Seewalds 41: Christian Hero Ivy Jane

[Dutch_girl]

On 6/21/2019 at 5:13 PM, theotherelise said:

I don't remember where I read this, but I believe in many states, CPMs can carry pitocin, but it cannot be used to induce, only after birth to prevent or treat hemorrhaging. I don't know, but I always thought the pitocin for hemorrhage was a localized injection, not an IV. I don't think CPMs are qualified to even start an IV.

 

In the Netherlands midwives can use pitocin/synto only to prevent/treat hemorrhaging, as a IM injection. The IV is for during transport to the hospital (IV acces and fluids), at home you are nog allowed to give pitocin/synto IV.

[Marly]

23 hours ago, Timetraveler said:

I am from the Netherlands. I pay 140 euro (160 dollar) every month, and need to pay approximately 400 euro once a year in case I need a hospital visit or check up. That's it and the rest will be paid for. 

Although I prefer our system to that of the USA, and know it could be much worse, our system sucks for those with mental health problems, those with minors with mental health problems, people on minimum incomes, and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 
My SO and I live on a minimum income. I had to drop my dental insurance because I cannot afford to spend more than a 110 euro's a month on my health insurence. (Dental is, at its cheapest, 15 euro's extra per month. I currently don't have that kind of extra money). I'm hoping that nothing happens to my teeth because I cannot afford to pay for that care out of pocket.
I took an extra insurance package for physical therapy this year, because I have a knee injury and knew I was going to need PT. I pay 10 euro's a month for that package and they only cover 10 PT sessions. I've currently had 9 and according to my physical therapist I would need at least 10 more. But I can't pay for that myself so after my last visit next week I'll just have to get by with my knee injury without any PT. 
I need prescription glasses. Insurance doesn't pay a dime for that. Unfortunately my vision is so bad that I can't just walk into a random store (such as HEMA) and buy the glasses they have on hand there. I need the prescription glasses and those cost me, on average, with a cheap frame, around 750/800 euro's. That's money I don't have, while I can't function without glasses because I literally cannot see without glasses. Thankfully my parents have been able to help my out with paying for my glasses, but that's not a possibility for everyone. 
I also have an anxiety disorder and ADHD. When I need therapy, my therapist needs to lie on the insurance form to get me enough sessions, because the insurance only pays for about 6 sessions in case of depression/anxiety/adhd. Only for personality disorders do you get more sessions, so a lot of well meaning therapists lie on the insurance form that their patient has personality disorder traits so that they can get more treatment. Also, mental health requires a 200 euro up front pay, non deductible. Many people don't have that kind of money and therefore don't seek/get the help they need because they can't afford it. 
My SO has type 1 diabetes. Although his insulin is completely covered, as it should be since T1D patients' lives depend on insulin, his doctor needs to sign papers that grant him extra blood test strips, because the insurance only pays for four of those a day (he needs to measure his blood at least 8 times a day).
His overal health and quality of life would benefit greatly from a 24 hour glucosemeter. But those aren't covered by Dutch insurences and they cost over 200 euro's a week. That's money we don't have. So we just stumble along, hoping he doesn't have too many hypo's and hyper's a day. 
He is also not free to choose which hospital he wants to go to.

So if you're healthy and/or rich, yeah our system isn't too bad. But if you've got mental and/or physical problems or disabilities and your income is average or below average, it isn't all that great. Still better than no coverage or more than a 1000 dollar co-pay. But Since a lot of people seem to think all of Europe has got universal health care and it's mostly free, that's not the case.  

Edited June 24, 2019 by Marly

[ShadowCat]

As someone who is privileged to live in a country that provides universal healthcare, I still wouldn't dream of not having private healthcare insurance these days. The ER is the same for everyone, you pay a nominal government levy for each visit,( unless you have a medical card or a referral from your GP) but your treatment is free. This is amazing and something I have never taken for granted. However, a referral from your GP to see a consultant is another story. 

If you have private insurance, you're seen quickly and treated. If you don't have insurance, you'll still be seen, but you'll be on a waiting list for up to 18 months. It's a flawed two tier system, but it's free if you need it and once you're in the system, you'll get the best of care. I had a hole in my heart fixed on the public system ( I had to wait, but it was done), and 2 hospital births for the grand total of ZERO on the public system also. My daughter went private last February and was seen instantly for a gall bladder removal. She spent 4 nights in a hotel private hospital, with her own room, views, wifi, staff falling over to help her and a fab menu, for €150 excess costs, under private healthcare. She had ultrasounds, an MRI, the works and my insurance was billed only €3,800 for the whole lot.

