Craig took the morning off of work so I could go to my first OB appointment without Anna (thank you, Craig!). It was really quiet there this morning and I went from desk to desk as instructed and then met with the OB right away. This first trip cost 970 Riyals (about $266 USD) so we will definitely be submitting receipts to our insurance unlike in Korea where it was so cheap it wasn't worth the hassle!
It was pricey today because I had to get blood work done (the mom at DQ yesterday had pre-warned me that they like to be very thorough, perhaps a little bit too much) so, even though I told her I had the MMR vaccine in the US as a child she wanted to check that along with a couple of other things they didn't check at home in the blood work.
Anyway, I didn't get in to see the OB I wanted because she doesn't come in until afternoon on Mondays, apparently. I saw another woman who seemed fine though I will see the original OB I had planned to see at my next appointment (January 16) just to at least meet them both.
The OB asked the same general questions as at home and seemed really surprised when I told her I had no pain medication for Anna's birth. I told her I'd like to do the same with this one and that I'd prefer to not have an episiotomy and she seemed fine with that so that's good news there. There was an ultrasound machine in the room so we took a quick look at Baby to check measurements. That was an unexpected bonus! No pictures to take home though.
Overall, the hospital looked really nice and the staff seemed friendly, helpful, and everyone spoke English. The building itself is only two years old. I got a sheet that outlines the costs for delivery. I'll have to go back to Anna's medical records now to see how much she cost (something I've wanted to figure out anyway, but all of the bills came at different times and I never sorted through them, just paid and tossed them in her file). Here are the costs for "normal delivery + normal baby care in nursery for 2 days" (costs go up with vacuum/forceps, c-section & baby care for 4 days; and also not included in the package is circumcision (we were wondering if they did that at all), hearing test, epidural, radiology, and some laboratory tests).
Double Room 6,500 Riyals [$1,785 USD]
Single Room 7,300 Riyals [$2,005 USD]
VIP Suite 8,400 Riyals [$2,307 USD]
Royal Suite 10,500 Riyals [$2,884 USD]
(Royal Suite with c-section is 20,000 Riyals [$5,494 USD])
I'm sure I'll be briefed on the differences between the Double Room, Single Room, VIP Suite, & Royal Suite. We'll see which one Craig springs for.
We also have to remember to put in the bag for the hospital Craig's and my passports and ID cards, and our wedding certificate "this is very important for the baby."
I know the prices state "normal baby care in nursery for 2 days" but I'm pretty sure I've read that they encourage keeping the baby with the mother and that they are very pro-breastfeeding (I did see a lot of posters around the offices this morning) so that is encouraging. I am really happy with the experience I had in Texas with Anna's birth so I hope that this is somewhat comparable.
Oh, and the hospital is very close to our current villa so I hope we don't end up somewhere on the opposite side of town! With my dad missing my birth because he was parking the car and with how fast Sam came out, I don't want to deliver in the car on the way to the hospital! Although, I hope I didn't just jinx myself into a really long, long labor, either!
Finally, I have been feeling Baby move a lot since we arrived in Doha and Craig even felt her one night last week. It's nice to have that daily reassurance!
Will have to add Baby's weight & length from Your Pregnancy Week by Week after the air shipment arrives. According to the scale at the doctor, I have gained 2.5 pounds since the week I got the positive pregnancy test.
The last line of the post came out in symbols..not letters. Glad your appt. went okay. Pricey!