** German Chat ** Alle sind willkommen. ** Frühling läßt sein blaues Band ...

[MmeLindt]

...
Wieder flattern durch die Lüfte
Süße, wohlbekannte Düfte
Streifen ahnungsvoll das Land
Veilchen träumen schon,
Wollen balde kommen
Horch, von fern ein leiser Harfenton!
Frühling, ja du bist's!
Dich hab ich vernommen!

*

Für Deutsche und nicht-Deutsche, Goethe-fans und Gottschalk-fans, für Herzschmerz, Heimweh und Heimatgefühle.

Alle sind willkommen.

omigod - 1200 just for fiddling with some lights? That can't be right!

Hi Frosch!

Well, I am a bit confused, hoping to clarify things a bit tomorrow when I see the frauartzin (will wear my best pants!). I had scans at 6, 10 and 13 weeks, all seemed fine but I'm a worrier (IVF does it to you..), so I'd be really grateful for more regular check-ups.

So, you have to hire your own midwife? Is that what German women have to do, i.e. it's not free/subsidized for anyone?

Did you go to antenatal classes?

Admylin well we only arrived here last Saturday but liking it so far! Our flat is up 97 steps though, so hoping to acquire buns of steel...

Hi peachyfox - I'm new on here too but I've been in Germany for the last four and a half years but I'm a bit more West than you!

From my experience (and talking with other mums), don't expect a gown whilst being examined, so wear a long skirt or a long loose top if you want to keep some modesty. Mine expects me to walk around with my butt hanging out but then I'm the sort of person who still can't go into a mixed sauna! Also, they are very keen on vaginal scans, rather than the usual drink-two-pints-of-water-and-tummy-scan, but if you are a worrier, this kind of scan will be a whole lot more reassuring!

Your frauenartz should have a list of local midwives; you give them a call at about 30 weeks and see if they are free for the birth (if you want them there) or for the couple of weeks afterwards especially the wochenbette. Ask around if you'd like an English-speaking midwife, as there seem to be a few around. My hospital gave me all my information in English, including all the consent forms, so you shouldn't have a problem with that. The midwife fee is covered by your health insurance. This website is quite useful www.howtogermany.com/pages/havingababy.html

I did antenatal class first time around and can't face German ones because they will contradict everything I've learnt; they advocate lying the baby on it's side and propping it up with a rolled-up towel and dressing it in woolly tights and hats even in summer. That just does my head in.

Is your DH a native and do you have family in Berlin or are you totally on your jack?

frosch that's really interesting.
I'm here with my partner, both from the UK. It's our first baby.

I'm not too worried about the vaginal scans - I've had one before. But it does strike me as a bit strange!

What's a wochenbette? Just scraping my German off the schoolroom floor (did A level) and don't think that one came up...

Hi peachyfox welcome. I gave birth in Berlin but it is nearly 9 years ago and I cannot remember that much about the whole procedure. Seemed straight forward enough. The Frauenarzt gives you a little book you have to take in when you go for the check-ups and there are quite a few of them.

I chose to give birth at a private hospital where my gynaecologist sent his patients to give birth. So I went to see him in his practice and then when the time came went into that hospital and they called him to let him know a patient of his had arrived. I didn't have to do anything about midwives. The midwife who worked at the hospital and assisted at the birth came to see me at home afterwards.

They will no doubt tell you all you need to know at the gynaecologists including how you sign up for prenatal courses (mine was a bit of a waste of time but you meet some people that way who are inthe same boat obviously)

www.parksanitoriumdahlem.de

They were very nice. You need to have one of their Belegärzte as your gynaecologist but they will show you around on open days and give you a list. I went there because a friend gave birth there twice and recommended it. They were lovely.

But since I did it that way, I don't know what the set up is if you just go to the nearest clinic.

Good luck with it all though. They do take good care of you I found

Ah, wochenbette. That's when you stay in bed for a week. I think it's one of those concepts that is up there with the 1950's housewife (see earlier posts!!).

You're supposed to stay in bed for a week, either at the hospital or at home and the midwife will come wheverever you are and help you out. You will be a frischgebacken mutter (literally, a freshly-baked mother!) which sounds strange. I don't know how many mothers, especially with kids, can spend a week in bed.

At the mo, I am trying to translate the German instructions for my new super-duper electric breast pump. One verb wrong and disaster!

ooh ouch!

ouch and ouch again!

the 1200 euros included 4 new tyres but the rest sounds like a made up figure!! imagine they think they can diddle us cause i'm not from germany but dh is so they'll be no messing tomorrow!! but because they took so long to sort it out we missed late evening opening at the standesamt to register it so vw are going to take it there tom - bet they charge us for that too!! i'd have gone myself but my german is nowhere near good enough for that situation!!

oh and i just need a little moan about elecric cookers - i hate them! making dinner while i'm on MN - cant get the temp right!!
bring back my gas cooker!!

canella - it's frustrating not being able to rant, isn't it?! why doesn't the Volkhochschule do courses in vital German, e.g. shouting at garages, queue-jumpers, auto-bahn idiots and men who park in frauen-parkplatz places?

And you are so right about electric cookers. I begged my German DH for a gas hob and now he's a convert but I've not found an actual gas cooker.

have decided my nipples are far too precious to be mangled my mistranslations, so am off to trawl the internet for a downloadable manual...

Welcome Peachyfox.

It has been over 4 years since I gave birth in Germany, my experiences were similar to the others. Once you find a gynae, find out if he is affiliated to a local hospital. Most hospitals do a open day, where they show you around the labour suite. Some hospitals have an offshoot of their SCBU in the Frauenklinik so that there is always a paediatrician on call in case of complications. I found that very reassuring.

