I can not believe that I am already 28 weeks pregnant! It won’t be too much longer until our little one arrives.

For today’s visit, I had to have testing to see if I have gestational diabetes.  For this test, you will be asked to drink an incredibly sweet drink.  You’ll have to wait an hour, and then blood will be drawn to see how well your body is processing the sugar.

This is my 6th test as this is my 6th child.  I have discovered that the fruit punch flavor actually tastes the best.  My least favorite flavor was the orange flavor.  I’ve also discovered that the liquid tastes better if it is chilled.

It’s important to follow all of your doctor’s instructions to the letter when preparing for this test.  My doctor had told me to only drink water this morning and to eat only protein for breakfast.  I did as I was told to do, but another woman didn’t follow the instructions.  They actually refused to do the test on her and told her she had to re-schedule.

While I was waiting for time to pass, the nurse handed me a hospital pre-admission paper which he was going to have the hospital process.  That way, he explained, I wouldn’t have to worry about paperwork when I was in labor.  As I was filling out the paperwork, I got a little bit scared when I realized that I am REALLY having a baby.Â

I had to call my husband and cry.  My husband is very practical and was clearly dumbfounded: hadn’t I known for 6 months that I was having a kid?  Why was I so frantic at this moment?  Maybe it was all the sugar in that drink I said.

After taking several vials of blood to run the diabetes test, the midwife measured my stomach and listened for our son’s heartbeat. She asked about any complications I might be experiencing and weighed me.  My next appointment is in 3 weeks.

I’m curious to find out what other moms to be think about the diabetes test.  What was your favorite drink flavor?  Did you like your drink chilled or room temperature?

The formula backlash continues. Starting from January, a British hospital will charge mothers of newborns for formula. They will also refuse to permit moms to bring formula from home.   Babies who require formula for medical reasons will continue to receive it for free.  The hospital says that it will sell infant formula for their cost price and not profit from the sales, and that the program will save them £30,000 (around $50,000) every year.

Britain is different from the US in that formula companies are not allowed to give away free samples in hospitals, like they do here in the States.

The announcement has caused controversy in Britain. It’s not so much the cost of the formula, rather than the perceived discrimination against formula-feeding moms.

Unlike the US, Britain has a nationalized health service – basically paid for by the government – and it’s chronically underfunded, understaffed and under-resourced. Healthcare is essentially free for most people and while standards are somewhat lower than the average hospital in the US, it’s free and available to all. Incredible when you consider what it costs to have a baby in the US: my hospital bills for my son ran around $7,000 for a routine delivery before insurance kicked in.

The average hospital stay is around 2 days, and moms have to start buying their own formula as soon as they leave the hospital, so paying for those two extra days’ worth of formula isn’t really that much of an expense.

But is this more discrimination against moms who choose not to breastfeed?

The hospital denies that the move is to encourage breastfeeding, or to discourage formula feeding, but they say that it is to make it fair so breastfeeding moms aren’t subsidizing formula feeding moms.

Everyone knows that, with everything else being equal, breastfeeding is best for babies. But in the real world, everything else isn’t equal and breastfeeding simply doesn’t work for many moms for many reasons. Moms who can’t, or choose not to breastfeed, have very valid reasons to not do so and formula-fed babies grow up as beautiful and smart as breastfed babies.

What do you think? Is charging for formula a reasonable cost-cutting step? Does charging for formula make it more fair for breastfeeding moms, or is it discrimination against formula feeding moms?

In Taiwan, a 30 bed maternity hospital recently opened. The hospital cost $3 million to construct. That’s not news.  The fact that the hospital,  Hau Sheng Hospital, is decorated with a “Hello Kitty” theme is news.

Hello Kitty is a chubby Japanese cartoon cat that has a following worldwide.  In the United States, the character enjoyed a brief stint of popularity in the late 1980’s.

The nurses at this hospital wear pink with Hello Kitty aprons.  Costumed characters come to visit the mothers and the newborns during their stay and birth certificates are decorated with characters from the cartoon series.

