Anyone else pregnant in USA? I'm freaking out.

[UKtoUSA]

Hi everyone
This is my first time posting on mumsnet. I'm British but recently moved to the US (husband has an American passport). Just found out I'm pregnant- we weren't expecting it to happen so fast (first month I stopped taking my birth control). We are happy but I'm freaking out about having a baby in the US. I don't have many friends here yet and none of them have had a baby. Most of my friends back in the UK have had babies already (we are all in early 30s/late 20s) so all the stories I know are from the UK.

The US seems really...different. I have to see "my" OBGYN (who I've never actually met as only moved here a few months ago) as there aren't really any midwives in my area. Have an appointment for my 8th week to see the practice nurse then a week later for a scan, but they wouldn't book me anything before then. Apparently that's normal but until then I can only get advice on what to avoid eating, if I can workout, still drink coffee etc from the internet which seems a bit weird.

Am I not supposed to get someone to check that I actually am pregnant? I did two different tests but I kind of don't believe it because it was so fast. Should I check somehow?

I'm really nervous about how medical it is here too- I've heard everyone (or like 70%) has epidurals and there is no gas and air. No midwives. I don't know what kind of birth I want yet but I'm nervous..but very happy and excited too.

Would love to hear from others who are pregnant or gave birth in the US.

Oh wow thank you all so much for the replies! Sorry for being away- I stayed off my laptop for a couple of days and missed all the replies. Thank you so much everyone for all the information. It's so nice to hear from others.

I've heard they will do a smear test hear as I haven't had one for over a year. I think I might refuse though as I always bleed when I have one. It's things like that that we don't do in the UK but they do in the US that confuse me. I tend to want to follow the NHS as it's what I "know" (even though I've not been pregnant before) but don't want to seem like I'm saying they are wrong in the US.

I'm only 5 weeks- due November (well, that's what I've worked out myself from the first date of my last period). My first appointment will be about 8 weeks with a nurse. Then I will go back at 9 for a scan. I'm not sure when I will actually meet the OB- I don't know if they do the ultrasounds here or not.

I wish I could have an appointment earlier so I could ask questions instead of just guessing. I had no idea you weren't meant to drink freshly squeezed juice unless it's been pasteurized. Every other shop is a cold pressed juice place here so I drink it all the time. Oopos! I actually don't see that listed on the NHS list of foods to avoid but found it elsewhere, so don't know if it's right?

I went to my barre class and felt like there was too much stomach work- everything says to ask your dr before doing exercise but I have to wait about 3 or 4 more weeks. I'm so afraid of doing something wrong.

It all doesn't feel real.I can't believe I got pregnant the first month we tried- I was not expecting that after being on the pill for years and I'm in my 30s. I think I'm going to do another pregnant test just to make sure, even though I did a couple already haha!

I agree with you Baboooshka everything seems to be extreme in California- very medicalised or very "hippie" with nothing in between. It's very interesting though and I'm slowly figuring it all out. I think I just have to be confident in myself and do what I think is right. I'm sure I'll have some good stories to tell my friends back home when we compare experiences. It's so strange that they have Yelp reviews of all the OBs around here... mine sounds nice in the reviews anyway, whenever I get to meet her. :)

You can drunk freshly squeezed juice , it's just the same as eating an orange for example.
Step away from google and buy
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1847373755/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1458602823&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=what+to+expect+when+you%27re+expecting&dpPl=1&dpID=61qkyB4RAwL&ref=plSrch
Congratulations.

Sorry tried on US amazon and could only find old version.

Nhs advice
www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/our-services/faqs-pregnancy.htm#q2

Thank you AndNowItsSeven. That link has a lot of good info on there that I didn't have.
Yeah, I thought it was strange. I think it was on Baby Canter or The Bump or one of those other US websites (not in the forums but in their blog posts) that said not to drink juice unless you made it yourself as it might be contaminated. But I thought surely it must be ok if they wash/peel the fruit. I mean you could say the same about eating a salad in a restaurant I suppose- you don't know how it's prepared but I'm not going to avoid all salad ha!

I think the advice about juice is specifically about unpasturised apple juice - but most apple juices on the shelve are pasturised and fresh-squeezed juice isn't a problem.

Hi op. Hope you've had a few appointments already and answered lots of your questions.

I had DS 10 months ago in illinois. I was extremely happy with the pregnancy, labour and care for my son. And I ended up having an emcs and being really ill and had lots of problems with breastfeeding. But I still think the care I received was excellent. So much so that if I have a second child I would rather have it here than in the UK.

Obviously you've probably been told all about what to expect during pregnancy and what appointments you have at each stage, so I won't discuss that.

What I like about here, as opposed to my friends in the UK is that my son sees a pediatrician. We chose a practice close to our house and affiliated with the hospital so they did rounds each day. And although I assume it depends on your insurance, all our routine baby checks are free.

Also the hospital was like a hotel room. That was nice too. I had an ob doctor who actually delivered the baby and who was lovely, but most of my check ups were with the regular nurses as I wasn't high risk. Just things like the appointment after the 12 and 20 weeks scans with the OB. I think I could've requested the OB to actually take the appointments but I was perfectly happy having the nurse. Oh and for the delivery there was no pushing of drugs. I chose an epidural. A labor and delivery nurse was there for most of the delivery, the doctor just came in at the end and then performed the section.

I went to a prenatal class at the hospital, and I joined a baby group afterwards. Met loads of lovely friends.

Saw this thread and wanted to say that you can have the birth you want here if you have the resources. I spent time finding an obn I liked who was affiliated with a hospital that I liked. I've now had 3 babies in New Jersey and I am so thankful I didn't have them in the UK. The post partum care here is excellent. I had my own room all 3 times. My third stay was the worst of the 3 but that's the price of Obamacare. I would also double check the cost of delivery. We paid $400 for our first and $4600 for our third. The increase in costs has been insane while the decline of care is extremely noticeable.