This blog post was actually written awhile ago but we missed posting
it. Just to keep everything in order…
here it is now.
This is Part IV of a series.
Click here to read from the beginning.
Mark still has some sick time to use up, so he joined me for
the 16 week prenatal visit (10/31/2011).
We took a 12:45PM train to Ningbo for our 2PM appointment. This time, the English speaking nurse in the
VIP clinic was a bit less sure of her English and had a hard time understanding
us without context (so no small talk!).
The nurses all wear outfits reminiscent of a 1920s nursing outfit in the
U.S. – I assume to elicit respect, since they aren’t very practical. In contrast, the doctor just wears a lab
coat.
This time, the doctor was located in the VIP clinic and not
the regular maternal care ward, where we had to go last time. I was also the only patient with her this
time. Again though, it seemed more like
talking to a receptionist. She looked
over all the results from the blood tests from last visit (and the results I
brought with me from the Sanmen visit) and said everything looked good. I then had my closest thing to an exam yet –
we went to another room and she measured my belly and used the baby Doppler to
listen to the heartbeat.
We then went back to her office, and the nurse asked if I
could come back the next day for a blood test I needed to have done before
breakfast. Yes, this is the second time
they requested this! Again, I told her
it wasn’t very feasible since we live a couple hours away and buying train
tickets is a process here and there was no way I could get one for the next day
that evening still. It turns out they
wanted me to return for the AFP test – the one for Down Syndrome and other
neural tube issues. We decided that I
might be able to return on Thursday morning depending on the train
schedule. She booked me for a 9AM appt.
While we were still in the office (the doctor entering stuff
in the computer), our nurse translator suddenly blurted our “vagina”. Mark and I had no idea what was going on, but
it was pretty funny to see a Chinese nurse in a 1920s outfit randomly blurt out
“vagina”. Maybe she was practicing
English female anatomy in her head and that one escaped?
From there we went downstairs to the ultrasound
hallway. Just like last time it was hot
and crowded and we were jumping the line to the front since I had VIP
status. We were very disappointed the
nurse wouldn’t let Mark in too, though we had expected that. They just have three tables lined up next to
each other so there is no privacy.
Because of that, they don’t let men in.
It seems like an easy thing to fix in my mind… but since they don’t let
men in the delivery room still either, they have a long way to go! (Note: Mark will be present for the delivery
of this baby, though most Chinese fathers cannot.) That did make us decide to do the 20 week visit
in Shanghai though, since we know Mark can be present in that hospital – and
they’ll tell us the sex of the baby.
While waiting for the ultrasound, the nurse informed me she
had gone ahead and scheduled a test for me for a December visit – December 25th. She seemed surprised when I told her I
wouldn’t be there. 1) It was Christmas,
and 2) my family was visiting from America.
She then asked if I could just leave my family for it. My answer, of course, was no. I am low risk and don’t want any unnecessary
tests so I told her she needed to cancel it.
She was very surprised. I guess
I’m a belligerent patient.
The ultrasound was uneventful, though less of an assembly
line feeling than last time. This
ultrasound tech asked me (in Chinese) if I was an American, and I told him I
was. He then turned the screen a bit so
I could see the baby (they don’t normally do that – in and out as fast as they
can is the normal routine). He also
would point to things on the screen and say “heart” or “hand” or “foot” since
he knew those words in English. He
seemed quite excited to get to say them to me too.
All was normal with the ultrasound, though they say the baby
measures a bit small. The nurse told me
I have to eat a lot of eggs and milk to make the baby grow better, but I need
to not eat much my last month of pregnancy so the baby doesn’t get too
big. Yeah, I’m not following that crazy
talk. My baby’s size is fine. I eat healthy and well and the baby takes
what it needs first. And the last month
food abstinence comments? Just pure craziness.
The doctor then told me the baby’s size was probably ok because American
babies have smaller heads than Chinese babies and that is probably the
difference. Again, crazy talk. I have been communicating with a Canadian
doula who lives in Ningbo and she chalked up their crazy talk to the need to
always find something wrong at prenatal visits.
Apparently it is bad luck for a mom to be told all is well – because
that invites something bad to happen. So
if something “bad” is already happening, then you don’t have to worry?
We had to rush the nurse at the end, because we had booked 3:30PM
train tickets home since we didn’t expect this appointment to take very
long. We thought we would never make it,
assuming I still had to do a urine sample, etc.
Every woman who has ever had a baby knows the three hallmark features of
every prenatal visit is 1) the urine sample, 2) weigh in, and 3) blood
pressure. They took my weight during
this visit, so 1/3 isn’t bad, right? The
sad part was I had to pee so bad the whole visit but thought I was saving it
for the urine sample. When we found out
the nurse was just talking to us and the visit was actually done, I ran to the
bathroom and we sprinted to the road to catch a taxi to the train. We made it with a few minutes to spare,
thankfully.
The next day Mark checked the train schedule to Ningbo and
we found out there was no way I could make the Thursday 9AM appointment since
the first train out wasn’t even until 9AM.
We decided to drop by the site doctor’s office and ask him to just
review all my paperwork (they gave me printouts of all my blood test results)
since we had more confidence in his English ability. We also asked if he could call and cancel my
Thursday appointment. He looked at all
my blood test results and said, “It looks like you’ve had enough blood tests
already. I wouldn’t go in either!” He then called the hospital for us and found
out that if I still want to have the AFP test done, I can just go in early the
morning of my next prenatal appointment.
WHAT?! They wanted me to catch
the next train back to Ningbo for this and I can just have it done at my next
regular visit if I don’t eat breakfast?
I’m not sure if something gets lost in translation… or if there really
is that little regard for our schedule.
What a crazy adventure.
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