NewStats: 3,265,139 , 8,185,766 topics. Date: Friday, 13 June 2025 at 03:37 PM 5p2v2k

Missionary journey gradually coming to a close. All baby's documents are ready. Applied for Nigerian port online and my appointment was on the 14th Oct. Got to the Nigerian house a few minutes to noon and port was ready for pickup by 3pm same day. Cost of Nigerian port was $107 ( $77 paid when we applied and $30 money order when we went for capturing.) For those birthing in New Jersey, expedited port takes 2-3 wks as they dont do same day expedited in New Jersey (mine arrived in 10days). If you want the same day expedited port, you have to go to New York or Philadelphia where they have the closest port Receiving Agent to New Jersey. SSN arrived 3wks after birth.

babythug:


Hello everyone

Just to mention I successfully used the visa on arrival option for my baby a few weeks back! The key thing is to arrive at the airport early and explain that you will get the visa in Nigeria, have the baby's birth certificate on hand as well. It costs 200 dollars even though the official rate is 160 dollars

Good luck

I flew Qatar airways

Ours was done by notary lawyer and it was accepted.

lobus:


US embassy only.

Did you guys get the port the same day or you were asked to come back. How was the process the day you went there?

cindermum:
Walk in.. they will definitely attend to you because that was what I did and I was attended to.

Thanks alot.

simababe:


I wanted to use card but cos my card bares my maiden name, I didn't use it to pay cos I read somwher that the name on the card must match the baby's last name. So I bought 2 money orders at USPS $77 and $30, I mailed the 77 on Friday evenin to innovate services(the instructns is on the page) then I got a confirmation n appt date yesterday. It's easy. All the best.

P.s don't mail the $30 money order cos u r meant to take it along wit u on the appt day.

Ma'am, please how did you go about making the payment for the nigerian port. Trying to complete for application form but there is something about paying with cards and it been declined. Wld really appreciate your kind response.

simababe:
Abeg mamas that booked appt at the Nigerian house in NY. I got an appt for Oct 12 but it's too far for me. Is there a way I can do walk in or reschedule cos this pple r not pickin calls n I'm thinking of ffg dh bak home this weekend.
I'm missing home oooooo.

Thanks sugar. I told my host that it's not necessary but she insisted it is so I just kept quiet.

sugah:
Funtolash you don't need her SSN to get her port. Only BC....just put zeros in the space for ssn

Hello Mamas, sorry I've not been responding to the questions on St. MARY'S Hospital. I had my baby on 22nd Sept. @ St. Mary's Hospital via CS. Dr. Fares was not available to take the delivery cost he had an emergency case that came up just before my scheduled Csection time (initially scheduled for 12noon, and it was rescheduled for 4:00pm but it didn't happen until 7pm). Apparently someone was supposed to call me from their office before 10:00am which was the time I was expected to be itted at the hospital but she didn't and I was already at the hospital and in the process of being itted before they called me (for scheduled cs, tou have to be at the hospital no later than 2hrs prior to the surgery). Given that I drove 1hr 15mins from my house to the hospital, I just went through with the ission process and stayed in bed till 4:00pm then, another story of after another until 6:50pm when I became very angry, went to the hallway where the entire team of Drs. were and I shouted and did small naija madness for them that if the procedure does not stay by 7:00pm, I will cancel and get a 100% refund of every dime I have paid. Like magic, everyone was on their toes and the procedure started 7:00pm on the dot. My little 8.6lb princess was out by 7:18pm and by 7:40 I was in the recovery room. In all, despite the delays, it everything went smoothly. The following day. Dr. FARES came to see me and personally offered his apologies for how things went and said everything that happened was just beyond him and his team's control. In all I realised that God had a plan for how things went that day.

A summary of the bill (I have zero balance statement from both dr. office and hospital).

Hosp. (Csection) $5000 (covers 3 nights/4days stay for both mum and baby)
Epidural: $1000
Dr. Fares: $2000 (for both cs and vaginal). This also covers for 1 post partum checkup
Paediatrician: $750 ( dr. Zarmani was such an awesome dr.)
Dr. Fares accept your nigeria reporT's and blood works if you bring them along with you. I only did Rubella test ($20) and GBS (which is usually done at 38wks) for $30.15 (discounted from $100.50)

Birth certificate was ready a few days after delivery (although when you are filling the form at the hospital they will tell you ut will take 2-3wks for it to be ready). Waiting for my SSN to begin processing baby's US port. As for accommodation the areas around St. Mary's and dr F office are Clifton and aic. From what I gathered, aic na real downtown so if you no chop plenty liver, find accommodation else where. That's a brief of my experience at St Mary and Dr. Fares. Sorry for the long post, I just want to try and cover as much as I can with the hope that people's questions will be answered.

