So, I slept on it, and decided to go with the birth center. Its a much more supportive and relaxed environment, and I wont have to fight with anyone about anything. I read up about the morbidity rates at hospital vs. birth enter and they are comparable for non-high risk births (obviously the rate is higher at the hospital since thats where high risk births happen). The infection rate at hospitals is highest vs home birth or birth center- which seems counter intuitive but with that many people (and so many sick people at that) it makes sense. I went ahead and booked my appts right up until my due date with the birth center and confirmed with insurance that its covered.

An added little bonus is that its going to cost a lot less- we pay a % of the facility fee (copay with insurance), and the birth center costs a tenth of what the hospital does. The difference in amount pays for our doula and birthing class!

I found our doula yesterday. Shes been practicing for ten years using an adapted bradley method and seems awesome. I looked her up on facebook (lol) before I called her and she seems awesome personally, so I called her up and we chatted for an hour. She also teaches birthing classes, so we're starting that with her in March.

I made a batch of cupcakes for DH's work for tomorrow (I bake a lot and send stuff to work with him). I set a tray right by the back door to cool. I come back less than 10 minutes later, and 3 are missing!

It was actually kind of funny... one is totally gone- wrapper and all. The second is gone, but the wrapper has been peeled off and is fully intact. The third I found closest to the back door, just a bite out of it, the rest still there. And all 3 that were removed from the tray were from the same row, one by one.

I imagine it was a raccoon, since its hard to remove a wrapper without thumbs and I once saw one right at our back door before...part of me doesnt blame the animal for acting like an animal, and the other part of me curses the beast and hope it gets the runs!!

I did toss the remaining 9 that were untouched... I didnt feel comfortable eating food that was near a wild animal, I imagine DH's coworkers might feel the same!

So, I went to my 28 weeks appt today (Im 28+2 today). Heartbeat was 153 and belly is measuring perfect, I put on 21lbs so far.

I told my OB that we were touring a birthing center on Monday and are considering that route. I explained what my concerns were in terms of having specific things not done to Kyle and we went through my list. She was totally open to doing vit K drops instead of shots, not doing the Hep shot, the hospital has a policy of only doing episiotomies if the baby is in distress (she said their cut rate was less than 6%), they often have the request not to do the drops in the eyes so thats ok too.

Overall she was happy to go with what I wanted- she said the hospital was well known for respecting parents wishes. I was happy to hear this and will likely hire a doula and birth there instead of the birthing center. I love my OB and feel better if godforbid there was an emergency, I just worried about the staff respecting our wishes.

She said they dont do water births but I am welcome to stay in the tub until its time to push - I dont know the details, but she said they had an infant drown at the hospital as a result of water birth. She said its very rare and wasnt trying to scare me away from it, but because of it they wont do it. I can deal with that though - I hadnt made up my mind on what I wanted anyway.

28+2 week belly pic below

I practiced yoga a few times a week for about 1-2 years but stopped awhile back, and decided pregnancy was a good motivator for getting back into it. I couldnt find a class close enough or at the right time until yesterday- the Y near me has one! Its 2 days a week, mid morning.

I went today and it was great - there are only 5 of us (only 4 showed up). Im not sure I'll make friends or not, theres a lady there I chatted with some that seems nice but Im so picky about friends... anyway the instructor is certified to teach prenatal and I think she did a great job. I'm out of shape- holy cow! Before I got married last fed I worked out a few times a week, but stopped pretty much as soon as we started TTC so its been a long time since Ive really done anything physical (well, except the TTY lol).

I actually find it really difficult to start a new class- having to talk with strangers makes me feel anxious...I even stutter mildly sometimes (which is funny because I have no trouble at all talking AT people for presentations or trainings, even for huge groups). I almost didnt go today, but Im glad I did.

Anyway, I'll go back- after todays class I came home and slept for 2.5 hours! Dh woke up my at 5am when he got home from work, so I'll blame that