Last October, during a trip to the US for a  family wedding, I had the experience of an ER visit. I was in a pretty bad way and had no other choice. I was treated shockingly by a dreadful doctor, vital medical results were withheld from me and I was given treatment that I questioned and said that I didn't need or want.  I got the bill a few months later. I was billed $7,000 for a CT scan that would have cost €250 in Ireland. I was billed another extortionate amount for the treatment I refused, but was given anyway. In total my bill came to $15,000.  

I understand that hospitals are run as businesses in the US and that there is a metric shit load of politics involved, but how can the costs be so high for what are essentially, routine tests and procedures?

 

[SilverBeach]

On 6/23/2019 at 5:56 AM, AussieKrissy said:

Edited to add that everytime I read anything American health care related I thank good for own crappy flawed but pretty much free health care. People don’t die here because they are poor. 

We get that our heath care system is rife with problems. But I have posted before that where I live we have an excellent network of care for the poor.  Folks are not dying in the streets because they are poor. People who live in medically underserved areas have more problems accessing care than poor people in metropolitan centers. It's the middle class that suffers the most under the present system. I appreciate that FJ membership is worldwide, but it gets tiresome to read about how wonderful health care is everywhere else but here. Some of us are satisfied with our insurance and our care. 

[BritishBabycatcher]

All I can say thank God I live in the UK!!!

Free healthcare (but shitty high taxes to pay for it) but my god it's been a life saver for me over the past year. In the last 9 months I've been diagnosed with breast cancer had hundreds of tests/scans/bloods/meds etc. Undergone chemotherapy and a full mascetomy and reconstruction and just 4 days ago I had a radical hysterectomy!!!! All for the price of £0

I also work as a midwife for the NHS so see both sides of it. I perform homebirths and do both antenatal and postnatal care in the community and also work at the midwife led unit.

I honestly see Jessa and her history as an accident waiting to happen. I dont understand how she and her family can be so flipent about the risks she's taking. PPH or MOH are one of the worse homebirth scenarios for a mom and midwife, It can become fatal very quickly. In the UK we give syntometrine straight after birth and have the option of giving a further syntocinon10 but IV syntocinon is only available at the hospital....even the ambulances can't give it. Bi manual compression the the last option in this case which is not great but can be a life saver. 

Yes the NHS is overworked and underfunded but I cannot fault the care I've received the last year. Having the financial strain would have really stressed me out. But I'm so glad I've got this healthcare system behind me. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

4 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

. I appreciate that FJ membership is worldwide, but it gets tiresome to read about how wonderful health care is everywhere else but here. Some of us are satisfied with our insurance and our care. 

Thank you.  

I’m on the other side of this as my health care plan is terrible - it may as well just be catastrophic considering how little it covers before the prohibitively high deductible is met.

But I’ve also had amazing health care plans which were far better than any universal plans I’d heard of.

But as someone who is considered middle class but due to my plan is currently going without much needed health care and will for the foreseeable future it can be hard to hear the inevitable pile ons of how great it is elsewhere.  

There is no solution because of course people can post what they like and I get hearing how bad it can be makes people happy for what they have and they want to share that.

But for those of us struggling it’s like talking about being hungry and scared due to lack of availability of food and having a bunch of people chime in with how that sucks but then talk about how full they are because they have all the access they need to affordable food.

Idk why I vomit almost every day and there is no way for me to afford to find out.  But I read this post after coming back to my desk after throwing up at work - again - so it hit a nerve with me.

[melon]

So sorry,Buffy. I was vomiting nearly everyday,at one point,too.For several reasons.I was stressed,I have acid-reflux..when I am stressed..it's worse.Some beverages and foods are a major trigger.A tight belt was necessary at work,because my weight flucuates..at I don't want my pants to slide down.

I went to my doctor for a regular check up,and he referred me to my Gastroenterologist(sp??), I saw him and he scheduled an Endoscopy.

Enter the emergency Spinal Fusion.

I canceled the Endoscopy,but once my stress from work and another situation..out of my control were resolved...I stopped vomiting.

I hope you feel better....it's awful enough...vomiting....mine was almost always before work.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

@HerNameIsBuffy I feel you so much, I've had excellent insurance, and I currently have really shit insurance, and I've had no insurance. Honestly having no insurance is better in many cases because doctors and hospitals will work with you for lowered rates if you are uninsured just to get something, but if you have insurance you are screwed you have to pay what the facility bills and the insurance won't cover. I've had approximately 14 surgeries in the 22 years DH & I have been married. Fortunately approximately 1/2 of them were in a 5 year time span when I had excellent insurance the other half were not. My son has had 3 surgeries (including his wisdom teeth) DD has only had her wisdom teeth out, but she did break her humerus when she was 12 and that cost us quite a bit over the 5 months she was under an orthopedics care. DH & I have had almost $45k in medical bills in 22 years, and it SUCKS. 