That must be St. Peters Hospital. I responded to your PM already. Please check your mail box. quote author=TripleKMama post=49689916]Im NJ-bound in few weeks but my hospital cost. Im going there cos thats where I have family so it depends on what you value most. Im hoping for some discount if I pay all at once as they claim - but they didnt say the % discount.
Vaginal delivery: $8000; CS: $12,000; Dr's fee: $3600 Anesthesia: different levels ranging from$800-$1,800. Circumcision: $150.
Tests: around $300. All the best dear.
[/quote]

True. Plus port own sef dey cheaper. Like 2k max.

feddy27:


Forget the one from hospital and take from port health. Cos you might have hospital own and they will insist on port health. Air / klm generally don't disturb for fit to fly.

Thanks my sister. Was just about to say that just a little research will do the magic.

LadyGuinivere:

The Search button is your friend
Funtolash just posted about NJ. All the above questions can be answered with a lil research.

You are welcome.

Niksie:

Thank u for this valuable info Funtolash!

True plus some banks require that you inform them about your travel plans (place and date of travel) so they can enable your card for foreign withdrawal/transactions. So the best thing to do is find out from your bank and do the needful as it applies.

Niksie:

this ban depends on bank i think. some cards are still working abroad though with reduced limits.

@Treasure1611, try their post office. I used USPS cos it was very close to where am staying. [quote author=nazstra post=49409412][/quote]

Hello Mamas, trust you are all doing well. Just a tip of how I was able to manage my way through the forex hustle ( and this might be useful for those that were not able to get PTA or travelex or those that need more forex apart what they cld get from banks or travelex. ). I used the Money Order approach, gave the money order to my host who then went to her bank and got me the cash equivalent. Stanbic has a limit of $1500 per month. You can do up to $500 per day (as per daily limit on POS transaction) and the charge on each order is $1.20. The exchange rate as at last week (and I also think today too) is N380 to a dollar which is a lot cheaper than black market (about N420/N425 to a dollar).
If you can have multiple s it will increase how much you can get(e.g. 1 for me, 1 for DH, 1 t , 1 for my daughter gave me a total of $6000 at N380.


I also tried GTB too but their own market too cost (N395 to a dollar) and limit na 1000dollars per month.
I hope someone will find it useful, otherwise just ignore.

Don't know if this my response will still be relevant but let me share my opinion just in case it's helpful for someone. I was faced with the same situation just before I travelled. So what I did was that I did part liquidation of the fixed deposit, at least something to pump my up significantly. Also I had all the investment letters arranged together (about 1 yr records) to show as evidence of the FD (I was doing a 30days rollover) up until the part liquidation and also the balance fixed after the part liquidation. Although none of these was asked but that was my way of showing I cld pay for my bills and burden of proof that the sudden inflow in my wasn't borrowed. Na my own approach be that it is by no means a standard so make u na no nail me for give advice.

LadyGuinivere:

what I gave you was my opnion and not based on any particular experience.
When in doubt, please err on the side of caution. If somebody has had a personal experience that wasn't favourable then that means you shouldn't bank much on my opinion.

So sorry am just responding. St. Mary's didn't give me anything o. It's the doctor's office that gave me all the correspondence. Infact when I called St. Mary's, they asked me to a doctor.

Tyrah1:
@funtolash please did start mary hospital gave u any correspondence cos they told me they don't give

Eeyah. All my own test from naija was accepted o. They even told me that it was a smart thing I came with my results cos test here are expensive. I guess some of these things varies with each doctor.

feddy27:


Not correct. For my 2 children, I arrived US at 34 weeks and OGTT was done, used different hospitals as well. I don't even bother with all these lab tests from naija.

Also From experience, if you have history of having big babies, even your naija doctor will demand for an OGTT. My first child was 4.2kg so during this second one before I left nigeria, my naija doctor had me do ogtt at 16wks and 28wks just to explain the reason for the weight of my first baby and rule out gestational diabete.

TripleKMama:
Same here. In fact, as soon as I requested for OGTT, my Dr asked if I dey deliver for USA then I said yes. because everything medical is free for me via my office insurance, I request every and any test...don't judge me
Additionally, if you have a strong family history of Diabetes, OGTT is in place for them to watch out for early signs.

Finally, someone already mentioned that these tests are only relevant as per certain GA. If you arrive US at 30wks+, they wont ask for OGTT except they accept the one you did in naija. Summary: that list someone shared is just a guide. Doesn't meant one single patient will do all of them.

Na my host o. They started gathering coupon for me since the time I informed them of my intention to come to the US for my baby.

happytbaby:
Abeg how do I hit coupon jackpot too?

Don't have it but you can just Google travelex nigeria

dtush:


Hi, can i get their number please.