Tsai Tsung-chi, director of the hospital in Yaulin, says that he hopes the cute cartoon character will reduce some of the pain of childbirth.  Truly, I have to say that I don’t think a cute cartoon character would have reduced the pain I felt during childbirth.

I know for a fact that the room decor has very little to do with labor pain.  I’ve delivered my babies with midwives attending the births, in a hospital room decorated with elegant cherry furniture surrounded by doctors, and in a stark and drab military hospital.  The pain I felt with each birth was pretty much similar.

I don’t mean to sound jaded.  I think it’s a great idea and if I had a choice, I’d probably choose the “Hello Kitty” hospital over another facility if the care at both places was comparable.  I find myself wondering though–exactly how do they keep those cute aprons sterile and clean?

What do you think? Would a cute cartoon cat have helped to reduce your labor pain?

As you begin to enter the home stretch of your pregnancy, you?ll want to start thinking about packing a bag for the hospital. Not only do you need to pack for yourself, but your new baby and your birthing coach(es) will need a few items as well.

For You

When I packed my bag the first time around, I went a step beyond simply preparing for labor. In fact, there was little I didn?t bring along. Not only did I have an iPod docking station, but the iPod was loaded with playlists for delivery, birth, infant and many other events. Not only did we barely listen to it, but it was one more thing to have to haul out of the hospital and home upon discharge.

When packing for yourself, think about what you really need ? do you need a nightgown? The hospital will have you in a gown for the duration of your stay, and most likely you?ll need to change it a few times over that period. Do you want to have to bring several nightgowns that may end up stained?

My necessities list includes:

• A camera
• Pad of paper and pen
• Phone list of friends/relatives to notify
• Shampoo and other toiletries
• Change of clothes for the ride home (note: these clothes are maternity clothes; most women continue to wear maternity clothes for at least a month after delivering)
• Magazines
• Lip balm
• Makeup

For Partners/Coaches

Your partner and/or birthing coach will probably be there a while; bring along a magazine or two, as well as bottled water and snacks.

For Baby

Newborn babies need very little, and much of it will be provided by the hospital, including receiving blankets and diapers. However, there are some items to make sure you have, and a few that you will be required to have. My list includes:

• Car seat
• Blanket to put over the car seat in case it?s cold outside
• Outfit for coming home
• Pacifiers

Don’t wait until it’s too late for those last minute things to do. Making a checklist and completing early will give you much needed peace of mind.

What are your hospital essentials?

I’m a gift giver. At least, I try to be. Whenever someone makes my day or goes out of their way to do something for me, my family or someone else I know, I like to say thanks by giving them a meaningful gift. It can be something small, like a batch of home made cookies or a hand made card, or something larger to go along with a larger gift.

Thinking along these lines, I started to wonder: what kind of gift could I give the nurses who help with my labor, delivery and recovery in just a few short weeks? What sort of gift would be appropriate for the men and women who are going to be helping me with one of the best gifts that anyone could ever receive? How can I possibly express my gratitude?

With all the expenses of a newborn, money is definitely tight, so here are some inexpensive ideas I came up with:

• Flowers. A single rose or other flower (perhaps the birth flower for that month?) for each of the nurses.

• Candy, Cookies or Snacks. Small boxes of candy, a tin of flavored popcorn or a fruit basket that can be shared.

• Breakfast. Bagels and cream cheese or a box of doughnuts in the morning is a great way to start the day on a positive note.

• Gourmet Coffee. The coffee in most hospitals is pretty bad – treat the nurses to the good stuff!

• Handmade Ornaments (for the holidays) or Other Hand Made Items. I enjoy knitting, and have thought about knitting up wash cloths or some other small items that I can hand out to the nurses. Bath salts or other crafty items also make nice gifts.

Don’t forget the thank-you notes and birth announcements!

What will or did you bring to the nurses when you delivered?

