If you were given a choice.....

[spockey]

Karmah1

Why don't you visit your local early childhood centre? We had two members who had returned from their expat stints join our mothersgroup when the bubs were around 4 months. Just ask them for the contact person or email list of the babies born around yours.
My mothersgroup (in Sydney) still meets up and there seems to be new members who have joined along the way through connections with the local early childhood centre in Cremorne.

 

[starbucks2]

Hi

I had my first baby in HK 18 months ago and due with our second in January. I enjoyed my experience here but did miss having my Mum and sisters being involved. One of my sisters has children and she would have been a world of advice for me. Having said that, Mum came up for the birth and stayed a couple of weeks and we headed home when the baby was 6 weeks old (as I was only on 12 weeks maternity leave so had to rush home for a visit with bubba).

If you want to go back to work (or have to for financial reasons) then having a helper is an amazing benefit for HK. They give you a lot of the support which your family wouldn't give - cleaning and cooking and generally helping out around the house quite apart from the baby care which we did almost exclusively. Was nice to be able to concentrate only on the baby to start with and know we would still be fed and live in a clean house! It depends on how much help you will get from your family too as to whether it would be better to be home or here. I did miss having a year off work as is the legal requirement at home - 12 weeks maternity leave in HK is a joke.

My experience with my OB and with Matilda Hospital was incredible and much better than I would have had at home. The midwives up there are amazing.

HOWEVER, now I am hankering to take my boy home so he can grow up with all the things I had as a child which are more difficult here. Backyard, wide open spaces, a climate which is colder but somehow more condusive to an outdoor childhood (can you see that the pregnant lady is suffering in this heat!!). And to grow up around his family and little cousins. So now, I miss my home and family more than I did when I was pregnant and baby was little.

Hard decision but I have not regretted having our son here or intending to have our next baby here. Agree with one of the posters above, that I did consider whether to go home for the delivery but may not have had my husband there for it and that was the most important part for me.

Good luck

SB2

 

[geocup]

Thanks so much everyone for responding. I am literally trying to get as many opinions as possible to help me make up my mind (convince) as to whether we head home (where there is no job but the move paid for) or stay here (a job for me initially but not for husband as yet). And.... I want to start a family soon - so there is that to think about too...... should we start a family here or there? I miss my family but my husband had a rough upbringing so he does not really think about that so much which really really saddens me.