New hospital. Amazed at differences

Well we moved. Temporarily.  We packed up a few bags and traveled to a new city to be closer to hospital where we'll deliver our little guy:) 

We arrived, Luke left on a short trip and I got William across town to his friend's house, then went to the hospital and saw the doctor.  I left our "new house" at 8am and got back after 4pm.  Let's just say that there was a LOT of traffic, the doctor ran late by about an hour, I had all sorts of tests done at the hospital.  I guess that's a part of living in a big city.

The hospital was extremely nice.  We're talking night and day compared to where I had my prenatal work done. I'm glad that I had my prenatal locally.  It makes me understand more of the health system and Chinese women's experiences.  I can see how they think having a baby really is just "something that happens" rather than a "good experience." But at the same time, I can't escape some of the differences.  It was very, very different from the local hospital.

A few differences:

• The bathrooms all had SOAP, paper towels and doors (yup, no doors in last hospital.  Was a bit awkward doing tests and everything with people coming in and out).
• The nurses and doctors smiled at me, at each other, just in general. 
• All of my results, appointments and medical history was recorded into their computer system.  The local hospital doesn't use a computerized system. You buy a little paper book and bring it to your appointment with the test results. All of your general results are recorded there.
• It was a bit cleaner than the other hospital:) Won't get into too many details.
• At the new hospital, during my ultrasound it was only the ultrasound doctor and myself in the room!  In the past I think there was usually an average of 9 people in the room looking at the screen and me (seriously).  And I didn't get told off for looking at the screen and at my little baby:)
• I was told to take off my shoes in order to get weighed.  Translation: the scale is regularly cleaned.
• There were cheerful colors other than gray, black and white in the new hospital.
• They were efficient and organized.
• My doctor's appointment was private.  There weren't 10 other people listening in (really).  The local hospital had a room with two doctors close to each other.  The woman huddled around the desk awaiting their turn to see what tests they needed or to quickly say what wasn't going well in the pregnancy.
• The doctor at the new hospital actually asked me questions and waited to see if I had any.  He was thorough.
• The ultrasound jelly was warm (one of the small things).
• They knew my name and double and triple checked it and even called me by it:)
• I now have an official due-date.  In the past, everyone always believed me with my estimated due-date:)  This doctor looked at my previous tests and ordered an ultra sound to check. So I guess I'm 35 weeks and 6 days pregnant.  A week less than I anticipated.  Due date: January 18th.
• No more guanxi.  Ultrasounds at this new hospital aren't inexpensive.  Thankful for health insurance!  
• The doctor calls the shots (not my Chinese friend).  I feel like I'm being properly looked at and evaluated and I'm not the one asking for tests, rather the doctor is telling me the right ones to get. 
• The new hospital works on an appointment based system.  So I have an appointment.  Local hospital = just show up.

All in all, great experience.  I was there for 4 hours, so it was a bit long... but other than that, great.

One other interesting thing, I'm RH- blood type.  And I found out yesterday that it's very uncommon in China.  Only three out of every 10,000 Han Chinese have this blood type. Rh- woman need a shot to prevent antibodies from harming future fetuses.  So I have to order a special injection from Hong Kong and then keep it in my refrigerator until I go into labor.  Then I need to bring my baby bag and the drug to the hospital.  The doctor told me that they're no longer allowed to get it directly, so this is the second best way.. I think the local hospital wouldn't have know what to do about this shot and probably would have suggested Chinese medicine.  I suppose the other good thing about being in a big city is that there is (hopefully) this blood type in the blood bank if I need it, where as in the smaller city it probably wouldn't have been available.  Time to write HK about the shot.. 

Happy pre-Christmas celebrations!  Lots of love...