I actually tried to do as much of it as I could...in the past 17 days off of work I have slept (when I could), got a haircut, pedicure, did some shopping, packed our bags for the hospital, organized the nursery, tied up loose ends around the house, cooked, made my own nappy wipe solution, took a drive to explore the outskirts of Chiang Mai, went to the doctor & had our last ultrasound, nursed my husband who had a wisdom tooth extracted, cuddled with my husband (& dog), watched movies & tv shows & read a few books!
I'm so grateful to have had this time off to prepare, but at the same time I realized that I'm also grateful to have been working all these months. For me, it's just too much time to think about all the "what-if's."
I return to work tomorrow for 2 more weeks...it's only 10 more days of work and then I'm off for 7 months...
This past week we also finally took the tour of the birthing center, I wrote a bit about the birthing process several months back (See "Your having a baby in Thailand?" post). I have a better idea of the big picture now...
Our process started by choosing our OB/GYN doctor, Dr. Supreeya. We choose her because she came highly recommended by pretty much every expat mother I spoke to. Dr. Supreeya only delivers (as far as I know) at the teaching hospital which is operated separately inside one of Chiang Mai's government hospitals.
Health care here is very different than the States...We've been seeing Dr. Supreeya at a clinic where she has hours once a week on Thursday's starting at 5:30 pm, seeing patients until 9:00 pm when the clinic closes. After your initial visit (which took us a very frustrating 3 hours) the process is quite simple, you make your next appointment and you're given a number and an estimated time of when she'll be able to see you, when you arrive you pee in a cup that is placed un-marked into a try of others, check weight & blood pressure, then wait to see Dr. Supreeya...she asks a few questions, listen to the heart beat, the end. At first I felt like there should be more to this process, shouldn't I be worried about...stuff? Having more "stuff" checked out? These office visits cost around 300 baht (about $10) our recent visit with ultrasound and the fees for both doctors was 800 baht (about $25). That's without insurance.
At the birthing center we will choose a birthing package, some of the choices are
Normal birth 24,000B ($787)
Normal birth + female sterilization 29,000B ($951)
Natural birth/active birth 25,000B ($820)
Cesarean section 39,000B ($1,280)
and so on...this is pretty much what we'll be charged (again without insurance) there are no hidden costs, these fees include the doctors fees and immunizations as well as 2 nights stay and a lactation consultant.
We have chosen the natural birth/active birth option (as long as there are no complications). It's considered natural because the use of an epidural is illegal in Chiang Mai. Upon request, you can get Demoral for pain, they also use Pitocin as needed.
Some folks have also been asking about dual citizenship, he will not have dual citizenship, it's possible but quite complicated and Thailand requires 2 years of military service, which I'm not willing to take my chances with...he will have a Thai birth certificate that will be translated into English in order to receive "American citizen born abroad" status. This requires a whole slew of paperwork. If interested, see the directions found from the Chiang Mai American Consulate.
A few weeks after delivery we'll have an appointment at the Consulate to apply for his American Citizen born abroad status, his passport & his social security card.
For now, we wait...
 |
| Happy New Year from the Raines Ahmad Family. 2013 is going to be something really special! |
No comments:
Post a Comment