Oh second pregnancy. Morning sickness hit me hard the first time around, but not as bad the second time around. Unfortunately, not as bad, is still pretty bad. Especially when you have a very exciting toddler on the move. I try my best to think of fun games that involve me laying down in a curled up position while she runs around the house. I also have a little help here and there. Earlier this week, a friend took her to the park while I just took a nice shower and a nap. And in the afternoon a middle schooler helps me out with her so I have pretty good support.
First time around, I saw the doctor at just 4 weeks pregnant. I had an ultrasound by 5 weeks, medicine, by 6 weeks... the ball started rolling fast. This time around, I still have not decided on a care provider at just over 9 weeks! I haven't even had an appointment.
My first birth was done at a birthing center, which I LOVED. I didn't appreciate the care I was getting with the OB, I went to two different ones, and with both I had LONG waits (once I waited 90 minutes past my appointment time while sitting next to a sign that said if a patient is 15 minutes late they must pay for their appointment that would be cancelled for tardiness) and I had extremely short appointments with rushed doctors. When I switched to the care of midwives at Austin Area Birthing Center I had max wait times of 5 minutes and 30 minute appointments- I rarely took the whole 30 minutes, but if I had a lot I needed to talk about, it was totally fine to chat for a long time.
2nd Time around it would seem an easy choice to go with the Birthing Center again. But now that I have a toddler my thoughts are leaning toward a home birth. If the baby comes in the middle of the night, little Adelaide can sleep in her room while the baby is being born on the other side of the house and wake up to a new sibling. There is no fuss about where to send her, or worries that she will miss us from being gone so long. Sure, this isn't that big of a deal, many kids do just fine, but I thought I'd look into it. There is a group in town called Heart of Texas Midwives that I visited with.
Heart of Texas Midwives is a group of three midwives that I would meet with throughout my pregnancy and one of the three (whoever was on call) would attend my birth. I like all three of them a lot. One of them was even a midwife at the birthing center during the time I was pregnant with my first. Their prenatal visits are about an hour long- the first one will be an hour and a half. I really like my interview with one of the midwives. I brought Adelaide along and she was pretty grumpy from having a pretty terrible night of teething and just wanted outside so badly. So the midwife suggested we just have our appointment outside! We went for a walk holding Adelaide's hands and swinging her between us. I loved it.
I LOVED the birthing center and I LOVED the home birth midwives... but I was starting to think maybe since my insurance didn't cover midwifery I should try just going the normal american hospital route. It wasn't as exciting or beautiful as a birthing center or home birth but maybe I should just hang up that idea for the sake of saving a little cash that could be rather used on fun things for the baby.
I called up the insurance company and found out the cost of a birth assuming I have a no complication vaginal natural birth. I was surprised to discover that using insurance (Aetna) would not save me any money at all! I would actually be spending a ridiculous amount more.
I'm glad I called the insurance company rather than just assuming it would cost less! Keep in mind we don't have the BEST insurance. We have a $2000 deductible plus we have to pay 40% of the cost after the deductible is met. On the plus side, even though they don't technically cover midwifery, they will pay us back 10% of what we paid after the baby is born. So that actually brings the cost down even more.
Now this is all assuming I am able to have a normal natural birth. There are always chances that things could become complicated, but my chances are lower since I have already had one natural birth. I do think if I started in the hospital it would be a higher chance, as I'm not sure I could deny an epidermal. I might even order a c-section! Having a baby is a really painful thing!
I hope this is a helpful little guide for someone who was trying to find the lower cost option. This is just true of these certain places in Austin and with our particular insurance, but take the time to figure out the cost in your town before you jump to the conclusion that you should go with what your insurance covers.
Now I just have to decide which midwife group to choose. Two great options!
First time around, I saw the doctor at just 4 weeks pregnant. I had an ultrasound by 5 weeks, medicine, by 6 weeks... the ball started rolling fast. This time around, I still have not decided on a care provider at just over 9 weeks! I haven't even had an appointment.
My first birth was done at a birthing center, which I LOVED. I didn't appreciate the care I was getting with the OB, I went to two different ones, and with both I had LONG waits (once I waited 90 minutes past my appointment time while sitting next to a sign that said if a patient is 15 minutes late they must pay for their appointment that would be cancelled for tardiness) and I had extremely short appointments with rushed doctors. When I switched to the care of midwives at Austin Area Birthing Center I had max wait times of 5 minutes and 30 minute appointments- I rarely took the whole 30 minutes, but if I had a lot I needed to talk about, it was totally fine to chat for a long time.
2nd Time around it would seem an easy choice to go with the Birthing Center again. But now that I have a toddler my thoughts are leaning toward a home birth. If the baby comes in the middle of the night, little Adelaide can sleep in her room while the baby is being born on the other side of the house and wake up to a new sibling. There is no fuss about where to send her, or worries that she will miss us from being gone so long. Sure, this isn't that big of a deal, many kids do just fine, but I thought I'd look into it. There is a group in town called Heart of Texas Midwives that I visited with.
Heart of Texas Midwives is a group of three midwives that I would meet with throughout my pregnancy and one of the three (whoever was on call) would attend my birth. I like all three of them a lot. One of them was even a midwife at the birthing center during the time I was pregnant with my first. Their prenatal visits are about an hour long- the first one will be an hour and a half. I really like my interview with one of the midwives. I brought Adelaide along and she was pretty grumpy from having a pretty terrible night of teething and just wanted outside so badly. So the midwife suggested we just have our appointment outside! We went for a walk holding Adelaide's hands and swinging her between us. I loved it.
I LOVED the birthing center and I LOVED the home birth midwives... but I was starting to think maybe since my insurance didn't cover midwifery I should try just going the normal american hospital route. It wasn't as exciting or beautiful as a birthing center or home birth but maybe I should just hang up that idea for the sake of saving a little cash that could be rather used on fun things for the baby.
I called up the insurance company and found out the cost of a birth assuming I have a no complication vaginal natural birth. I was surprised to discover that using insurance (Aetna) would not save me any money at all! I would actually be spending a ridiculous amount more.
Now this is all assuming I am able to have a normal natural birth. There are always chances that things could become complicated, but my chances are lower since I have already had one natural birth. I do think if I started in the hospital it would be a higher chance, as I'm not sure I could deny an epidermal. I might even order a c-section! Having a baby is a really painful thing!
I hope this is a helpful little guide for someone who was trying to find the lower cost option. This is just true of these certain places in Austin and with our particular insurance, but take the time to figure out the cost in your town before you jump to the conclusion that you should go with what your insurance covers.
Now I just have to decide which midwife group to choose. Two great options!
