New

So far I've had 3 prenatal appointments at The Birth Center, and I can't tell you how much I like it and feel that it really is the place I want to be for prenatal care, labor and delivery.

I posted recently about my blood pressure readings being much better there in comparison with the large OB/GYN practice I went to for Edwin's pregnancy.

The first visit to the Birth Center, my b.p. was so high the midwife just smiled and said "I'm not even going to tell you what it was." She left it at that, with no worries, and we moved on to the next thing. My 2nd visit, after chatting with the midwife (a different one) about my previous pregnancy experience, she took my b.p. while letting me know that they don't worry about "white coat syndrome". They just make sure everything else checks out healthy. Can I explain how relieved that made me feel? The last thing I want is drama over something that isn't clearly a medical problem. My b.p. was wonderfully normal.

At my last visit, I saw the same midwife and when she took my b.p., I remember feeling nervous because I was hoping it would be normal. AND IT WAS. I honestly expected it to be higher due to my nervousness, so I feel like it was a miracle. I haven't been able to control my nervousness, and we saw a pattern while pregnant with Edwin and even after pregnancy that the more nervous I am, the higher my b.p. is. But this time, my nervousness didn't seem to affect it. That feels like a miracle to me.

Before deciding to switch prenatal care to The Birth Center, I spent a number of weeks really worrying about what this pregnancy would be like if my nervousness/white coat syndrome issues continued. I was really fearful. I would feel tense and nervous just thinking about going to a prenatal visit.

While in Meeting (Friends/Quaker Meeting) one morning, remnants of a song came to mind that seemed to specifically be for this situation. I clearly felt that God was bringing this song to

my mind. I don't remember all the exact words and order but these are the phrases I recall:

Behold I will do something new among you

I will make a way where there seems to be no way

Rivers in the dessert, I will do something new