Ausmossie

By ausmossie

Dad's first bottle feed.

Still in hospital.  Sally was born June 2nd and here is a copy and paste from a Facebook post I made after the first night in a Chinese hospital.

Read on.. if you have a strong stomach...

Here are a few things from the first night.
The first night
Because Terri had high blood pressure, she went in to the hospital earlier than expected so the doctors could keep an eye on here. All was well so I went to work expecting nothing. I got a call about 30 minutes before my first class that she was going to have the baby that night because her levels on just about everything went crazy. I dropped everything and ran out the door screaming sorry to anyone who needed it.
She told me we had a bit of time, so I went home to get the “We’re having the baby” suitcase. We had packed a few bags thinking she would have a few days before giving birth and had the ‘real’ suitcase ready at home. When I got to the hospital, I found out that she was already being prepped for an emergency C-section. It was really hard because I didn't get the chance to see her but such is life.
After the surgery, a nurse came out with the baby and everyone ran to see the baby. I couldn’t get a look in but, since everyone kept saying “Girl, girl, girl” in Chinese, I assumed I had a daughter. The nurse then took myself and Terri’s mum into the elevator and once the doors had closed, she opened the baby’s wrapping to confirm that it was in fact a girl and I had to sign a piece of paper acknowledging that. We took the baby to the nursery floor and after a few minutes returned to the surgery floor to await Terri. 
We got out of the lift to see Terri’s dad, aunt and cousin nervously waiting for Terri to come out. Her dad was holding a clear plastic bag and standing there very calmly. After closer inspection, I realized what the contents were. In the bag was the baby’s placenta. Not really wanting to look too closely, I just took it when he offered it and hoped my mind would just switch off about what I was holding.
After Terri came out, we gave her the usual congratulations and I went all soppy and we cried together. There are no orderlies to move patients around. That is the job of family members. Not sure if that’s how it works in other places these days. We took her down to the ward and wheeled her into the room. In the ward, they called Terri’s name and so I went to the counter to collect Sally and take her to our room. There was one other lady in the room. Earlier, she had given birth to a little girl as well.
At this point, I realized the difference between what happens in the room in China and what happens in other countries (to my recollection). As soon as the baby arrived in the room, everyone started telling Terri what she should do. Everyone had differing opinions but that didn’t matter. No one had any recent experience with babies but what THEY said was what was to happen. Even if their advice was given to them by some random little old lady on the bus, their opinion had to be heard and their advice adhered to.
So here is poor Terri, arrived completely bushed from surgery and pretty much completely out of it having to listen to everyone (including the three aunts of the lady in the other bed) tell her what to do next. It was unbelievable. No thought whatsoever for Terri’s condition just blatter, blatter blatter and talk, talk, talk. At that point, I had to go back home to get formula to feed the baby so I left. I had to take the placenta with me so I could put it in the freezer. Not sure what happens anywhere else any more but.. taking the placenta home in a clear plastic bag so I could put it in the freezer was a really weird feeling and one I won’t forget easily.
When I got back, it was still going on… Everyone talking to Terri and arguing amongst themselves about just about everything. It is very common in China. Most of the girls that Terri knows who have recently had babies have gone through the same thing… It is constant and relentless for the whole time they are in hospital. I am not sure why they do it. No one even bothered to listen to me even though I have had more experience than the lot of them put together. They all maintained that I had babies a long time ago and didn't do anything to raise them (which is probably fairly true because Lorna did nearly all the work for my boys when they were born) however, having 10 younger siblings, some things about a baby’s care are ingrained. No one even knew how to pick up the baby properly. I gave them all lessons in protecting and supporting the baby’s neck. How to throw the baby over your shoulder by bending, putting the baby in place and then straightening up. How to hold the bottle to feed the baby, how to change a nappy. But that was all forgotten… Because they KNEW how things should be done because… well, I am not sure why they thought that, but it’s probably a Chinese ‘face’ thing not to admit they don’t know.

First night and things are already going west… Let’s see what happens later…

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