Just A Recommendation

I picked this book up from the library yesterday. I placed it on hold because of a recommendation through a friend-of-a-friend who is a doula and also because I am interested in learning more about the history behind the natural birthing process. As many of you know, my goal is to have a completely natural birth. This book definitely goes to a bit of an extreme (no, I am not about to have a home birth, thankyouverymuch) but it makes some very interesting points. If you're interested in "going natural", I would definitely recommend reading this book.

There are photographs in the book with semi-brainwashing captions that make me laugh, such as a photo of a crying newborn being held by doctors with a caption that reads, "The first moments of birth can be terrifying for a baby who is not immediately placed on its mother" but despite the fact, it makes some really great points and I'm learning a lot. I mean, even though I fully believe that going all natural, if possible, is the best solution, I do not believe that doctors and hospitals are evil.

But whatever. Point is, I'm finding this book fascinating and am looking forward to creating a birthing plan that works for myself and Nick. I'll be updating soon with some more specific thoughts on the topic.

Ode To The Belly Button

My belly button used to be long and skinny. It was deep and thin.  It wasn't completely symmetrical, but I was fond of its shape. I could stick my finger inside it and hear a little popping sound if I pulled it out really fast. Yeah, not so much anymore. My belly button gets shallower by the day now. But I don't mind too much... our child needs the room more than I do. As long as it springs back into shape after the baby pops out, I don't care what my belly button turns into.

It's all temporary, right?

Floating on the Waves of Change

No, it's not always easy. But God doesn't want us to just have to deal with "easy". And I've come to accept that. It's just...I'd like to know when it'll eventually get easy!

Nick is now employed at 24 Hour Fitness as a full-time Membership Counselor. It's something... at least for now. He'll be making minimum wage to start, but once he sells enough memberships to make more commission than minimum wage, he'll switch over to that pay rate. I think that with his sales experience, he's going to do very well and will be on a commission salary in no time. But we'll see! There's the potential of making good money there, but he hasn't even started yet. We'll find out soon enough!

The next step is finding a place to live. There are a lot of great apartments in the area that are close to our price range, but it's really hard to even know what we'll be able to qualify for at this point. It's frustrating to just not know where we'll be (financially and literally) in a few months... especially with me only having sixteen weeks left until I explode with child.

That being said, I'm growing very attached to our baby as it grows inside me. It has such spunk and moves around constantly throughout the day. It's amazing that I can actually tell when it's sleeping and when it's awake! Baby will have about a half hour of really active time and then a few hours of quiet. It's just so fun to know that there's a little personality developing in there! I cannot WAIT to meet him/her!

I toured the Birthing Center at Highline (which was totally freaky and weird to think that I was visiting their facility because I am going to have a BABY) and made an appointment with a doctor there, just to start. We will meet on the 25th and then I'll decide if I'm really attached to that doctor or if I want to find someone who delivers at Valley Medical. I'm also touring the Birthing Center at Valley on Sunday, so I'll have a better idea of a comparison between the two hospitals. We will most likely end up at Valley because once we move, it will be much closer to us (since we hope to move to the Renton area). It's just finding a doctor that's the tricky part. There are so many to choose from and I don't have any recommendations! It's pretty overwhelming at this point, but I know God will lead us in the right direction.

To top everything off, I am not working, and don't know if I will be able to at all. BJs is no longer a possibility (thank you to my general manager...UGH) and even if it WAS an easy time to get hired right now, who's going to hire a pregnant woman that can work for only three more months and is not planning to come back after birth? My options are very slim right now and the fact is, we need that extra income. If anyone has ideas, please feel free to share them. Because of this, I have a very open schedule and am able to do little odd jobs. If you have anything to sell on Craigslist or need some organizing done, let me know! Even if you're not able to pay me, it's something to do that I would quite enjoy doing :). I just need a schedule to operate by or I'll go completely crazy.

In spite of all the unknown, God remains faithful and always will. I trust Him with all that I am and I know everything will work out just fine. It's just annoying that He can see the big picture and I can't right now! Sometimes my controlling nature takes over my logic and I just wish I knew everything. It takes a minute, but eventually I realize that I really don't want to know everything and just trusting in Jesus is the way to go. Please remind me of this if I'm beginning to get frustrated. I can use a good kick in the butt every once in a while!

Right now, "easy" is a luxury that we can't quite afford yet. And that is okay.

Phew!

Aaaaaand... I have health coverage! Yay!!!

After spending four hours in the DSHS office last Friday, we were a go. Operation Health Insurance had been completed - I will be completely covered by the state in an awesome program supported by a myriad of really great doctors in my area. Birthing classes will be covered, I get to see a nutritionist, any complicated birth issues will be medically taken care of and covered and my baby gets state-sponsored checkups! And to top it all off, I even have dental coverage through August. What a plan!

I really am thankful for Washington state and their liberal health plans. Even though a lot of people take advantage of the system, it IS there for people who really need it too... and that's what matters. It's interesting to me how no private insurance company will cover someone in my position (even if we are willing to actually pay for coverage) but the state does without even blinking an eye. Hmm.

I'm really excited about giving birth in Washington now. I will be able to be picky about my doctor and choose someone who i really want, I have my choice of hospitals and I feel in control of the situation. That is a very good thing - especially for someone like me who really loves feeling in control. Now we can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that our baby will enter this world with doctors and nurses around to take care of us in the best of their ability. Praise God!

Yet again, God proves to us that He's taking care of us. Nick and I were worried about insurance and the fact that I'm pregnant and may have to use state coverage and had no idea what that meant but all our fears have been put to rest. Things are going to work out juuuuuuuust fine.

Now, we just need to find Nick a job.