Born in the USA

My partner and I are both from Melbourne, but we moved to New York a few years ago for work. There are lots of crazy things about the American health system, which has affected our birth experience in several ways. On the good side, we have lots of great friends here, and the diversity of the system meant that we were able to find professionals who supported our birth and parenting goals. And, as A says, we now have a baby who is eligible to run for President :) On the bad side, I had to deliver in a different state because my insurance was not valid in New York, and I could only be covered by A's insurance once the baby was actually born (birth counting as a "life changing experience" but pregnancy apparently not).

Living in the US also means that we are apart from our family, who mostly still live in Melbourne. From the moment we announced the pregnancy, the future grandparents wanted to be involved, but even the planning was complicated! Obviously we didn't know exactly when L would arrive, so booking flights with any accuracy was impossible. In the end, L was born 10 days early, and my parents arrived when he was two weeks old. They stayed for a few weeks, living with us in our small Brooklyn apartment (Mum described the second bedroom as a "broom closet"), which was wonderfully helpful, but also the most time I've spent with my parents since I moved out of home ... On balance, wonderful for them to spend such intensive time with L, which they actually wouldn't have got if we were all in Melbourne, even though they are sad not to see him again for a few months.

Posted in: Baby 0-4 weeks