Hospital and Baby!

I had a baby! In Saudi Arabia! And I'm still alive to tell you about it. See?

Nathan fixed my hair to look not-so-crazy. You should've seen the before-hair-fixing photos. They were scary.

I had a few worries about having a baby after being in the country for only a month, but luckily everything went smoothly. There were a few minor hiccups in my two-day stay in the hospital, but nothing major.

Here's the story of how baby was born -- so I'll try to make it light on the nitty gritty details.

To Wakey or Not to Wakey?

I woke up at 5 a.m. on my due date with some mild contractions. But that was nothing new because I'd been having contractions every fifteen to thirty minutes for the past two weeks. These ones were a tad uncomfortable, but I still wasn't sure if it was "labor." As I was laying there deciding whether or not to wake up hubby, I downloaded an app to help me time my contractions. I didn't even finish timing the first contraction before I realized these were starting to hurt more than my previous ones. I woke Nathan up and told him that I thought we should get going to the hospital.

We called some friends who were able to help us watch the kids while we headed out the door. We had timed the commute to the hospital several times to make sure we'd be able to make it. During heavy traffic, it took almost an hour to get to the hospital; during good traffic, we were able to get their in 25 minutes. I figured that because it was 6 a.m., the traffic would be light since Saudis don't like to get up early because they like staying up late too much!

As we were driving, we were surprised to to see how heavy the traffic was! The hospital I went to, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib hospital, is in the center of the city and the traffic wasn't quite stop-and-go, but it was close. Nathan was (thankfully) driving as quickly and safely as he could, but I had a hard time not telling him to go faster. Near the end of the commute, the contractions became so intense, that I found myself starting to wish our SUV had wings. My biggest worry was that we'd miss the exit (they're hard to spot because often times the signs for the exit don't appear until it's too late to get off). And if you miss the exit, it can take you 15 to 20 minutes to find a way to get back the way that you were going. On-ramps and off-ramps here are not as clear-cut as they are in the U.S., where if you get off at the wrong exit, you just get back on the freeway.

Here's a nice road we drove on; though this was not the road to the hospital (as you can probably tell from the complete lack of traffic).

Luckily, we didn't miss any of the exits, and we made it to the hospital in record-time: 20 minutes. That was a miracle considering the amount of traffic we encountered. I think the speed Nathan drove certainly helped shave a few minutes off of our time! :)

When we got to the entrance of the ER, Nathan had to pre-pay and register me at the front desk while they whisked me away in a wheelchair to one of the ER triage rooms. Most of the nurses are Filipino, and there was one or two Indian nurses, as well. They speak very limited English, and with a very heavy accent. After they checked me, I asked them how dilated I was. I was expecting an answer in centimeters as a number one through ten. But their answer didn't sound like any English number I knew. They told me, "Foo-LEE." I wasn't sure if they were talking to me or their co-workers, so I asked a couple more times, and the nurses kept responding using the same word: "foo-lee." Finally, it dawned on me; they were saying "fully." That surprised me since I had only been in labor slightly more than an hour.

I asked them if I should change into a hospital gown, and they told me "later." They had me hop on a gurney and the ran me through the hospital hallways, up an elevator (which couldn't come fast enough for me), and down another hallway to the labor and delivery unit. I was in so much pain that I could only focus on the fluorescent lights zooming by overhead. I felt like I was in one of those movie scenes.

They had me transfer to another bed when we got to the L&D room. I knew I wasn't going to get my epidural ... yet again (sigh). But as another pain reliever option they offer some kind of gas, which I was told has no effect on the baby. I was glad I was explained this option beforehand, because no one actually offered it to me. They put a gas mask on me, but boy, it sure didn't seem to help at all. And the tube leading to the mask was so heavy that it kept pulling the mask off. By this point, Nathan was back by my side and held my mask on for me.

Check out the anatomically-correct pregnant-woman figure on my bed!

As the contractions got more intense, the nurses kept telling me, "don't push." I thought that perhaps the baby wasn't in the right position yet, but there was no point in asking, because they likely wouldn't have understood my question anyway. Or if they did, they likely wouldn't have had the vocabulary to explain why. And besides, I couldn't muster enough energy to grunt more than two words at this point.

After a few minutes, my body was telling me that it was time to push, and the nurses had me lie on my side and again instructed me not to push. Again, there were no explanations as to why not; just simple instructions and lots of communication through hand motions. I'd never been told to "not push" when my body was telling me otherwise. That. Was. Painful.

