6 More Months of Boston... and I'm depressed! (Cambridge, Newton: health insurance, loans)

[Bob Lanata]

When I travel with a smile on my face, I receive smiles. When I am pouty and not liking life, I find the same energy. Kinda esoteric is my posting, but I really find this to be true. I travel with new eyes as opposed to new landscape.

Grew up in Boston and still love the city. Moved to Maine as after a divorce, I could not afford my own city. If you are looking for Day trips or vacations, beauty is all around us. Maine has alot to offer in the way of respite. Thanks

[xS☺B☺s]

This claim is patently absurd. I've been in the NICUs in BWH, MGH, STE, NEMC, BID NSMC & BMC just to mention a few. Brigham is rated #3 nationally for GYN. It has a ten floor tower exclusively for women. It has four floors for L&D and NICU. Children's is the #1 children's hospital in the USA. They are both physically connected to Harvard Medical School. What more could you want?

Boston has debateably the best healthcare facilities in the world - especially for birthing and children. And you're going to NH?

Originally Posted by NomadicLifestyle

Example: For one of the only states that has mass statewide health FOR everyone, not just children or seniors, I'm finding a lot of limitations with doctor's and high transfer rates to hospitals. I recently found out I was pregnant (unplanned, but joyous) and that there are only two birth centers in the ENTIRE state. I really thought Boston/Mass was a headway in healthcare and options but for some reason this shocks me when you cross the border to NH and find 5.

[westwind15]

Heck, coming from CA and the great "Don't get sick, you really can't afford it" health plan scheme, I am actually thrilled with the statewide medical plan here. I have affordable insurance for the first time in a long time!

[wxjay]

Maybe it is two birth centers that take her insurance? (I also found that comment very, very odd).

To the OP - I agree with the earlier poster above. A positive attitude yields positive results. I spent a lot of my Ph.D. years (in Atlanta) quite depressed and it really hindered my progress, academically and socially. Towards the end, I gathered myself together and projected more happy and positive outlooks on my outlook and my life. It made my last 1.5 years in Atlanta much more enjoyable. Now that I am back in the Boston area, I continue to employ that same philosophy and am having very good results. Yes, there are miserable people everywhere, even in sunny CA. But make of the situation what you can.

Ultimately, however, it is your own life and your own choice. Best of luck wherever you end up.

[HenryAlan]

Originally Posted by ipoetry

I love this post! Boston is what it is, historically rich. Reminds me of a young friend who visited Boston from St. Paul, Minn a few years ago. She kept pointing at things asking why they didn't tear this or that down. It's called history, baby.

This reminds me of a visit from a friend back in the late 80s. He and I both grew up in L.A., and it was my first year in Boston as a freshman at BU. Anyway, we went to a game at Fenway, and he spent the whole time criticizing how cramped it was, how dirty it was, how loud it was (wtf?), how the scoreboard looked like crap compared to the one at Dodger Stadium, etc. Now I love Dodger Stadium, it is a great baseball experience, but I had already learned, in my brief time in Boston, how magical Fenway Park is. He didn't get it because he was expecting it to be something bright and shiny like Dodger Stadium.

The irony is that every time he visits now, we go to a Sox game and he spends the whole 9 innings talking about how amazing Fenway is. People have to look to Boston for what it is, not what they think it should be. It is beautiful and ugly at the same time, and loved by millions because it is the way it is.

[Dood912]

boston is clean and the air smells good

[nancy thereader]

Heck, coming from CA and the great "Don't get sick, you really can't afford it" health plan scheme, I am actually thrilled with the statewide medical plan here. I have affordable insurance for the first time in a long time!

I live in California now & I can tell you that this is really true. Except for Stanford, the health care is pretty dismal.

[kwatanabe]

This the first big relocation you ever done? Where are you originally from? If you really think about it 6 months is not long at all. It also takes a few years to adjust to a new area. After 6 months are you moving back to where you came from? Or are you moving to another new area?

[mdovell]

Ironically with Dodgers stadium hardly anyone goes to the games. You figure being the 2nd largest populated city in the country they could at least be 25% full.

On the birth center bit that does not sound right. There's plenty of medical facilities that serve the area. Specialized care can be more centered in boston but that is understandable.

[NomadicLifestyle]

Thank you for all your replies! My job has been very busy but I have a few days off starting tomorrow so I'll reply then! Sorry for the wait, I haven't disappeared!

[EDIT - Addition]
Couple things I want to respond to right now...

The person who thinks I dislike the T, please re-read my post, I LOVE the T. I find Massachusetts's public transportation one of the best in the U.S.

Also, those who are asking about my problems with the lack of birth center - I do not believe a HOSPITAL is a proper place to have a child or deal with a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy. I believe that hospitals are for sick people. A baby is a blessing and the birth of a baby is a celebrated event, not one I feel like I should be cooped up in a hospital bed. I want a NATURAL birth and often times, hospital births result in unneeded interventions that make labor and birth more difficult than it needs to be.

Unless my child and I are in danger, I do not want to be in a hospital. A birthing center provides a structured environment without the means of medical intervention (though some, like the two in here in Massachusetts, are connected or partnered with hospitals in case of complications). THAT is a birthing center, it is an alternative to a medical, hospital birth, so the person telling me that Massachusetts has the best in birthing and children, I do not believe you are right. A NICU is for a SICK infant, not a healthy newborn. I keep on top of my prenatal care and all of my appointments, if nothing is wrong with me, while I will and do have a back up plan and already deciding my hospital of choice if I must be admitted, nothing is going to get me into a hospital.

If I wasn't living with roommates or planning to move before my baby is born, I'd have a home birth with a midwife (partnered with my OB).

The birth centers here in MA have very high transfer rates to their connected hospitals.

I do not make bold statements like the above without doing research... and I use to have NO insurance after I lost coverage when I turned 19 until I got this job. I am not knocking state insurance either if someone thought that, I find it a blessing to many, but it forces people who do research about their healthcare to have very limited choices.

I am just going to assume that many of you probably don't know much about alternatives to childbirth (or don't care or are men with no kiddos? LOL). I'm just one those types where unless there's a problem, nature needs to take its course.

Oh... this is my 3rd major life move... I moved over 400 miles away from my hometown when I was 14 and switched from wearing a uniform and attending a private Christian school all my life, to an inner city public school in about 3 months... Boston is really nothing after that, BUT I still want to be happy while I am here.

I want to take the time tomorrow to respond to a few posts individually as a lot of you gave me a wealth of information, support and resources, and that, I thank you so very much for!

Oh, and thank you again for those who said congratulations on my pregnancy!