₦airaland Forum

Phema:
Biko my sister, LIE! Travel now before you start showing. Conceal it. And if they ask, tell them you're NOT pregnant.

Ochioraumu:
Hello everybody.
I have been following conversations in this forum for some time now. I found useful information that helped me in making a decision about going to El Paso to have my baby. However, I had the biggest blow of my life

Nogen:
Please what about wakanow.com sim card? Who has used it and was it okay for international calls?

Shawbabe:
so bulkhead seats don't get bassinets? noooooooo

Nita2013:
Tvegas u didn't know about rebtel?

PrinceAdeAde:
@Tvegas,
Can you clarify more on the exhorbitant fees coz am looking at change dates and I called delta US office which they advised me that If i want to change even though they saw i got a promo ticket,i'd only have to pay the standard $100 fee

mabels:
i think the $29 plan would be better for someone who is visiting for 2 months ( esp pregos from Naija with family) cos it comes with Unlimited talk, unlimited global text, 1Gb data, unlimited international talk, 1000 INT'L MINUTES and $2.50 credit to call anywhere

IyawoToBe:
make una answer me na

PrinceAdeAde:
@All,My wife delivered last week tuesday.

mabels:
welcome back home. i heard their transportation system go encourage lots of jogging, legging, sitting at home to watch movies and enbraining myself.

sayoberry:
TVegas said I should shut up

mabels:
Thanks tvegas and good to hear that baby is doing great. $300 hmmmmm. the last one i did 6 yrs ago was less than 5k, even right now, it cant be more than 10k. $300 is like 60k Jesu Kristi. welcome back home. i heard their transportation system go encourage lots of jogging, legging, sitting at home to watch movies and enbraining myself.

segbas:
Hello,
@Tvegas and all other Yankee parents,Please did you attestates your baby Birth Certificates in the US by their foreign affairs before you leave, because here in Qatar they will required it legalized before we can use it for their residence, please I just want to know how to go about it.
Thanks.

Triax:
Tvegas for President!!! Great job man. This piece is simply invaluable!!

mrsshen:
@ Tvegas and any other NairaLander that has used Dr Fagbohun at Oakbend, does the 2,200usd he charges does he have a registration fee? I read from here that there is an initial visit fee of 150usd?

Newmum0615:
Lol. Please answer o. Very important kweshun. I need the answer too.

sayoberry:
TVegas dint circumcise his son here. He will do it in naija. I asked him and he told me they re not really good here..

MadameU:
Hey Fam, all praise and thanks be to God the most merciful one; I am now a mummy to the cutest lil girl ever! It's not an easy road but it's worth it.

anonymousmum:
Baba Tvegas of life! Sharing information since 1908

Newmum0615:
Hi @Tvegas, I know you would hv been bombarded with a lot of PMs, but can I send mine so that you give me the name of the pediatrician.? I am using Oak Bend and Dr. Z

mabels:
You have ready made this journey easy for me.

ihaveadream:
@Tvegas: thank u for taking time out to help with you being so busy and all, you're the first to respond on this thread. Thing is hubby earns about 100k per month and my small scale clothes business does not bring in a regular sum per month so I'm wondering if a huge payment into my account will not turn the VO off.

tbaby2015:
@bsharon and @tvegas. Thanks a lot for all ur info. I'm a July mom as well and i need more info on the Soulcare, highway 6 accommodation. As soon as possible please

bj2012golf:
Tvegas Baba!

ihaveadream:
I'm just confused whether to collect the money and put it in a savings account or just use my brother's statement. Thanks for any help.

Estimated Breakdown of Vaginal/CS Birth in Oakbend Using Dr Fagbohun

There is no all inclusive package in Houston hence bills are not straightforward but if you have the right information you won't be stressed. Also note that whatever i write is based on current pricing which can change anytime. I have got lots of friends who did both CS and Vaginal so you can rely on some of these quotes.

Dr Fagb charges........Normal $2200/ Cs$2600. Laboratory tests...... estimated $565 (You can't force tests on him he will prefer to run most of the tests, so do only basics in Nigeria if you are using him). Many doctors like Hyunn,Ziworitin will accept most of your tests.

After Delivery

Oakbend Bills .....Normal $2300...... CS $3500
At discharge ,you should have an idea of what your total bill comes to,so i advise you pay your deposit at the ground floor,oakbend Williams way campus, where you delivered. Note that you won't get your zero balance at Williams way campus, so pay the deposit and go home. 5 to 7 days later go to Patient Account dept, 3rd floor, Oakbend medical center, 1705 Jackson Street, Richmond, TX 77469,. Ask for Alice or Mitchell. They will print your zero balance, including a letter to the US EMBASSY stating that you do not owe the hospital or the state of Texas Anything. You can pick your BC on same day, the county clerk office is on same road. 3 mins apart.

Greater Houston Anesthesiologist ..... Normal $850.....CS $950
The doctor claims these guys can be very unorganized so you need to stress that you are Fagbohun's patient when calling them on the phone to make payment. They told my friend who took epidural she is owing 5k ,(She told them to look again) so don't panic if you hear such just explain your package.

Hospital Pathologist..... $200-250. Brown and associate is Easy to settle.

NICS (Pediatrician and nursery for your baby) ....... $420 plus $137 if you take the hearing test total = $550. (Please note: that bills for NICS vary for each patient, a friend of ours paid $350 for her baby girl. They will give you a timeline of 2 to 3 days to pay the discounted price after which you will pay their normal rate, so i advice you track them as soon as you deliver to get the discounted rate) .

For Baby Post Partum visit, the cheapest Pediatrician so far is Clinicare operated by Dr. Rubina Khan....She charges oakbend patients $55 per visit. You can Use Google to locate her offices in Sugarland and Houston.

