it ran in his. Before he could answer she said, "Guys...I see another one!"

What?!? My hand flew up to my mouth and I gasped. Adam jumped up from his chair and peered into the screen, while squeezing my hand. I got goosebumps. I had ALWAYS wanted twins and actually teased Adam all the time about it. I NEVER thought it would happen to me!! Come to find out afterwards...twins do run in my family. Actually, triplets too! Crazy!

Not much to see at 8 weeks but they are there! We are sooooo excited!!!! The only downfall to having twins is that we cannot birth them at Nativiti...they don't do twins there. Bummer. I was disappointed about that, but the awesome news of having twins far outweighs that disappointment. Back to square one.

Anyways, here's how we announced our pregnancy on Facebook:

Me at 6 weeks! <3

And you can go here to see how we announced the twins:

http://www.local15tv.com/news/features/local-15-news-at-noon/stories/local-author-shares-details-new-book-515.shtml?wap=0#.Uy2znBa9LCQ

My MIL gave me a fetal heart monitor for my birthday (SO EXCITING) and here is one of the baby's heartbeats at 10 weeks!

I am now 11 weeks and 1 day! After much searching around, I've found another birth center in Houston, West Houston Birth Center, that does fraternal twins! I was so excited when I found them I cried! I'm not sure if my twins are fraternal or identical...but I made an appointment with them for Wednesday April 9 to do a tour and they are going to try to get me in for an ultrasound so we can determine which kind of twins they are. If they are fraternal my search will most likely stop there and I will be able to birth them in a birthing center (which would be my pick), but if they are identical then the search continues. I will look into home birth options if that's the case...I really don't want a hospital birth. We will see! I'm sure God will put me where it is best for me and the babies! :)