[BachelorToTheRapture]

@HerNameIsBuffy vomiting problems are awful im so sorry to hear you're dealing with that. I had quite a bit when my insurance was awful and no way to deal with them. 

(Ignore if you dont want to hear what worked for me) acid reflux medicine helped for a while (over the counter) and dietary changes did a lot of good (avoiding coffee, oj, alcohol, anything acidic). Even with help from a doctor with my new insurance it's a lot of trial and error as I dont have anything easy to treat or with a simple cause

Edited June 24, 2019 by BachelorToTheRapture
Riffles

[Iamtheway]

On 6/20/2019 at 9:03 AM, Flossie said:

I had another friend who woke up after her water broke in her bed.  They burned the mattress.

My water also broke in bed. It wasn’t all of it though so it wasn’t that wet. We still have the mattress. I plan to change it when Miniway starts sleeping in his own room or is a bit bigger and less night time accident prone. 

Just after the water broke I also threw up on my husband and the wall in the bedroom. It was very much a surprise vomit. My husband cleaned it up. All other bodily fluids came out at the hospital where someone else took care of it thankfully.

On 6/23/2019 at 11:49 PM, jqlgoblue said:

b/c people are more OK with pooling money to pay for things when it goes to people like them. This is the downfall of America's melting pot. People don't want to pool resources for people NOT like them.

People really suck. 

[VelociRapture]

3 minutes ago, Iamtheway said:

My water also broke in bed. It wasn’t all of it though so it wasn’t that wet. We still have the mattress. I plan to change it when Miniway starts sleeping in his own room or is a bit bigger and less night time accident prone. 

Just after the water broke I also threw up on my husband and the wall in the bedroom. It was very much a surprise vomit. My husband cleaned it up. All other bodily fluids came out at the hospital where someone else took care of it thankfully.

People really suck. 

I was violently sick the entire day before my daughter was born. I won’t give details, but it was horrifically bad. They gave me anti-nausea meds after I was admitted (we were concerned I had a virus - we didn’t expect that I was in labor.) I literally had nothing left in my digestive tract by the time she was born. I like to joke that it was a poetic ending to the pregnancy since I had bad morning sickness the first trimester too. 

[just_ordinary]

I feel like I have to defend Jessa a bit. Obviously she should opt for qualified pre and post natal care. Anything else is really reckless and stupid. And I don’t get their logic about not going to the hospital this time. If you are treated by a different midwife anyway it doesn’t matter if you still go to the hospital doesn’t it? Sounds a lot like bullshit.

But I understand why she thought she would be fine to deliver at home again. She haemorrhaged once. With a big baby. Her second birth was absolutely fine. One is bad bad luck, two is a coincidence and three makes a pattern. Hopefully she opts for hospital births now even if there aren’t any complications from now on. 

The caster oil and walking might have played a role in her situation but there is no way to know. I guess she did it with all three and Henry’s birth was fine. Why did she feel she had to anything anyway? She was pretty early already. Using stuff to induce labour when you are already in labour is kind of pointless. Especially straight away without the advice (from a real professional) to support your labouring. 

When my water broke I was laying on the couch and thought I finally reached a stage of not being able to control my bladder. A big splash wouldn’t have been as confusing. But I as many only noticed some flows/heavy dripping and not even constantly. Today I can laugh about how I hysterically tried to figure out if it was pee or amniotic fluid.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

2 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

One is bad bad luck, two is a coincidence and three makes a pattern.

In some things.  When I hemoragged with my daughter to the point of needing a transfusion it was stressed hard at the hospital what a close call that was and it was in my mind throughout my next pregnancy.  

You don’t wait for a pattern to form on things that can kill you.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

Is it honestly going to take one these girls dying or one of the babies, before they get their heads out of their asses and start getting prenatal care? We all know Joy is going to try for a home birth again with the same idiot "midwife" they all use, Kendra & Jinger seem to be the only ones smart enough to get any sort of prenatal care, Lord knows what Siren will do, she could be smart as well, the Duggar daughters on the other hand seem to be pretty dead set on being stupid. 

[CarrotCake]

Do we know if Lauren's mother does hospital births? That might indicate Laurens plan.

[SassyPants]

1 hour ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

Is it honestly going to take one these girls dying or one of the babies, before they get their heads out of their asses and start getting prenatal care? We all know Joy is going to try for a home birth again with the same idiot "midwife" they all use, Kendra & Jinger seem to be the only ones smart enough to get any sort of prenatal care, Lord knows what Siren will do, she could be smart as well, the Duggar daughters on the other hand seem to be pretty dead set on being stupid. 

Either that or jobs that supply decent heath care insurance. Perhaps that’s the difference between the Bates and Jinger,  and the other Duggars, decent health care coverage.

