Expat Pregnancy Club Meets!

6 of us foreign pregnant/recent moms from 5 different countries met up for lunch on Sunday. We all met through the blog or through someone else that found the blog, though, subsequently, other common connections have been found.

The information exchange was awesome, hence the rash of posts yesterday and there is more to come. If you have good info on maternity/baby related things, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail. We are particularly interested in affordable products and classes, support, playgroups, doctors, etc. Your hospital/doctor experience including the cost and type of insurance you have would be helpful for people to have an idea about cost. If you have foreign insurance, how was the reimbursement process? Is there anything you need to be sure to request from the hospital for documentation to make that easier? More importantly, how were you treated? Would you recommend your doctor/hospital to others?

********This small group has transformed into a Expat Parents Club Forum.

Go here to join:
http://expatparents.50.forumer.com/index.php

Childbirth Classes in Seoul for English Speakers

I've already posted about the Hypnobirthing Class taught by Patricia Cumming. Click the link for contact information. Patricia knows Keunhae, Lisa and Dr. Sung as well and is familiar with the birth culture in Korea so she can cover that as well.

Another option is taking a course taught by Lactation Consultants and Doulas, Keunhae Park and Lisa Fincaryk in conjunction with Dr. Sung. You pay Keunhae and Lisa separately from Dr. Sung. It is 350,000 KW for K & L and 200,000 KW for Dr. Sung. I think you can choose to do one or the other or both, but I need to verify that with my friends R and G who are taking the classes. Here is the outline:

Session Outline

1st Session 15.October(Wed.)
20:00 - 22:30 pm Keunhae’s
House
(In the UN village) Keunhae Park
&
Lisa Fincaryk
• Birthing culture in Korea
• Hospital Proceedures
• Labour Support and Birth Plans
• Things to bring to the hospital
• Relaxation (The effects of fear on labour)

2nd Session 22 Oct.(Wed.)
20:00 – 22:30pm Keunhae’s
House Keunhae Park
&
Lisa Fincaryk
• Breastfeeding
-- What's in it for the baby
-- What's in it for the mother, father
-- Tips to succeed
• Maternal Postpartum Care
• Ways to sooth a newborn

3rd Session 29.Oct.(Wed.)
20:00 - 22:30 pm Keunhae’s house) Keunhae Park
&
Lisa Fincaryk
• Anatomy or pregnancy and labour
• Signs of labour
• Phases and Stages of labour
• Breathing techniques
• Knowing when to go to the hospital (Emergency situations)
• Intervention Discussion
• Intervention Role-Play

4th Session 5.Nov.(Wed.)
20:00 - 22:30 pm Keunhae’s house Keunhae Park
&
Lisa Fincaryk
• The portrait of a newborn
• Vaccinations
• The FAQ’s of newborn care
• Relaxation & Partner Yoga
• Birthing Positons
• Birthing Scenario-Role Play

5th Session 9 Nov. (Thurs.)
19:00 - 22:30 pm Dr.Sung's Clinic
(Hannam-dong) Dr. Sung 3rd trimester prenatal care
Gentle birth, tailored birth
Delivery in Korea
6th
Session 27 Nov(Thurs.)
19:00-22:30 Dr.Sung's Clinic
(Hannam-dong Dr. Sung
Labor pain & self pain control
Fetal monitoring
Birthing position, episiotomy
CPD, Failure to progress
C/section, overdue, neonatal care

Contact info:
Keun Hae Park
010-5416-5155 and 796-7174

Dr. Sung
3F Hyundai Liberty House, 258 Hannam-dong,
Yongsan-gu, Seoul, 140-211, Korea
TEL: (02)790-0802~3
FAX: (02)790-5678
Mobile: 017-210-5284

If you speak Korean, there are other hospital-based classes, but if you don't, it is nice to have these alternatives.

Maternity/Babywearing Coats

Ack! I waited too long to order the maternity winter coat from Old Navy. I wanted it to go on sale, when it finally did, they were out of my size. Old Navy tends to run a little large so I don't want to order a bigger size, especially since I won't get to see it for a month. I am going to have it sent to PA because the ship times to the APO are unpredictable.

I want a dressier coat in black or grey so I can wear it for all occasions. Target has a red coat for $59.99 which is a good price, but I don't want red.

Gap and Destination Maternity have coats for $148 and $100+.

Bump Couture Fleece Trench for $177. It is available on various sites in limited sizes and varying prices.

Olian Maternity Wool Winter Coat for $336.80

Isabella Oliver for $336 and up.

I really don't want to spend more than $150, but would rather spend about half that. I started looking a babywearing coats, but they are REALLY expensive.

Peekaru Original Babywearing Vest for $80

Peekaru Soft Shell for $199

M Coat for $384 CAD (about $310 US)

Babywearing Down Coat for $345

Suse's Kinder Deluxe Coat for $175

Suse's Kinder Divine Ride Jacket for $107

Suse's Kinder Babywearing Vest for $64.99

Aiska Poncho for $160 (on sale at Cottonbabies.com for $99.99)

Mama Jacket Babywearing Wool Coat for $219 (and up depends on the site)

I am going to wait until I get back to the States to get something so I can either try on in person or receive it and return it quickly if it doesn't work out. Worst case scenario is I buy a regular coat in a bigger size which I would rather not do because I will be REALLY pregnant when it is REALLY cold out. My entire third trimester will be in very cold weather. I like the Peekaru vest for price and I could wear it under my regular jacket to cover my belly before the baby is born and then wear it over the baby after it is born. I also like the Aiska Poncho for the sale price, though, in my size, the only color is navy and I'd rather have grey. Additional searching might find other options.

