February 2020 babies club

Hope your doc appointment went well DAT64!

I won't tell family until first 12 weeks have passed - will be first grandchild on both sides so i know as soon as news is out that both sets of grandparents will be besides themselves with excitement. I'm too superstitious to say anything just yet.

I tried to make a GP appointment yesterday but because I am new to the area I live in, I have to register with the practice and a doctor will not see me until they have my records from my previous GP and they are going to send them a letter requesting them.

I think we will definitely do an early scan too - I'm only 6 weeks today by my own calculations so I need to hold out for another 2 weeks realistically. Patience was never a strong trait of mine :cool:

Finding it so hard to concentrate on work etc. Also contemplating organising some kind of shotgun wedding - we've been engaged for years and have never really been motivated to formalise but I feel strangely compelled to tie the knot before Lil Peanut arrives I'm blaming pregnancy hormones!

Thanks Shesty and welcome to the February train Rockiemalt and misslemon. Hope the next few weeks and months go swimmingly well for you.

I had my doctor's appointment to confirm pregnancy last week - brought a urine sample with me in case of stage fright and got the ball rolling. I have to go back to her and confirm whether I am going to go public or private in the Coombe and I have been throwing that around all weekend long and exhausting pretty much every board and thread on the subject. When we found out, I was convinced we would go private but the more I look into it, the harder I am finding it to justify, and in case anybody else in this thread is having a similar dilemma, I've just highlighted my thoughts below. I also had a really great conversation with a secretary of a private consultant in the Coombe that I contacted and she was absolutely brilliant at spelling out the differences.

Private consultants fees are between €3-5k around the country and at the top end of that for the Dublin hospitals. I have private health insurance with VHI so would get a small contribution of €350 towards those fees and cover for 3 nights in hospital in private room if one is available (not clear about position if you need to spend longer than 3 nights in hospital after delivery). You can claim 20% of fees back through Revenue. You would attend one consultant and all going well, that consultant would be present at the birth also. You will likely not have to wait very long for appointments and will get mini-scans at each check up with bigger scans at wks 12, 20 and later on in pregnancy as required. You are not guaranteed a private room after delivery but would get one if available and, in my case, I would have to attend all appointments in the consultant's own suite in the Coombe (instead of availing of satellite clinic in Naas which would be a major plus for me).

My GP was very frank about her views on semi-private - she said in her experience and to the best of her knowledge, the standard of care is the exact same as going through the public system and she said the standard of care going through the public system is so high that she could not justify semi-private fees (about €1,000 + scans from what I can gather). After delivery, you could likely expect to be in a 4 bed semi private ward instead of a 5 bed public ward.

Re public - there are an overwhelming number of positive accounts of this route on both Boards and other forums. I kind of feel guilty for initially immediately discounting it but that was based on my preconception that all public healthcare in Ireland is a shambles. You would likely be dealing with midwives at your earlier appointments and would be referred to consultant led care if some issue arose or you or baby needed specialist care. The birth itself would be led by midwives and a consultant would only be present if there was some pressing need. If eligible for the Domino scheme, you would be looking at more midwifery-led care. After delivery, you would be in a 5/6 bed ward.

I thought about the things that are really important to me : first and foremost obviously is safe delivery of healthy baby, followed by getting home with said baby as soon as possible after delivery. I would also really like to attend the satellite clinic in Naas and there is no consultant from the Coombe taking private patients there as far as I am aware BUT the consultant who does attend the Naas clinic pretty much attends them all so even though continuity is not guaranteed, it can [unofficially) be expected, and this particular consultant no longer takes private patients but by all accounts according to his secretary, he treats public patients as if they were private. The secretary that I spoke to advised me that if her daughter was pregnant in the morning and needed to chose a route, that she would have no qualms in recommending going public in the Coombe, especially if she could attend the Naas satellite clinic, and that has really held a lot of weight in my mind all weekend as I have been researching and mulling it over. Even if I did not qualify for the Domino scheme or Naas satellite clinic, the disadvantages that I can tell are lack of continuity in attending same doctor (but my medical record would be there), having to wait longer at appointments (but I could bring a book to pass the time) and having to share a room with up to 4/5 others when baby is born (and hopefully get out of hospital asap after delivery).

I guess it is very difficult to call it without ever having had any experience of pregnancy and delivery and postnatal care (none of my colleagues or pals or friends have either so I have no in person accounts one way or another). I mean obviously I hope and expect that everything will go well and I will be able to deliver baby naturally and get home as soon as possible. I have no pre-existing health conditions or pregnancy related concerns, apart from being an anxious first timer. We are not rich by any means but we could afford to go private, but given that the public standard of maternity care seems to be so high anyway, I just don't know if I can justify the private fees especially with all the other expenses in becoming first time parents, especially when I would be looking to take the full unpaid maternity leave at the end of my paid maternity leave.

So I am still mulling it over and considering all options (have to decide over next day or so to get my registration form in asap) but I just thought putting it on paper might help if you are considering the same. If you have any strong views one way or another based on your own experience or any accounts you have from reliable sources, please help a gal out and share

@GavMan - you're making me really excited now to get an early scan, I'm trying to hold out to 8 wks and it's so hard when you're impatient. :rolleyes: I feel like seeing Lil Peanut will make it feel more real. I am chuffed for you both and glad it went well!

@DAT64 - absolutely brilliant that you're all sorted with your consultant etc. Must be great peace of mind. I am still noodling over what direction to go - is indecision an early pregnancy symptom?

Aside from my inability to make a decision, I'm feeling okish. Main complaint is that I am unbelievably tired esp in early afternoons - I mean literally struggling to keep my eyes open or to sit upright. You are so right - first baby for us so I have the luxury of taking it easy but I take my hat off to those of you who already have little 'uns - you are warriors. I think my tiredness is compounded by the fact that I've been waking at 4/5am for the last week and I cannot go back to sleep. My boobs are still pretty tender and I'm getting a bit of what feels like pre-menstrual cramping a couple of times a day. For the last couple of days, I have felt very mildly queasy - not enough to actually be sick - but I hope this is just a passing phase and doesn't get any worse.

Thankfully I work from home 4 days a week so I can manage tiredness / queasiness quite well but I feel for ladies who have to commute and spend a day in the workplace feeling unwell but unable to tell anybody why just yet.

Welcome to all the new joiners - it's great to see this thread growing bigger and bigger

So after agonizing for weeks and constant back and forth weighing up pros and cons etc., we finally decided to go down the public route. I sent away my patient registration form to the Coombe on Tuesday and got my booking appointment/dating scan times in the post this morning. I'll be either 12wks on the dot (first day of LMP) or 11+4 (date of ovulation). I can't believe the appointment came so fast - it's also a 9.30am appointment so I hope that means that I won't have to wait too long on the day.

When I sent away the patient registration form, I also attached a post it and asked if at all possible, could I get as many appointments as possible in the Naas satellite clinic (to avoid having to trek into the city as much) and the lovely person in the Coombe included a handwritten note in my letter this morning saying that it was not possible to do the first appointment in Naas but I can have my follow up appointments in Naas. That would be unbelievably handy for me. I've heard parking in the Coombe is a nightmare so would like to avoid that pain if at all possible.

It's weird really - it's all getting very real now