Here are some more pictures of Paulinen Clinic.  I wasn't able to get any of the actual delivery rooms last time because they were just used.  We're pretty decided on this hospital.  Hopefully its the right choice!

I'm registered at both this and our second choice, so we'll just call as we're leaving the house and make sure they can take us!  If its any consolation, I had to go twice this week to fill out some paperwork and both times I was there it was really quiet and both rooms were available.  It'd make me a little more nervous if it was bustling every time I went.

I went down to Frankfurt with a friend last week.  We hadn't been to the old town portion of the city yet, so we parked walked around and grabbed lunch.  It was pretty touristy and there wasn't a lot of shops or restaurants that I'd be interested in going in (typical touristy German fare restaurants - I'm over it), but it was good to see.  

We live about 10-15 minutes away from downtown Frankfurt, however, we haven't really explored much.  We went to the mall last fall to get our Chipotle fix and now have ducked into the old town area.  As far as where to go in the downtown area though, I'm still clueless.

It was super windy that day, so we had to cut our trip short, but we did make it to the Kleinmarkthalle - an indoor market that operates daily (I believe).  It was cool to see and definitely worth checking out.  It was an easy walk from the old town square above and had a bustling wine bar on the second floor balcony with tons of local wines for sale.  

I packed my bag yesterday, so we're all ready.  Its a little weird, but its good that its done.  All I could think about when I was doing it was when I was little and we'd go to visit my cousins and I'd pack my bag months in advance because I was so excited :)  

The brown polka dot thing on top is my hospital gown (Thanks Melissa!).  They don't supply those here, as previously mentioned, so you have to bring your own if you want it.  I've also got my own towels, shower shoes, and of course clothes, toiletries, stuff for the baby, camera, book, and plug adapters.  I'll just have to grab my phone and charger when I leave the house (or wherever).  I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but that's what husbands are for!

We toured our third and final choice of hospitals today - St. Josefs.  We had been to this hospital before, but for other reasons, so I was anxious to look at it again with delivery in mind before deciding.  Unfortunately I still don't know which to choose but need to decide very soon...

We've pretty much eliminated Hospital Choice #1.  We weren't impressed by it and have heard negative feedback from multiple people.  This is the only hospital with a NICU, so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that everything goes well.

We really liked Hospital Choice #2.  It was newly renovated and felt very nice.  Even without being able to see every room because most were occupied, I liked it and it felt good.  However, the biggest drawback to this hospital is that its so small.  They can only accommodate 4 women in labor at a time, so there is a very real chance that they could be full when try and that we'd end up going to Hospital Choice #3 anyways.  We would call when we left the house to check, so there would potentially be no time lost, so that's not really a factor.  Also, it would be over 100 euro for a private recovery room here and you're much less likely to get it because the facility is so small.

Hospital Choice #3 was fine.  It wasn't as nice as Hospital #2 looks and ambiance-wise.  It felt older and more dated.  The rooms just weren't that hot.  They were functional and fine, but just bleh.  The benefits of going here would be that they could accommodate us without worry of being full (we wouldn't need to call ahead or anything), we've been here before so we're a little more familiar with the building and how to get there, and the price for a private room is only 45 euro (if they can accommodate it at the time - you're never guaranteed).  

There's really no other big factor between Choice #2 & #3 that could make it a more obvious choice. Its really just that #2 has a nicer feel to it than #3.  Both are fully capable and both are about equal distance from our house.

Hmmmm....

Jason and I spent some time yesterday hanging things in the baby's room.  This was the last to-do for the room and made a world of difference in my opinion.  I'm really happy with the room and how it turned out.  Its so nice to see it finally come together.  Not that a ton went into it, its pretty conservative overall, but we just slowly chipped away at it over the past couple months that it feels good for it to finally be done.  

Now just to wait for her to get here.  7 weeks until my due date!

On another note, our grass is in!!!  We'll get bushes put in along the fence in the next couple of weeks to add a little bit of privacy, but just having green vs. dirt makes me happy.  It makes such a difference looking out from the living room.  Its still super tiny and I really miss our gorgeous garden in CO, but its something.  Its nice to be able to let General out now too, and the grass has seriously cut down on the amount of paw wiping needed - thank goodness!