Please mamas in the house, how did you go about your baby's first bath here in the US. What soap did you use. Did anyone do the black soap and palm oil wash.

I used travelex on my day of travel and it was the actual boarding I gave them. Why not call their numbers to find out, I believe they should be able to clarify that for you.

dtush:


Thanks for your response. I we met in houston. How is ur lil one? The boarding you referred to, is it the e-boarding which i can print 48 hours before departure or the one i will get from the airline counter.

Hello mamas. Trust everything is going well both home and abroad. Congrats to all with successful POE testimonies and visa approvals and to all the latest mamas in the block.

Heads up for everyone looking at saving on buying stuffs for their LO, huggies diapers is currently on sales at shoprite stores at $6.99 for the nylon pack ( usually contains btwn 27 - 38 per pack depending on the size) and $16.99 for the small box size (varies btwn 72 -100 depending on the size also). And if you be like me wey just hit coupon jackpot, you will get the nylon pack for $2.99 instead of $6.99 and the small box at $10 instead of 16.99.

The small nylon pack is a better deal than the box one.

Chilling on a sofa with popcorn and juice to watch this movie till the end. Experts oya.

pizzo20:
Hello house, I have been following this thread for months now, but I need to share my testimony.
I went for my interview with my wife and daughter and this was how it went.

VO good morning, can I have your ports pls.
me gm and handed them over.
vo why are you going to the us.
me for my annual vacation
vo do you have any friends or family there.
me nop, we will be staying in an hotel
vo what do you do
me. I told him with further explanation
vo how did you achieve that position
me, told him how
vo what does your wife do
wife answers him
vo how many ......... do you have
me answers firmly
vo...will you be going for any medicals during your stay in the us
me nop.
vo congrats, pick your visa in 2 working days.

but the truth about all of this is that we intend to have our baby in the us, please advise me as we have withheld this info from the vo during our interview.
thanks.

Honestly I don't know. I asked the people at Dr. D's office about the bill and they said I have to Clara Maas myself. I didn't bother becos I ready don know anyone that has used them before. A family to my host just used St. Mary's hospital in june, and her s were good. So I just stayed with St. Marys.

Tyrah1:
Oh ok save delivery but is clara maas hospital affordable like st mary?

Ok. Just did. [quote author=gracefultosin post=48707460][/quote]

Mama you get money o. The bill St. Peters gave me give me cold. Had to start looking for another one sharp sharp. Even my host said they won't me spend that kind of money. You are using Dr. A. right?

TripleKMama:
St Peters

Thanks alot bbaby. Will sure check it out.

bbaby84:

I still can't get over the part of you leaving your suitcases..... lmao. You must have been very excited!
For your shopping, just go to Jersey Gardens (Burlington coat factory( Baby Depot) first before going around.
Thank me later .
Congratulations and all the best!

My dear the benefit of having a family here is priceless. Free food, free accommodation, free ride plus a ready help to handle my troublesome toddler. Please I want to find out if it's ok for me to use coupons here. Does it constitute using of tax payers benefit? My host said they got lots of coupons that I can use to get some discounts off stuffs when I go shopping. Please experts on the house kindly advice before I got chop awoof wey go run my belle later.

LadyGuinivere:
Thanks a lot funtolash. Odikwa very good! Esp for one with family in NJ

Unfortunately I didn't notice whether there was any "x" on my own print out receipt. But what I noticed for sure was that:
1. I was the only pregnant woman on the queue (and also on the flight from Lagos to JFK). To be honest for whatever weird reason, i seriously prayed that I shld be the only preggy one there at the time of my entry.
2. It was a Sunday morning when I got in (around 9:30am) so airport was relatively light (not like I know what it's like during the week, but I can almost bet it will be a lot busier. This is for the discerning mind.

Not that am saying the above have anything direct to do with how my poe experience went but it might have contributed to it.

temmyo:
@LadyAy I ed through jfk recently and was marked x at the self service kiosk. I think the x is for people with food. I spent a little over 5 mins with the cbp and was not sent for secondary inspection

Thanks alot LadyGuinivere. how we started out. ( baptism of efire) but seriously, it made do my home work more diligently. You no see say i no come back come ask any stupid question again. Na study mode I enter straight.

The total package is as below:

Hosp
Vaginal birth 4k (2 days stay)
CS 5K (3 days stay)
Epidural (vaginal) 750
(cs) 1k


Doctor's is 2k for both vaginal and CS.
Paediatrician 750

Total package is looking like 8750 for CS and 6750 for vaginal (without Anesthesia, 7500 with anesthesia )

LadyGuinivere:


Congrats Funtolash . I'm happy for your happy ending and Safe trip and entry.
Please how much is your expected total package? Thanks a lot