Thank you Tiffani. I don't want to sound ungrateful, I just wish I could enjoy this instead of feeling the way I do.
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Thank you Tiffani. I don't want to sound ungrateful, I just wish I could enjoy this instead of feeling the way I do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThreeMenAndALAdy
I'm so sorry. I had hypermeisis with my last pregnancy and I know how awful it is and I also felt awful for my kids.
I think that is why I really want a DD, not because I don't want more kids, but I just can't deal with the pregnancy again if its bad, especially if I was to have another child to watch. I felt bad for not playing with them etc , it's hardest for the littlest ones I'm sure. I don't know how much your 7 year old understands but maybe he can help a bit at least?
But they will love to have another sibling I'm sure and all of this is worth it! (clearly I thought so because I am pregnant again..) Do you have friend/family that can help you? or make meals for you to freeze etc?
I know it's awful and there is nothing that makes it feel better but sometimes it feels good to be reminded that there is a nice reward at the end (a baby!)
I had a friend who also gets extremely sick with her pregnancies, she told me that it helped to look on baby center as to how the baby was growing and developing etc so that she could remind herself that this was what her body was working on and growing.
Thanks so much for this response. I do have my parents right around the corner and they've been great. I wish we had a meal plan of sorts because my kids have been eating pasta almost every night. I need to keep reminding myself that there is a wonderful reward at the end, I just pray it's a girl.Quote:
Originally Posted by spinningmadly
Totally understand, personally think its the worst part of being pg. I haven't functioned properly for weeks then I get a random day of feeling really good full of energy no nauseous etc then the next day I feel completely awful again. Wish it had a time limit so at least you knew when it would end. Lol and we wish this on our selfs! xx
ThreeMenAndALAdy - do you have friends nearby that can set up some kind of schedule to share making meals and freezing them for you? I hate asking for help and I always assumed my friends knew how awful I was doing but really they didn't and didn't want to bother them asking for help since they all are busy, but the truth was they just didn't know, once they knew how sick I was, everyone was trying to help and trying to make meals and it adds up quick and helps a lot.
Glad your parents are nearby! that must be a relief.
I had my first Dr appointment yesterday and it was a bit strange, my Dr told me that the way she likes to do things with antinatal care is see me once a month for the first 28 weeks, is this the schedule you guys are all on? Last time i think i only had to go see her about 3 or 4 times through the whole pregnancy. I wonder why she would want me back there every month? I looked a bit confused when she was explaining it to me, mostly because of the cost it is going to add up to and she said i don't have to stay with her, there are other doctors that will put me on share care with the hospital for free, but she likes to be thorough and charges full price. I dont know if i should stay with her, i feel like maybe she is just trying to make a lot of money, but then i think she must be passionate and caring, i am confused. I have to make a decision soon because she wouldn't give me a referal to the ultrasound place until i commit to her care.
I live in the US and go in every 4 weeks for visit with a doctor until 32 weeks then every 2 weeks until 36 weeks then weekly until birth. They have to do gestational diabetes testing, urine screening, check baby hb, etc.. that I wouldn't feel good about going any less than that! I have insurance and all visits are covered 100% so I do not have to pay anything. But, my dr. office does make us pay delivery fees ($1,500 after insurance) up front. So, I am on a monthly payment plan to have that paid by 7 months.
Threemen - huge hugs to you :hugs: I totally feel for you and know how awful it is. I really hope you get better and can get back to normal. My ms has gotten beter, but today was a bad day and I felt sick and out of control with the kids. I have this strange eye pain and I think I have some kind of virus. I have been so tired and not able to do anything today!
Wow $1,500 to deliver your baby?? xx
I'm in the US as well and I think it depends on who you see partially. Most OBs do exactly what beachy said. I know with my midwife with DS2 I stretched it out to every 7-8 weeks for the first part and at the end every 3 weeks maybe? but he came earlier than we thought so I didn't see her that much. he had no issues etc.
This time around I am high risk so I will be seeing someone every couple weeks.
I think it depends on what you are comfortable with? I know with DS2 I wasn't nervous at all and it was sufficient. This time around the peri has told me a lot of my appts won't be for medical reasons but just to make me feel better.
Yes! Crazy huh! I can't imagine what it would be for ppl without insurance. And, this only covers the OB costs. We also have hospital fees and pediatrician fees for doing baby care. I have a health savings account so luckily, I just pay it and then get reimbursed. But, I have to take that money out of my paychecks pre-tax.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiffani3
Omg I did not know that!Quote:
Originally Posted by NCBeachyGrl
We have the nhs here so don't have to pay at all! Well unless you want to go private!
