Like everything else, my monthly doctor visits look much different down here. First of all, my doctor is a general surgeon so the waiting room is not only full of pregnant ladies, but people with back issues or perhaps dengue. When you schedule an appointment, they ask if you prefer morning or afternoon, but you are not actually given a time. Whenever I ask what time, they say 9am, but that doesn't mean I will be seen then. Instead, that is when the doctor 'supposedly' arrives, and he sees patients in the order they arrived in the office. So whenever I check in, they put an index card with my info on it at the bottom of a stack. You might think it would be best to show up an hour early, but the office isn't necessarily always open then and you never know when the doc might arrive. Let me just explain our last visit. Nick and I dropped Carter off at school, grabbed a quick bite to eat for breakfast, and checked in to the office at 8:40. We waited, and waited, and waited, and nobody was being seen. Nick eventually had to leave at 11:30 to pick up Carter from school and the doctor still hadn't arrived! When Nick and Carter returned, the doc still wasn't in so I asked if I could come back later. The receptionist said she would hold my spot in line and I should come back around 2. Well, I got there a little after 2 and found out the doc had finally showed up around 1. I was seen around 3:20 and left at 3:40. So now, after having spent 7 hours waiting for a 15 minute appointment, I can look back more fondly on my 2-3 hour waits in the states :) Oh, another time I had a morning appointment, and when I arrived, I was told the doctor wouldn't be coming in that day after all. They asked if I could come back the next day in the afternoon. We went at 3 the following day and were asked if we could come back between 5 and 6. When we went back the third time, my index card was at least bumped to the top of the stack (much to the dismay of all the others in the waiting room). The hardest of all has been finding childcare for Carter because Nick likes to come to the appointments with me. And in this second example, we had to find a babysitter not once, but three times! I know it's just another cultural adjustment, but it is one of the more frustrating ones...
Maybe you're curious what my actual time with the doctor looks like...We sit in two chairs in front of his desk and give him any tests I've had done since the last time (i.e. blood work, ultrasounds, etc.) Even though these tests are performed in the same building (just on the bottom floor), we are responsible to pick up and deliver the results to him. He usually verifies my due date and tells me not to eat fatty foods or pasta. Then, I step on the scale to weigh, and then lie on the exam table for him to take my blood pressure, listen to my heart, and listen to the baby's heart. Then I ask any questions I may have, he laughs at how hard it is to communicate with us, and we leave. I've never had an actual physical exam and they don't do urine analysis like you do at every check up in the states. I'm very glad this isn't my first pregnancy, and I already know a little because I've had to ask to have certain things done, like my glucose test, and also when I should have my RH injection because I have a negative blood type. Let's just say it's very laid back here :) But we've been very happy to have found a doctor we are comfortable with for this first half of the pregnancy and who is so willing to help us and answer any questions we may have (both now and after we move!). Now we are praying to find a good doctor and hospital when we move early next month!
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