In our little expat circle I think it is quite rare to leave Qatar to have a baby unless you have a high risk pregnancy or know you will have a c-section and want your husband to be present (which he can't be in Qatar). The hospital in Doha where we had most of our appointments at is quite a little baby factory so I have some degree of confidence in the care I would receive and of the 20+ Qatar births we are familiar with I don't think anyone's had any major problems. That said, I am due in early August where the mercury soars around 110°F/45°C (the "feels like" is much higher). Additionally, my due date falls during Ramadan (where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and expats are forbidden to eat/drink in public), though I think pregnant women fall out of the Ramadan rules. Ramadan is a bit of expat exodus in Doha (see my post from last year), so also consider that I would not have too much of a support network if I stayed in town over the summer. Add to that the mall closures related to the recent fire at Villagio and all signs point me to the Doha International Airport.
All these reasons aside, I could have stayed in Doha and done it. It could have been done.
For me the main reason I headed back to the US was be with my family through this experience. For many of the reasons above, Doha is not the most comfortable place to visit in August and September and would have been a bit cumbersome for my family or Kev's family to travel to be with us. My mother also has Multiple Sclerosis and after research her medical options in Qatar it does not appear to be an easily treatable condition should an emergency arise. For this reason alone, and knowing I wanted my parents to be part of birth, the decision to come home got a lot easier. Being just 3 hours from Kevin's family is also tremendously more convenient than being a 24 hour flight away and we will be able to spend more quality time with more of his family here in the US than having just a few folks visit us in Doha. My extended family, which is all a long drive or flight away, will also have much easier access to Baby Stooks and we look forward to showing him off in Atlanta. All this said, Doha is awesome mid-Nov. through May and we still want EVERYONE to come visit! :) I am looking forward to better patient care in the US, which I find is the one area most lacking in Doha - they have all the fancy medical equipment to fix you up, but most nurses/doctors lack decent bedside manner. I also want to be able to scream at someone in English and be somewhat understood - I stand a better chance of that here in the US than in Doha. Not planning any screaming at the folks taking care of me, but just in case!
Something that folks have asked is if I returned to the US to ensure that 1) the baby would be "American" or 2) the birthplace on his passport/birth certificate would the US instead of Qatar. To address these... our son would be American no matter where he was born and the place of birth on any documentation is a non-issue for us.
I have about five weeks to go until our estimated due date and then plan on being in Atlanta five weeks after that (returning to Doha on Sept. 19). We are fortunate that Kevin's employer will be shipping most of our baby gear from Atlanta to Doha. If you'd like to send Baby Stooks a gift we're registered at Babies"R"Us and Target and the Atlanta shipping address should be on file with both registries (but otherwise feel free to shoot me an email and I can send it along). Our shipment leaves around August 15th and I'm very thankful to Kev's younger sister who is helping us out with temporary baby gear while we navigate 4+ weeks without our own baby stuff while it is in transit. Kev will return to Doha just over a week ahead of me and I'm sure he'd appreciate any help figuring out how to put together a crib, dressers, stroller and pack-n-play and install a car seat all by the time we arrive.
In closing, our Doha friends gave us a great send-off via a co-ed baby shower taco/enchilada super-spectacular. Hosted by our friends the Fenns and the Bezansons, it was an awesome treat. We are attempting a superhero/retro comic motif in the nursery and the shower fit the theme perfectly with Batman cake, comic book decor, WHAM! / POW! signs and a Spiderman diaper cake. As we were not keen on the typical baby shower, we were also thrilled to have all our friends and their kiddos join us as well as adult drinks and no silly games! :) Big thanks to our hosts, to everyone that pitched in with delicious food, to everyone that came and to our photographers Rob and Leen!
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| Awesome cake decorated by Rebecca and Els |
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