I had a baby in Russia and I lived to blog about it! Many people have asked about my experience giving birth in Russia, and I thought I would share the experience. I am joking about the lived to blog about it- I knew going in that the Perinatal Medical Center was an excellent hospital and that I was in very good hands. So, the story:
My c-section was scheduled for a Thursday morning, so my doctor has me check in the night before. As I have said before, this was my 4th section and I had made the Russians quite nervous with this. Russian women typically have 1-2 babies, so it is quite unusual in this country to have 4 c-sections. Because of this the doctors decided to take John at 37 weeks. My doctor, Sergei, was present for the surgery, but it was actually performed by Dr.Krusko, who is the head of the hospital and the leading Obgyn in Russia. As I was told by the Russians-" He is very famous Ellen (yes, they call me Ellen here) and he is the best doctor in all of Russia. You are in very good hands". He usually delivers babies for government officials and celebrities in Moscow. Not bad for a stay-at-home mom from Iowa.
On the morning of the surgery Jesy met me outside the OR. He was not allowed in the OR like in the States. Russians are afraid the men are going to collapse during the surgery and they don't want to look after Dad and Mom. I tried explaining to them that Jesy had been through 3 sections before and was an officer in the army who had seen combat, but they were not persuaded. When they called me in to the surgery I went into a small outer room and they made me take all of my clothes off except for some white compression stockings. I had to walk into the OR naked! If I had not been so nervous I think I would have died of embarrassment. The prepwork for the surgery was quite similar to the US and the three doctors in the room all spoke English. The anestesiologist was the head of the department. He is quite the catch at the hospital because I was told by many nurses that he is not married and quite handsome. To be honest I was just happy that he was very nice and got me numb before they started cutting. After about 30 minutes baby John arrived. It was quite funny- after they cleaned him up they brought him over to me and opened up his legs. The nurses did not speak English, so this was there way of telling me "look- it's a boy!". They then presented the baby this way to Jesy also.
After the surgery I was taken to a recovery room that I ended up staying in for 9 hours. Jesy was able to take John down to the pediatric ward and visit him many times during the day, but I was confined to recovery. I slept most of the day and it took me longer than usual to recover because I had gotten a bit too much of the epidural and could not move my legs for many hours. There were three other women in the room with me and it was quite surreal to not see my baby for so long. In the US you are with the baby right away. I passed the time by talking with Jesy and our interpretor Ela, who we hired to help us translate the first few days at the hospital. She was a true blessing because even though I have been taking Russian lessons it is a very difficult language and who really wants to practice when they are doped up on pregnancy drugs anyways.
At about 6pm I was finally able to go to my private room and visit with John. He is just lovely and Jesy and I enjoyed kissing him and snuggling.
After that my stay at the hospital was quite similar to the US. The doctors were great, and the nurses were quite helpful and sweet. I got by with alot of hand gesturing and simple phrases, and I noticed a few of the nurses using google translate to try and explain things to me. Overall it was a positive experience and I would recommend this hospital to any woman wanting to have a baby in Moscow.
Some funny observations from the hospital:
Johnny and I walked up and down the corridors of the hospital (best way to heal) and all of the pictures on the wall were of American cities. I recognized Chicago, New York, St.Louis and San Francisco.
I was called a "hero" by many of the nurses on the floor. At first I thought they were just confusing some American word, but then when Jesy reported to me that he was called a hero at work we figured it out. The Russians were amazed that I had four children! The head doctor and many of the nurses kept on telling me that they would see me next year for baby number five. As much as I love my children and enjoyed this hospital, no thank you. Four is quite enough for Eileen and Jesy.
They do not do pain pills at the hospital- they do shots. One of the English speaking nurses approached me about getting physical therapy in my derriere region after leaving the hospital. At first I was so upset- does my backside look that bad after four kids that I need therapy? I then realized that they were referring to all of the bruises- I bruise quite easily and my entire backside was black and blue. No need for physical therapy, just some healing time and good exercise when I recover.
It is a Russian custom to give the doctor that delivered your baby a gift. We gave our doctor a bottle of nice whiskey. Imagine giving a doctor in the US liquor! I find the differences in our countries so interesting.
It is also customary to release balloons (50-100) when you leave the hospital. I actually thought this was very nice (maybe not for the environment) and enjoyed watching the releases from my hospital room window. Jesy and I did not participate in this ritual, though, because I really just wanted to get home on my day of departure.
