Incapacidad en Mexico

Well I had an accident with a city bus the other day. It was probably the scariest thing I have ever been through. Sometimes I can still see the bus coming at me and I have to fight off the memory. Im just so glad I was alone and none of my girls or husband were with me at the time. Below are pics and a description of what happened with the wreck. Also here is a description of what went on medically and with time off work. I first went to the clinic that my car insurance paid for and got a letter to bring into the seguro in order to get time off work. That clinic doctor took x rays and gave me pain meds and a neck brace. The next day I went and sat at my IMS clinic from 12 to 3pm where I saw my family doctor. He gave me 7 days off and a paper I had to have my work fill out in order to get full time pay. (that should have been done the night of the ER visit the day of the wreck but since I went to a private one with my insurace I did it then, the letter from the first clinic covered me otherwise I wouldnt have been able to claim it) Basically here if an accident happens within so many meters from your work place its considered a work accident and you get full pay from the seguro.  Thankfully Issac did all the paperwork running around for me but I will explain what went on. He brought the form to my work who sent it to the third party company that actually handles my pay. After they returned it to my HR lady Issac went back to get it and went to the IMS the next morning at 8am. He received a ficha and was sent to a couple different windows for a couple different papers. In the end they made and appointment for me to see the workers comp doctor their at my clinic. I wen and actually didn't have to wait more than  a few min. She agreed that it was a work place injury but because the third party put their address in place of where I work it looked like it happened across town so the IMS would only pay 60percent of my pay. I then called my HR lady very upset and she said the hospital would pay the other 40. I was in quite a bit of pain that first week. The whole left side of my body hurt and I couldn't raise my arms past waist high without pain. The second week after the 7 days I went back to see the doctor. At this point I was still having quite a bit of stiffness and pain. My shoulders and neck were like iron. Because of the pain my doctor gave me anther 7 days off and said within the next few days I should start weaning off the neck brace. Today I am neck brace free and actually cut back on one of the pin pills. Im still hurting but its manageable. Thankfully my husband is one of the best misuses Iv ever know and is doing quite well with helping me heal. I am off until next tuesday in which time I'm pretty sure Ill be ready to get back to work. In the mean time Im catching up with my book (finished book three and am now on book five of Game of Thrones), blog reading (even though I never comment sorry guys I'm a horrible blog friend sometimes... most of the time), my scrap book (finished a mini book for my sis in law, and a md size one for my mother in law, and started on mine), and time with my girls and husband. All these things take no effort on the part of my neck so its good to keep busy. I dont go out much because we are driving our truck which bounces around and hurts my back. Also I went with Issac to my workplace the other day to turn in some pics and driving down there freaked me out so bad I was more stiff when I got home.

Basically after a full stop and seeing one bus stopped to let off passengers on a one lane one way street I proceed to cross.  After the wreck I refused to speak to anyone until my insurance guy came. By then thankfully my English student I was meeting met up with me. Shes actually a good friend and stayed with me the whole time until Issac came and actually even then she stayed. Her presence was so welcomed and calming for me. I understood all of what was going on but it was nice to be able to check with her that I understood. 

As you can see I didn't quite make it across. I looked around the first bus and saw nothing. The bus that hit me came around the first bus going very fast. These are the skid marks of my car. That is how far he pushed me to the side after hitting me. The transitos suggestion to me was to not drive on the small streets close to downtown because, " this happens all the time."

he hit me going full speed as you can see his skid marks start about when mine do. I still don't see how he didn't see me. Also the bus driver never once checked to see if I was ok or asked about me. He just stood around obviously waiting for things to get done with so he could carry on with his day. 

My car was almost across the street when he hit me. As you can see here the front half of my car was almost past by the time he hit me.  Still after the transito showed up, he decided the fault was arguable.  When they say that here they mean they will impound both vehicles and take up to a month deciding. By then they will be paid off and you will end up taking the blame and having to pay for every day your car was in impound. We cut our losses and left.


Yes its been a crazy couple weeks. Hope yours has been better. 

A better view on Mexican health care and the current state of my life.

Ok so my last post about the Hospitals here was a bit bitter. I'm finding that most of my issues at the hospital are all due to one individual. You see you have to deal with stupid people no matter where you work. So the truth about the system here is that its actually getting better. I don't remember if I explained before but all the public hospitals and clinics work by the same standards as in the states. The guys who wrote the standards for Mexico learned from The Joint Commission which is the group that does most of the certifying of hospitals in the US. But they do still do things differently. They find ways to reach the standards without all the cost. Now the Government is requiring even the private hospitals to follow the same standards in able to become certified by them. Its not quite a requirement yet to get this certification but its obvious that soon enough it will be. The small private hospital I work for is trying hard to comply with these standards. My original Job description was as an assistance to this process. But I quickly learned that without earned trust and respect my word counted for nothing regardless of my experience. I requested and have received a new Job description which will basically put me as a supervisor or in the states what was seen as a Head Charge Nurse. They are also finally giving me the orientation and time of learning on the floor that I requested. I have already spent a couple weeks on one of the normal units, and in the ER. My next steps are to learn the ins and outs of ICU, OR, and the Nursery. The person that I struggle to work with, due to her ethics, will be my work partner once I'm done with my training. This will pose as a major hurdle for me but its not something I cant handle. Some of our first steps to help us reach the standards will be better documentation, and education for the nursing staff. These are things I have been pushing for since the first day and will still take some time to finish but I can see a bright future for our hospital and many others. The director of our hospital is also the director of an association of about 20 private hospitals all over our state. His plan is for all of us to work together and standardize our efforts. Meaning that the paperwork and process of all the hospitals will be the same. This will be a huge effort but I think its an excellent goal. As I have said before as far as treatment and education of the doctors here its fairly equal to the states. One of the biggest differences that was hard for me at first is that nurses do less here and doctors do more. I see the benefits to this but being a nurse who loved the technical procedures it was a little bitter for me at first. But  the patients love it.

