How to have a baby in Hong Kong: Part 3

Well.

Cross-cultural communication really stinks sometimes.

I guess I misunderstood the nurse at my previous appointment. Or she misunderstood me. Either way, an appointment I thought would include an ultrasound most certainly did not. Again, I do not know the gender of the baby... so if that's what you stopped by to find out, you can resume your other internet browsing.

I think part of the miscommunication also resulted from my personal expectations based on the experiences other people had shared with me. But I feel like the same thing happened with Josiah... other people seemed to be getting ultrasounds all the time and I only had the initial diagnostic ultrasound and the gender ultrasound. So once again, other people seem to be getting ultrasounds that I'm not. Maybe I need to fake some symptoms?

Anyway, I most definitely have an ultrasound scheduled for September 6. I assume this is the full anatomy scan/find out the gender ultrasound. I'll be 22 weeks.

The doctor seemed to indicate that I would have normally had an ultrasound by now, but because I started this whole process a bit late, things are just happening a bit later. And I started the whole process late because we were waiting on a visa, in case you forgot. So once again, I'm thankful for a visa that gives me free maternity care, but I wish I had a better understanding of the bigger picture!

So far it seems that on 4 separate visits you...

1. Get a doctor or pharmacist to confirm your pregnancy.

2. Have an initial registration appointment with a nurse at the hospital. Blood drawn.

3. Visit with the doctor.

4. Ultrasound.

So today...

In the waiting room I was weighed, my blood pressure taken, and my urine tested. I believe I forgot to tell you previously that I had to bring my urine in my own container. We had trouble finding small container with a good seal, so I brought urine in a cheap (nalgene-type) water bottle. The nurse laughed at me. And I agree, it was a bit ridiculous, but even more ridiculous is urine spilling all over my purse.

So then I waited for a while before I saw the doctor. He asked some more medical history questions. We talked about my previous c-section and I told him I wanted to do a vaginal delivery. His reaction seemed to indicate that he didn't know why I would want to do anything else. So that's good.

Warning: this next paragraph contains words like breast and bra.

Then I got on the table. The nurse told me to unhook my bra (though I was still fully clothed) and lay down. The doctor examined my c-section scar and said it looked excellent. (Which is what my very proud surgeon said when he examined it after Josiah was born.) The doctor found the baby's heart beat and listened to mine. Then he did the breast exam. Basically, he just poked each breast with a finger... to make sure I have them? I don't know, but that was certainly the silliest breast exam I have ever had! Poke. Poke. Well, they seem real, I suppose she can make milk. Hilarious. Also, trying to re-hook your bra behind your back while the nurse stares at you waiting to help you off the table is unnerving.

So then I took my ultrasound-less and disappointed self to the separate ultrasound department to get that scheduled. And scheduled it is. I will not again be denied the right to look inside my body and see my child!

Oh, is that not a right? Well I want it to be.