I’m not normally a compulsively clean or organized person. So this must be the serious ‘pre-labor nesting instincts’ kicking in. I haven’t climbed any ladders to paint the ceiling yet, although I’ve made several trips up into the attic. (If you saw our attic, you’d think painting – toxic fumes and all — might be safer!) Until now, my ‘nesting’ has come in spurts; an hour or two of cleaning, followed by some freelance work when sanity set in and I realized, ‘What am I doing’ I hate cleaning!?

However, picking out baby’s ‘homecoming’ outfit for the hospital has been weighing on my mind. Yesterday, my sister asked me about it and I was proud to say I had not one, but two outfits decided upon, one in size Newborn and one in 0 – 3 months, and just needed to pull them out of the armoire. She asked if the blanket matched the ensemble, because it should. Apparently, they don’t let you out of the hospital with, say, a striped outfit and a polka dot blanket. I assured her that I had a whole matching themed Carter’s ensemble – purple with butterflies — complete with footie pajamas, mittens, dribble bib, blanket and hat.

At least, I think it has the matching hat. I swore when I opened the box, a shower gift from one of my aunts, that it came with the entire set, including the hat. The moment I saw this outfit, I knew this was the outfit I wanted the baby to wear to come home.

But I can’t find the hat. Anywhere. We stopped at Baby Depot last night and I looked for the matching hat, and they didn’t sell it. Now I’m in a panic. The fall lines are coming out; what if they don’t carry this ensemble in stores anymore?

My husband assured me the hat was at home. I’ve just been through all the baby stuff in the house, and I can’t find the hat! This is not like me. Well, okay, the part where I lose things? That’s totally me. But to obsess over a hat? Hats are just worn to cover up bad hair days. As long as they don’t sport a logo from a company that dumps toxic waste and are relatively free of cat hair, not much else matters.

But right now, it feels like the absolute Worst Thing in the Universe would be if the baby has to come home from the hospital wearing a purple outfit with (gasp!) a pink hat. What will everyone think? I’m sure the nurses will laugh at her. Look at that new mother, who couldn’t even find a hat to match the baby’s ensemble! She might be emotionally scarred for life, or develop an odd hat obsession; or a hat-phobia. Who knows what the ramifications could be? I even had a nightmare, last night, about the baby having to go home hat-less.

So I’m off to Target to try to find the matching hat. I want my rational brain back, the one that understands there are more important things in the world than a purple hat.

As I approach the last month of my pregnancy, I rely on lists to keep my life straight. Putting together a nursery, cleaning the house for guests, and building a layette, all while trying to finish up assignments for work and prepare my body for pregnancy, leaves me with less time and more need for organization than ever before.

Since most babies are born between Week 38 and 42 of pregnancy, here are a few things you may want to get off your to-do list around Week 37.

• Select baby‘s clothes to go home. This can be a challenge if your due date lies during the change of season. I may be compulsive, but I‘m packing long-sleeve, short-sleeve and blankets. Also, because clothing sizes vary so much under 12 months, I‘m packing outfits for both Newborn and 0 to 3 months. Newborn typically fits babies 5 ‘ 8 lbs., while 0 to 3 months will fit babies weighing 6 ‘ 10 lbs or slightly more. Obsess much?
• Pack your hospital pajamas and outfit to go home in. Again, if it‘s during a change of season, pack a few things. It‘s easier to take things out of your bag in that “keep busy time“ when you feel the first contractions than sorting through drawers, closets and laundry for something to wear. Don‘t expect to leave the hospital at your pre-pregnancy weight. Pack comfortable clothes with elastic: Something that fit around your fifth or sixth month, with room for error, should work (or so I‘m told). I have a comfortable pair of pants from Target, not maternity, that has fit me through my fourth month until now, so I think I may be safe with those.
• Pack toiletries for the hospital.
• Install the car seat in the middle back seat of your car. According to recent research, 80 percent of car seats are improperly installed. Call 866 SEATCHECK for a list of places to go, locally, that can help you install the car seat. Before you install the car seat, double check that your model has not been recalled by calling 888/DASH-2-DOT (888/327-4236).
• Set up baby‘s place to sleep. Many infants won‘t go straight into a crib, but will spend time in a bassinet or cradle in mom and dad‘s room, first. If the nursery isn‘t picture-perfect yet, don’t stress. Your new family member won‘t care. Make sure the baby has a safe place to sleep and clean linens, washed in gentle detergent. Skip the fabric softener dryer sheets.
• Prepare your body for childbirth by continuing to practice your Kegels and taking daily walks. Chances are, you‘ll have plenty of opportunities to practice Kegels while running to the bathroom “just in time,“ anyway.
• Compile your mailing lists (email and regular post) and select your birth announcements. I‘m putting this last on the list because you can certainly wait until you‘re home to complete this task. Although I can‘t order the announcements, obviously, until baby is born, it gave me a sense of accomplishment to pick the pattern. And it satisfied my nesting instincts enough to stop me from shopping for another adorable purple onesie we don‘t need!