As a quick update on our family and home life, obviously Im still working my 40 hours a week at the hospital and I teach English about 6 hours a week. We figured out we would actually be saving money if my husband stayed at home with our girls and teaches a few hours of Spanish every week on the side. Day care for three kids at the cheapest place we could find was costing us more than our rent, and as is usually the case with parents they just were not up to our standards. My husband is starting a bit of a freelance project with these Spanish classes. Basically we have some friends down here who have to learn and soon. There is an international medical program down here. The first two years of their classes are mainly in English  but the last two years are all Spanish. So he has put together and program and will be starting with his first three students on Monday. We looked around at prices and we are basically charging half of what all the schools or other programs are charging. The down falls to our program is that we don't offer any type of certificate. The upside is that its real communication Spanish with a cultural twist. He plans on adding in common phrases and such that people wouldn't learn from a more structured class. Its basically the same idea that is behind my English lessons. So far my students love it so we are hoping his catches on. So things are going pretty good for us at the moment and my girls are all growing strong, healthy and smart. Really life is good. God has been very good to us and is constantly providing for each new step in our lives.

Adapting, accepting, but not completely giving up

So after looking for a different job I find that I'm doing as well as I prob can do at the moment. Also, during my time of looking, my work changed my job description into something I like a lot more. I will now be a co-supervisor and will be working on the floor a lot more. If you remember from my last post one of my complaints was that I hadn't even seen a patient or used a stethoscope in many weeks.  I have only done the new work two day but they were the best two days I have had since Iv been their. So I am trying to adapt to the frustrations I feel about my job and the system at the hospital. Some of the changes I wanted to make and that I suggested are now being implemented. They are ideas I had that people argued tooth and nail against about a month ago. Now someone else has suggested the exact thing (a doctor) and it is going through.  I am going to just have to humble myself and accept that when I give ideas for change that I will most likely never get credit for them. With that in mind I do plan to still offer advise on changes that should be made and keep a low profile. I hope to prove to them with this new job profile that I am a good nurse and someone that they can accept ideas from.

I realize in the last post that I didn't mention much about the level of skill in the hospital and just grumped about the system for change. I want to be clear that the education level for nurses and doctors is excellent here. The are well informed and are good at their jobs.

There are a few things about the lax system that are helpful even. I was sick last week and one of the doctors noticed. He brought me to his office and gave me antibiotics for free. We often get free stuff like pads of paper, pens, even medication from drug reps that come through the hospital.

I am recieveing full benefits so that is also a plus. Any job I found that would pay me more for teaching wouldn't give me benefits. I really do want to adapt to life here. I know that we don't have any time limit for living here and that its for life. So I'm doing my best to accept things and at the same time keep my morals and beliefs. We shall see how that goes. Some days its so easy to live here I wonder why I'm such a grump about it. But other days it is truly a challenge and one I'm not sure I'm up to. Im pretty sure that no matter where I was to raise my family life would show up with its struggles. What I have to remember on a daily basis is that I'm blessed with three beautiful healthy daughters and a husband who helps me 100%. There really isn't much more you can ask for in life. God is good and always will be no matter how much of a grump I decide to be. But I'm sure I will hear from him more clearly once I accept my situation for what it is.

Well my girls just woke up so I need to go take them to the park. Have a great week everyone.

The inside scoop on Hospitals in Mexico

First of all I have to remind you I'm by no means and expert on this considering this is the first hospital I have worked in. But I do ask our new nurses where they worked before and what it was like. It seems to me that we are the norm as far as private hospitals go. The only place that is more standardized like I am use to is the IMSS.  The other thing about the nursing jobs here is that the pay is so very low. Most nurses get no more than 4-5,000p a month. I am getting more than that because I entered at a supervisor level. The nurses at the IMSS get 7,000 a pay check and only work three twelve hour  shifts per week. Which is way more money and way less hours than me. My plan is to go sign up for a job at an IMSS but apparently it takes years to get accepted into one of the positions.
Basically when you walk into my hospital it is beautiful. It reminds you of a hotel but with nurses stations. The nurses are well educated in school but once they are out the hospitals do not maintain a proper continuing education program. This is something I have been pushing for since I got into the hospital. No one seems to understand the importance of it. Or like many people have told me the higher ups are just afraid to give to much education to the lower positions. This is not only in the hospitals but pretty much is the rule in the work force here. To be honest the only personal experience I have in the states is in Hospitals and the last one was a teaching hospital so this totally rubs me the wrong way. Im going to do my best to keep this post objective and not go into my rants. So here I wont explain how utterly important it is for continuing education in health care.

Since October I have tried to encourage changes such as continued education, starting an orientation program for new nurses, placing resources for the nurses at the nursing stating (drug books, references on processes, an easier and safer documentation practice, etc.) And everything I try to implement gets denied. I am basically not being allowed to do what they told me they hired me for. Finally I asked for a job description because my position was completely made up. I was getting sick of wasting my time trying to plan and implement things when I was always held up and denied at the last min. I had no idea what the heck they wanted me to do from day to day. Now I am a Supervisor B, with basically administrative duties. To explain it best Im doing all the crappy paperwork that the head nurse doesn't have time to do.

