Everything is a little bit different...

The reality of having a baby while living in Bethel is starting to settle in. Like most things, having a baby in Bethel is different than having a baby most places. I have been trying to put together this particular puzzle, if anyone reading this knows more about having a baby here please feel free to fill in the blanks. The first thing is that we are extremely lucky to have double insurance. Finally, we did something smart financially and bought up the max insurance on both of our policies. This would be smart anywhere, but especially here, where health care costs are even higher. I have heard several horror stories about medical costs here, and while they may not all be 100% true, it is true that medical costs in the bush are higher.

There is a hospital in Bethel, and you can deliver your baby there. Lots of people do deliver there, but only if they are low risk and delivering naturally and they don't want an epidural. Hard to believe, but no elective epidurals in Bethel. They do have an anesthesiologist (not sure if it is a Dr. or nurse) but they are only available for emergencies. Now I had James without pain relief, but then again I was young and what is the the other word I am looking for-foolish?- naive? or maybe optimistic. Since I have had done it I know natural childbirth is not only possible, but sometimes preferable. However, not having an epidural available within 500 miles is a little scary.

A lot of women from Bethel choose to deliver in Anchorage. Anchorage is the big city and has two very nice hospitals with all modern amenities including epidurals and NICUs. For us it would mean a two week hotel stay before the birth during the height of tourist season, most likely an induced birth, and being separated from eachother. Anyone else want to agree with me that this doesn't sound like much fun? However, it may be reality, is reality for a lot of people out here, and if anything bumps me out of low risk it will be the only choice. I have heard that Providence Hospital has a campground attached to it, and that it may be possible to rent a R.V. and then we could stay there until I had to deliver. It would be cheaper than a hotel and just bizarre enough to be fun.

Anyway, I get to meet another one of the Dr.'s for my prenatal care next week, they have a women's clinic at the hospital (no private practices). I will write about the experience of seeing a Dr. in Bethel, which if you hadn't guessed by now, is a little bit different than seeing a Dr. other places.

Bethel winter, 2nd time around and apartment hunting

A lot of people told us that the 2nd winter here is worse than the first. They say that the novelty of being in such a different and dramatic place wears off and it is just cold and dark for a long time. I am glad to report that after a month into our second winter we are doing just fine. They are right that the novelty has worn off, but it is also not that bad. We are busy, so busy, with work and school and the day to day chores that we don't notice the cold and darkness so much. Also, a big, big, difference is that we did not have a car last winter. It makes things so much easier. In fact, I think we were nuts to go through a whole winter without one. How thankful I am for our Bethel Beater.

However, one thing that is causing frustration is our search for a new apartment or house. We really want a house that has a wood stove. There are lots of houses in Bethel that have wood stoves, but they are not rentals. Or maybe some of them are, we wouldn't know. As most of you probably remember it was extremely hard for us to find a place to rent when we moved here. You would think it would be easier to find a place once you are here, but we have not had much luck. Perhaps we haven't tried hard enough, but I did not realize that in order to find a new place we would have to devote ourselves to that sole purpose full time. We don't have access to FirstClass which is a network that most rentals are posted on (the only place rentals and classifieds are posted on-that is except the 2 or 3 rentals that are posted in the paper and are generally rented before the paper goes to press ). Our friend Kari is in a similar predicament, so if any renters are reading: We are very hard working and quiet, we will take excellent care of your property. And if you have a woodstove, please rent to us!

Halloween Fun

James was Annakin Skywalker for Halloween. He tells me that he was the Annakin Skywalker from The Clone Wars, not little Annakin from Episode 1, or Darth Vader, which is who Annakin becomes when he turns to the dark side. Now that I have lost everyone's attention except those in the ten and under category, I would like to report that we had a very nice Halloween. We went to a carnival at Jamie's school last weekend. He played games, won a fish (which unfortunately has gone the way of most carnival fish), and got his face painted like a clone trooper. Then we had Just Desserts which is a fundraiser for the Bethel Council on the Arts. It is a variety show of local talent and lots of wonderful desserts donated by members of the community. I think James ate three, possibly four of them. Terrence and I were both working and James settled in with a table full of teachers and I am told he was very well behaved (good thing too, since they were all elementary teachers and know how to handle a kid full of sugar). Then on Friday he had a class party and I think every family sent in a treat considering the amount of baked goods he brought home in his school bag ( here is a tip for all you teachers out there, pudding does not travel well in a backpack). Then he went to the Teen Center and judging from the mess they had one heck of a party. Then we went to the High School's Halloween Carnival which is a lot like the M.E. Carnival only with bigger kids and pop music. Then on Halloween we went Trick or Treating in 17 degree weather. You have to work pretty hard for your candy in Bethel. We persevered though, and Jamie got some candy. After that we warmed up at our friend Dave's house and had some fancy macaroni and cheese at his dinner party. Jamie was thoroughly zinged on sugar by this point so we packed it up early and headed home, and did absolutely nothing, which felt great.

Conservation Center and Glacier

 

 

 

While Terrence was attending his conference James and I drove a little bit south and visisted the Alaska Conservation Center. As you can see we were able to get very close to some of the animals. We also went and visited Portage Glacier which is the closest glacier to Anchorage. It was a beautiful spot.

James at Portage Glacier

 

Public Cabin in Denali State Park

Public Use

First night in town

 

This was the view out of our hotel window. We were lucky enough to be on the 17th floor. Jamie really liked the view.