Hello! Sorry for the long absence. We have been having a hard time keeping up with e-mail and blog posting since we haven't had internet at our house. We are so spoiled! However, great news, we got it up and working just a few hours ago! So, this is a bit long of a post, but I am catching you up on my doctor adventures so far, as well as our visit from the Jarboes!
The
last week has gone well for us in Ukraine. We are now all over our illnesses, have done some shopping around (pricing and getting some more of those household ‘necessities’), and have been checking out various venues for pre-natal and the delivery of Max. Dougle has been trying to read a bit in a local newspaper and one day came home with a different paper than normal. When he opened it up, we knew God had a hand in his picking it up, because there was a whole section devoted to ranking the top 5 hospitals for delivery in Kharkov! He got out his dictionary and spent time looking over what it had to say. We were pleased with what they reported, since it was a bit out of the ordinary for normal hospitals here. A few things we were pleased about was that the top ranked hospital had options for private rooms for delivery and recovery, allowed the baby to stay in the room with the mother, as well as allowing some visitors. In addition, they have been able to deliver and care for at least one baby that was born weighing just over a pound, which gives me comfort that they have proper equiptment for emergencies. So, while going to Kiev for delivery may still happen, 
we are going to check out this option here in Kharkov. In fact, we went yesterday to try to visit the clinic, but were turned away because I don't have the right registration papers for being pregnant! Things here in Ukraine seem to require different paperwork than we are used to in the States. So, we were turned away from being able to ask any questions until we had the proper documentations required about my pregnancy. One thing that is also different is that the delivery hospital and doctor is not the same as the doctor and clinic for pre-natal care. So, we had to go to a different clinic to register and set up for my pre-natal appointments. However, though we were turned away at the first attempt, we were able to meet a great girl (she is my age) who has helped us tremedously. One of the missionaries with the Southern Baptist that we have met has been extremely helpful in helping us get some information on set-up and doctors. She also provided us with the name of an interpreter, Ira, who has helped interpret for medical mission groups they've had come. So, she is familiar with some of the medical terminology! Ira turned out to be a triple blessing. She found out where the hospital was, and then when we had to seek out an alternative pre-natal clinic, she made multiple phone calls on our behalf to set up an appointment with a friend of a friend of hers. So, she was able to get me into see a pre-natal doctor the next day (today) so I could be an officially registered pregnant woman!
last week has gone well for us in Ukraine. We are now all over our illnesses, have done some shopping around (pricing and getting some more of those household ‘necessities’), and have been checking out various venues for pre-natal and the delivery of Max. Dougle has been trying to read a bit in a local newspaper and one day came home with a different paper than normal. When he opened it up, we knew God had a hand in his picking it up, because there was a whole section devoted to ranking the top 5 hospitals for delivery in Kharkov! He got out his dictionary and spent time looking over what it had to say. We were pleased with what they reported, since it was a bit out of the ordinary for normal hospitals here. A few things we were pleased about was that the top ranked hospital had options for private rooms for delivery and recovery, allowed the baby to stay in the room with the mother, as well as allowing some visitors. In addition, they have been able to deliver and care for at least one baby that was born weighing just over a pound, which gives me comfort that they have proper equiptment for emergencies. So, while going to Kiev for delivery may still happen, 
we are going to check out this option here in Kharkov. In fact, we went yesterday to try to visit the clinic, but were turned away because I don't have the right registration papers for being pregnant! Things here in Ukraine seem to require different paperwork than we are used to in the States. So, we were turned away from being able to ask any questions until we had the proper documentations required about my pregnancy. One thing that is also different is that the delivery hospital and doctor is not the same as the doctor and clinic for pre-natal care. So, we had to go to a different clinic to register and set up for my pre-natal appointments. However, though we were turned away at the first attempt, we were able to meet a great girl (she is my age) who has helped us tremedously. One of the missionaries with the Southern Baptist that we have met has been extremely helpful in helping us get some information on set-up and doctors. She also provided us with the name of an interpreter, Ira, who has helped interpret for medical mission groups they've had come. So, she is familiar with some of the medical terminology! Ira turned out to be a triple blessing. She found out where the hospital was, and then when we had to seek out an alternative pre-natal clinic, she made multiple phone calls on our behalf to set up an appointment with a friend of a friend of hers. So, she was able to get me into see a pre-natal doctor the next day (today) so I could be an officially registered pregnant woman! Today we met Ira at the clinic. 