I usually do not get political in public, but some things to note about the Russian healthcare system and my experience. I was at a private, commercial hospital. We paid for this birth in cash (our American insurance company reimburses us) as do all the women who give birth at this hospital. Every Russian has government insurance and most women give birth in state hospitals. I visited one myself and I would not have given birth there and would not recommend it. The doctors and nurses are paid very little and after the birth women share a room with 5 or 6 others during their hospital stay. It is still customary to give the doctor a gift after the baby is born, but this gift is usually cash because they make so little money. I was in the Perinatal Center with very wealthy Russians and couples who saved for years to be able to afford this experience. I myself have never been on any type of public assisstance, but I know for a fact that the three other hospitals I gave birth at in the US accepted Medicaid patients. It is always important to remember how nice we have it in the US.
Dr.Krusko asked me how this experience compared to the US and if I would recommend his hospital to my friends in the expat community. It was actually quite similar to the US and I would recommend it to any woman in Moscow who asks me. But you will not see me next year for baby number five!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Baby coming soon!
This will be my last post for awhile. Or maybe I will have lots of free time at the hospital and will be blogging every day. I have no idea how this will all go. Or how the internet service will be.
Baby Yeates #4 will be here either October 20 or 21- this Thursday or Friday. Am I nervous- hell yes! Having a baby, having a c-section, is pretty nervewracking anyways. Having a baby in a room where hardly anyone is speaking your language is even worse. If it was Spanish I could make out every other word, but my Russian after two months is not that great. I do know the word for good, though, and I hope I hear that alot. The reason the surgery is a few days earlier than I expected is that the head of the hospital (the head OBGYN of all of Moscow and probably Russia) is going to be scrubbing in that day also. And Thursday or Friday is when he is free. Please keep Dr.K, Dr. Sergei, me, the baby, and the possible many spectators in your prayers for that day. It seems like it will be standing room only outside the OR (you can watch surgeries from a glass window) and I hope Jesy will be able to see his child being born with all of the other people watching. I am a teaching case, so there will be lots of doctors and nurses around.
The kids are excited to meet their new brother, but a bit apprehensive about me being gone for so long. Colin is actually taking it very hard that I will be gone for 5-6 days. The girls will be upset, but they also love Olesea (the nanny) so I know they will be having fun with her. And next Saturday night is part one of trick or treating in our neighborhood, so they will have lots of fun getting candy and dressing up. Cannot believe I am missing it.
I posted this on facebook, but I know some of you are not on it. The question I most often get- will this baby be a US or Russian citizen. He will not be a Russian. As the saying goes "Russia for Russians". Both of your parents have to be Russian citizens in order for you to be a Russian citizen. I told Jesy I feel like we are the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty (my childhood favorite). We bestow the gift of American citizenship on our child when he is born. I was told this by the US Embassy and I thought it was rather cute. He will only get a slip of paper from the hospital saying when he was born. We then have to take this paper to a Russian registrar office and get a Russian birth certificate. Then we bring this birth certificate to the US Embassy and they give an American birth certificate that is issued by the State Department, not a US state. With this birth certificate and some other forms we can apply for a passport. And then we can TRAVEL! One of the main reasons we moved to Russia. We are hoping for Prague in late winter and we have a house rented for Italy in April. On that note, let's hope the Italians can get it together and stop rioting in the street so I can get to Rome. I am probably jinxing myself, but Italy is my dream.
Next time I write I should be a mother of 4!
Baby Yeates #4 will be here either October 20 or 21- this Thursday or Friday. Am I nervous- hell yes! Having a baby, having a c-section, is pretty nervewracking anyways. Having a baby in a room where hardly anyone is speaking your language is even worse. If it was Spanish I could make out every other word, but my Russian after two months is not that great. I do know the word for good, though, and I hope I hear that alot. The reason the surgery is a few days earlier than I expected is that the head of the hospital (the head OBGYN of all of Moscow and probably Russia) is going to be scrubbing in that day also. And Thursday or Friday is when he is free. Please keep Dr.K, Dr. Sergei, me, the baby, and the possible many spectators in your prayers for that day. It seems like it will be standing room only outside the OR (you can watch surgeries from a glass window) and I hope Jesy will be able to see his child being born with all of the other people watching. I am a teaching case, so there will be lots of doctors and nurses around.
