Pet Peeves- Vent Here! Let me feel your pain.

jmagee87 · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:19 pm

I'm a tech guy as far as trade, and living in NZ is my dream. But there's no way I could talk my wife into moving across the world.

But I've already got a $2500 bill and we've only gone to the doctor once so far

just paid off the first kid last month

rubberneck · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:22 pm

fredo wrote:If you can write code or... do anything technical... at all really I'd say move to NZ immediately. We had a quarter million dollar birth for free. Although I'd happily have paid 50 grand not to have gone through that.

But its New Zealand tho...

IWish · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:24 pm

I never really understood the need for birthing classes - other than, being beneficial for the father(s). I mean...there's there's really only one thing the mother needs to do...to push that baby out.

To show how times have changed. I had a 3 day hospital stay when I gave birth to my son in 1977. My bill was $3K...maybe a bit more. This was the total bill without any kick-in from insurance.

rubberneck · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:26 pm

jmagee87 wrote:I'm a tech guy as far as trade, and living in NZ is my dream. But there's no way I could talk my wife into moving across the world.

But I've already got a $2500 bill and we've only gone to the doctor once so far just paid off the first kid last month

Melbourne or Sydney. And then visit NZ.

NZ and Oz have a reciprocal agreement for visa, long term stay but the flow generally goes one way...

https://www.border.gov.au/about/corpora ... heets/17nz

jmagee87 · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:27 pm

We had our first last year, I have health insurance from my employer. Even after insurance, our out of pocket ended up being around $6-7K for a normal birth with no complications

rubberneck · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:31 pm

IWish wrote:I never really understood the need for birthing classes - other than, being beneficial for the father(s). I mean...there's there's really only one thing the mother needs to do...to push that baby out.

To show how times have changed. I had a 3 day hospital stay when I gave birth to my son in 1977. My bill was $3K...maybe a bit more. This was the total bill without any kick-in from insurance.

Agreed, we just did classes for breast feeding and general prep.

I did do the whole 'hold a leg', help with the pushing motivation and cut the cord. But I guess that was my own selfish need to be involved more than an necessity tho.

fredo · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:33 pm

jmagee87 wrote:I'm a tech guy as far as trade, and living in NZ is my dream. But there's no way I could talk my wife into moving across the world.

They'd probably balk at you now with the pregnancy under way, unless you filled one of their high need slots. Kiwis are tight like that.

Also-

rubberneck wrote:...its New Zealand tho...

We got jack fudge out of the birthing classes except a couple of friends who were equally bemused/sarcastic. We ditched most of them, but I will say that the first general "what to expect" segment did gear my mind up nicely. <<THIS IS HAPPENING.gif>>

fredo · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:41 pm

rubberneck wrote:
jmagee87 wrote:I'm a tech guy as far as trade, and living in NZ is my dream. But there's no way I could talk my wife into moving across the world.

But I've already got a $2500 bill and we've only gone to the doctor once so far just paid off the first kid last month
Melbourne or Sydney. And then visit NZ.

NZ and Oz have a reciprocal agreement for visa, long term stay but the flow generally goes one way...

https://www.border.gov.au/about/corpora ... heets/17nz

NZ is AUS's Mexico, and the kangas have gone full-Dump lately.
https://www.newsroom.conz/2017/04/27/22 ... -australia

IWish · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:43 pm

jmagee87 wrote:We had our first last year, I have health insurance from my employer. Even after insurance, our out of pocket ended up being around $6-7K for a normal birth with no complications

H-m-m-m...which makes me wonder. For a normal birth in hospital current average costs without insurance (based on online research) is anywhere from $6K-$10K. What a racket, hospitals overcharging insurance for births, but the parents are still paying a non-insuranced fee. I suppose one can't depend on information gathered online, but most fell into the $6K-$10K range for non-insured.

IWish · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:46 pm

rubberneck wrote:
I did do the whole 'hold a leg', help with the pushing motivation and cut the cord. But I guess that was my own selfish need to be involved more than an necessity tho.

That's not selfish. I would never disparage a father who wants to participate.

IWish · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:51 pm

fredo wrote:They'd probably balk at you now with the pregnancy under way, unless you filled one of their high need slots. Kiwis are tight like that.

The U.S. is the same. You likely would not get approved...say...if you were a pharmacist. However, someone who specializes in "molecular-pharmaceuticals" might make the cut. High-need slot is about the only way to get in.

fredo · Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:54 pm

Makes some sense in the US, because while the population is stagnant/shrinking it is still pretty large. NZ needs new blood for the gene pool if it wants any growth at all to come from within.

IWish · Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:03 pm

fredo wrote:Makes some sense in the US, because while the population is stagnant/shrinking it is still pretty large. NZ needs new blood for the gene pool if it wants any growth at all to come from within.

I see. Makes sense.

bubbie · Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:31 pm

$6,000+ to pop a kid is insane. How do poors do it?

ToonKiller · Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:38 pm

Only suckers pay?

Glad my kids were born when insurance was insurance. Both 100% covered and even got a pager just in case I was away when the contractions started or someone needed a 1/4.

I kid