Military Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
XP from MF. BR, Japanese or American Hospital
Hey y'all, I'm Hilly. I post over on MN when I do post. We are stationed overseas right now, and while I still have a while to think about it, I am so stuck in the middle. Either option has pros and cons and neither would be "bad" But, I'm getting a head of myself. The situation: Our base doesn't have a Naval Hospital, we only have a clinic and get sent to either Okinawa, Hawaii, or Yokosuka for more serious things that they can't take care of here. We're expecting No. 2 in September, and will need to decide at some point if I'll have the baby in a local hospital in town, with a Japanese Doctor, or travel with DD and hopefully H a few weeks ahead of time and spend time at a different base ( with a Chili's!! ) and deliver in a USNH. Japanese Hospital Pros:- Close by, no traveling. Stay at Home until baby time.- Easier with DD, we have a great support system here even with out family. These people are amazing. Cons:-Apparently the Doctor speaks very little, and doesn't prefer to speak English.- Very assembly line, in and out. - I am afraid if there were any complications, I wouldn't be able to communicate properly with the nurses, and what ever Doctor was there if the english speaking Doc wasn't on call. The communication is my biggest scare/ reason I don't want to go.-They like to keep you there for a long time. USNH Yokosuka, Pros:- The lodging and Train tickets are free. Even if my mom was able to come, she could stay in the lodging area for free. -There's a greater ability to communicate what I need / want, obvi. But I just think I would feel more comfortable there.- In the three weeks before my due date that I'm required to be up there, we could travel to Tokyo, and enjoy the bigger area. Cons:-if H was to be guaranteed to be there when I went into labor, ( the whole time we were there) he would have to take three weeks of leave, which he will have, but it will be sad for him to spend it waiting around, and not three weeks with me, DD, and the new baby.- The traveling and spending potentially nearly a month away from our home, DD's friends/ playgroups. So, please ladies, tell me what you would do if you were in my shoes. TIA!
Re: XP from MF. BR, Japanese or American Hospital
I was stationed with my husband in Korea when I was pregnant with my daughter. We also didn't have any medical services above a routine care clinic. I had the option of delivering in a Korean hospital or traveling down to Seoul and delivering at the Army hospital on post. To deliver on post, I would have to go down two weeks ahead (38 weeks) and wait. My husband wasn't able to stay with me.
I chose to go down to Seoul and wait for the baby. I am very happy with my decision. Even though my LO was 2 weeks late, I am very glad I had her in an American hospital. I needed to be able to communicate properly with my medical team. They were unable to get LO's heartbeat to track properly on the monitors and I was unable to get an epidural. (I ended up with a spinal after a fetal scalp monitor.) It was very comforting to know WHY I wasn't able to get an epidural, what out other options were, and what was happening.
My husband ended up coming down to stay with me randomly one night. That was the night I went into labor. I don't know how far away your main post is from the NH, but I would just have him talk to him chain of command. My husband's were awesome. They just told him that if he needed to go, drop everything and GO. They had all the paperwork filled out and signed, they just put in a date when I went into labor. I don't think he needs to take the whole three weeks. Especially if this is your first baby, your chances of being overdue are high anyways. Your doctor can give you a general idea if you are getting close (It's not a guarantee my any means, but if the baby is high and you aren't dilating, labor probably isn't imminent.) When you do start getting close, he can just get in a car/train and get to you. How far is it by train/car? If it's only a few hours, I wouldn't stress about it. He can leave a bag with his stuff in it wherever you stay. That way, he won't have to worry about grabbing anything.
Another thing that I really liked about staying at the post in Seoul was that I got a few weeks to myself! As much as I love my husband, it was nice to just be uncomfortable and cranky in peace! I had AFN (American TV), a library close by, and air conditioning that I didn't have to pay for. It was nice to do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it. That post also had a much bigger PX, so I was able to finish up the baby shopping. My husband was able to come down on the weekends, so we did see each other often.
In the end, you do what makes you comfortable. This was just my experience. Good luck!
We were in Egypt when I was pregnant with DS and we debated long and hard. We decided to go back to the US because maternity care sucks in Egypt for the most part and we just weren't comfortable with the risk.
In your situation, I would stay in Japan. Hire someone who speaks fluent Japanese and fluent English to be your doula (labor support person) so they can talk to the doctors and talk to you.
There will also be a much bigger PX at the USNH that would be so nice to get shopping done at!