After waiting for a while- yes, you have to wait even here in Ukraine for doctors!- we were able to visit with the doctor. She seemed very nice. First she had to look over my records from Moscow and then take them to her head supervisor to make sure they would approve me as a patient, which they did. Then Ira wrote out a hand written application asking for me to be admited as a patient, saying that I would follow the instructions of my doctors. After signing that, and giving my other information (except family history- I have never been asked any type of family history questions either here or in Moscow), we paid the $20 registration fee and were in. They gave me several notes for tests that I needed to come back and get Wednesday morning before coming in for a more 'official' visit. So, bright and early Wednesday morning I will be going in for some blood work (for which I need to bring my own empty syringe), a urine sample (that I collect at home and bring), as well as a gestational diabetes test. Dougle also will be required to have some type of chest x-ray test, which is a first. He was never requried to take tests for my first pregnancy! In addition, we learned that blood types here have different classifications. When I told them Dougle's blood type, they were confused that I gave them a letter for a blood type instead of a 1, 2, 3, or 4 blood type classification. So, we will have to look that up and see what each number cooresponds with!
After waiting for a while- yes, you have to wait even here in Ukraine for doctors!- we were able to visit with the doctor. She seemed very nice. First she had to look over my records from Moscow and then take them to her head supervisor to make sure they would approve me as a patient, which they did. Then Ira wrote out a hand written application asking for me to be admited as a patient, saying that I would follow the instructions of my doctors. After signing that, and giving my other information (except family history- I have never been asked any type of family history questions either here or in Moscow), we paid the $20 registration fee and were in. They gave me several notes for tests that I needed to come back and get Wednesday morning before coming in for a more 'official' visit. So, bright and early Wednesday morning I will be going in for some blood work (for which I need to bring my own empty syringe), a urine sample (that I collect at home and bring), as well as a gestational diabetes test. Dougle also will be required to have some type of chest x-ray test, which is a first. He was never requried to take tests for my first pregnancy! In addition, we learned that blood types here have different classifications. When I told them Dougle's blood type, they were confused that I gave them a letter for a blood type instead of a 1, 2, 3, or 4 blood type classification. So, we will have to look that up and see what each number cooresponds with! So, that is our medical adventure so far. We still are planning to check out the hospital here, as well as one in Kiev to try to determine what is best for us. Please pray for us, since we don’t know everything to look for in an adequate hospital! We are just trusting God to give us wisdom and direction in this decision. We are less than 3 months from Max’s arrival!!
Tuesday of this week Jay and Sherry Jarboe, from our sponsoring congregation arrived. We really enjoyed their visit; they were a big part of our team’s mentorship in Texas and have continued to be a great blessing while here. They were here for just a bit over 3 days, since Kharkov was just a pit stop before they head off to the European Family Missionary Retreat where Jay will be speaking. But we sure enjoyed all the time they were able to spend with us! It was nice hearing about their stories from when they were going through adjusting and settling into their mission field in Mexico, years ago! And, they are great with our kiddos, which endears us to them even more. They are like "fill-in" grandparents while they are here, taking time amidst jet lag and listening to us talk, to read books to our kids and play with them. We are so grateful for their time with us!We were able to take them to a Ukrainian restaurant that had been recommended to us. It was very tasty and an excellent place for taking guests to experience the local quizzine. In fact, it was a perfect setting because it wasn’t very noisy like many restaurants can be. In addition, they had a “children’s room” right next to where we were sitting, in which the kids got to go in and be entertained after their meal. The lady who watched the kids was very child friendly, entertaining them with painting, coloring, paper airplanes, balloons, etc! Denyce and I took turns sitting in there with the kids. I got a cute picture of the kids enjoying all the personal attention and entertainment!
Well, that is all for now. We want you all to know we love you and think of you often! Thanks for checking in with us! Hope your week is going great too!
3 comments:
not that you're considering this, but what is the availability for in-home births? just curious. thanks for all the info. . . . . glad to hear you're getting all squared away for your arrival. love ya timbra
So..I laughed out loud when you wrote that Dougle had to have a chest x-ray. Wouldn't it be weird if there was something extrememly pertinent about that and all this time Americans weren't doing it? Who knows??? Crazy little adventure there. I felt traumatized by going to the dentist in Moscow let alone an obstetrician. 3 months for you and 4 and a half weeks for me!!
Wow. You do have guts. I guess it is reasurring to know that thousands of Ukrainian babies are born in those hospitals and under the care of those OB doctors so a little American baby will do just fine. My problem is that I have a hard time trusting American hospitals, and if I do end up delivering in a hospital (I am planning on a homebirth) I will want to explicitly know what proceedures are being performed on my baby and me and have the ability to say--"No, thanks!" I will be thinking of you and praying for you. I'm sure everything will be just fine. Do you have any way of writing a birth plan with someone experienced with the Ukrainian system? It might be especially useful if you aren't able to communicate as easily verbally. Do you think that a translator will be able to come in the delivery room with you or is Dougal practicing his "birth vocabulary"? Phew. So much to think about. I will be keeping you in my prayers. Keep the updates coming--they are really interesting!
-Andrea
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