I'd always kind of been proud of how I handled my previous labor/delivery. I was pretty calm. I didn't yell. I had no painkillers. Things went great. I expected this L&D to be the same. But it definitely wasn't. The pain of trying to relax my body when it was contracting and trying to push a baby out was unreal. I screamed. Kind of a lot. I was kind of embarrassed by how loud I was being. But that was the least of my worries at this point.

Then, one of the nurses told me, "Please, Madam, a little quieter." I would have laughed out loud had I not felt like I was dying.

Finally, I just told the nurses, "I'm going to push." They simply said, "OK." That was curious to me because this time, there was no objection. I wondered why they hadn't let me start pushing long before that point. Another contraction started, I pushed, and my water broke. They had me roll back onto my back during that same contraction, I pushed, and baby came out.

From the time I arrived at the ER to the time baby came was about 25 minutes. I'm glad I made it. Whew!

I was physically drained. I couldn't even lift my arms to hold Baby, so Nathan just kind of laid her on me for about thirty seconds. I had only had a few sips of juice before I left the house that morning (thank goodness), and I had nothing left in me. I felt very dizzy. I asked and Nathan asked several times for juice to get some sugar in my system to help out with the dizziness, and for some reason it took them about 30 minutes to get me some.

This was taken after I had enough strength to hold her. She was finally here! In Saudi Arabia, of all places! It felt so surreal.

They took Baby, wrapped her in a towel and put her under the little heat lamp. 

"Mommy, I need a diaper!"

Nathan picked her up and held her for me to see. Then we heard a squirting noise and learned that they don't put diapers on babies here immediately after they're born. Or at least they didn't in this instance. She got Nathan with a lovely choclatey-colored squirt right on his shirt. I'm sure he didn't think he'd need a spare shirt when he left this morning. When Baby pooped on him, all the nurses did was giggle and continue to go about their business.

Nathan's "chocolate" stain

Nathan's battle scar. What a proud father.

I asked a nurse later about why I was asked to not push, and she told me that it was because doctors here do not like anyone else delivering the baby. I was told by my OB to call her on the way to the hospital when I was in labor. She had given me her personal cell phone number (apparently that is a common practice here). I didn't think that this instruction was imperative though, since I figured hospitals always have on-call OBs there anyway like they do in the USA.

In the States, you don't need to call your doctor. The hospital takes care of that when you check in. And they don't really care about who delivers your baby. In fact, often times, a nurse will simply deliver it and only call a doctor in if there are complications.

After the delivery, my doctor seemed surprised that I hadn't called her. I told her the reason: we simply forgot. She said that for her to get to the hospital quickly, she needs to be able to have enough time call her driver (since women aren't allowed to drive here in Saudi), who needs to pick her up and take her.

So the reason the nurses were telling me not to push is because they were waiting for my doctor to arrive! Note to anyone having a baby in Saudi: call your doctor on the way to the hospital so your experience goes smoother. :)

Breastfeeding vs. Bottle-feeding

After awhile, they took Baby to give her a bath, but never brought her back. I finally asked one of the nurses if I could nurse her, and she said, "Oh, we already fed her bottle." That was definitely a difference between the U.S. and here. In the U.S. they wouldn't have formula-fed a baby unless they had permission from the mother first. But here, it's just normal protocol. I told them that I'd like her to be strictly breastfed, and they wrote a note on her little nursery crib.

The next day, I had a conversation about the nurses about how most women felt here about bottle-feeding vs. breastfeeding. She said that most Saudi women just have their babies bottle-fed--at least during their stay in the hospital.

Lost in Translation

After a few hours, the nurse wanted to help stand up. She asked, "Are you giddy?" I thought for sure I had heard her wrong.
"What?" I asked.
Again, she said even more slowly, "Are-you-giddy?"
I couldn't figure out why in the world I would be giddy after having such a strange and painful delivery. Then, I began trying to figure out what English word "giddy" sounded most like. I came up with nothing. So I replied.
"No." I said.
As I began to stand up, I began to get dizzy, and realized this is what the nurse was likely trying to ask me. So I said, "Oh, but I am dizzy."
"Oh, dizzy, yes." she replied.


See my pink hospital gown in the picture? I'd never been to a hospital that had pink gowns! Those were awesome. I wanted to take one home with me! :)

Baby was born with a black eye. Being birthed is a rough business.

Baby trying to give Daddy kisses.

Those look like piano fingers to me

And this was, by far, the best congratulatory text message we received. This is one text we got after we sent out the news to some friends:

We can only assume that this was some kind of auto-correct mistake. This gave us a good laugh...which is painful just after you've had a baby.

The "Suite" Hospital Room!