Base is about 12 hours away by car/regular train. Which by the time he got word. got tickets, etc, he would likely miss whatever's going on. Also, I would have to take my daughter with me for the time that I was going up/ he was at home and working. While I've heard of awesome stories of the other mommas in the Stork's nest taking care of your kiddo, I would be nervous about not having that happen and not having a place for DD O_O But, I do have a friend stationed up there that I could likely call on. It would just be best for him to be there.
I wouldn't be leaving Japan, I would just be traveling to a Naval Hospital near Tokyo instead of delivering in a Japanese hospital.
I meant stay in the Japanese hospital.
It was so stressful not having DH around and wondering constantly if he was going to make it for the birth. I would have been fine if I KNEW he wasn't going to be there, but the not knowing really got to me. I was constantly wondering if I was going to go into labor before he got there. Are you sure that he will be able to travel with you the 3 weeks beforehand and stay long enough after? What if you go late, like 42 weeks? Can he really stay that whole 5 weeks, plus time after the birth until you are ready to go home? You could potentially be talking about 2 months away from home and that just seems like a lot, especially with DD1. I would stay home.
I would probably choose off-base.
When I lived in Okinawa I had a friend who delivered at a Japanese hospital. Her husband was retired Air Force and a contractor, so she had the option to go to the Naval Hospital or downtown. She had a local friend with her to interpret and had a wonderful experience. Also, when I was there (four years ago) there was quite a few American doctors working in the civilian medical facilities.
Usually just a lurker, but we are considering TTC again and will have the same decision to make. (We are in Iwakuni, I am not sure where you are here). I have decided that if I do get pregnant while we are still here I will either go to Yokosuka, assuming my pregnancy is normal, or back to the states if my pregnancy was like my last.
From what I have heard about going to the Japanese hospital, and doctor out in town, I don't feel comfortable because of the lack of communication and the language barrier. The fact that I have to have a repeat c-section also plays into the decision though. I have heard they don't do the spinals as they do in the states, and they don't give you pain medication, they give you more of the epidural to manage your pain. Also, the long stay (I have heard at least a week) I am not a fan of. I know in Yokosuka I would be gone longer from home and away from DD, but I wouldn't be spending that much time in the actual hospital, so I would look at it as more of a "vacation."
How funny, we're in Iwakuni too. I just went in for our prenatal class a couple of weeks ago and have two girlfriends who just delivered at Shoji's. One had a scheduled, repeat C section, but I haven't gotten to talk to her about it more, since her child was only born yesterday! But my other friend labored at home and was crowning when she was coming into the hospital via ambulance from base, and therefore couldn't give me info about the pain meds. They give you a whole translated check list of things they offer. My friend that labored naturally, only stayed 3 days, and that was because she had a positive strep B test and they weren't able to get her on antibiotics before the baby came. So I think the stay is negotiable.
Apparently they have a new, younger doctor who likes to practice his english more, and will likely be taking over if Shoji decides to retire soon. They don't offer private rooms covered under tricare, you have to pay around 5000 Yen for that each day if they have one available.
I like the idea of hiring someone who is bi-lingual.
It's not my cup of tea but have you considered delivering at home? If you and baby are healthy and you plan on having a med free birth, a home birth maybe a better option.
Not particularly my cup of tea either. The only way I think I could do it is if there were some kind of medical professional there. I have no clue where I would begin looking for some one like that around here. I am having a hard enough time looking for some one to encapsulate my placenta with out being dubbed "the crazy placenta lady" on base.
Let me put out some feelers on Twitter for you...maybe I can get some info.
Arigato! *bows*
Usually the hospital takes your placenta after you've delivered, and disposes of it like it were a biohazard waste. I want to keep my placenta, take it home, and hopefully have an encapsulation specialist cook it, dehydrate it, grind it up, and put it into capsules, so that I can take it as if it were a vitamin. ( I am pretty positive I couldn't throw it into a smoothie raw like some people do)
It can help prevent the baby blues, increase your milk supply, help you heal faster, and have more energy etc, all because it is perfectly tailored to you with all of the hormones and things that your body needs.
In the states, it's fairly easy to find some one in your area that would come to your home and do it. The hardest part would be getting the hospital to release it to you, but it would just depend on where you were delivering. Here, I can't even find out it's available in the local area, if there is Japanese people who do it at all, or if by some random chance, there's a certified American here.
How much does it usually cost to get the service done?
It's definitely interesting to me. I'm in the middle of a book about gentle birth and I'm still trying to figure out how much of it I stand a chance of getting after I move. Where I live now gentle birth is the hospital's standard practice but I know it's not like that everywhere. I'm considering hiring a doula to help with that.
I think it depends on where you live, but I want to say from what I've looked at 175- 300?