Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Pregnancy Update

Well, this time around, Susan isn't nearly as sick as she was the first time. Of course she is tired and can't keep all her food down, but it's not as bad. The hardest part this time around is choosing a doctor or midwife.

Though it was hard, Susan and I are fans of natural childbirth, and we'd like to find a practitioner who will support us. Susan is a member of a few online forums for mothers in our area, and she's asked if anybody on those groups knows of a doctor or midwife who is natural minded. The results of these inquiries has been a bit depressing. Our options are either midwives at West Suburban Hospital or a homebirth with Homefirst.

Now, we were very happy with Homefirst for Karen's birth. When Karen was born, they billed insurance and we were settled. Now, however, they bill insurance and charge a $2,000 "Home Fee," which is not billable to insurance. Given that even with the pretty good insurance we have we will already be paying around $1,500 in deductibles, an extra $2,000 is quite a hit. There is a lot we could do with $2,000.

The other option is midwives at West Suburban Hospital. They have some really great labor and delivery rooms, and women can even deliver in the waterbirth tub. And we really like the midwives we have met who practice there. The biggest problem with West Suburban is that it is an hour away. While we probably should be more worried about driving an hour during labor, we really don't want to have to drive an hour for all the prenatal appointments. That would be really hard on both Susan and Karen.

Upon visiting one of the midwives and explaining our issues with Homefirst, one of them
said "It's really too bad that women are losing another great option
for childbirth. I wonder if Dr. Eisenstein knows how many women have
come in here since he started the concierge fee?" It is strangely comforting to know that we are not alone in our frustrations.

So please pray for us that we will make a decision and feel peace about our decision.

Thank you!


Tuesday, July 8, 2008

How our house almost burned down last night

I love my Macintosh computers, and would recommend them to anybody. My MacBook is wonderful. It's not too big, not too small, has plenty of power, and comes at an affordable price. But I really wish it wouldn't have come this close to burning my house down.
Check out that power cord!! It is supposed to have fuses in the brick to prevent these things from happening. I'm just glad that the fuses finally blew before our new smoke detectors had to have a real world trial. I just hope the computer isn't fried as well. I'll find out tomorrow when a friend from work lets me charge it with his power cord.

UPDATE: MacBook seems to be accepting a charge now. Yeah!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Strep Throat

A mere two days after finding out we are having a baby, Susan had a very sore throat last night. Fevers can be bad for babies so young, so she went straight to the doctor today. Strep throat was the diagnosis.

She starts on antibiotics today, and we are sure everything will be okay. But it's a good time to ask for prayers for a safe pregnancy and delivery.

Thank you,

Matt, Susan, Karen, and Baby2