Maybe why we have so many teen pg's over here as they get a free house too lol xx
Our schedule is like beachy's. Our doctor has the same delivery policy, too. We have good insurance and with our last, we paid 750 out of pocket (after insurance) for the dr, another 650 or so for the hospital, and about 625 for the pediatrician. That was with a vaginal birth.
Wow it all adds up. God I'd want the doctor to move in with me if I had to pay all of that! I take it you do get really amazing care though? xx
Hey Cinns, Im going through shared care at the local hospital, and the initial consult is at 10weeks, then at 18weeks....from memory with DS it was every 6 weeks till after 30weeks, and it went to fortnightly. Others that i know of that went through the public system did a similar thing (unless there is something wrong, then they obviously get you in more often)Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinss
I really think it comes down to personal choice, if everything is going well, and you are healthy, and not a high risk category then i personally don't think you *need* to have the visits that frequently. Im sure the dr is very caring, and that she does genuinely have your bests interests at heart, its probably routine that she does the visits that often, but of course part of that will be a financial incentive as well. That said, if you guys can afford it, it won't hurt :)
We decided to go public because we were perfectly happy last time round with DS, and i had heard many stories of less then adequate service through the Dr route (things going unnoticed, dr not being there at delivery) just little stuff that made us think, what the point in paying......
It entirely comes down to personal preference, either way i think you and bubba will be in good hands and well looked after :)
I have with all mine. The cost doesn't change if you go in a lot, so if I had bleeding (which I did) or something they'd tell me to come right in for a scan or to hear the hb on the Doppler. No waiting for approval, etc, so that is nice. We just pay it out. I don't know what we'd do without insurance though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiffani3
I would like to think so, but not sure sometimes! We pretty much can call and ask any question anytime and come in anytime for a visit if something is up. Our dr. office has like 10 different obstetricians and we rotate and see a different one each time we come in. But I think that is mostly because I live in a smaller town. But, as soon as we go into labor the dr is called to the hospital and since my office rotates, the doc on call is the one who will deliver (unless the shift changes b/c you have been there so long). I would be interested to go through the healthcare system in another country just to see how different it is!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiffani3
Hi all just wanted to see if there was a vacancy here for me :) bub is actually due 10th march but had an horrendous pregnancy with dd1 and ended up With emergency c section so chose elective c this time and bub will arrive 27th feb. only 16+5 at this point but due for next scan on Thursday hoping bub will co-operate so I can find out blue or pink.. Have spent a lot of time trawling ultrasound prediction page and so far mostly girl guesses but some boy.. Looking forward to regular catch up with u all xxx
Welcome, baby2! And congrats! I hope your little bean cooperates next week!
Welcome baby2 what gender are you hoping for, and did you sway at all? xx
Hi Baby2 welcome :)
Hi tiff and ladies yes but my only real sway was perfect timing, did the dance 3 hours after ovulation.. Took us 6 months to conceive this time so got a good 6 months practice into tracking ovulation.. Certainly teaches you a lot about your body.. hoping for a boy but happy no matter what x
Congrats Baby2 and welcome to the group! :)
There's still plenty of teen pregnancies everywhere, to be honest - cost is usually not the factor in that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiffani3
I'm American in the UK so I am VERY grateful for the NHS. I'm actually employed by the NHS (used to work at a hospital in the US, too... so vastly different experiences....) also, which makes me even more fiercely supportive of the work they do. I think the NHS is AMAZING.
And let's just say... some of the arguments I've gotten in with my family at home has been insane. I always love when they try to school me about Universal/Socialized healthcare, yet I'm the one who actually lives here, works for the NHS, has been a patient in the NHS, has had a baby on the NHS, etcetera.
The beauty of it all is that if you *want* to, you can go private... but MOST people choose not to, because the care you get with the NHS is just as good and if not, better...
I've had people calling me asking how soon I can book them in for an MRI and I'd tell them we have an appointment free the following week and they're like, "Oh, but that's what the private hospital was offering me!"
*stops rambling*
I LOVE THE NHS! :)
And I'm American. Woohooooooooooo.
Wow it sounds so expensive to get medical care in the US! I'm over in Norway and we have a system a bit like the NHS, normally we have to pay the first approx £15 when we go and see the doctor and the rest is covered by the state. When you are pregnant it is totally free and everything is covered regardless of how many appointments you make or even if your appointment is pregnancy related. The midwife is free too, as is hospital care when you deliver the baby and with my previous pregnancies I've had my own room and bathroom during my hospital stay. You're encouraged to stay in hospital about 4 days to make sure you are fully rested and baby is feeding well.
Children get free healthcare up to the age of about 18 I think too.
What happens in the US if you can't afford medical care and don't have insurance?
