30w1d visiting the midwife

I am not giving birth at a hospital. I don't like all the tests and interventions they do. I don't like the environment. I don't like how they don't give you the full details and use abstract words like "high" and "low". I don't like how they actively manage birth instead of use an expectant management view. 

My daughter was born at Kim Ok Jin (Rosa) Agitanseun Natural Birth Center (김옥진조산원) in Ansan. (Now they're in Hwaseong). I know that had I been at the hospital I would have ended up with an "emergency" C-section and spent 3-5 days in the hospital. As it was I had a vaginal birth and walked out of the clinic 8 hours later, totally fine.

As someone who's involved in the birthing field as a childbirth educator, postpartum doula, breastfeeding educator, and La Leche League Leader, I know that hospitals aren't right for me. That's my personal opinion about what works for me. What works for you may be different.

Although at first I thought about having Rosa as my midwife again, I decided to go with Danica at Mamas' Birth Center in Hannam. Danica is younger and has less experience, but Rosa is moving towards retirement. If you have NHI, Danica is about half the price as Rosa. I don't, so they're about the same. They both do home births as well. Rosa is a little old fashioned and I thought my husband would feel more comfortable around Danica since it will be his first baby. Danica also works directly with a few doulas. One of them, Jinny, speaks English very well and has  been to over 300 births. I also knew them a bit more than I knew Rosa since they had participated in birth fairs with me.

I went alone since my husband was working. I was asked some basic questions about my daughter's birth as well as this pregnancy. I was also given handouts about diet (Brewer) and talking to the baby in the womb and only thinking positively and surrounding yourself with beauty (Taegyo).

After that, Danica palpated my belly and found out what position the baby. You can also do the same with the Belly Mapping Guide from Spinning Babies. She then used a doppler, not an ultrasound to listen to the heartbeat. The whole procedure was much less invasive than a hospital. The hospital uses an ultrasound to see what position the baby is in and hear the heartbeat. But she used her hands and a hand-held doppler. She also showed me some exercises I could do to get the baby in the right position. Again, from Spinning Babies. The founder, Gail Tully believes it's the mom's job to dilate and the baby's job to rotate.

She'll be coming to my house in a few weeks to check out what I have and also give me a shopping list for the home birth.

Total cost: since this is not a part of staying pregnant, but part of giving birth, I'm not including this information. For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.

27w7d measuring cervix length

At this appointment, they did a vaginal ultrasound to measure the cervix and said that it was more than 5 cm, which is good. I will be opting out of this ultrasound in the future if they offer it. I'm past viability, so everything should be ok. The baby is growing just fine and is measuring slightly ahead. The femur is consistently a week ahead.

Stats

• BPD is 7.04 cm (28w3d).
• AC is 23.63 cm (28w1d).
• FL is 5.48 cm (29w1d).
• FHR is 147 bpm.
• EFW is 1220 gr. 

Money

• Today I paid 236,900.
• Doctor's visit: 32,270. 
• Ultrasound 204,630. 
• Tricare (my insurance) paid 236,900.
• Out of pocket is 0. 

More info
For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.