I'm getting more and more worried about where Thomas will be born.  Joe and I toured Park Plaza hospital and were utterly disappointed.  It seemed dark and dirty to me, and when the nurse showing us around tripped over a piece of trash on the floor, she just looked at it and kept walking, leaving it there for some unstable pregnant woman in labor to trip over.  They have absolutely no sort of security system for the babies, despite the website claiming a "comprehensive infant security plan designed to give you comfort and peace of mind."  We were told by the nurse, "just don't give your baby to anyone that doesn't have a pink stripe on their ID."  They also did not seem too supportive of rooming in, while Methodist and Hermann encourage it.  The nurse, while being nice and informative, also told us several negative things about Dr. Cook, which we certainly didn't need to hear and that I suspected weren't all that true.  To make the visit even more irritating, we had to go the to E.R. to preregister, and quickly learned that EVERY directional sign from the maternity ward to the E.R. was wrong. 

We're planning on visiting Hermann Hospital next Monday, before my OB appointment.  Hopefully, I'll be able to confirm what Blue Cross/Blue Shield told me.  Since Hermann is not dumping them until October 12th, all I will need is a form signed by my doctor, and Hermann will be forced to care for me, since I'm in the last trimester of pregnancy.  Sounds awfully easy; I'll believe it when Hermann agrees.

Thomas has discovered his talent, hiccupping.  This boy has the hiccups at least twice a day.  It is not painful or comfortable to me, by any stretch of the imagination.  But it is a lot like I would imagine Chinese Water Torture would be like.  Just a small little poke in my belly, every few seconds for seemingly forever. Over and over and over again. And again.

Joe and I babysat Laura's boys, Micheal and Ryan, Sunday night.  It was quite fun.  Joe entertained them most of the time, and surprisingly, Ryan was singing along with a Pringles commercial.  He hasn't really ever said much to us, so I was pleased to hear him singing the words.  Especially after he had such a rough start to the evening;  it was also the first time he cried when his parents left (and boy did he bawl!).   These two boys are so wonderful, both are very smart and charismatic.  Although I'm sure I'll be too busy with my own boy to notice, I'll miss babysitting them occassionally.