I’ve just outgrown most of my pants, so I’m finally at the point where people might suspect that I am pregnant versus a buddha belly. However, when my girlfriends exclaim, Look at how big you’re getting! They aren’t talking about by belly as much as my increasingly bodacious ta-tas. Yes, my breasts are growing even faster than my belly and it’s now at the point where even my largest bras are looking like yarmulkas on a wobbly bald head. Very soon, tomorrow even, I’ll have to go shopping for the next size up, which is pretty exciting for somebody who has always wavered between an A and B cup.
We’ve started looking into our birthing options. Our first choice is a home birth with Karen Baker, the midwife who attended Bella’s birth fourteen years ago. However, she lives quite a distance away so she may not agree to take on the birth. Also, we don’t know if she is affiliated with an ob-gyn and so she may not be covered by our insurance at all.
Both the midwifery centers here in south Orange County will most likely be covered by insurance and so after my $300 deductible, the entire cost of the birth would be under $1000. The difference is that Beach Cities Midwifery delivers only in the birthing rooms at the Laguna Beach Hospital, whereas South Coast Midwifery offers the choice between a home birth and a birthing center birth. I’ve made the initial enquiries and both centers offer a free consultations – so we’ll have to see which midwife we like the best (if it doesn’t work out with Karen Baker). I’ve heard good things about the midwife at Beach Cities, but I am leery about birthing at at hospital. We’ll make our consultation appointments for the beginning of February, after I get back from my trip.
My trip! That’s right, I’m headed off to Bangkok for a couple weeks to see Sue, Joss and Nabi Grace. The original plan was to visit this summer but the pregnancy has changed everything. I got the tickets tonight!!