Congrats! That is great news. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Shellbelle
People who can't afford insurance can get government assistance that pays for everything pretty much. Not everyone qualifies though. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of ppl out there that just rack up medical bills and can never afford to pay it back.Quote:
Originally Posted by mummypink
Wow Cinss, over here it's standard practice. You start going in at 10-12 weeks prego and once a month until the final month then it's once a week!!! YOU ARE LUCKY you don't have to go in, I hate it and think it's pointless and costly.. I have my own doppler.. i'll just go in for tests! lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Cinss
It's true. Medicaid will pay for anything your insurance won't from pregnancy to delivery.. and some people that don't have insurance just rely primarily on medicaid..Quote:
Originally Posted by NCBeachyGrl
But you have to have a low income to qualify.
I guess that's not so bad then, I had an image of people having to get their dh to deliver their babies because they couldn't afford to go to hospital! ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by NCBeachyGrl
Here we have a similar thing (in the UK.) In terms of comparison, I much prefer the NHS over the US healthcare system. Is that because it's less stressful to me? Probably a lot of it is, but I also found the care a lot more focused and caring. As a lot of the healthcare experience in the US is heavily money-driven, while I do not think for a moment they do not care, I also think there will be a lot of other factors that come into play in how they provide and what they provide. Prescription costs are mind-blowing there, whereas here when you are pregnant, all prescriptions are free. All children under 16 are free. All low-income are free and all retire age (can't remember the exact age) is free. Everyone else pays a flat fee of £7.65, no matter the amount (i.e. how many pills you are given) of the drug - no matter what the drug.
I worked in Radiology in the US and now I do the same here, and the experiences in contrast are so different. There, for cancer patients, I would have to ask for and receive thousands of dollars prior to their PET/CT/MRI scan. I felt dirty doing this. It felt incredibly unethical to me (because it is.) I would get people screaming at me because they "had insurance" and shouldn't have to pay that much, and I would have to explain that this is what their insurance company has requested that they must pay up front, or if they hadn't covered their deductible yet, etcetera. And then the patients who had NO insurance coverage and going through cancer treatment? Just unbelievable, the costs. I mean - who in their right mind would think this is okay? As if they weren't going through enough as it is to begin with...
Here, patients whom are outpatients get seen, according to their urgency... i.e. cancer is fast track, urgents, and routines. But no one is left on a trolley dying, despite what some people have liked to spread around about socialized healthcare in the US. No one is asked for money. No one is turned away. You are treated based on need. If you need it, you got it.
In the US, I got fired from a job because I had chickenpox (and I ended up going to the ER at one point which I got a bill of $600 for sitting around for 5 hours. I wasn't even given a tylenol while there, just sat in a quarantine room with a dangerously high fever.)
I lost a job because it was the day I qualified for health insurance, and she decided (without saying it) that they didn't want to pay out, and instead (through what coworkers told me later on) had replaced me with two part-time employees (because part-time employees don't qualify for health insurance coverage through the employer at all - a bonus saving to them.)
Here? During my two miscarriages, I was signed off work from the GP (doctor) both times, for 2 weeks... with pay, and I was NOT fired. Morning sickness? I was off work quite a bit... but I was NOT fired.
As you can see, my whole perception is constantly comparing my experiences. I didn't even really know of the existence of the NHS until I met my husband. And then when I moved here, I began to experience it first hand, and I was really impressed. Especially when I found a lump in my breast and the speedy fast track investigations I was put through after to come to the speedy conclusion that it was okay and not cancer. Ultrasounds, specialist consultants, etc... all free.
Outpatient surgery in the US? For me, with insurance, that was $400... not including the specialist consultant visit cost. I had to get help to afford it as I didn't make that much money.
I worked in an Neonatal/Special Care Baby Unit as my first proper job here in the UK (for St Mary's in Manchester) and some babies would be there for 5+ months. What would that have cost parents in the US? I thought about it *ALL* the time while working there.
When I first moved here, I CRIED... a lot, thinking about my family, my grandparents, hearing about so and so going to the hospital, etcetera, and the costs, and thinking how wrong it all is.
I am REALLY rambling.... I guess I just feel like I am in between two worlds. When I read about, even the trivial discussion about costs associated with even antenatal care, it ends up infuriating me. Seriously. I do plan to move back to the US one day, and I am going to have a LOT of work to do with keeping my mouth in check because I have a feeling I will be at great odds with everyone else if things haven't begun to change by then.
