One week left folks! I had my 37 week appointment last Friday and the nurses went over the basic schedule of the C Section with me and my Dr. introduced me to the surgeon who will be doing the procedure. My main Dr. is the director of the hospital and used to do the C Sections, but a nurse told me that since he is older now (he looks like he's probably in his 60s or 70s) he no longer does the surgeries. The surgeon is a friendly, middle aged man who seems pretty quiet. He doesn't speak English as far as I know, but we didn't have much trouble talking to each other in Japanese during the brief consultation I had with him.
This time around I had to have an electrocardiogram done. I've never had one done before. When I was pregnant with Clara in the US I didn't get one. The calendar of prenatal appointments I got from a nurse near the beginning of the pregnancy does mention it, so I guess it's normal procedure for all pregnant moms, at least at this hospital. It's a painless and relatively quick procedure. A nurse put sensors on my ankles, wrists, and several on my chest, and then the nurse watched my heartbeat. She kept telling me to relax, saying that my heart rate was kind of fast. I told her that I had taken the Utemerin that morning and it always made my heart beat kind of fast. She didn't say much about it and finished the test. I wasn't sure she understood what I said. I have to have the same test again next week and I imagine the result will be the same, so maybe I'll have to try explaining again.
I also had a blood test done, (I hope that it's the last time I have to give blood in a while, I hate needles XP) and the routine ultrasound. The surgeon did the ultrasound this time. It was pretty quick, just measuring the baby's head and femur bone to check his growth. I've been told that my baby is pretty big, but I think that maybe he's just big compared to Japanese babies? I think he'll probably be the same size as Clara was when she was born. Both with Clara's pregnancy and with this one my belly has stuck out a lot and a lot of women comment on how big my belly seems XD. I was talking to a woman at the daycare just yesterday who is giving birth today, and her belly looked quite a bit smaller than mine, so I guess I really do have an unusually large belly!
After all the tests/consultation were done I had a meeting with two nurses to talk about the C Section. Apparently I'll be checking into the hospital the day before (which kind of surprised me, I thought I'd be going in the morning of). They said they could arrange for a translator to be there to help me check in, but I told them that my husband could come with me that day. That day happens to be a national holiday, not sure which one, and even though Braden hadn't requested that day off, thinking that I'd be admitted the day of the surgery, he doesn't work that day anyway, so it all worked out. The nurses went over the list of things I'd need to bring, gave me some permission forms to fill out, and gave me a rundown of the schedule. Check in Monday at 3 pm. Anyone I invite to see the surgery (just Braden in my case) needs to come in Tuesday at noon, and the surgery will take place in the early afternoon. They said I could have Clara brought over in the evening to meet the baby, and then Braden and Clara will return home that evening. They said that it is permissible for my husband to stay the night with me for a small fee (just 500 yen, about 5 dollars) but since Braden will be with Clara they are just going to go home to sleep.
I asked the nurses if I would owe the hospital any money when I check out (the government will give me a lump sum to help with child birth, but it doesn't come until later, so I may need to pay the hospital before that). They said that it's hard to say. The deposit I paid before the birth may pay for everything, or it might not, depending on how things go. I asked if there was any chance it would be a lot, and they said it probably wouldn't be more than paying the deposit again (which was 150,000 yen) if it ended up that I did owe them. They also said that the insurance would pay for 70 percent of the bill. The Japanese National Health Insurance doesn't pay anything for a normal birth, but since I'm having a C Section requested by the Dr. they will pay 70 percent.) As I was getting ready to check out, another nurse gave me an insurance form to fill out. She tried to explain it to me but I really didn't understand anything except that I should fill it out and take it to the Insurance Office as soon as possible (All the nurses only speak Japanese, and although I'm getting better at understanding basic medical stuff, insurance stuff is way over my head 0_o). Over the weekend one of my English students (I teach a couple of private English and Spanish conversation classes on the side) told me that the form will lower the maximum amount I would have to pay if a medical bill becomes very high. So if there are problems and the bill skyrockets, I would normally pay 30 percent of the bill (which can end up being quite a lot), but now I won't have to pay more than a certain amount (There was some sort of equation on the form based on your monthly income that I didn't really understand, but I guess it determines the cap). Anywho, Braden filled it out and turned it into the Insurance Office yesterday, and they gave him a card that they said I need to give the hospital when I check in. I guess I'll have to wait until after the birth to see how much everything ends of costing in the end, and how much insurance ends up paying.
Anywho, sorry for the long drawn out post XD. I want to include lots of details just in case there's someone out there giving birth in Nagoya that could benefit from my information. I hope it's not too much or too little :P.
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