Yes, the Mutterpass, mother's passport is important. We are supposed to carry it around with us.

Do sign up for the midwife, they come for the first couple of weeks (or longer if they think it is necessary) and help with bathing, breast feeding etc.

Canella
What are the garage thinking of? 1200eu?

Is it a VW that you have? If you can be bothered with the drive up to Fladungen, there is a great Werkstatt up there. It is Ford not VW but they do other makes of cars too. FIL went to school with the late owner, his DD runs it now with her DH. They are very good, and very fair.

You did say that I was the font of all knowledge

We used to drive up from Wü to the garage as they were so reasonable.

Frosch
Oh, do look up the instructions. My norks are wincing at the thought.

ML can you have a look at my language course disaster thread in extra-curricular (education). I don't know what to do about it. Bonjouranna thinks I should be quite firm and demand my money back. What do you think?

my little drama

It's not such a big deal but dd really likes 1 girl in the course so she is a bit sad at not continuing, she was in tears when I picked her up though. So don't know what to do. What do you think? Don't want to be a nasty cow about the problem child either

aaaaaaahhhhhhh where's that 1950s housewife, she could fix it, wouldn't she?

oh drat, can't get the link to work

I did it , I did it, yah yah yah (I hope)

hope it works

Hope you get that sorted out ZZZen, we went to a group once where 1 child was like that and everyone just hoped she wouldn't turn up to every session (she did mostly though) the mum was very überfordert with her.

My keyboard is all sticky, that's what you get when the dc start using the PC.

1200 is a lot for the car and you are right canella, they will probably charge something for taking it to the TÜV for you. I can't get over how customer service is so bad here. I mean, that garage, if they have ripped you off, could now never get your business again because you'll try some where else. It's the same with our garage, we're new customers, first they say it'll cost 75 Euro, then 105 and in the end it was 107. You would think they would be bending over backwards to keep us as customers but we'll be searching further afield too next time.

Well I send a snotty (very stern) sounding email I think. Will see what comes out of it, I think I can live with just dropping it even without a refund but at least I have got it off my chest now. They will be thrilled to read that mail first thing this morning.

I think the garage made a miscalculation with the 1200, doesn't sound right to me. Customer zero is so non-existant in Germany IMO. I don't see why that should be though, businesses have to survive and I don't see how they do it without satisfied customers even if they have filled some market niche. I used to boycott a lot of shops because the service was so crap. I did find one bakery that was lovely, a young couple had taken it on, they were very smiley and nice but I don't think they were German anyway - perhaps Iranian, or from some place near there where perhaps smiling and being friendly is part and parcel of shop-keeping anyway. I do find it quite odd about Germany. It's the one thing that bothers me the most about the place actually.

Oops actually again.

Dh seemed to love Buenos Aires, didn't realise it looked so European. Was sweltering in the heat though. I can quite happily live all year round near the equator. I don't need winter at all. It's quite an eye opener all this travelling he is doing. He flew to Chile today.

I have also boycotted bakeries and shops before just because they are so unfriendly. My dad can't get over it, he was a busines man when he worked and he knows how to keep customers and how to get new ones. He said if I see a family with 2 or 3 dc, my business man's mind says there are my customers in the next 10 or 15 years so I'll be extra nice to those parents! It's easy really. Here in Germany they don't think so far maybe.

I think the Verschwöring about getting a pet continues. My other neighbour stopped me in the house entrance to say I hear your dc want a cat I said oh really, yes the other neighbour told me so you can send your dc up to visit our 2 Hauskatzen if they like.

funny they are all so keen to get you "be-tiert"

Just noticed I wrote that customer zero is non-existant. Will I ever learn to preview my posts do you think? Mind you customer zero is about right

I don't preview either, I get what you mean everytime !!

Today I feel as if I should have been more prepared for the holiday. I am going to be packing on the last day, I have to tidy up abit and do the Kehrwoche outside. I just don't feel like starting but I know I have to - I should be getting some documents together too 'just in case' I think I need to take birth certificates and what else? No idea.

the last thing I would do is cleaning up your flat - after I have done everything else. Get your documents together now. Then report back to HQ (ie here) and we'll get you writing a packing list. I suppose you are very limited in what you can take

Hi peachyfox -welcome. I can´t really add to what the others have said, but the level of care here is really good. I had such a lovely midwife who so calming and reassuring -just what I needed. After the birth your Krankenkasse will also pay for Rückbildungsgymnastic which is usually a course to help get your pelvic floor back in shape.

Zzzen - have you heard anything back yet?
I´m quite envious of your dh at the moment. Our local Eis cafe is run by 2 Chileans. They went back home for the winter and the husband arrived back this week to reopen. His wife refused to come back as she found it too depressing living here. Can´t blame her really. It´s a shame for me as she is a really good friend.

admylin - don´t get too stressed by packing. Your staying with family, so they should have most things if you forget anything and the good exchange rate means you can go out and treat yourself.

admylin - what will your DH do for sustanance while you're gone? Will he expect you to fill up the fridge and have his washing/ironing up to date or will be be able to concentrate on yours and the kids packing? Have you still got your NI cards for you and the kids? If so, don't forget them and a copy of their German doctor's details, so if they get ill in England, they can get their notes easily. Passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate, bank details (so you can freeze his account if you have too!)....

ZZZen - chile have really nice dulce de leche in jars, maybe he could bring some of that back. It's great on ice cream or just slobbing and spooning out of the jar. My DH is still in Oz, Kuala Lumpur next week. He'll come back all brown and I will be furiously envious....