Suregena you really do have a unique perspective knowing and having been through both sides! Thanks for sharing!!! I do agree that the US is money driven. With DS2, I felt they they went WAY overboard with me. I had a *slightly* elevated thyroid (never had to be on med) and through my whole pregnancy they insisted on sending me to an endocrinologist for testing ($100 each time), then b/c I had a vanishing twin they sent me to a maternal specialist ($100 each time), and then when I had gestational diabetes, I had to go back to the specialist even more. I felt like they put me through the ringer, going from place to place and scaring me to death in the process.
I switched doctors and told them I do NOT want to go to anyone but the OB and the in-house high risk OB for diabetes if needed. Hopefully this time will be much different!
Everything is highly unregulated. It can end up being different for everyone, with or without insurance.Quote:
Originally Posted by mummypink
You will be treated if you don't have insurance, and then you will get a bill. This bill sometimes they'll reduce it 50% if you can't afford it. If you had a lengthy stay in the hospital with mounting hospital bills, that charity hardly amounts to anything to someone who doesn't have money. Around 60% of bankruptcies in the US are attributed to medical bill costs.
There is a system called Medicaid, but even then you have to fall within a certain category to qualify. It covers a lot of costs but you still are expected to pay some. There is a lot of people who are working in the US but do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford healthcare either. They cannot afford taking out insurance on their own. They may not be offered insurance through their employer. There are a lot of people like that. People probably just like me... two person working household type people. They work, they make enough money to just cover their bills and basic necessities, but the monstrous costs of taking out insurance or being seen as an uninsured patient makes it impossible.
It is common practice to weigh the odds of seeing a doctor with how much it will cost you... how much the prescriptions will cost you. One person won't pay the same thing as another. Your neighbor could have the same procedure and pay a completely different price.
The huge push of deregulation is very dangerous to me, as no one is held accountable.
The costs of being uninsured in the US is very dangerous.
For people who are lucky to have what they feel is really good insurance are indeed lucky, but even myself now views that as unlucky. It's still angering to me.
There are many kinds of insurance types/companies, etcetera. No Insurance Is Created Equal. No Patient is Treated Equal.
It's a very messy, convoluted, minefield.
Wow that is scary! I'm sorry. I have hypothyroidism so I have to take medication every day and get it tested every now and again.. and pregnancy does alter the thyroid for some strange reason. And yes, the US is WAY money driven, and I do not trust the government at all.. period end of story!Quote:
Originally Posted by NCBeachyGrl
LOL I will talk crap about it all day long if you want me to. Just ask Surgena! haha I already shared my personal rant with her.
I didn't even MENTION if you can afford to take out insurance on your own - you may not even find one who will take you on - maybe because you weigh too much, or you have asthma, or you were a cancer survivor. Or maybe they do take you on, but refuse to cover the costs of certain things, because you weigh too much, or you have asthma, or you were a cancer survivor.
Hopefully this pre-existing conditions business gets better as I know Obama has tried to start making that not allowed... but who knows. With that Republican controlled house during his first term, something that could have really overhauled healthcare in the US got gutted to pieces because Republicans didn't like the "public" option on there (SOCIALIZED MEDICINE OH MY GOD THE DEVIL!) and so on... and gutted it to the bare minimum frame of what he was attempting to get through.
I think the Government can be a source of good or evil - depends on how it is used and who are pulling the strings... as is proven in various countries around the world.
I'm pretty much certain that Insurance Companies are evil, though. ;)
I'll shut up now. :D *goes quietly into a cave*
So interesting to hear such a first hand comparison Suregena, it is so lovely to hear such positive things about the NHS. I agree it is fab and very under rated by a lot of people in the UK, I suppose it is taken for granted because it has been there for so long.
I don't think it would do any harm for some of these direct comparisons to be talked about more openly to promote how fantastic the NHS is.
Out of interest why do you think the US doens't have a system similar to the NHS? If most people have insurance anyway surely that could just be changed to a national insurance type tax that could then be used for public hospitals? Do you think it would just be way too complicated to set up? x
I know everyone has been talking about insurance, but I'm a little off topic this morning. I think I remember Rainbow talking about dreams that family members have had about her carrying a little girl. I hope I have the right person. Well I had an amazing dream last night that I was carrying a girl. It was so real!!!! I remember saying my dd was going to have a sister and my dh was on the verge of tears. The woman at my nt scan told me (that would never happen irl). My u/s pic was a real pic and the baby had clothes on...hahaha...and red hair like my 2nd ds. It was so wonderful. I hope it becomes my reality.
Awww what a lovely dream 3men, hope it comes true for you!
I had a dream I was carrying a baby girl called Emily when I was pregnant with ds1, I have a neice called Emily now though! This time I had a dream I gave birth to triplets, two boys and a girl so I'm hoping that was meaning the two boys I already have and that I'm having a girl this time. Not relying on my dream after last time though lol!! ;)