Because we prepaid for the labor and delivery in part before our visit, we were able to upgrade to a "suite" for free. The place was big. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it back in the States. There was a sitting room with a huge couch that seated about seven people, a flatscreen TV in that room, a small kitchen area with dishes, a sink, and a microwave.

Here's the video we took of everything. It's interesting to note that the bathroom did not have any outlets in it. So there was no blowdrying or straightening my hair for two days. 

[Note for anyone who may be having a baby in Saudi: because they have bidets, they do not provide you with a peri bottle like they normally do in the U.S. I suggest bringing your own. Bidets are just difficult to use, made a mess (mine leaked all over the floor even when not in use) and spray cold water. Not fun.]

At one point, I asked one of the nurses for a towel to shower. We asked multiple nurses for a towel, and after an hour or two passed and we still hadn't gotten a towel, Nathan had to go out to the nurse's station and track one down. When the nurse gave it to him, she said, "Sorry, the other towel is in use by someone else." Did they only have two towels available to use for everyone? That was kinda funny. Again, we couldn't ask follow-up questions because of the language barrier.

The view from my window

Open the closet, and here's a prayer rug for your convenience!

This little plaque on our hospital wall tells you which way is west, so you can pray facing Mecca.

See it on the wall behind my bed?

Nathan thought the couch/beds were comfy:

On my way out after 2 days, they gave me my "welcome kit." They meant to give it to me right when I arrived. Oops. That soap and shampoo sure would've helped. I ended up having Nathan bring some back from home so I could shower.

The welcome kit: comb, soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, shower cap, and handy-dandy leather carrying case.

The Food

The meals provided by the hospital were very, very meager. Each meal was served with a thin piece of flatbread the size of a tortilla, a cup of warm milk, and a cup of warm water (with a tea bag).

For breakfast on the first morning, my plate contained a 3-inch by 3-inch square of scrambled eggs. That was it.

This was my breakfast on day 2. A single tomato slice, ten small raw cucumber slices, and two small pieces of cheese.

Lunch and dinner usually consisted of rice with some kind of chicken on the side. Sometimes they'd include a small serving of soup. And an interesting-tasting tabbouleh (which I normally like, but this was kind of bland tasting).

I didn't take a picture of the tabbouleh, but here's what it looks like with some pieces of flatbread (thank you, Google Image search):

For dessert once, I got some black forest cake. It looked really yummy, but tasted like they'd forgotten to add cocoa and sugar. :(

I had babies in hospitals in Utah and in Northern California. The Utah hospital's food was typical. The California hospital's food was amazing. It had a menu, options for vegetarian and vegan, and tasted amazing. These serving sizes were small and the food was not very yummy.

So to anyone planning on going to this hospital for two days, bring extra food.

American Baby

I had nurses come in for the sole sake of "seeing an American baby." They love white babies! It was kind of funny! I realized later, as I went by the nursery, that all of the babies in the nursery had lovely dark complexions with tons of black hair. My baby was pasty white and pretty much bald. It was obvious that my baby was foreign! 

Several nurses also came in and asked me very detailed questions about working in the U.S. One asked me if she could stay with me if she ever came to visit. They asked me questions about salaries, getting work visas, if they hire Americans over Filipino nurses, etc. 

One nurse said that she had always wanted to visit the U.S. When I asked her why, she said, "Because people are always dancing in the streets." I was a little confused by this, which I think she could read my puzzled expression because she asked next, "Don't you see people always dancing in the streets wearing small black outfits?" I told her that unless there was a parade or something, that I had never seen anyone dance in the streets. I didn't know quite how to respond to the "small black outfit" part of the comment. She seemed very surprised by this.  I figured I must be living in the wrong place in the U.S.! :D I want me some street dancing, too!

Here are two sweet Filipino nurses walking us to the entrance and saying goodbye to Baby.

Would I Do It Again?

So the bottom line about my experience: it wasn't too bad. The price was definitely affordable compared to the price for having a hospital birth in the States. It cost about 8,000 SAR (~$2,500 USD) for the labor and delivery, which included that fee for both the doctor and the hospital.

As for the actual experience, I think had this been my first baby, I would've felt very differently about it. I'm not sure if I would've been more frustrated or totally indifferent (because of my not knowing what to expect in the first place). But it being my fourth baby, I wouldn't have any qualms about having a baby here in that hospital again.

[Added bonus: The hospital also has an anesthesiologist who can give epidurals at the hospital available 24/7, which is awesome! With my previous baby that I had in the U.S., the anesthesiologist on-call didn't get to the hospital in time to give me an epidural. So though I was too far along to get an epidural this time, I felt comforted knowing that I could get one ASAP if necessary.]

Baby's car ride home. She didn't like the sun.

Life is good. For everyone.