I’ve been a slacker blogger lately. I think it might be a good day to get out and snap some photos of fall foliage or something. Maybe if the fog hangs around this morning.

We’ve almost finished painting one piece of furniture for the baby’s room (a bookcase). Who knew that painting furniture is such a pain in the ass? Still, it saves us cash and it looks really pretty. I’ll be ordering carpet next week and then hopefully things will start coming together. We have one more piece of furniture to paint and the walls of the room.

I haven’t registered for much in the way of toys. I don’t know what we’ll get as hand me downs, and my impression is kids cycle through stuff really quickly. It’s a small room and we’re already packing a lot of furniture in it. We’ll see how it plays out.

The last week or so has been better as far as my back and sinuses are concerned. Yoga helps EVERYTHING. I’m going back tonight. David can attest that I’m not in any way moody or hormonal. Really. Just ask him. Contributing to my lack of moodiness is my increasingly unwieldy body, and pretty much constant pressure on the bladder, especially when I’m standing up. Owie.

I have to take my glucose test next week. About 30% of women fail it, even though only 5-10% are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Annoying. I really don’t want to have to take the 3 hour test. So I’m trying to ramp up the exercise this week in the hopes that if I’m on the edge it will tip the balance in my favor.

I’ve interviewed two doulas so far. I’m leaning towards the first one, just trying to decide if I should interview a third before I make a decision. The first one was very straightforward and not interested in pushing her personal beliefs on me. Her rates were reasonable, and it was all very simple and easy to understand.

The second one had way more stuff she offers (yoga, massage) but won’t give you an estimate until you’ve gone through extensive Q&A. She sent me about 10 pages of info – way too much to parse through for an initial interview – and tons of detailed hourly pricing. When I got to the interview she asked if I’d read all that crap and I said yes, but it left me unclear on what the price range was. So she called in her “manager” (husband?) who equivocated and hemmed and hawed and showed me a detailed spread sheet. This is when my entrepreneur/consultant self kicked in and I told him that since you can’t predict how long labor would take, an hourly rate makes it very hard to plan financially. I told him I was a consultant, too, and was familiar with spreadsheets and estimates, and it would be a lot easier to make an initial evaluation if I had some idea of a typical price range. He got defensive and told me this was his “business model” (twice).  Meaning my puny feminine concerns and needs should bow in the presence of the all mighty penis spread sheet. And by the way (you TOOL), a spread sheet IS NOT a business model. You clearly don’t have a one of those.

I  am so using this in an article.

Goddess save us from inept male entrepreneurs. Anyway, I kicked him out at that point and just told the doula (who was very nice) that she should consider posting a typical price range and the price of her recommended package. Then we talked about stuff like labor and birth. Realistically, I could probably trade her for business consulting. She’s actually done a good job marketing herself, she just needs to pry her husband’s sticky hands off the money part because I bet he’s losing her business. He certainly clinched my decision.

So I’ll probably be settling on a doula soon. The second trimester is rolling along. I’ll be officially in my third trimester in about 4 weeks. Yikes!