Experienced moms, help me out. What do I need to add to this list?

I don’t leave my kids with a babysitter all that often, but when I do I want to make sure that all the bases are covered while I’m gone. I always write out a long list of instructions fort our sitter (she’s probably tired of reading it but thankfully she humors me every time) and I’ll always have a talk with my oldest child about what the night will entail.

What am I missing? No, I’m not going to go out and buy a nannycam. What I should do to make sure all my bases are covered is to write up a medical Consent to Treat form and give a copy to the babysitter. What this form does is it gives her the legal authority to take my kids to the hospital if necessary and to give permission to treat them if necessary.

I did some research on these forms and from what I gather it’s standard practice to always treat a child for life-threatening injuries regardless of whether the doctor receives parental permission or not, but other injuries become a bit of a gray area. Doctors are so apprehensive about potential lawsuits that they may actually refuse to treat a child for a broken bone or some other non-life-threatening injury until they receive permission from a parent or legal guardian.

Having a Consent to Treat form alleviates this problem. The form says something to the effect of “I give full permission for <babysitter’s name> to seek medical treatment for my child in my absence.” Then you list your contact information and your child’s medication list, allergies, and anything else that may be of importance to the doctor.

I would rather have my sitter take my kids directly to the hospital in case of an injury instead of first spending precious time trying to track me down. How about you?

I’ve had a few bizarre dreams in my second trimester. A few weeks ago I woke up crying. Due to a terrorist attack and a war on our homeland, all pregnant women and children were being evacuated to ’safe houses’ in my dream.

My husband, although in reality he’s past the age to enlist or be drafted into the military, was being recruited to fight. Several women told me to pack my bags as they shuttled me away to a luxury hotel. The hotel lobby is still clear in my mind, and I still get tears thinking about the terrifying dream.

Last night, I had another strange dream. In my dream, I awoke in a hospital bed after an emergency c-section to encounter a nurse whose bedside manner was only slightly better than Attila the Hun’s. It took awhile for the anesthesia fog to wear off, and then I realized I still hadn’t seen my daughter. The nurse refused to bring her to me, so I requested to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor promised to bring me my baby and, moments later, entered my room with a small Pomeranian dog, telling me it was my baby!

My husband finally appeared and went to look for the baby. Then I noticed that someone had cut off my wristband. (There were still indentations in my skin where it had been, because they had put it on too tight.) Fears of ‘baby-switching’ and kidnapping flood my mind, as I know that’s how the hospital matches up the babies with their parents.

I get out of the hospital bed, barely able to walk, and begin combing the halls for my baby girl. I enter a conference room and find my husband, ‘Nurse Ratchett’ and, oddly, the Editorial Director from my first job sitting there, all unconcerned. (If this were real life, I’m sure my husband would have been going ballistic.) That’s when I woke up.

This dream was less disturbing than the first, because I can pinpoint its origins. I’m sure this dream is rooted in my very real fears of baby-switching, which has been in the news lately, and our new neighbors? yappy dog, who barked incessantly all weekend.

