34w6d midwife came to check out my house

As I mentioned before, I'm having a home birth with a midwife and doula. They came and checked out my house. We have two bath tubs, but honestly, I don't think I'll be spending much time in them. Not because I wouldn't love a water birth, but because it will be winter and Korean bathrooms aren't heated. Because, why would you heat a room where you get cold and wet? We have space heaters, but water and electricity don't mix, so I'm just afraid of what could happen.

Jinny, my doula, showed me how to do belly lifts from Spinning Babies in order to help the baby get in the right position. She also gave me a shopping list of things I should have in the house as well as the birth certificate we will fill out. I also have a birthing box of things to help me out during my labor.

My Birth Box
These are things that I think may help me during labor. I also have a box of items that my midwife told me to prepare for my home birth. Below are just the comfort items that I want to put in.

I also have a list on the wall of emergency numbers to call which include my hospital, the Korean medical emergecy number, my neighbor, my husband, some of his co-workers, his work, my midwife, and my doula. I also have our address in English and Korean and our building and door codes. I've given a copy to my midwife and neighbor, as well as my husband. But in a worse case scenario, if I go into labor and people need to be called ASAP, I can just point to that list.

• Lip balm: your lips can get dry very easily
• Hair tie
• Head massager
• Massage oils
• Lemon and peppermint candy: to help with nausea or to suck on after vomiting
• Water bottle with straw: it's hard to hold a bottle and tip it up to drink while you're in labor
• Rice sock: sock filled with rice that you stick in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds. It's kind of like a hot water bottle except it easily stays where you put it.
• Rebozo: long scarf that can help during labor. Discussed in Spinning Babies. 
• Wooden spoon: used to tighten the rebozo for the hip squeeze.
• Birthing ball
• Spray bottle with water: for cooling me down during labor
• Eye mask: to keep out the light
• Knee high wool socks
• Tunic and PJ pants 
• Sports bra: so I don't have to photoshop any photos

What's not in the box
Since I'm having a home birth I don't have to worry about packing a suitcase for the hospital. My clothes and the baby's clothes will be right there for after birth. Same with toiletries. I don't have to worry about food since our kitchen is right here. As for music, I'm not sure if I'll want any, but my laptop is also right here. Same goes for cell phones and chargers. I made a birth box because these are things that I think I might want and if I want them, I'm going to want them now. 

I put in clothes that I want to labor in and know that chances are I'm going to be almost completely naked since labor is a work-out and I'm sure my midwife will crank the heat up Hopefully I'll be in a sports bra and have the long wool socks on but we will see.

More info
This is not part of staying pregnant, so I'm not including this in my fee breakdown. For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.

31w7d offered the TDaP

I'm really liking these short appointments. I'm one day away from 32 weeks, which is a milestone. Once I hit 35 weeks, it will be safe to birth at home. I've heard that ultrasounds aren't the best for babies during pregnancy, but at the same time, given my history, I want to know that everything is ok. They just did a regular ultrasound.

Stats

• BPD was 8.01 cm (32w2d).
• AC was 28.03 cm (32w3d).
• FL was 6.52 (33w5d).
• FHR was 142 bpm.
• EFW was 2052 gr.

This appointment
Then after I sat down, the doctor and translator kept talking and not telling me anything. I thought something was wrong. The doctor pushed a pamphlet with TDaP written on the front. I just said I'm not going to get the shot and he smiled. I think they're getting used to me opting out of things. I opted out of pap smear in the beginning, but still did the titers testing and STD testing. But I opted out of the gestational diabetes test as well.

To be fair, I've also done a lot of other things, such as taken a high dosage of steroids at the beginning, IVIG (which is experimental), intralipids, and tests (HSG, thyroid, and NK cells). I think I have a really good doctor. I'm allowed to make my own choices, including where I'll give birth (at home).

Money

• Today I paid 131,260.
• Doctor's visit: 32,260. 
• Ultrasound 99,000.
• Tricare (my insurance) is paid 131,260.
• Out of pocket was 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.

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.

23w6d 4D ultrasound

My daughter came along this time because we thought it would be nice for her to see the baby. The anatomy ultrasound takes forever. It took about 30 minutes and after about 2 minutes she wanted to go home. She did think it was funny that they got to see the baby's butt. They measured a lot of things and it all looks normal. The baby is ahead for most dates, so that's good. We also finally agreed on a name and as it works out, my daughter and this baby will be having similar names.

No IVIG or intralipids today! It's nice to be done! And I don't have to come back for an entire month which is very nice. I opted out of the gestation diabetes test and luckily my doctor didn't push it.

Stats

• BPD is 5.84 cm (23w7d).
• HC is 21.46 cm (23w5d).
• AC is 20.34 cm (25w1d).
• FL is 4.24 cm.
• EFW is 698 gr.

Money

• Today I paid 162,260.
• Doctor's visit: 32,260. 
• Ultrasound 130,000. 
• Tricare (my insurance) reimbursed me for 162,266. 
• Out of pocket was 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.