The worse part about all of this is that the things they do focus on are so silly. They are insane about the dress code. For example I have gotten "talked to" like three times for my presentation. The first time was because apparently I wasn't using enough bleach on my uniforms. Then it was that I don't paint my shoes enough and the looked dirty. They were clean but scuffed, here you have to wear the old school leather white nursing shoes. Can I hear a Blech from any nurses out there. This last time I was told that my little fly always were to messy and I need to start putting gel in my hair. And don't get me started on my tregas earrings. Basically the supervisor in charge of checking this sort of thing was ticked off because I explained to her that she was doing something illegal and when she argued with me about it I brought it to the head nurse. What was she doing  you might ask. Well in health care we write with pen only in the charts. This is so that nothing can ever be erased. If you make a mistake here you are suppose to put (parenthesis) around it and rewrite what you wanted. One day I found some nurses taking pieces of tape and ripping off what they had written and writing over it. I very nicely explained to them that this is the same as using white out and is illegal. A short time later one of them told me that the Supervisor does it all the time. YIKES!!! So the same nurse who walks around sending people home for scuffed shoes and fly aways thinks its ok to falsefi documents as long as you cant tell. Yes that is what she told me when I confronted her about it. That the nurses shouldn't do it because when they do it its ugly but when she does it it looks nice and you cant even tell she did it. Sigh!!!!!!!!!!!

To be honest a lot of the problems within the private hospitals here (and yes I have asked around) is the chain of command or lack of use of it. For example the above mentioned Supervisor is no more than a supervisor. But many of the changes I have wanted to make the head nurse thought were valid and could work. This of course was when I as alone in her office with her. But when we would bring it to the Supervisor meetings I would be immediately shut down by this supervisor. And worst of all the head nurse would immediately agree her. Basically if it comes out of my mouth they quickly scruntch up their lips and shake their heads no.

Also the horrible communication. They are giving us a course on Lean Healthcare which is a system of organization and communication from Japan. We used this system at the last hospital I worked at in the states and it was great. But to be honest with the way things are here its next to impossible to implement any of it. We have no intranet, all the supervisors of nursing and the head nurse use the same email address, there is no calender of events or meetings. You usually don't know about a meeting until like 10min before hand. Mind you most of this kind of thing doesn't really reach the patient but turns out to be a horrible working environment. And happy nurses make happy patients.

The few suggestions of mine that have been put into place they are sure to wait a few weeks after I suggest it and then suggest it as if it were their idea. This also is very common in all the workforce down here. There is no since of encouragement to employees who do have good ideas. They are to afraid you will raise up above them. Again this is so hard for me to swallow because the hospital I came from encouraged growth. I never push this kind of thing or try to make sure everyone knows the idea came from me. This is because I know they all know and there really isnt any point anyway. I have finally given up on giving any ideas for the betterment of anything. I realize that if I do they will just get turned down. I have resigned to just doing what they ask of me and no more. My husband made it very clear that this is what is expected here. And Im finding its true. The supervisor I mentioned above has back off quite a bit. This all makes me so sad because I have so much to offer and instead Im organizing the charts of discharged patients and doing secretary work.

Actually I may even look into another teaching job next week that will be the same pay but half the hours. I'm pretty sure I wont get seguro or Infonavit and because of this I have to discuss it more with my husband. But as excited as I was to put my nursing uniform on I think its not where I should be. I haven't even touched a stethoscope in over a month. Athough I hate the job hopping, I guess its ok because Im still learning so much about the work force here in Mexico which is nothing like where I grew up. I had one job from the time I was 16-18 at a nursing home (thats a long time for a teenager). Then another job from the time I was 18-21 at a hospital until I moved to St. Louis to go to school.Thats when I worked at Barns and had that job from the time I was 21-28 when I moved to Mexico. I have almost had more jobs in two years than I did in over ten years of working in the states. I know there isn't a perfect job and the grass isn't always greener, but I think its time to start being a realist and accept that maybe nursing isn't what I should be doing down here right now anyway. I do want to apply at the IMS and maybe even in Tepa. But for now if I can make the same amount of money but have more time with my kids maybe I should be teaching.

Experiencing IMS in the city

Yesterday was my first real experience with the free public health system here in the city. Let me tell you its much worse here than in the small town of Tepatitlan. For my job I have to have a carta justificante when I miss work for an illness. And the letter must come from the IMS not from a private doctor. So although it was obvious that my girls had the pox and I couldn't bring them to the daycare I still had to go to the IMS clinic. I was there from 9-12 waiting. Basically they didn't explain everything to me well and even with my probing questions they were reluctant to fill me in on the whole process. By the grace of God the director of our day care showed up (hoping to get vaccinated against the pox) and she got the full information for me. Here is how it works. We are part of the evening shift appointments. People can start showing up at any time for these slots. The appointments don't actually start until 2pm. But if you wait till then to go there may be so many people already that you wont get an appointment that day. But we were there at 15 min till 9am and the lady seriously thought I would wait from then until 2pm. That is virtually impossible with three kids. Not only that by the time I got fed up and left at 1200 there were only two people there for the evening shift appointments. So I'm thinking if we ever do have to get something from that doctor again (for work, or day care) then we will show up at like one and have to wait until 3 or 330 for our appointment.  During the time we waited we managed to see the dentist who spoke English to my girls and confirmed we have no cavities. YEAH for that one. We will be visiting the dentist in another 6months for the fluoride application. The only thing I felt was missing there was education. Maybe they didn't do it because I still had my work uniform on. Usually the IMS clinic is better about educating the patient. The dentist is not as full and basically you just show up and they check you out. They actually came over to me and asked me if I wanted the check up from them while I waited for the other office.  We almost got the babies flu vaccine but I gave up waiting before that happened. I'm kinda pinching myself for that one. But after three hours there with three girls I was done and so were the girls. We ended up going through the ER and getting Tylenol and my letter from there. I have since lost that letter which I'm also kicking myself for. We also ended up getting an Antibiotic because the oldest on has infections in lesions. The whole experience was pretty horrible and I'm pretty sure we will never use the doctor there unless its absolutely necessary. I'm still glad we have Seguro in case we ever need hospitalization because there is no way we can afford a private hospital. And also the ER was pretty quick and we got free care and medication. Right now the girls are playing well and so far the baby hasn't shown any signs of contracting it from them. I hope if she is going to get it that she gets it soon. I feel like Im leaving something out of the informative part of this post so as always if there are any questions Id be happy to answer them.

¿The Normal Life?

The other night I was talking to my husband and I said, "I actually have time to blog now and I feel like I don't have anything to write about."
He says, "Amanda you have tons to write about you live in Mexico."
"Yes but everything seems so normal to me now." I responded.
He looks at me, almost exacerbated,"Then write about that." (somewhere in here I'm thinking oh gee how boring), he continues, "I remember when you first started reading blogs and when you saw that Leslie from Motherhood in Mexico said something to that effect, it gave you hope. That is why you write is to give those other people hope about their life here. I think you need to write about how you feel that your life is normal."

So here is that post.

I'm a mother of three beautiful girls, who every morning wake up at 630. I get them dressed, brush their hair, make a quick breakfast they can eat in the truck and rush them out the door. When I drop them off at school their is almost always something I forgot to put in a book bag, and if not at least one aviso (message) for me to give to a teacher or caregiver. I then zoom off (well not really my truck is a bit broken and I cant go over 30mph) to the hospital. I park and chat with the garage attendant if I have time then run inside to work. On the way in I say buenos dias to everyone I pass even if they are in the middle of a conversation (I guess Im still getting use to that part). After finding out where I'm working for the day I go and care for patients. At the end of my day I'm watching the clock because I'm anxious to get my girls and go home with them. As soon as I can I run out to my truck, of course saying adios to everyone I pass and from time to time stopping to chat. Their is no real running in and out of places here. I pick up my girls, the older two are always running to me for hugs and the baby loves her teacher so much I have to pry her from her arms. I listen to any report from the teachers and we are off. I talk to the older girls about their day on the way home and when I get home I read their report books and check for home work. They do their homework while the baby plays. Then I have Alana do an English website while Joslin watches and repeats. At aruond 530 the baby takes small nap with her milk while I cook dinner. By the time dinner is ready papi is home, and is welcomed by lots of hugs and kisses all around. We eat dinner around 6pm and then the girls get to play and talk with papi about their day. Bath time at 730 and off to bed for the girls. My husband and I then either spend some time alone doing our own thing or doing something together. Traffic and driving here in the city feels a lot like St. Louis, I have Wal Mart (which I cant stand anymore) Sams (which I love) close by and fresh fruits, veggies, and meat on every corner. We have a doctor that we really like. He only costs us 30p a visit, and he is wonderful with my girls. I have figured out how to keep the bugs out of my house. And I actually like the idea of black widows better than brown recluse. (black widows stay home and are usually in a place out of reach for my kids, brown recluse hide in your close and bed).

On days off my girls wake up and crawl in bed with us for a little snuggle time then want to eat. After eating we clean the house, let them do crafts, maybe walk to the park, or play games. We go to church from 11-130 I help in the nursery and my husband helps with translation. We have friends who come over for Sat night collage football, and my girls are happy and healthy. To me this all seems like what I would have been doing in the states. Although I must say Im ALOT more laid back than I would have been if we stayed their. My digestive system is healthier because Im less stressed, and I am able to brush off things much easier than before. Some of this my have come with age (no Im not old) but I know it came a lot faster because of Mexico.

I barely notice anymore that when I'm a pedestrian I don't have the right away, and that I have to teach my kids to run across the street instead of walk. I barely notice that my tissue goes in the trash can and I have to empty that can every day if not twice a day. And what were the other things that were different living here than in the states. I just read a blog this morning that talked about them all and seriously I cant repeat it if I wanted to.

Yesterday we shopped for food for Thanksgiving and for the babys birthday. Lily is turning one this coming weekend. I still have to finish her whole scrap book and baby book and make all the decorations and invitations. This should be a pretty fun week.

This post is for all of you out their who may be struggling with the idea of raising your family here, or who have just moved and need some hope. It took me three years to get to this point. Dont push it, take things one day at a time or how people love to say here poco a poco. Adopt that phrase and do your best to live it. You can do it and you can be happy here. One thing is for sure though you need a supportive spouse who loves you enough to love on you when its hard and encourage you when you get frustrated. Believe me my hubby is far from perfect and has screwed up pretty badly in the past but this is one thing that he has done so well.

I think thats it for now.

IM BACK BABY

And I don't just mean to blog land. This title is what I put on my facebook post my first day back in the hospital. For any new readers or anyone who just doesn't remember, I am an RN. I have so missed nursing over the last few years but it just wasn't possible at first for me to work. Its still pretty tough but for the most part I don't have any issues. We had an interesting first year in the city to say the least. But we are moving on and are so excited about the year to come. Nothing is ever perfect but we know that and when you are ready for it... well that makes it a little easier.

Basically let me tell you that we have literally taken a 50% pay cut, we moved to a smaller place (which we actually really like), and God blessed us with the fact that we don't have to change the girls school. That is the quick run down.

We didn't have any help with the move so that was a little tough but thankfully we are on the other side of it now. Lucky for you I didn't have net until now so you don't have to hear me complain. lol I still have quite a bit of organizing to do in the girls play area and pictures to hang but that can all be done poco a poco.

The first week of December I will be starting English Classes for the parents from the day care, and anyone else who wants to come. This will help me make up the cost that I owe the daycare. Basically it turns out she is just giving me a location (and clients) to hold the classes. Payments and everything for the class I will be dealing with directly. So now I get to still do the part that I enjoyed doing with the University and actually teach. I'm so excited about that.

Now back to the "I'm back baby part." I am loving the hospital, and I say this after driving home crying yesterday.  I had a pretty heavy day yesterday and then I had to talk with one of the supervisors about a few things that really were not that big of a deal but that were very frustrating to me. Basically I had a patient family member misinterpret my body language. The felt like I was nervous about starting their IV (which is actually something I enjoy doing). The thing is I'm not sure what it is about my body language that makes people think I'm nervous.  I have had the same problem with Issacs mom, and multiple other people. I admit I'm much more high strung than most people down here but I'm not nervous or anxious anymore. If anyone has an idea on what I might be doing that would portray this please let me know. I think getting some insite would help me out a lot. Really the tears just came from frustration and irritation that a patient would misread me. I never have had problems like that back in the states. And its just not something I'm use to. By this morning I had sucked it up and went back at it. That same patient was a lot more receptive to me today and I think realized that it was a misinterpretation. One good thing is we do have quite a few American or Canadian patients and I enjoy getting to help them out. I have interpreted quite a few times and even when they do have good Spanish it makes them feel better just to have a nurse to speak to in English. Right now I'm doing a lot of floor work and I think eventually they may have me doing more office type work but I'm really happy where I'm at. My husband is doing reservations for a rental company from the states and is really enjoying his job also.

Well that's quite a lot of blabbing for one day. I have so much to say about health care here and nursing here but I will save that for another blog. And really I would like to hear from all my readers to know if you would be interested in hearing that stuff. I get all excited about it but aside from the Mexican Trailrunner I'm not sure if you all are interested. Let me know please.

TB vaccine Mexico 2011 / Also other healthcare info

I blogged about Lilys vaccines awhile back. Here is a bit of an update. Her TB vaccine was given to her Feb 2. Usually with in 2-3 weeks you get the lump then in another couple weeks you have weeks of gross green pus coming out. We waited and waited and waited and never did Lily get her lump. A month after her vaccine she had a cold and we took her to the doctor. While there we explained about her vaccine. The doctor told us to wait until it had been a month and a half and if still nothing showed we should bring her back to the nurse who gave it to here. Its kind of odd but our "family doctor" is a walk in consult out of one of the pharmacies. We tried a couple different pediatricians here and didn't like any of them. We know this particular doctors hours and she is great with the girls. She doesn't jump to prescribing antibiotics every time we bring them in with a cough or runny nose and the girls like her. I told her about some of the things the other pediatricians told me and she agreed that they were off. So we told her she was now our family doctor and she was great with that. The only thing about this is that at pharmacias they dont keep any type of patient records. So you kind of have to keep them yourself and stay on top of things. Also if we ever need to go to the hospital we wont be visited by her. Our appointments are only 30p each that's a little less than 3usd a visit so its worth it to me to have a competent and cheap doctor. We were planning on taking Lily back next week anyway because she is due now for her four month shots. And low and behold yesterday the lump showed up. Its not in a circle like Joslins was but more of a line and almost a 1/2 inch long. I hope this doesn't mean her scar will be like that. So we have some nastiness to look forward to in a couple weeks. We are still going to go get her four month shots sometime next week also. Ill keep you updated.
For my husbands recent procedure we ended up going through the private system. You see here the seguro or public system actually does this procedure for free. But when we tried to go through them we couldn't get a hold of anyone. We looked into the hospital where I had Lily and my OB suggested a urologist. It cost us about 4,000p total including the doctor appointments and labs beforehand. We still have one or two appointments coming up which will be around 500p each. As with before I still think Mexico's health system is structured way better than the US. I feel like I have a lot more options and I´m not paying an arm and a leg for insurance.

Childhood Immunizations Mexico

Here we go for round two of Mexican Immunization. Let me tell you I'm learning so much right now from the nurses in my class so I will filly you in also. First off ALL BABIES no matter what income get free immunizations. Thank God for this one because we dont have seguro this time around and also dont have the money for the full price ones through the private doctor. I also found out that ANY pregnant women has the right to receive free health care with he seguro.
Speaking of which, as a side note, we are relying on the nurses check ups along with her immunizations now because the private pediatrician was just to expensive. His appointments were 500p a piece which isn't bad in American standards but were not rollen in the money. I'm pretty sure he thought we were though because he at one point prescribed us a cream that was 500p for our babies face. I started putting regular baby lotion on it and that cleared up the problem.
Ok back to Immunizations. Because it is a new place and all my husband brought Lily in for her shots. I was very proud of him for doing it because he really cant handle seeing the girls get stuck. Anyway he went in at 7am and he said everyone was very helpful. The did initially tell him that they dont start immunizations till 830 and that there was no separate place for him to be if he didn't have seguro insurance. All he needed was the babies birth certificate which he had. He saw that there was already someone else there waiting and thought it best to just wait. Its a good thing he did also because by 8am when they actually did start taking people there where at least five people behind him in line. Issac said the nurses were very nice and willing to answer any questions he had. They were either out of the Immunization cards or they just assumed Issac forgot his. He didn't think anything of them putting the information on a piece of paper so he didn't ask. We are to bring her back in on the 17th for another one so we will get the card then. I'm not sure what that one is for because he didn't ask (that's a man for you, lol). Normally here in Mexico at the time of birth they give the tuberculin vaccine and the hepatitis B vaccine. But in the private hospitals they give you the choice, because if your baby gets these vaccines there they will be very pricey. We turned them down in the hospital so at her 2month shots she got the tuberculosis vaccine in her arm, the pentavalent which is a 5 antigen combo putting together our DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and pertussis) with Hib (which causes meningitis and pneumonia) and Hep B in her left leg, and the neumococica (prevent pneumonia), and her Hepatitis B in her right leg. The still get the last two vaccines mentioned with the pentavalent due to the different trains for those infections. I found a cool abstract herehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12349263 in case you want to read more about the pentavalent being given in Mexico.
So now I have the big nasty pussing wound to look forward to on her arm in a couple weeks. Yuck I hate the TB vaccine so much. I suppose that's all the info I have on this subject for now more to come after the 17th. Maybe Ill go this time so I can have a more detailed description. Actually he did a great job and did come home and give me as much info as he could knowing I wanted to post it all. ;)

labor and delivery in Mexico

Some asked for more details on how things went down here so here it is. Some of you may not care to read it and that's OK but this way those who want to know can. I went through the private hospital again with this baby. I'm so thankful that God provided for us so that I could. For most of my pregnancy I was gearing up and trying to prepare myself for an epidural free labor and delivery. I wasn't to excited about this but was prepared to do it because well to be honest I didn't have much choice. Then God provided us with new jobs and a move so we decided we could afford the private doctor and hospital. So my last month of pregnancy went something like this.
We found what I feel like is the nicest and best OB in Guadalajara and visited him almost every week. He was so kind and well to be honest my age that we felt like we were visiting a friend who happened to want to ultrasound the baby every time he saw us. Seriously him and Issac would talk about X-box and other things during our visits. Two weeks before my due date he said he could tell that she was ready to come at any time and that if she did it would be ok because she was developed. He also said that if I did not go into labor by the following week visit we would talk about inducing. So as any 8 1/2 mo pregnant lady would do I began walking like crazy and looking up other natural ways to induce my labor. ;) By the next Wednesday when it was time for my visit I was of course still pregnant and having random contractions that were not staying around long (I had been having these for about 2 weeks at this point). My doctor said he would induce me on Sat if I didn't go into labor and until then to rest so that I would be well rested to labor over the weekend. So home I went to prepare for Thanksgiving the next day. I promised to rest except for the cooking that needed to be done. Thanksgiving went well and my contractions continued as they had been. Friday night some of Issacs family showed up (who were invited for Thanksgiving, mind you) and we let them know what was planned for Saturday morning. Saturday at 9am I left a house full of people to go see the doctor. He explained that he didn't believe in a strong induction of labor and would rather just kind of kick start the natural process. We very much agreed with him on this. At this point I was only dilated to 1cm with no thinning. So he gave me a half pill of pitocin by mouth and a half pill vaginally. This is an extremely small dose. The plan was for me to go home and go about my regular day and call in 4hours to check in. He sent me home with more pills to take in 4 hours if nothing was happening. Well I this little nudge is all my body needed. By ten o´clock not even an hour later I could tell the contractions were getting stronger and more regular. By eleven o´clock I was laying down in my bed to see if they were going to go away with rest. By eleven thirty I knew they were not going anywhere and Issac called up the doctor. We were sent out the door with lots of prayer and kisses from the family that was at the house. My doctors office was at the hospital and is where he wanted us to meet him. After talking to me and seeing me go through a couple contractions my doctor was ready to admit me. He called a wheel chair to meet us and off the pushed me to the main desk at the hospital. On the way there I met my anesthesiologist who was a very nice lady also. At the front desk I waited in my wheel chair and hospital gown while Issac talked to them about payment and they picked out a room for me. My doctor obviously knew what he was doing and refused the first room due to construction going on near by and we ended up getting one of the big nice rooms for no extra charge. ;) Have I mentioned how great our doctor was. Then I was wheeled into my room and they turned down my bed. I asked if I could stay out of the bed because the contractions were easier to handle while standing. This was no problem for them and my husband helped me through each one. This was the first time Issac got to be with me during this stage of labor and it was great. Except that he kept making me laugh during contractions and I still want to punch him for it. When the doctor came in to check me he was surprised to see I was dilated to 4 1/2 already and asked if I was ready for the epidural. I said I could wait a bit because I was tolerating the contractions ok at that point. Not even 15 min after he left the room I could tell they were getting stronger very quickly so we asked him to call the anesthesiologist. They then asked me if I would rather walk or have a wheel chair bring me into the delivery room. I wanted to walk because at that moment the thought of sitting down was not a good one. The nurses where all very good with me and stopped and held on to me when I would go into a contraction on the way. At this point Issac was asked to wait outside until they got the epidural placed. The doctor came in and between contractions got the epidural in. At this point my contractions where coming very fast and hard. For some reason the anesthesiologist was under the impression it was my first child and was just not listening to me when I said that it was time for the medication. I was screaming at her to give me the medication. Thankfully my OB was quick to come in and check me and when he noticed I was dilated past seven she quickly gave me the medication and once I calmed down she told me she didn't think I was going to that fast. Of course the medicine didn't kick in before it was time to push but I was feeling it ok when she was crowning. To be honest I felt more with her than I ever did and I would never ever ever want to feel more than I did with her. At one point the anesthesiologist told me to stop yelling during my contractions and to push. I said to her, "Gracias a dios puedo empuje ahora?" She said yes and by golly I got that kid out in like six pushes or so. You women who go all natural have a pain tolerance out of this world because mines pretty high and I would never volunteer to feel all that nature intended. Even though I was screaming at the anesthesiologist at one point she told me I did wonderful and my OB decided I wasn't really American. lol He kept saying you must be Mexican the way you dealt with all that. Lilian was born at 250 only five hours after the pitosin and 4 hours after true labor kicked in. My OB swears I need to have more babies because my body did so well with the labor, delivery, and recover. I keep telling him hes crazy and if its up to us we wont be doing any of that again. God willing Lily is our last. They kept me in the hospital that night and the next night. We headed home around noon the second day after she was born. Here is another picture just because I know how cute she is and want to be sure you all do to. ;)

Getting moms med care

When my mom said she wanted to come but was worried about her medications I began asking around about it. I had many people who live here tell me that it would be no problem. I even went as far as going into a pharm simi to ask a doctor if she would write the scripts if we needed them. Everyone told me it would be no problem and that it would not be difficult to find her medications. Let me tell you they were all so very wrong. Thankfully my mom told us a good two weeks before she was running out of anything and we got started right away. First we had to look up the names of all her medications in Spanish, this turned out to be the easiest part of the process. It was all very confusing and I didn't understand why some pharmacies had what we need and others didn't. In the long run when we asked my OB about the issues we had, he explained that in Mexico the pharmacies are owned by the drug companies. So if a drug you want is from a competitor drug producer that pharmacy will not carry it. Considering my mom was on more than one medication that still had no generic this was a big problem. Also as we were visiting all these different places we found out that three of her medications had to have a written prescription. One that was for anxiety and one that was for sleep we were told by one doctor had to be written by a psych doctor and only a psych doctor. Thankfully this turned out to not be the case. Because I was in my last few weeks of pregnancy and seeing my OB often we brought this whole issue to his attention and he agreed to write the scripts we needed. So we showed him her pill bottles and the names of the drugs in Spanish and he wrote them out. This happened the day he gave me the small dose of pitosin to induce my labor ( he was expecting it to take a while to work). Well I went into labor less than 4 hours later so Issac didn't go to fill moms scripts till the next evening. When he did he found out that all the medications had to be written on their own personal script and not all together the way our doctor wrote them. So my OB was kind enough to rewrite them. And again the next day Issac went to get them filled. This is when they informed us that her pain medication was not to be found here in Mexico. So three days after the baby was born and my first day home Issac brought my mom to a doctor to have them write her something that would help her with her arthritis pain. The doctor at pharm simi was kind enough to write this one and we were able to get it filled and it did end up easing her pain. She ended up needing another script written for her sleeping meds because they didn't give us enough for her entire stay the firs time. But again I was going back for my one week OB appointment and our doctor was kind enough to write it again. In the end we got it all figured out and for sure next time it will be easier but gees what a pain in the butt it was. We spent at least three night going from pharm to pharm, and in the state I was in just before and after the baby it was frustrating to say the least. Really I just wanted to write this post in case any of you have family that will be visiting for a long time you will know what to expect better than I did. It is a better idea for them to explain to their doctor and insurance that they will be on a prolonged stay in Mexico and need extra fill on their meds. If the insurance or doctor will not do this be sure to visit your pharmacies and doctors and be very very clear with them what medications you will be needing and if they will have them. Well that is that... Im trying to get my blogs up to date today so I can spend some time reading others this weekend. :)

Having the baby

Lilian Andrea was born Saturday November 27th, she weighed 3kilos and was 51cm long. I had gone in that morning around 9am and was given a very small dose of patosin and sent home. By noon I was admitted to the hospital and she was born at 245. She came fast and I was so glad and ready for her. To be honest my whole labor and delivery process was so much closer to what I wanted with the other two. Issac was allowed by my side the whole time and every one attended to what I asked for as far as when I was ready for different things. Heres some pics.

seguro: Seven month appointment

So this was to be the big happy easy appointment because my husband would be there with me. First I need to say that this one appointment with the nurse turned into another appointment with the doctor the next day due to me having some small issues (Ill discuss those issues later).This "easy" appointment turned out to be a bust. I found that after a few months of freedom of speech and understanding it was more frustrating to me to have him around. You see unlike Alanas teacher these people normally dont have a choice and must communicate with me. So speech is slowed and they let me take my time explaining things. When the nurse started talking I felt my head spin around in a circle she was talking so quickly. And because Issac knows how "well" Iv been doing there he was a little frustrated or confused about me constantly asking for translation. (He never said this but I could tell). And more than once I was stopped in what I was trying to say in spanish and told to let Issac tell them. GRRRR.... yes I'm showing my teeth...and squinting my eyes just remembering.
So now I'm actually looking forward to my next appointment without him. Funny how and why your feelings about something can change.