All these prices are discounted, Dr Fagb will advise you not to negotiate or ask for further discount because these guys will transfer your account to Medicaid thinking they are helping you.For all these additional payments your debit card will come in handy, all you need to do is supply them with your card number.Your Dr will give you the number of all the parties you need to call to settle your bill, don't wait for the bills to be posted, it may take days so chase them via phone and pay after delivery.

STEPS TO BABY DOCUMENTATION IN USA USING HOUSTON/FORT BEND COUNTY,TX AS EXAMPLE.

These steps also applies to other states with little variations. As soon as you land in the USA test the reliability of your postal address by sending a mail from USPS to yourself or by ordering stuff on Amazon. This is very important for your social security card as the whole process relies on your postal address ,you can't collect it in person. Some people spend weeks waiting for this, a friend of mine had her initial card cancelled and issued another one after waiting for 3 weeks,i suspect card either got lost or was stolen.

1. Step 1 is to have your baby's names ready, there is nothing like waiting till the naming day lol.

2. A social worker will bring some forms for you to fill after delivery. The forms will enable fort bend county process your baby's birth certificate and social security card. You don't need to do anything here apart from filling the form. The Social worker will tell you when to pick the BC.

3. Pick up your BC in Fort Bend County Clerk, 301 Jackson street, Richmond. 4 days after delivery. For example if you delivered on Monday it should be ready by Friday. Go there with your ID i.e. your passport which contains your Visa page . Fill the request forms and pay $23 for each copy. They can issue only 10 BC during the lifetime of your baby . You can pick 2,3 or 4 copies etc.

4. For the US Passport : If you want to leave the US on time. Call the Passport Agency on (877) 487-2778 to book an appointment for your US passport and head to The Houston Passport agency , 1919 Smith Street, Houston, TX 77002 on the scheduled date. Have your application form, baby's BC, passport photo, etc handy. You will be advised on what is needed on phone or you can check http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english.html for details. Your passport can be ready same day if you tell them it's urgent. Max 3 days. Costs about $165 expedited.

5. If you are too busy to go to downtown like me, you can take the necessary documents to the nearest post office ,apply for expedited US passport. It should arrive in your mailbox within 2 to 3 weeks. Got mine within 2 weeks. Birth certificate submitted during application will be mailed to you on a later date for security reasons. Costs about same price of $165 expedited. You can track your application online via same website http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english.html.

6. Within 2 weeks the Social security card should arrive in your mailbox. If you don't receive it by then you need to call the Social security office on 8665921608 . But Make sure your mailbox is reliable to avoid stories.

7. For the Nigerian Visa. You can use an agent, most people pay about $340 for this ($300 money order in the agent's name and $19.99 for 2 overnight delivery envelopes). Some members on this thread have used Tanko and Eddy successfully, Dr fagb gives out Tankos details at your postpartum. It will take approx 3 working days. If you want to do it yourself you can go to the Nigerian embassy website to fill your forms and apply personally, it will cost about $220 (Including envelopes). Visit http://nigeria-consulate-atl.org/ to apply yourself.

8. When your Nigerian visa written with blue bic biro comes pack your luggage and head to Nigeria with your Americana baby before Obama changes his mind. ( The Nigerian visa itself is an eyesore, why are we so backward in everything lol ??).

TIPS ON MANAGING YOUR HOSPITAL BILLS IN THE USA

1. You must get it right from the Onset, I mean in selecting a hospital and a doctor. If you are not using an all inclusive package like MIHS or ELPASO Make sure you use a doctor and a hospital that understands the needs of a self paying patient. For example after visiting the hospital and refusing to be induced, our nurse placed my wife on bed for 30 mins and did some fetal monitoring before we went home, unknowingly we were billed $500 for that check . The Doctor helped negotiate the bill and we paid $100. Any Doctor (whether Nigerian or Foreign) with good human relationship skill can do this, so choose well. Ensure your hospital has a high traffic of self paying patients. Also, ensure your Doctor responds to calls and emails promptly.

2. You should avoid Micro-Budgeting. Everyone on this thread is after the cheapest package but we never give a thought to what happens if complications arise and things don't go as planned. Birthing in America is expensive and you should have some cash/buffer in place as contingencies. An adult applying to become an American citizen invests a minimum $500,000 in the US via the investment by Alien Entrepreneur program, you are getting citizenship for the baby for far lesser . If things don't go as planned don't get angry remember It is a privilege not a right. Don't follow the crowd, have your own contingency plan.

3.After settling the previous issues. Avoid visiting the hospital for treatment on your own except instructed by your doctor. A friend was billed $2700 in Methodist Sugarland after she was admitted for some minor treatment. Furthermore, Don't call the ambulance except it is critically needed you will be billed.

4. Have access to your Doctor via email or phone number in case of any complain. He/she should be able to manage your pregnancy with over the counter prescriptions and he knows what best to do if prescriptions won't work.

5. Before you take any treatment outside your package ask about the cost implications, The nurses attending to you at the hospital don't know whether you have insurance or you are self paying. So ask and keep asking. If your doctor can't negotiate bills for you, look for the financial counselor and explain your case. If the financial counselor can't help, you should look for the medical director of that hospital to table your case.

6. Finally, from my observation You can't have it all with a Doctor , Hospital, State,Accommodation, Transport etc. Your main focus should be the welfare of yourself and the baby as far as this is achieved thank God. The grass is always greener on the other side . A lot of people have complications but they will never tell you. Try your best to get the least cost but at the end thank God for what you have,everything is by his grace.

sayoberry:
Tvegas... Ur hand don full now o. Na u dey breastfeed baby for night? I would have visited una o but I'm still learning how to spend coins the coins dey very confusing......