If anyone has any other good sources for maternity or babywearing coats, please leave a comment.

Partying at the Dragon

Ian had a birthday party today at Dragon Hill Lodge. There was a balloon maker and a face painter for the kids. I got Ian a balloon dog, but all the other boys got swords so he looked a little pathetic trying to sword fight with a small poodle so he got a sword as well. The line was long for the face painting. They did a really nice job, but Ian was having fun with the balloon sword so we skipped it. He was the only boy who was dressed up. Most of the girls were in party dresses but the boys were casual. He wore his thrift store suit and looked snazzy. It was a little big, but we have Thanksgiving, Christmas and possibly family pictures in March after the baby is born to try to get use out if it, so hopefully it will last through those events.
Here is Ian, sword-fighting with the birthday girl.

The Business of the Day

After a visit to Dr. Phil, the chiropractor (or firopractor* as Ian calls him), we hit Curt's office to pick up the mail and my reimbursement check for my Korea prenatal appointments was in there. It was pricey with the labs so I am glad we got reimbursed. They even reimbursed for the two sonograms which I am impressed with because the protocol here in Korea (and Egypt as well) is a sonogram at every appointment, but in the US, they do not do that. They must know that is how it is in Korea, though and they paid for it. That gives me comfort if that I would have decided to stay here that we would get reimbursed, but I am still glad to be going home. I could never get an answer from people about insurance because the foreigners that go off-post for medical care are with businesses and they are making so much money they don't seem to care or bother with reimbursement. Other friends, like Sarah, have the Korean medical plan so they don't deal with the cost. We have the Federal Employee Blue Cross Blue Shield Overseas Plan if anyone is reading this and wondering.

Then we went to the Four Seasons store on post which has various things including toys, to pick out a present for a birthday party that Ian is going to on Saturday. The child's dad is a pediatrician on post and the mom is very involved in on post organizations so they know a lot of people. Being that the child is an only child and has everything she needs, the parents have asked guests to bring gifts for the orphanage instead of for their daughter. I went to E Mart to pick out a doll because I figured that Korean kids should play with Korean dolls, but they didn't have any. All the dolls had light eyes (mostly light brown) and light hair (ranging from light brown to red to blonde) and they were expensive so I decided to get a doll at the Four Seasons instead. The doll I got comes with an outfit change and a stroller and was only $10. It is in a big package, too, so it should be fun to open. I also picked up two new Hot Wheels for Ian. I love picking out Hot Wheels. He doesn't care, particularly, so I pick them out by colors and shapes that interest me or I tell him to choose one that is a particular color that he doesn't have a lot of in his collection. The best part is that they are under a dollar a piece!

A short stop at the commissary because I forgot eggs when I went the other day and now we are home and ready for lunch.

Bad Parent: My Two Year Old Has Road Rage

It is easy to have road rage in Korea. Imagine a place where everyone drives like a big (US) city cab driver, except the cab drivers because they are even worse and don't know the city as well as US cab drivers. Drivers are very selfish. Zippering is an unknown concept here, people drive up against the flow of traffic and push their way in. If there is plenty of room and you signal that you want to move over, they will speed up so you can't. People will cut you off inly to drive slowly so you miss the light. They don't miss the light because they will just run the light. Cabs will drive around traffic, going the wrong way to run a red light. They don't move out of the way for ambulances, though they managed to create a clear path during the fireworks so people could stop and watch them. After all that, they teach small children that they can just walk into traffic and hold up their hands and cars will stop for them. They also don't use carseats or seatbelts, much. One nice thing about Seoul is that they don't honk the horn. In Cairo, they honk constantly. It is much quieter.

In Cairo, lights are meaningless. People don't stop at all. It is worse there except that they don't get bent out of shape over minor accidents. Here, people will stop traffic and not move over for hours over an accident where you can't even see any damage. Also, in Cairo we had diplomatic immunity which we don't here. Here, you always pay, especially if you are a foreigner.

Anyway, it can be very annoying to drive here and Curt and I often yell at the other cars. Ian has started yelling at the cars too,"Car, get outta da way!" "Car, what are you doin?" He even did it (not in the car) in line at the check out counter, he yelled,"Dat lady's in da way!"

But, no swearing so we have made progress! Curt is much worse than me on the road rage issue and Ian has now started yelling at him,"Curt, calm down!"

They do listen to everything you say. Yes they do.

Glass Lock, Tupperware Alternative

I've been trying to cook more and then portion leftovers immediately for lunches. It makes me more likely to come home to eat and more likely for Curt to take his lunch if it is ready to go. I only had Ziplock and Glad plastic storage containers and I don't think Curt should be microwaving the food in there. I needed more food storage containers anyway, so I headed to E Mart and picked up 6 Glass Lock containers. The lid has a seal and snaps on in 4 pieces. Just put my first batch of leftovers in them and I like them so far. I am hoping the lids hold up, though.