The kids are excited to meet their new brother, but a bit apprehensive about me being gone for so long. Colin is actually taking it very hard that I will be gone for 5-6 days. The girls will be upset, but they also love Olesea (the nanny) so I know they will be having fun with her. And next Saturday night is part one of trick or treating in our neighborhood, so they will have lots of fun getting candy and dressing up. Cannot believe I am missing it.
I posted this on facebook, but I know some of you are not on it. The question I most often get- will this baby be a US or Russian citizen. He will not be a Russian. As the saying goes "Russia for Russians". Both of your parents have to be Russian citizens in order for you to be a Russian citizen. I told Jesy I feel like we are the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty (my childhood favorite). We bestow the gift of American citizenship on our child when he is born. I was told this by the US Embassy and I thought it was rather cute. He will only get a slip of paper from the hospital saying when he was born. We then have to take this paper to a Russian registrar office and get a Russian birth certificate. Then we bring this birth certificate to the US Embassy and they give an American birth certificate that is issued by the State Department, not a US state. With this birth certificate and some other forms we can apply for a passport. And then we can TRAVEL! One of the main reasons we moved to Russia. We are hoping for Prague in late winter and we have a house rented for Italy in April. On that note, let's hope the Italians can get it together and stop rioting in the street so I can get to Rome. I am probably jinxing myself, but Italy is my dream.
Next time I write I should be a mother of 4!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Adventures at the hospital
These past two weeks have been intense with many appointments at the Perinatal Medical Center (the hospital where the baby will be born). In Russia you switch to the hospital for the last 4 weeks of pregnancy and get assigned a doctor from the hospital. I have been assigned to Dr.Sergei who was recommended to me by a friend from the neighborhood.
If you can believe this, I have made the Russians very nervous. My kids make people nervous because they are a bit nuts. Jesy makes people nervous in business situations. I have seen this- Jesy's pretty darn good at what he does and he can be a bit intimidating (quite attractive also but that's a story for another time). But me- I don't make people nervous. I am very non-threatening and nice. But I have made the Russians nervous.
Russian women typically have 1-2 children, so Russian doctors are used to performing one or 2 c-sections on a woman. This is my fourth and they are a little taken aback. Just so everyone knows a fourth section in the US is not that big of a deal. I had talked to my Iowa doctor before we got pregnant and he gave me the go-ahead. And I know other women who have had 4+ sections. Anyways, I have become a teaching case for this hospital. (I am at a private hospital, but there is a state-run teaching hospital right next door and they are very interested in me also).
So, last week my English liason and Dr. Sergei told me that we would meet this Monday with the head of the hospital and whoever else was available to go over my case and decide if the baby will come at 38 or 39 weeks.
Whoever else was available? Thank goodness Jesy was with me. They called us into the room and I kid you not- there were 15 people in the room besides Jesy and I and the two doctors. Scary and intimidating are not strong enough words to describe what I was feeling. Dr. Sergei started presenting my case in Russian. Dr.Sergei is a pretty confident guy, but I could tell that he was really nervous. That's when I knew that the head Dr. in the room was a pretty powerful guy. After a few minutes of Russian the head Dr. asked me what language I speak. He said he speaks some English so we switched to my native tongue. They asked me various questions, mostly having to do with why I had the original section with Colin and what years and places the previous sections were done. It was pretty amusing to hear them pronounce Louisiana and they didn't even touch Thibodaux. The head doctor told me that everything looks ok and that the placenta is not in the way. He then told me he was going to speak in Russian to everyone else in the room. He did not raise his voice once and you could have heard a pin drop in the room. Pretty impressive. I was later told that he is the leading gyno in Russia and a very famous man in the medical field. Pretty nice service for this stay-at-home mom from Iowa.
After this they wanted to check my scar. I had to get up on the examination table, pull down my pants in front of about 20 people and lay there while they observed my scar. Not my finest moment, but all seems ok except for some water retention. So, the final verdict- baby will arrive at 38 weeks, which puts us sometime before Halloween.
You can see why I have not blogged in awhile- I have been very busy having hospital adventures.
Some funny stuff:
Mothers of other little boys may be able to relate to this. Colin hates to brush his teeth- we fight about it every morning and night. On Monday night he got very angry and told me "why can't we just be like sharks and lose our teeth and then have other ones grow back. I would be so much happier with shark teeth". Well, alrighty then.