I spent a day last week tagging along to some friend's errands in the Rheingau region (the wine region along the Rhine nearby).  We've had really sunny beautiful weather here lately and after spending a day with a view of vineyards, the Rhine, and just a beautiful part of our region, I felt amazing.  I think I may have been suffering from some winter blues, because the difference in my mood afterwards was notable.  I hope to get out here as much as we can this summer.  Luckily I don't think I'll have any issues dragging our company out for a cruise along the Rhine or a day drinking wine in the vineyards.  

There are tons of castles along the Rhine and you can do a cruise to view them.  I haven't done one yet, but was looking at this vendor.  It's recommended on Trip Advisor and is the first to come up on Google searches.

Here's a map of all the castles, if you're interested.  Its pretty cool.  The area where I was, and where the boats we would take depart from, is in Rudesheim way at the very bottom-middle of the map.

After my day in the Rheingau, I was in such a good mood I decided to run some errands downtown in the pedestrian area.  This was probably a little overzealous of me because once I parked and walked all the way to where I was going, I was overcome with tiredness.  I wanted to sit down in the middle of the store.  I rallied though, finished what I came to do, and went home.  The German schools were closed for the day, so the streets were bustling.  Besides the Christmas markets, I hadn't seen it that busy since last summer.  It was nice to see the city alive again.

This weekend was Fasnacht festival in Germany.  Its similar to Mardi Gras and Carnival going on elsewhere in the world.  The celebrations in the region started on Thursday with their culmination today.  People dress up, traditionally in costumes that tease or make fun of politicians or leaders.  I couldn't find a good definition online, but I'm told that it was once a time when the lower class could poke fun at the upper class and celebrate together.  Each day has a different theme.  There are parades and people dress up crazy.  

We went to the Wiesbaden parade yesterday.  Today in Mainz, one of the biggest celebrations is taking place, but Jason and I aren't going.  I've heard it can get really crazy and I just don't think its a good place to be 8 months pregnant - too much smoke and I really worry about getting hit or run into.  But I feel like we got a taste yesterday and it was fun to see the city out and celebrating.

We finally have a fence & a gate!  Now for grass!  

We also found a rocking chair finally.  Turns out there was one tucked away in the furniture store's warehouse on post the whole time.  All I had to do was go in and talk to them about ordering one and then one magically appeared.  Its not super cool, but its fine.  Its not offensive or ugly, just plain.  I would have LOVED to have this one from the Land of Nod.  Oh well.  The sacrifices you make to live overseas! ;)

I'm hoping to get some stuff hung in there this weekend, so I'll post more pics then.

On Friday we toured Paulinen Clinic here in Wiesbaden.  I went into this tour thinking that I wouldn't want to deliver here, and like HSK (Hospital Choice #1), left with a different opinion than I came in with.  

The comments I had heard from other Americans prior to our tour was that "It feels like a hotel", "Its more comfortable", and "Its kind of like a birthing center".  The idea of it feeling like a hotel/birthing center was a turn off for me personally.  

However, the maternity ward felt like a hospital (like I wanted it to), it just had nicer paint and lighting!  The pictures below are not good, but hopefully you get the idea.  We toured at a busy time.  All the after-delivery rooms were occupied, so we couldn't see those and the only delivery room that wasn't occupied was recently vacated (as you can see by the mess).  They didn't even want to turn on the lights for us to see in from the doorway because it wasn't cleaned up yet.  

The only major con to this hospital is its size.  It can only accommodate 4 women in labor at a time.  I'm told that they don't have to turn people away often, but it can happen.  We will more than likely register both here and at the next hospital.  This way if we choose Paulinen, we can call from the car on our way and make sure they can take us, and if not we'll head to the back up hospital.  

As with all our hospital choices, our insurance pays for a shared room.  That's what most people use here in Germany it seems because all the hospitals come standard with 2-person shared rooms.  If we want a private room and for Jason to have the ability to spend the night its about 110 euro per night at Paulinen.  Cheaper than HSK (150 euro), but still pricey.  Since this is such a small facility, you're not guaranteed a private room even if you request one.  Jason and I are undecided on this just because of the cost.  My initial thought is that he should only plan on staying the first night and we'll just go from there.

The back up hospital, Hospital Choice #3, we have not toured yet (not until mid-March), but we've been to this hospital for other visits so we're somewhat familiar with it.  

One new bit of information we found out recently that I find a little scary is that if my water breaks I have to call an ambulance vs. driving.  There's a fear of the baby's umbilical cord getting pinched if that happens and so having EMT's around and being in a reclined position is better.  So fingers crossed that doesn't happen!