Help, new mum to be.... transition from USA to AUS... very lost.. :(
Hi all,
I just need someone to talk to and hopefully get some questions answered..
I'm very afraid of this pregnancy and I know I shouldnt be but its my first and everything is new and scarey.
I have just come home from the USA to have my birth in Australia but I have no idea where to start, I'm about 30 wks pregnant now and I am going to Sutherland hospital today.. but I have no idea where to start with questions as what I want what I need what I should find out etc, I havent had any classes at all, the OB's I was with in the USA were not very nice and I was almost in tears all the time so this is a major reason why I wanted to come home - less stressful.
I am really interested in a water birth, perhaps St george birth centre? I have heard does these??? I love being in the water and I swim every day so it just is very therapeutic and relaxes me alot! I think this would really nice but I'm not sure how it all works..
I've noticed alot of people are talking about being booked in to these places etc... I'm not sure what happens here as i havent booked in anywhere except I have seen my normal doc and she gave me a referral form to either sutherland or st georges hospital.
Anyways my husband is also not currently with me as he is in the military and wont be able to come back till a week before the baby is due.. which is also quite stressful as I'm all alone, I do have my mum with me and she is a great support but I really really need help and advice as to what i should ahve done or been prepared for... we didnt know that I was going to head back to Australia till about a week before I booked my flights.
I'm also ONLY on medicare so what costs am I looking at???
If you are with medicare, you will be going through the Public system. IMO there is nothing wrong with the public system here, I'm sure many BB members would agree with me This will mean you will have a lot of midwife care, as opposed to ob care.
My main advice, don't be affraid to express yourself Tell them how worried you are, talk talk and talk some more. They will explain everything to you! And if you are still unsure, talk some more or ask to see a different midwife/doctor. I even took a note pad with me to my appointments, so I wouldn't forget the questions/concerns I had, and the answers I got for them! hehe.
I can't help with which hospital would be best for you, as I'm not in your area, but I'm sure there will be a few women who can help. I know some hospitals don't allow water births, but will allow you to labour in a bath (then birth the baby out of the water). The shower is also a lovely place to labour in, all that hot water is nice on a contracting belly
My favourite book to read while pregnant was, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. If you can, get your hands on a copy! It's a great book filled with beautiful birth stories and great tips.
Thanks so much for your quick responses ladies, its nice to get some good positive feedback. I hope this afternoon goes well with the hospital and I'm going to use your advise TellyTubby and write all the questions I can think about now and take them with me.. the hard part is.. I dont know what else I should be thinking about, I think if you are going for your 2nd birth etc it must get easier as you know what you want and you know what you dont want... but is there any place on these BB forums that show you like an example of the birthing plan questions etc.. so I dont have the birth then afterwards go I wish I knew about this or I wish you could have told me I could have had that kind of thing. If you know what I mean. Thanks so much for your guidance so far!
I dont know why but I think being a first pregnancy every other woman has been gracious enough to share with me their scarey experiences !! and I'm afraid to read anything as I'm very bad for pain.... when I went for my first blood test I passed out then vomited afterwards... not nice I know but I'm not interested it getting the epidural etc. hopefully some gas or an IV would be nicer lol...
In my first 4 months of the pregnancy I had sickness about 4-6 times a day. That bad the strain caused a subchorionic bleed which healed up afterwards but still wasnt a nice experience! But it will be worth it in the end !!
Then I got told I might be a high risk for pre-eclampsia because my blood pressure was always really high.. but since being back home in Australia its always in the 70s which my doc is very pleased about and wants it to stay.
*sigh* there is so much they dont tell you about being pregnant.. all the invasive procedures they do etc... its all so scarey when you arent informed. My mum isnt realy a help as she had me and my sister over 21 yrs ago in the UK soo an Australian birth is all new for us!
I'm due to have my gestational diabetes test early next week and again i'm afraid I will pass out lol.. I think its mainly all mental, as physically its not that painful I just psych myself up too much!
I am neither pregant nor in Sydney, but I just wanted to welcome you to BB - and back home to Australia!!
It must be a huge thing for you to confront, being pregnant with your first, alone and in a new city!! I can't even imagine how you must feel.
