Clichetic Musings for Ayla

Geek Humour

2008-12-18T10:55:00.002+02:00

I used to read PhDComics when I was procrastinating about my fourth year honour's project in undergrad. Now I read PhDComics when I'm procrastinating about writing my personal statement for my Master's application. This one was flagged by dcscience.net's diary.

Casper kicked! (I think)

2007-12-08T18:16:00.000+02:00

Not a very useful post for y'all, but thought I'd document this for future reference.

Matt and I were readying ourselves for sleep last night. Matt's gotten into the habit of talking to my tummy because we heard that Casper will be able to better recognize Matt's voice outside the womb if Matt talks to it. That, and it's kinda fun in a silly way.

Anyways ... So Matt told Casper, "Don't be giving your mommy and constipation, and no kicking!"

To which I replied, "We want him to kick, cause if he kicks, we know he's doing OK."

Right after I said that, I felt him kick for the first time. At least, that's what I think I felt. Other people describe it as a "fluttering feeling", and while I don't know if I'd call it that, I don't know what other word to use, either. Regardless, it felt like he kicked my rectus abdominus above the belly button (That's the washboard ab muscles, for those of you who actually have a washboard stomach.) It was a pretty cool serendipitious moment.

Casper is growing

2007-12-03T11:34:00.003+02:00

My favourite cliche: The Haunting Call to Prayer

2007-12-01T22:56:00.000+02:00

"The Haunting Call to Prayer"

This cliche is not limited to Istanbul or even Turkey. Various writers have used it to describe the CTP in pretty much any muslim city.

To be sure, when you first hear it, the CTP sounds pretty cool. Especially when you're surrounded by multiple mosques each doing their individual thing. I can understand the desire to call it "haunting". Really, I do. But I humbly suggest that for the sake of creativity, we should use other, less-worn out adjectives.

Admittedly, I'm not a writer. But here's my contribution:

"persistent" - a very useful positive adjective for those times when they stop for 10 seconds, just long enough for you to think that they're done, and then they go for another round.

"affective" - for those times when the CTP moves you.

"recurrent" - Well, it is.

"catchy" - Sometimes, I find myself singing along. You have to watch that, though, because people might think you're making fun of it.

Any others?

Pregnancy: Insurance and Cost

2007-12-01T21:33:00.000+02:00

As of this moment, I am approximately 5 months pregnant. Thus far, (knock on wood) the child within seems healthy.

There are many factors that go into the decision to have a baby in Istanbul. During our decision-making process, we discussed a number of things, including

cost / insurance
where to find expat-friendly doctors
how to develop a support system
what will/will we not need to buy for the baby?

Let's start with cost and insurance.

This whole health insurance thing was a wake-up call for me. I'm used to the Ontario Health Care Plan, and all I had to do for that was live in Ontario and pay taxes. I'm sure that most other people out there will have a better time navigating the clauses and fine print found within the various international health care insurance plans. Alas, I spent too long researching, so although we finally picked one, we had to cancel it when I got pregnant before the waiting period was over. We stupidly thought that it would take about four months to get pregnant, not one. Murphy's Law, I guess.

Health Insurance Basics (especially useful for Canadians who've never had to read this s^&t):

All health care plans have maternity waiting periods that range from 2 months to a year after buying the health care plan. Before we canceled it, we decided to buy the "Expacare International Healthcare Plan", which covered any maternity costs 10 months after enrollment. That means if I had gotten pregnant 3 months into the plan, I would have had to pay for the first 7 months of prenatal care, but would have had the birth and limited newborn care covered.

At the time of research, we found other plans, such as "Goodhealth", that had a waiting period involving "10 months after conception". This means we would only have been covered if we had conceived one year after buying the policy.

The point of this is that you need to check how long the waiting period is, and if it's possible to be partially covered if you conceive before the waiting period is over.

Also, we found it important to ask:

How much newborn coverage do you get? Are newborn congenital conditions covered?
Do you get to choose the hospital and doctor or are there limitations?

I did not extensively research local insurance policies. The ones that I read had limited information in English and so I wasn't able to read the fine print.

Cost

As you've probably surmised, we have no health insurance plan, so we're paying everything out of pocket. I am a little worried about this, but we aren't completely F&^%*d. Both myself and my hubby signed up for the out-of-province OHIP card, which gives us limited coverage outside of Canada and full coverage should we fly back to Ontario. In my case, this coverage will last for one more year. In my hubby's case, he has a five-year out-of-province OHIP card.

We are saving all of our receipts from the hospital. I have gotten my doctor to write official letters explaining the costs from each bill and I will send them to OHIP when I get home so that I can get a refund. The refund will probably be about 25% of the total cost, but I'll let you know when I find out.

Costs differ depending on the hospital and doctor you choose. As we are foreigners paying out of pocket, we needed a doctor who speaks English and will not gouge us. Also, we wanted a doctor who is "pro-natural birth". (Natural birth in Istanbul means no cesarean section, but with drugs. Most doctors prefer c-sections, as they are less time-consuming, more expensive and easier to schedule. )

Thanks to a suggestion from a lovely couple with whom I must get in contact again, we found a doctor at Fulya Florence Nightingale Hastanesi who fits our needs. He speaks English. He prefers not to do C-sections. He costs 80 YTL per month, not including blood tests. Blood tests range from 40 to 100 YTL per pop. My doctor also gave me his cell-phone number for me to call if I had any concerns. For example, one time after, er, conjugal relations, there was a bit of bleeding that lasted about 12 hours. I called the doctor and he brought me in the next day to check my cervix via ultrasound at no extra cost. I don't know if all doctors here will do this, but I thought that was pretty cool.

The actual birth will cost approx. 3000 YTL, if I remember correctly. (I'll have to check that, actually :) ) In contrast, the German Hospital quoted me 8000 YTL, and the American Hospital quoted me 6000 YTL. (All numbers are approximate).

So there you go. If anyone has information to add, please do so. Hopefully, more will come later.

Cheerio
JES

The beginning

2007-12-01T20:07:00.000+02:00

Our dear friend Ayla hath won again, so I hereby dedicate this web log to her perseverance and persuasiveness.

The purpose of these writings will be threefold:

1) Discuss the appropriateness of various cliches used by expats to describe their 'home away from home'.

2) Impart somewhat useful knowledge about pregnancy, birth and rearing a new baby in Istanbul so that certain people won't go through the embarrassment of phoning me up when they decide to pop one out. Contributions by other more knowledgeable people would be an asset.

3) Discuss recent interesting scientific news.

Cheerio!