Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

[Amandine.K]

Oh and re: Kela package, still nothing... They told us within the next two weeks! Hopefully I'll have time to wash everything

[annekmc]

Congratulations Gigi I am so happy for you and wish you all the best

[oompah18]

Fantastic Gigi, join the club!!!!! I am around 19 wks & STILL nauseus
Enjoy the sunmmer, if you have had any sunshine anyway!
Hang in there, Amandine! Not long...... hope it goes well
Allie

[queen_mob]

I'm expecting my 6th baby .I would say that their pregnancy care works well mainly for those women without major problems.The main setback is that they try to save as much as possible medical expenses...No B streptocock tests, no toxoplasmosis tests, no citomegalovirus or listeria tests, no dry test, no 2D ultrasounds for everybody, just one ultrasound during the WHOLE pregnancy period if someone happens to live in some remote areas!
Also VBAC are encouraged a lot, but they almost never explain the potential high risks one is exposed to if things go really wrong...
I am also surprised that in Finland one cannot choose the hospital to deliver at, neither has a chance to go to a private hospital if they wish so.
It seems to me a bit strange that just midwives and general practicioners monitorize pregnancies without problems in Finland.
The new law about sperm donators I find it also weird.(they have to reveal their identity ALWAYS).
It is really difficult to find someone to perform vasectomy reversals in Finland and most doctors advice to try expensive ICSI...that are not covered by the national insurrance institution -KELA.
The concept of surrogate mother is illegal here, unfortunately...
The way they let "mother nature" do its job, especially when it is about the risks of misscarrige in the second trimester, well, all these make me think that I must consider myself lucky.

[happymum]

Hello,
Congratulations Amandine and to all the expecting mommies!
i'm expecting too, my due date is 1st of Aug, 2008.
can't wait to see my little one.
hope it goes well with every mommies!!

[Amandine.K]

Aw we're quite close to each other then in term of due date Any time now really! I remember meeting you while you were expecting your little boy a few years ago. Wendy was so so cute! She must be a big girl now!

[LottaP]

^I think there must be a bit of a queue at Kela right now - payroll sent my my maternity benefits application to Kela on 18th April, and I finally received the pack this Monday, 4 weeks before the the due date. Cutting it a bit close!

Cutting it a bit close indeed; although I received the pack when I did I still didn't have the ruling about my maternity allowance (ruling about the pack was separate). I finally did get it, but it was only given on 1st Julty and posted the day after - the same day our daughter was born! Sometimes you need a lot of patience with Kela...

[Amandine.K]

We got the Kela package a bit more than 2 weeks ago. Well worth the wait though, the new package is very nice.

Re: maternity allowance we got the papers but they forgot to count the fact that I worked this year so we had to appeal. We just got a paper asking for more info. so I guess we won't have the decision before a few weeks...

[Sanna_tanija]

Joining the club
We're expecting our first lo in Jan/Feb 09. Now I'm just wondering if it would make sense for us to get married first... Anyone know if there's any major advantages in being married when you're having a baby?
We're both European, he's a Finn, I'm German. So there isn't really any issues with residence/work permits or similar. So apart from that, where are the advantages? Anyone know?

ETA: I wonder if there's any topics about this yet, but I'm not too talented in using the board search just yet... Or maybe I should open one?

[Pursuivant]

well if you are married he is the father and you have joint custody. otherwise you are the mother and have sole custody and get a notice from the child protector to bring forth the father and he has to sign a few papers... other than that its pretty much the same... don't know about German dual nationality but it might have some effect as well.

[Sanna_tanija]

Are you sure about this custody thing? I thought that if we fill out some forms saying that he's the father, we'd have joint custody. Or maybe we'd have to apply for joint custody specifically because of the not married thing.
Somehow I can't imagine that there's no way of sharing custody unless you're married?

[Pursuivant]

meaning automagically at the moment of birth... the custody paperwork is then needed... marrieds need no extra paperwork... (except the paper to the maistraatti to inform the names)... so its just a bit more of filling in the forms

[Sanna_tanija]

Oh, I see. Thanks for the answer

Hmh, so far it seems like being married doesn't have any major advantages...

[Amandine.K]

I just wanted to announce you the birth of my baby boy, Aaron on August 9th at 13.51. I went two day over the due date, hence explaining the weight of Aaron. He was born at 4kg380 (9lbs6) and 52 cm.

Gigi, oompah18, how are you doing?

[annekmc]

I just wanted to announce you the birth of my baby boy, Aaron on August 9th at 13.51. I went two day over the due date, hence explaining the weight of Aaron. He was born at 4kg380 (9lbs6) and 52 cm.

Gigi, oompah18, how are you doing?

Congratulations!