The good news is you have come to the right place. BB is a wonderful community and there are lots of women on here who will be more than willing to help you as much as they can with advice, support, information and friendship. There are quite a few defence force wives/partners on here too. I think there is a special thread. (I am not one of them either!). I am also sure there will be lots of women in here from your area.
I am not sure but I think the hospitals you mentioned are public (someone else will be able to confirm this). If so, there should be no costs to you. Medicare will cover it all.
Good luck for your pregnancy. And, above all, dont be scared!
Welcome. I am from the Sutherland Shire but gave birth at St George Private. The best thing might be to do a hospital tour of Sutherland and St George hospital. They just did up Sutherland and it looks really nice! I did do a tour when I was pregnant with DD but I can't remember the hospital.
St George Birth Centre does do water births and I have heard that it is awesome but I think they are hard to get in contact with them. Doesn't hurt to ring up and see if you can get in.
I'm having my bub at Sutherland soon. The midwives have a been great. And you can have a waterbirth there. They have a few rooms with large tubs.
It won't cost you anything to be a public patient there.
Def do a tour, they do them every Saturday afternoon.
Hopefully hubby is home in time. I'm in a similar situation too.
Good luck!
@ Mel_Cur Thanks!! and did you have any trouble with being in the shire for getting admitted due to distance??
@ Ezy May - Thankyou... thats good to know about the water tubs... I wonder if you have to book them out or how they work... like what if everyone wants one at the same time I do, how does that work lol... I dont know the chances or likely hood but I will ask this afternoon,
good to know about the tour too I will ask them about that although I wont be available this saturday hopefully I can book in for next week.
I hope your hubby is home too, I'm just going to try and keep my legs crossed lol!!!
Also, if you search the pregnancy/birth forums, I'm pretty sure there are threads where members have posted their own birth plans. If not, you could always start one asking people to share theirs . That's the beauty of BB, we all help and support one another.
A book I found really helpful was "Creating Your Birth Plan" by Dr Marsden Wagner.
thanks very much Tuesdays Child... I really appreciate that link I have read 3 articles already and feel soo unprepared haha! But I will be reading alot more when I return back from the hospital.. they have got alot of valuable information in them so thankyou for pointing me in that direction!
Also, here is a link to birth stories - Birth Stories
You'll find that the majority of members on BB think of birth as something beautiful and exciting, not something to be feared. A lot of good stories and experiences written in there. If you have a search I'm sure there will be plenty of water births aswell
Kizzie I'm glad you had a good appointment! They are lovely, I'm looking forward to birthing there.
I haven't done the antenatal classes because I did them with my first at a different hossy. But a gf did them at sutho and said they were good.
You can't book a room with a bath. It's first in best dressed but they said to me you have a pretty good chance of getting one. If you have an epidural you can't be in one of those rooms anyway so I think they are fairly free.
Hi and welcome I did antinatal classes they are a good way to ask Qs in a group setting so anything you havnt thought of others might have plus you get to meet other people at about the same stage as you are
so glad to hear you had a great appointment! and can start feeling EXCITED about the birth now!! DH and I went to 2 sets of antenatal classes with DD, first one run by the Maternity Coalition which was AWESOME, so encouraging and informative. we paid for those ones. Hospital ones were at a public hospital so were free, and I didn't find them anywhere near as good, but we did them so we knew where the hospital stood on various things seeing as we were going with an OB so hadn't had any interaction with people in the hospital. Was definitely good doing both sets
Hi Kizzie, welcome back to Australia. I'm American and had my first baby here in Australia. It was wonderful and so much better than much of what I've heard about giving birth in the US so I think you made a good choice in coming here. I didn't have to pay a thing at the public hospital I went to in Adelaide and they took such good care of me. I couldn't believe how much Medicare covers after being in the US my whole life. I did a waterbirth too with my first, which was a good experience. We didn't get to Adelaide until I was about 30 weeks along and it was fine. It was a little challenging getting all my records transfered over but I didn't have to do it, the hospital made all those calls. I found a birth plan here on the BellyBelly website and personalized it a little. My hospital was really good about following it and I gave it to them about 6 weeks before the baby was due to make sure they were ok with it. I hope all goes well with your pregnancy and birth experience.
Help, new mum to be.... transition from USA to AUS... very lost.. :(
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks