I'm so excited that I get to join you!
I'm about 9-10 weeks along with our first baby. When we first found out about the pregnancy we toured a freestanding birthing center and decided to go that route. However, just last week we found out that our insurance co-pay will be more than just paying for a homebirth out of pocket. DH was hesitant at first, but now that he has read a bit, met the midwives and compared $$$ figures, he's all gung-ho about it too! It also didn't hurt matters at all when we discovered that there's a good chance our insurance company will re-imburse us for about half of the midwife's fees! Ah, the joys of living paycheck to paycheck...
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I'm not necessarily all that "crunchy" of a person and I'm not against all medical intervention. I guess I'm a pretty middle-of-the-road person but even so I know that a hospital birth just isn't for me! In college I took a sociology course in which the professor had just finished her disertation on the medicalization of birth so we spent a good portion of class talking about birth. Around the same time I was able to be present in the delivery room withmy mother when my youngest brother was born. I was absolutely horrified. That class made such an impression on me and combined with the experience of seeing what happened in the hospital I then and there decided that when I had kids, I'd have them at home if at all possible!
We just met with one of the four midwives in our area last night. Everyone tells me that I really ought to interview all four of them, but I really felt like I "clicked" with the only one we've met. Will I end up regretting it if I don't even meet the others? DH is supportive of homebirth but money is a huge issue right now and this is the only midwife that has had success with insurance reimbursement...but I've heard even more wonderful things about a couple of the other midwives who pratice in this area too...is this too big of a decision to make with our pocketbook?
Anyhow, regardless of who we choose, I'm just excited that we've decided that we're definately going for a homebirth! I'm not very far along, so we have plenty of time to work out all of the details...
Congratulations to everyone else on their pregnancies!
Jenny.
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