Amalie is really thrilled to become a big sister again. She found the baby spoons the other day and is always telling Jesy and I how she is going to feed the baby and change him. The best was what I overheard her telling Kathleen the other day. "Kathleen, when you and I get bigger we are going to have babies in our tummies also". You should have seen Kathleen's mouth gaping open. Amalie then went on- "But first we have to go to college, get jobs, get married, and then we can have our babies". Bravo Amalie, you must have a very excellent mother who is teaching you these things.
Kathleen has become good friends with a little Russian boy in her class, Gosa. She came to me almost crying last week because another girl from school had declared she was going to marry Gosa. "Who am I going to marry, mommy? There is no-one left", she said to me. It was so sad and so cute at the same time. I tried to explain that she had plenty of time to decide that, and she comforted herself with the idea that perhaps she could marry Colin.
If you can believe this, I have made the Russians very nervous. My kids make people nervous because they are a bit nuts. Jesy makes people nervous in business situations. I have seen this- Jesy's pretty darn good at what he does and he can be a bit intimidating (quite attractive also but that's a story for another time). But me- I don't make people nervous. I am very non-threatening and nice. But I have made the Russians nervous.
Russian women typically have 1-2 children, so Russian doctors are used to performing one or 2 c-sections on a woman. This is my fourth and they are a little taken aback. Just so everyone knows a fourth section in the US is not that big of a deal. I had talked to my Iowa doctor before we got pregnant and he gave me the go-ahead. And I know other women who have had 4+ sections. Anyways, I have become a teaching case for this hospital. (I am at a private hospital, but there is a state-run teaching hospital right next door and they are very interested in me also).
So, last week my English liason and Dr. Sergei told me that we would meet this Monday with the head of the hospital and whoever else was available to go over my case and decide if the baby will come at 38 or 39 weeks.
Whoever else was available? Thank goodness Jesy was with me. They called us into the room and I kid you not- there were 15 people in the room besides Jesy and I and the two doctors. Scary and intimidating are not strong enough words to describe what I was feeling. Dr. Sergei started presenting my case in Russian. Dr.Sergei is a pretty confident guy, but I could tell that he was really nervous. That's when I knew that the head Dr. in the room was a pretty powerful guy. After a few minutes of Russian the head Dr. asked me what language I speak. He said he speaks some English so we switched to my native tongue. They asked me various questions, mostly having to do with why I had the original section with Colin and what years and places the previous sections were done. It was pretty amusing to hear them pronounce Louisiana and they didn't even touch Thibodaux. The head doctor told me that everything looks ok and that the placenta is not in the way. He then told me he was going to speak in Russian to everyone else in the room. He did not raise his voice once and you could have heard a pin drop in the room. Pretty impressive. I was later told that he is the leading gyno in Russia and a very famous man in the medical field. Pretty nice service for this stay-at-home mom from Iowa.
After this they wanted to check my scar. I had to get up on the examination table, pull down my pants in front of about 20 people and lay there while they observed my scar. Not my finest moment, but all seems ok except for some water retention. So, the final verdict- baby will arrive at 38 weeks, which puts us sometime before Halloween.
You can see why I have not blogged in awhile- I have been very busy having hospital adventures.
Some funny stuff:
Mothers of other little boys may be able to relate to this. Colin hates to brush his teeth- we fight about it every morning and night. On Monday night he got very angry and told me "why can't we just be like sharks and lose our teeth and then have other ones grow back. I would be so much happier with shark teeth". Well, alrighty then.
Amalie is really thrilled to become a big sister again. She found the baby spoons the other day and is always telling Jesy and I how she is going to feed the baby and change him. The best was what I overheard her telling Kathleen the other day. "Kathleen, when you and I get bigger we are going to have babies in our tummies also". You should have seen Kathleen's mouth gaping open. Amalie then went on- "But first we have to go to college, get jobs, get married, and then we can have our babies". Bravo Amalie, you must have a very excellent mother who is teaching you these things.
Kathleen has become good friends with a little Russian boy in her class, Gosa. She came to me almost crying last week because another girl from school had declared she was going to marry Gosa. "Who am I going to marry, mommy? There is no-one left", she said to me. It was so sad and so cute at the same time. I tried to explain that she had plenty of time to decide that, and she comforted herself with the idea that perhaps she could marry Colin.
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