Going Home!! - Giving Birth in Panama Part 5 (The End)

in #family5 years ago (edited)

Giving birth in a foreign country is something I never planned to do. When I got pregnant here in Panama, we realized this would be a reality for us. I have given birth five other times, but every birth is different. Here is Part 5 (the end) of my birth experience at a private hospital in Panama.

If you are just now seeing these, be sure to check out my other posts about the baby's birth. Here is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.



Nothing happened until around 7:30 the next morning when the pediatrician came in and examined her. She saw her for a handful of minutes and said she would release her at that time. We were excited thinking that we would be leaving that early!

Then a nurse came in saying something about breakfast. Sure, I could eat breakfast and then we could leave. I think we waited an hour for her to return with breakfast – cream cheese on toast, slices of ham, a bowl of fruit, apple juice, jello ($6). I ate the toast and apple juice.

We then asked for an item for me and waited until Ben went out to find a nurse who would bring it. The doctor texted that they would let us know when we were released but it should be soon. So we sat around and waited, took some pictures, and laughed about our crazy night.

IMG_5974.jpg

They come in and ask about my lunch (no thanks, I'm leaving!), if she’s been bathed, have me sign some paperwork, etc. Finally around 11:00 they come in and tell Ben that he needs to go register her and see the bill. We figure he will be gone a long time and so we are waiting and he returns within about 2 minutes.

We have a green ticket (literally) to get out the door and a copy of a bill that no one really understands. He says he didn’t have to sign anything or fill out papers or tell anyone her name, but we are released. So we gather up our stuff and start walking out only to be stopped in the hall and told I must ride a wheelchair out, so we wait for that and tell the guy which exit to push me to.

IMG_6005.JPG
The car ride home!

We walk to the car and are free! We all agree that the ride home was much better than the ride to the hospital!

We were later told we had to return to the hospital and do some paperwork which included giving them her name, getting a certificate of birth from the hospital, and a partial refund of our pre-paid bill. Ben had to do this a few days later.

IMG_6006.JPG
Pop holding #13 grandchild for the first time!

We arrived home to Pop and the other kids waiting outside. Pop gets to hold her first, fresh out of the car! Everyone had written a note to Kalana to welcome her and drew her a picture. Then everyone got a chance to hold the tiny baby who was less than 24 hours old and a whole slew of pictures were taken. The kids were happy to welcome their new baby sister into the family!

Things to note:

  • The hospital gives you nothing. Nothing. I had a change of hospital gown and a towel waiting in my room. All the drawers and cabinets are empty. They did supply me with toilet paper, so I should be thankful for that. You have to take everything you will need with you. They did ask me if I had pampers, so perhaps they have a supply if you don’t have any, but I had brought my own.

  • The recovery room was right on the ground floor and had lots of outside noises including a car alarm (in the morning thankfully) that never stopped going off.

  • If you want something done or not done, you have to be pushy about it and let the nurses and doctors know – multiple times.

  • There are no rules for when you leave the hospital – like buckling your baby in a car seat.

  • I requested a very hands off approach for myself and the baby, and they were able to do what I requested. After delivery, the baby was quickly checked and returned to me within a matter of minutes.

Thanks for following along on our adventure and welcoming another baby to our home! I hope you enjoyed reading along!



I am a mom to six kids who lives in Panama. We relocated here about 2.5 years ago and love it. If you're interested in knowing more about Panama, check out the link below and plan to come on a Panama Relocation Tour!

Panama Relocation Tours

Sort:  

¡Qué raro! ¿No tuviste que firmar nada en el hospital? Me parece un sistema buen raro jaja. Es probablemente mejor que no os dieron nada en el hospital, como normalmente cuesta como diez veces más de lo que debe. Pues, en EE.UU. es así.

Me alegro que todo salió bien con la bebé. El viaje al hospital fue una locura jajaja

Panama me parece buen sitio. Todavía tengo ganas de volver a España pero resulta muy complicado. Acabo de ver que hay una convocatoria para auxiliares de conversación en Andalucía. Me encantaría poder hacerlo otra vez, pero no tengo fondos ni si quiera para comprar el vuelo y no queda tiempo suficiente para obtener el visado necesario. Además, sería otroi año y nada más. Quiero volver a vivir allí para el resto de la vida.

Tienes que moverte a un lugar que no es tan caro. ;)

Claro....

Pues bueno. Encontré que hay otra beca por Fulbright para enseñar en España y me permite hasta enseñar a nivel universitario. Así estoy trabajando en la solicitud. Será para el año 2020-2021. A ver si encuentro a una soltera quapa con ganas de casarse con un "guiri" jajaja

Y tú ¿Qué tal? ¿Cómo va con la niña ya? Me imagino que los primeros días sean complicados. Quizás no. ¿Hay muchas diferencias allí con respeto a los productos para niños?

Ayer, encontré un paquete de pañales que, por lo que vi, se cayó de un coche en una gran cuesta en esta ciudad. Lo puse en donde se veía desde la calle en esperanza de que el conductor que los perdió lo veía. Son buen caros, creo.

¿Cuándo empieza la temporada de lluvias por allí? Prontito ¿no? Y su amigo, el gran Baro, ¿Se queda muy callado?

Lessons learned I'm just happy this story has a happy ending!

Posted using Partiko Android

The little one is precious and beautiful.
Much congratulations to you and family.

Children are very precious indeed.

Best wishes
Daily Bread Food Bank

YEs Having a baby can be so different in different countries We had two in Singapore and two in New Zealand and quite a difference but not as different as it was there from reading your posts, but these posts have been so interesting to read and congrats again on your beautiful baby girl :)

She is absolutely beautiful @apanamama :) Such a blessing, I can imagine how excited all of the kids are to have a little one around. I have to think it is a bit scary to give birth in an unfamiliar hospital, the doctors, nurses and facilities are I'm sure a bit different than in the USA. Glad everything turned out well, I hope you are doing well too! 6, you are definitely supermom! Blessings to you and your family

Love her picture and the shared story and hospital wise it’s so different from the Netherlands , good luck and I wish you lots of sleep

Well, at last a happy ending.
Glad that the baby is safe and healthy and that Pops was the first to welcome her.
Now you can also relax a bit from all of the stress.
Blessings!

She's so little!! (Although I know it probably didn't feel like that to you at all when she was coming through the front door!!)

Honestly she was my smallest and easiest and fastest delivery! Her next older brother was 2 pounds more than her! :)

Congratulations! Your post has been selected and you have received an upvote from the Steemitmamas community account. Thank you for contributing great content!

This is a curation initiative supported by the @steem-hodler tribe

20180516_002249_0001.png

Posted using Partiko iOS

That deserves my 100% vote worth 1 cent :-) Good luck with #6

I can commiserate with the 1 cent upvote... :\