Project Pollywog: 32 Weeks, 2 Days

The Cost of Having A Baby

We had our 32 Week Midwife appointment this morning. Despite a rocky start in getting there and me walking part of the way post tantrum, I think the fact that it turned out well is proof positive that Darlene really works for us.

The big question was whether or not we can stay with her. We found out that what it's going to cost us to stay there:
Facility Fee: $2,000 normally but she'll only charge us $1,000 given the situation if we decide to birth at the birthing center.
Professional Fee: $3,000 normally but she'll knock it down to $2,500, or if we pay it by 36 weeks (one month from now) she'll reduce it further to $2,000.

If we choose to have a home birth, there is no facility fee and the grand total should be $2,000 if we can pay her this month. She's cutting it in half for us, basically.

Needless to say, we're strongly considering a home birth.
( About Home Birth )

The bottom line here is that we do not want to change care providers. I'm sure you're wondering, and YES I did call our new insurance provider. They will not reimburse us a penny and they actually told me that they wouldn't have covered the delivery by a midwife anyway... though I didn't get full details on that bit. Regardless, we had a hard time finding someone we were really comfortable with and I don't want to start that all over again so late in the game. I feel like we'd be potentially compromising my health and that of the baby just to save the 80% or whatever the insurance covers (and even some of that is questionable at this point). It's just not worth it to me. We'll figure it out.

I'd rather work harder to make it work than compromise on this one. I'm just not comfortable with that and the last thing I want is added anxiety, which equals added risk. I guess this is where all those parenting choices come into play, huh? We want what's best for the baby. This is what we think is best. So here we are. We need $2,000.

So... other things:( About the Baby )

Mom is going to Canada to pick up our Quinny Zapp tonight. I may go with her, or I may go to the Clutch show with Stephen... dunno yet.

More about La Leche League meeting later.

P.S. Nose bleeds suck and I'd like to be done with them now... and Pickle likes bubbles. Silly goldfish.