In addition, one of my lingering pregnancy fears has been the need for an emergency c-section. It’s not that I feel c-sections are inherently bad or feel that they are less ‘womanly’ or that I will somehow have failed if I don’t have natural childbirth. My concerns are more practical; I saw the shape my sister was in following an emergency c-section, and want nothing to do with the entire situation or the lengthy healing process.

I’ve always had vivid dreams, so I’m sure this is only the beginning for me.

What about you? Did pregnancy spark any unusually vivid, disturbing dreams? Did you ever dream about your new baby: what she or he may look like, act like? Did your dreams match reality? I’d love to hear about your pregnancy dreams!

When my son was born, I was so scared he’d be swapped for another baby, or stolen from the hospital, I insisted my husband stuck by his side at all times when the nurses took him to the nursery to wash him and weigh him and do the heel prick and all that stuff they do to newborns.

I even tried to get up with the epidural still stuck in my back (bad idea) to go with them, but sanity did prevail and my husband went with him. And yes he did come back, and we took the correct baby, the one I gave birth to, home.

It’s incredibly unlikely either will happen in the hospital, but it does happen. And to the most unlikely babies. You wouldn’t have though twins could be mixed up – even less so, one twin swapped from identical twins?

In this incredible case, 35 years ago, in a hospital in Las Palmas, Spain, a nurse took one baby from of a set of identical baby girl twins, and somehow replaced that baby with another baby girl. The twin’s mother took the twins home, and the other mother took her daughter home.

In 2001, one of the identical twins was working in a clothes store. While she was away from the store, her identical twin sister happened to walk in. The clerk in the store couldn’t understand why this identical-looking woman didn’t recognize her. And when the woman came by the store again, the clerk arranged for them both to meet.

After DNA testing proved they were identical, the twins, and the third woman in the mix-up, are all suing the government of Las Palmas for $4.7 million in damages.

Do you think they should sue? Is it the city’s fault? Do they deserve that amount of compensation?

If I were an American, I would be loving Hillary Clinton just about now simply because of her comprehensive health care proposal that, even though a bit steeper on the pocket, is designed to benefit the entire populace. No man left behind, goes the grave motto of the Marines; I see in Senator Clinton’s health care plan the same spirit of providing adequate health care for everyone.

I am not an EU citizen. Neither am I a North American, Australian, or Japanese. As a citizen of the third world, I am almost always stopped at airport immigrations whenever I travel to the first world. This is just one of a thousand woes I have to deal with simply because the stars decreed that I be born in a country that still has a long way to go towards providing amply for its people.

The stars were aligned quite neatly when my husband was granted a scholarship by the Catholic University in Leuven some years back, with the opportunity for his wife and children to live with him while he completed his studies under their Family Regrouping Law. When my son and I followed my husband to Belgium, I was not thinking of the possible health dilemmas we could encounter while living abroad, this in spite of the fact that I am quite sickly and used to spending well over $25 a week (quite a lot for our local currency and my job as a teacher) in medicines and medical fees.

As residents of Belgium, I can say that we?ve been very blessed with all the benefits available to us, and I will enumerate some of them:

• 70-80% reimbursement of regular doctor?s check-ups and prescribed medication;
• 85% coverage for hospital and professional fees upon giving birth to my second child;
• 100% comprehensive coverage in case of accident or any medical ailment while traveling outside of Belgium.

My husband?s grant means that he is automatically enrolled into the university?s selected mutuality and my children and I are counted as his dependents. In the years we?ve lived in Belgium, I have fractured my knee, given birth, taken my children to the emergency room of hospitals, have had extensive dental work done, and bought many different kinds of medicines for every imaginable ailment. My husband teases me that I?ve maxed out our mutuality and all I can say is, ?It?s in the system, so I just use it!?

This article explains more fully the benefits available to foreigners who settle in Belgium. As a young mother and asthmatic, I can say that Belgium is a wonderful place to give birth and seek medical attention. The benefits are in place, all you need to do is know what they are and avail them when needed. Aren?t we just plain lucky?