Timberline Lodge

We went up to Timberline on Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful! It has been raining for so long now, but we were very lucky because it decided to clear up for our special day. The drive was actually very quick, about an hour in a half. Myles took me past the McMinnimins Edgefield on the way. I had always thought that it was really far from Portland, but its actually not far at all. I know that they have really good bands play there all of the time, so I hope we get to go sometime.

Timberline was very unique and beautiful. I love that you can drive an hour from Portland and be in the snow year round. The lodge was built in the 30's during the depression. All materials are from the local area and everything was made by hand. The lodge was amazing and beautiful. I wish we had more time to hang around in the lodge. We did get to swim in the heated pool surrounded by snow. That was really fun and different, but SO COLD when we got out! People would ski by and look over the fence and ask us if it was heated.. If it wasn't heated it would have been frozen solid!

We had dinner at the pub there and I had spiced apple cider which was so delicious! Myles had beer from the Mt. Hood brewery. We didn't do much except swim and lay around. We brought lots of snacks too - and had snow right out the window so we could put our food in it to keep it cooled. At about 3 in the morning there was a loud rumble that shook the whole place. It was SO loud and scary. Mind you we are sleeping right at the top of a volcano peak, and this scared the heck out of me. I thought the mountain was ready to blow for sure! Myles woke up as well, but we weren't able to tell if we were buried in the snow or not because our window was already buried from before. The next morning I asked several people about it, and the only person who said they heard anything was a little kid, and he said he heard it all night long... so I don't think it was the same thing. I know that I heard it though!!!

Second Midwife appointment

Today we had our second appointment with the midwife. We were supposed to meet Nora, the second midwife, however I had to re-schedule so that Myles could make it, so we saw Catherine again. This was Myles first visit with her and I was really hoping that he would like her after the horrible visit we had with the OBGYN at the last visit. The best part was when she put the little heartbeat thing on there and found the heartbeat right away! She says my uterus is kind of tipped forward so it's easy to find. It sounded so cute and she said it was moving around a lot! I just can't imagine that there is really a little baby in there! I have no idea what it will be like, the concept of it seems so foreign to me. Hearing the heartbeat and knowing it's moving around was amazing though and made it all a lot more real. Catherine was also very sure to be sure all of Myles questions were answered. I'm sure it helps him to feel more involved. He must have so many thoughts and questions as well and I don't ever want him to be feeling left out of this whole process. Over all I feel so good about our choices of prenatal care and the whole homebirth thing. I really do trust myself, my body and my strength. I know that I am more comfortable at home than anywhere...and can't wait to see how this all turns out!

Most frusterating

My good friend just got back from Germany and brought me some beautiful yarn. I decided to knit my first pair of booties for our baby. The first one turned out adorable, however I ran out of yarn about 4 rows before finishing the second one!!! Now I have to either attempt to match the yarn from Germany, or make one bootie with a different colored toe and seam. I will get a picture of them up here once I figure out what i'm going to do. Nothing is more frustrating that running out of yarn mid- project!

I'm not so good at keeping up with this

So today is now Tuesday and I'm going to try and catch up with the fun things that have been going on. On Saturday I went to a baby shower for some of my friends from my old job. It was really fun to see so many people that I really miss since leaving there, and it made me realize how many great friends I had there and how much I miss them all. The couple having the baby are so laid back and amazing. I know they are going to have such a cute family. It breaks my heart though because the mother is going to have to give birth in the hospital, even though she is deathly afraid of that and wishes for a home birth. I have been trying to think of ways she could raise money to afford a home birth, but she's already 36 weeks along so the baby really could be here anytime. I know that midwives really don't make that much money and wish there was some other way for her do have the birth that she wants. Her mother had 7 children at home unattended. The only one to help her was her husband. I have a feeling that my friend is considering trying to do it unassisted as well, except for her mother, but we will see. I am so happy and lucky to be able to prepare for the birth that I want. I really hope that my pregnancy continues to be so low risk so that I don't have to worry about being transferred to the hospital. If you haven't seen Ricky Lakes movie "business of birthing", it's a great film about the topic!

Last night when I got home from work out power was out, and stayed out until 9:45 pm! It was actually really fun though, my husband had a fire going and got take out for dinner. We played cards by the light of candles and our Colman lantern. Our cats laid around with us keeping warm by the wood stove. It was amazing how quite it was without the fish tank and fridge running! Tomorrow is my first meeting with Nora, my second midwife. I am so excited. Myles is coming along too. We had such a bad experience with the OBGYN at the HMO, so I am really hoping that this visit goes much better. My tummy is already starting to stick out... I wonder how big I'm going to get! I've been so sick still, but am hoping it goes away in a few weeks. I can hardly stand it any longer!

My first blog

I have been debating for quite sometime about starting a blog. I don't really know the point, as I'm not much of a public person and I already have a Myspace account for my friends to keep in touch, but figure I can do this as well, kind of as a trial. I am now 9.5 weeks pregnant, so I thought this would be a fun way to keep track of my pregnancy and new family for our friends and relatives far away. I have been wanting to keep up with my journal at home, but I'm usually too lazy or sick these days. My old roommate and friend Natalie has a blog and I always find it fun to check in and see what she's up to, so now I'm doing the same! I'm currently working at a call center for a major HMO, and am coming upon my first anniversary with my husband! We are very excited about that and are going to spend a night at Timberline Lodge up at Mt. Hood to celebrate. The weather report says it's going to snow down to the valley floor on Saturday, so we are still waiting for Spring to arrive. I live in Portland Oregon and absolutely love it here - I think it must be the most beautiful city in the U.S. Very European, clean, green and Liberal. Last weekend was perfect - 72 degrees and the sun was out. All of the trees are blooming and I'm ready to be over my first trimester of pregnancy so I can start to feel better!