It's been nearly a month since I updated due to all the business associated with moving to a new town. We're finally settled into our new apartment, and we love it here! I really like Louisville much better than Cincy- the people are noticeably friendlier, the roads are more maintained, the countryside is prettier... I could go on and on! :-)Even though we're all settled now, it was not an easy move. The day we moved into our apartment, we discovered bedbugs. If any of you have ever had an experience with bedbugs, you know this is very, very bad (My dorm at CCU had bedbugs my first year. It was, to say the least, awful). Thankfully, the bugs were concentrated in a room we didn't really unload in, and we were only there for 4 hours. But at 10:30 at night after a long day of moving, the last thing you want to hear is that you have to move again. Thank goodness we didn't unpack...
So, at 2am we found ourselves temporarily homeless. We checked into the Holiday Inn, sneaking our kitties in later through the back door. You know the situation is desperate when you're sitting in your hotel room with your cats and a rental truck with every single item you own is outside in the parking lot!
The next day, we were able to find another apartment (which is actually much nicer), and spoke with the previous apartment's manager to get our deposit and rent back as well as the hotel reimbursement. So it all worked out, and we didn't take any bedbugs with us. At time however, it was not very funny! In fact, I pretty much started to hyperventilate when we first discovered the bugs. :-/
After we moved yet again, several days later, I had my first appointment with my new midwife. I love the new practice I am going to! They are much better at communicating with me than the Ft. Thomas one. My midwife, Beth Barry, is one of the only 3 midwives in the Louisville area who do hospital births (and she's technically in Indiana). I love that there is so much individual attention and that the hospital is small. It makes for a much more pleasant experience. She even gave me a birth plan to fill out as well as a huge bag of literature about pregnancy, labor and delivery! What a world of a difference!
We were also relieved to discover the actual cost of this baby. Although Rob and I have health insurance with maternity coverage, the maternity coverage is a joke. They pretty much only pay what you pay in premiums. Turns out, I am better off paying with cash. Since the practice as well as the hospital give substantial discounts for those who opt for self-pay, it makes much more sense to go this route. Plus, we won't have to mess with insurance! Our medical insurance will still cover things like emergencies and any complications that might arise, so no worries there.
I thought I'd go ahead and post the actual numbers for everyone to see. Because, believe it or not, these numbers are much harder to come by than you might think!
- Prenatal Care at Ft. Thomas: $610 (we pay $100 and insurance covers the rest)
- Prenatal Care in Louisville: $1701 ($1000 was due up front, the rest is due in installments before the last month; this includes the physician at delivery; special rate for self-pay only)
- Labor, Delivery and Hospital Stay: $2400 (2-day stay for a normal vaginal birth, does not include potential circumcision or any pain meds; special rate for self-pay only)
- Total Cost= $4201
That's quite a bit of money, but it's a heck of a lot less than I thought it would be. We were originally planning on having to shell out $8,000 after insurance. What a relief to know that this baby is not going to bust our budget! Now we can spend just a tad more on getting the nursery together... (which BTW, is still non-existent! Better get a move on that...)
Oh, and I am officially in my 3rd trimester now. How exciting and crazy all at the same time. I'll post a belly pic soon!
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