"The Witches" is what I've dubbed the Midwives as there are three of them (a very witchy number) and because most of my family thinks that Midwives are basically witch-doctors. ;)  I told them last night that this is the nickname I've given them, and they enjoyed the joke very much. 

So, we had our first appointment with the Witches last night, and I am even more confident and comfortable with choosing to have our prenatal and delivery care through them.  One of them has done about 450 births and the other about 800.  Isn't that insane?  I was really shocked at those numbers.  Our appointment with them lasted almost 2 hours, as they took the time to answer all of our questions (Dan had three pages of questions) and they also inquired not only about physcial health but also into less obvious areas of importance such as, "What kind of support group will you have after the baby is born since your family is all so far away".  I like that they are treating this pregnancy not just as 'growing and birthing a baby' but also as two people who are about to make a big transition into a whole new chapter of life.  They are looking at us as a 'whole' and I think that is really, really great.  

We got to hear the baby's heartbeat again.  After a six week span between our last appointment and last night, it was a huge relief to hear that everything was still okay.  The heartbeat was nice and strong and the baby was very active as we could also hear it kicking.  Apparently, the baby is very "tucked" into my body, meaning my uterus is "buried" a little.  That is all perfectly normal and safe; it's just where my body has chosen to place things.  Most likely it means that I probably won't really "pop out" for a while. Oh, and the Midwife also said that it was hard to feel the baby because I have such strong stomach muscles, so basically, the baby is hidden behind my sweet six pack.  ;)