Pregnancy Thread

That's one way to make sure the fumes are cleared out before the baby arrives...

I wanted to add re: carseats that IsoFix is awesome stuff, called LATCH in America if wikipedia is correct. No fucking around with a seatbelt to get the infant seat in/out.

I was under the impression all carseats come with a base you leave seat-belted in your car, so removing the seat itself is as easy as pushing a release button. That's what ours has, and every other one I've seen.

Yes I'm aware - both our cars have that. It sounded to me he was saying he if not for that, he'd be taking the base out every single time.

OneofOne_sl said:

Yes I'm aware - both our cars have that. It sounded to me he was saying he if not for that, he'd be taking the base out every single time.

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Yes and no... we have the seat with isofix base and you can install that on the clips as intended, or install it with the belt.
Alternatively, you can use the seat without the base. In that case, you have to fuck around with the seatbelt every single time.
Just saying.

Anyone have video baby monitors? Our friends have a Motorola video monitor and love it but it has a lot of bad reviews (stops working after X months, etc.)... I feel like it's one of those things you get for the "cool" factor and it really isn't worth the $200+ price tag.

Those of you with higher deductibles:

Easy way to get a huge discount for most pregnancies is to opt for some genetic testing (Maternity 21 through Sequential). Let me explain:

We have a high deductible HSA plan. 2,400 deductible for the family. 10% Co-insurance after that up to 10k total out of pocket. This has worked twice for us and figured I need to share it. YMMV.

Anyway, when you go to your OB at the start of your pregnancy they'll usually put you on a payment plan as a start to getting your deducible and co pay covered. Pay whatever the minimum you can possible pay. If you don't have to pay until the end then do that. Its usually a bitch getting your money back. They will check your insurance but many WILL NOT BILL insurance until delivery.

As soon as you can go for the Sequential Integrated Screening. It MAY NOT BE COVERED FOR EVERYONE depending on your age. You can look into Counsyl testing as another alternative. They both SHOULD work. Be sure to ask your doctor what the cost is for the test. Usually in the 235-475 range depending on your plan type.

What happens is the Genetic testing company will bill your insurance for a really high amount. The allowed amount is still really high. In the case of Maternity 21 its around of $2,600 with an allowable of $2,200. You will get a bill for 2 grand or whatever your is left of your deductible a month or two later. At this point its impossible to not have paid something to someone but its early enough where it should be very minimal.

Now call up Sequential and talk to a billing rep. Be nice and explain what your doctor said and that you were concerned about the large bill etc.. They'll simply say that was just for insurance purposes and not to worry about it. They'll drop your actual amount owed from 2k to $235 or $475 depending on if you have a PPO / EPO type plan.

End result is we saved around $1,800 on our deductible this year and stumbled on this in a previous year. YMMV depending on the carrier. Cigna is awesome.

Eyashusa_sl said:

Anyone have video baby monitors? Our friends have a Motorola video monitor and love it but it has a lot of bad reviews (stops working after X months, etc.)... I feel like it's one of those things you get for the "cool" factor and it really isn't worth the $200+ price tag.

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I think I'm going to rig up one of my old android cell phones with a baby monitor app. I think it's just called "Baby Monitor", it's free and you can basically set one phone to be the monitor, anytime the camera detects motion or noise it will turn on(sensitivity can be adjusted) and then any other phone or tablet with the app can get alerts and view the video. So I'll set it up to send alerts to both mine and my wifes phones(since they are always with us, or within reach sitting on a coffee table or desk at home). Just need to figure out how I'm going to rig it to point at the crib, and be somewhat near an outlet so I can just leave it plugged in 24/7 so the battery doesnt die.

Figure I might as well save a couple hundred bucks and use one of my plethora of old phones that is just collecting dust now.

The best monitor we ever got was the cheapo base model Graco baby monitor. That thing is still running strong after 4 years, even if the batteries won't hold a charge for too long. We have a Sony one that works ok but it gets interference often and it cost more than twice as much as the Graco. We had a First Years one that was awful, awful, awful. And it cost like 100 bucks. The Graco costs like 35 and it is awesome.

I wouldn't go for the video monitor just because I don't see the reason for it. With that monitor you will learn to hear everything in the room. I can sometimes hear them breathing through it. If you want it just to have a gadget then whatever, but it is a huge waste of money.

I wake up at every noise and it doesn't bother me, really. Years of experience have given me the instinct to know when to jump up and when not to. I trust that.

Kedwyn_sl said:

Those of you with higher deductibles:

Easy way to get a huge discount for most pregnancies is to opt for some genetic testing (Maternity 21 through Sequential). Let me explain:

We have a high deductible HSA plan. 2,400 deductible for the family. 10% Co-insurance after that up to 10k total out of pocket. This has worked twice for us and figured I need to share it. YMMV.

Anyway, when you go to your OB at the start of your pregnancy they'll usually put you on a payment plan as a start to getting your deducible and co pay covered. Pay whatever the minimum you can possible pay. If you don't have to pay until the end then do that. Its usually a bitch getting your money back. They will check your insurance but many WILL NOT BILL insurance until delivery.

As soon as you can go for the Sequential Integrated Screening. It MAY NOT BE COVERED FOR EVERYONE depending on your age. You can look into Counsyl testing as another alternative. They both SHOULD work. Be sure to ask your doctor what the cost is for the test. Usually in the 235-475 range depending on your plan type.

What happens is the Genetic testing company will bill your insurance for a really high amount. The allowed amount is still really high. In the case of Maternity 21 its around of $2,600 with an allowable of $2,200. You will get a bill for 2 grand or whatever your is left of your deductible a month or two later. At this point its impossible to not have paid something to someone but its early enough where it should be very minimal.

Now call up Sequential and talk to a billing rep. Be nice and explain what your doctor said and that you were concerned about the large bill etc..They'll simply say that was just for insurance purposesand not to worry about it. They'll drop your actual amount owed from 2k to $235 or $475 depending on if you have a PPO / EPO type plan.

End result is we saved around $1,800 on our deductible this year and stumbled on this in a previous year. YMMV depending on the carrier. Cigna is awesome.

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Ummm....if this happened in my line of work and I was caught I'd go to jail No wonder why health insurance costs an arm and a leg.

Tarrant_sl said:

Same her, after 3 kids I know if a sound is a good one or a bad one. I wake up to both, listen for a moment or two and either get up or roll over. I don't even need a reguler monitor, my wife thinks its uncanny how well I can hear the kids at any given time doing whatever it is they are doing yet can hear her tell me something 5 feet away from me. I will wake out of a dead sleep at the slightest noise they make, my wife can snore loud enough to wake the dead though and nothing.

Which thinking on, is really weird I guess but -shrug- joys of parenthood.

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Yeah, exactly the same here. I have the monitors, but I forget them all the time because we have issues with chargers (see the Cats thread in general, fuck cats) but I can still hear them even with doors closed and fans on and wife snoring and stuff.

Goddamn right. You should read the book we're reading in the book of the month thread, Outliers. It has some very interesting ideas about how raising your children impacts their chance for success.