Welcome to our pregnancy journey. I have been keeping a journal of my pregnancy since I discovered that we were having a baby. Some of it is for myself, my partner Todd or our future baby. Some of it I had always intended to share with family, friends and now it seems the world. Friends have asked me when I was going to post blogs again, even though I had written my pregnancy blog all this time, it has taken me until now to feel comfortable sharing some of it. Part of this is because we very much want to have a natural, home birth. As you will read in my journey, this is not something that I always thought I would want – it is an evolving decision process. For those of you who have made this decision – you will know that it is hard to strive for this option in a system that does not support it. I was not prepared for the disapproval from colleagues, family or friends, but I have come to terms with most of it. Most of it, I understand comes from a place of fear. This blog is not intended to convince anyone of our decision, it is not intended to defend our decisions, it is simply our story. For those of you that know Todd, you will know that he is a fairly private person, so blogging our pregnancy and birth is not something that immediately feels natural to him. But he is incredibly supportive of me, he is at ease with our choices and our goals and somehow inherently understands the natural nature of childbirth. We both also know that pregnancy is a series of steps and milestones. That each time we pass one of these we are one step closer to the magical ‘low-risk’ category. We also know that even if we are low-risk things do not always go to plan. If not, we go to Plan B or C or D, whatever it takes to have a healthy baby and Mum. If we have choices though (and as I am learning, you always have choices) we will do it in a way that feels the safest, most supported and right for us. If our story gives others hope or a sense of ‘being in the same boat’ I am glad, if it helps you understand, that too is a good thing. This is one story for which I do not know the ending, and as a writer this is quite a scary concept. I have no guarantees that things will go to plan, no guarantees that every choice we make is right, but I can guarantee that each will be informed, considered and the best one for us. I will attempt to convey some of the roller-coaster of emotional, physical and mental change of my pregnancy, birth and beyond. Welcome to our journey.