[Sullie06]

On 6/24/2019 at 9:09 AM, SilverBeach said:

We get that our heath care system is rife with problems. But I have posted before that where I live we have an excellent network of care for the poor.  Folks are not dying in the streets because they are poor. People who live in medically underserved areas have more problems accessing care than poor people in metropolitan centers. It's the middle class that suffers the most under the present system. I appreciate that FJ membership is worldwide, but it gets tiresome to read about how wonderful health care is everywhere else but here. Some of us are satisfied with our insurance and our care. 

I have to agree. In my state the healthcare options for people receiving state subsidized medicaid have more and better options than many with private insurance, which tends to cover much less and also has more network restrictions. I used to work in family services and many self employed people would chose medicaid then buying from the "marketplace". The thing with self employment is, often times they could make it appear they were making much less than they actually did so they qualified. The people who lost out were those employed for small business or retail type corporations that did not offer healthcare or if they did it was not adequate or affordable. 

[nst]

am I the only one watching Jessa give birth on the couch for the third time in half an hour ?

[nst]

I watched it. It was funny and cute.  AS the cult usually is. 

but Ben never disappoints with his processing after the fact. His Beard is starting to scare me. and that was an awfully small space to give birth on. 

And Jill was in her element. 

Is it just me or does Lauren depress everyone else? I can't stand her 

 

[jillsdopplerofdoom]

Just watched the birth webisode. I'm in the UK so can't watch until it's on YT or on TLC.

I feel bad for Lauren, you could see the sadness in her eyes at the end. I hope her baby daughter brings her some comfort. 

Spurge and Henry meeting Ivy for the first time was quite sweet.

It was nice for them to pay tribute to Mary.

Bin needs to shave his beard.

Link for anyone interested. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6rLXc0UeQU

[Eponine]

On 6/24/2019 at 9:09 AM, SilverBeach said:

Folks are not dying in the streets because they are poor. People who live in medically underserved areas have more problems accessing care than poor people in metropolitan centers.

I beg to differ. I live in the biggest city in the US and I have literally seen people dying in the streets because they are poor. They are generally poor because they have health problems - usually mental health issues but sometimes physical - and do not have access to any kind of medical care.

There are many organizations and outreach programs that try to get medical care to poor people in cities but they don't reach enough of the population, and many have limits and requirements - barriers to getting care that are simply too much for many of the people in the most desperate need.

People living in medically underserved areas face a different set of challenges and barriers to care than people in cities. Those are huge problems, but it doesn't do any good to minimize how hard it is for poor people to get healthcare.

[fluffernutter]

Just watched it. Sill can't believe they had to transport to the hospital yet again. When will they learn?! And the story about how they were going to have a  birth center birth but then their midwife was out of town?! Ok so hospitals and even free standing birth centers don't ever freaking just shut down when someone takes a weekend off.  There's more than one person on staff or they have a back-up person. And of course the birth was attended by a cpm and not a cnm. Of course. Because a cnm wouldn't have allowed a home birth.  Ugh. I guess I missed the fact that Josiah flies as well. The footage of the grandmother was very sad. I am sure Jessa will treasure the photos of her grandmother with her daughter forever. As for the birth-  I really hope they all get their heads screed on straight and start getting proper medical care. 

[Vivi_music]

On 6/25/2019 at 10:24 AM, CarrotCake said:

Do we know if Lauren's mother does hospital births? That might indicate Laurens plan.

I don't know if Lauren's mother had her babies at home or in the hospital. I do hope Lauren chooses what is best for her and her baby's health. But clearly their mother's birth experiences are no indication for the Duggar daughters. ? Most of Michelle's birth were hospital births and IIRC, majority of them went without trouble (someone can correct me on that)(and of course I exclude Josie out of this).

[CarrotCake]

12 hours ago, Vivi_music said:

I don't know if Lauren's mother had her babies at home or in the hospital. I do hope Lauren chooses what is best for her and her baby's health. But clearly their mother's birth experiences are no indication for the Duggar daughters. ? Most of Michelle's birth were hospital births and IIRC, majority of them went without trouble (someone can correct me on that)(and of course I exclude Josie out of this).

True, but I have the feeling that for these oldest daughters in families where the mom is still having babies (Kendra and Lauren) they is a really close connection. Especially compared to Michelle and her daughters.

Therefore I think it might be that their mothers birth experiences influence them more than their sister-in-laws. I think Kendra choose the same doctor as her mother. 

If Laurens mother had homebirths as well as her sister-in-laws then the chances she goes for hospital are much smaller I think.

[BabyFactoryClosing]

Just watched the episode. I am always ceaselessly amazed by women who birth with a little grunting and a few tears. With the two offspring I labored with I was literally having severe hallucinations from pain and (from what I'm told) begging anyone in ear shot to please kill me and make it end. I've broken my back and not cried but contractions were like being on fire. Apparently I'm broken XD