Aside from the annoyances of language barrier the appointment went as usual sort of. Because she established early on that she wanted me to visit the doctor she did no vitals checks, or sized the baby. Basically my gall bladder has been presenting itself as more of an annoyance and because of that causing other minor irritations around the bum region. I wont go into more detail anyone who has been pregnant knows what I'm talking about. But apparently this is enough for me to actually talk to the doctor about. At first I wasn't really sure why but the next day.. yes you read that right they got me an appointment the very next day and in the evening no less SO THAT MY HUSBAND COULD ACCOMPANY ME!!! Ok really I'm glad they are so accommodating about having him come with me I'm just being and independent snob. We then discussed our birth control plan with the nurse. As Iv said before they are very preoccupied with this and we discuss it almost every appointment. Our plan is for hubby to have surgery. The nurse simply wrote up a requesto or a request for us to bring to the hospital for them to make Issacs appointment. She told us it would be best to plan it for the same time as I have the baby that way he gets some extra days home with me. This was such a great idea. She explained that he would only have pain for about a day but that the seguro can grant him 3 days off work. (so we are quickly adding it up and with his 2 days he gets for having a baby and his normal one day off in the week he gets almost a whole week to stay home with us. She scheduled the date for a few days after my due date (which is back to Dec2). And if it happens that I have the baby sooner or later he just has to go in to see her and she will change the date. She did tell us to come see her the next day after we talked to the doctor and fill her in how things went.
So the next day we visited the doctor she did all the vials and some measurements of the belly and poking around in other areas. She then wrote me some prescriptions. I see that this is the reason I was sent to her. She also further restricted my diet and now Im banned from red meats, and oddly enough things like tostadas. When they write you prescriptions at the seguro its not like when another dr writes you one and you think ok which ones can I afford to get. Everything they write you is give to you of no charge. My gosh we always feel like we just hit the jack pot when we leave the seguro pharmacy with loaded arms. For free I got a box of Metamucil, a cream, some suppositories, three things of vitamins, tylenol, buscapina (its an antiinflamitory that is geared towards you digestive tract and is a blessing to me). I stuffed my purse full of the medication and we were on our way. Oh I forgot to mention that we did go back to the nurses office after the doctor and didn't get much done back there. Because the appointment was so late the nurses secretary was already gone so they couldn't actually schedule my next appointment nor the appointment for Issac. She also wants me to get some blood work done but for her to fill out the requesto she had to know the date of my next appointment so they get me in before then. So I get to go back on Monday to set up my appointment and get mine and Issacs paper work to bring to the hospital for our blood work. Sometimes going through the seguro is a pain in the butt but I just have to remind oneself I'm not really paying them for their service.
When leaving we were excited to be on our way or so we thought, the truck was out of gas and after all that Issac had to walk to get gas. The good thing is I think this gave us both time to blow off our steam about the whole translations/language barrier thing. So there it is folks there should only be two or three more of these posts before I get to tell you about the hospital.


Oh some really good news is that I booked my moms flight and her passport is on the way. She will be arriving November 10th which will give her a few weeks to get adjusted before I will need a lot of help and she will be here till Jan 19th (the day after my birthday). We are all so excited about this. She will be our first family visiting since I moved here.

Seguro: Six month appointment

My appointment yesterday was set up at 330pm so my husband was again unable to go with me. Upon arrival they always give you your next appointment right away, I had to request a later hour and she said she could but that the date may be off a bit. Next month is my 7th month appointment and Issac is suppose to come with me so they can schedule him for his procedure. This was fine it ended up being only a few days earlier than it should have been and is at six in the eve so Issac will have no trouble making it. The girls and I got there about 320 and were not called in till almost five. They were nice enough to come out and tell us that there had been some emergencies and they apologized that they were running late. By the time we got in there though the girls were pretty restless and due to me not getting a nap that day I was pretty tired. I think this was all apparent and the nurse asked one of the student nurses to help with the girls and to get them toothbrushes to play with. There where two nurses in training and the one main nurse. She asked me a few questions and then I got on the table. The one male trainee who measured my stomach is the same one I dealt with last time. He also measured the babies heart rate and before giving it to the main nurse asked me if I had been exercising. I explained that me and the girls take walks every day and other than that running after the girls is exercise. Then he is like, no I mean just now. I thought, seriously!?!?!? Iv been waiting in the waiting area for the last hour and a half with a four year old and a one year old. Thankfully the more experienced nurse was feeling my frustration and asked for the heart rate. It was normal and she told him that. When he explained that my rate was faster than he thought it should be, she was quick to explain that I had been in the waiting room with two active kids. This would not be the first time I was thankful for her. This kid will be a good nurse some day due to his attention to detail but there is a time and a place for everything and being sensitive to where people are is a big part of being a good nurse. He then grabbed the teaching chart and I'm thinking Oh God not again. Normally Im all about the teaching and I like to hear what it is they are telling women. On this day I was just not up for it. He was reviewing what we had gone over the last time. Ok here is a part I didn't divulge last time because it could make some readers uncomfortable but I have to this time it was just to much. He read through a whole thing that was recommending agitating my nipples so they would not be to sore to feed when the baby is born. He also recommended and showed me a picture of a bra that had the nipples cut out of it to give room for swelling. The last time I was just sure I had misunderstood something and that the picture was meaning something else. Surely they dont expect women to cut up their bras. (I also dont agree with the agitating part either but I wont go into all that, I know some people even in the states feel this is a good idea). So when he got to that page he is like have you been doing this, and I lied and said yes. Then he pointed to the cut up bra and asked if I had done that and I said no. He then goes on to tell me to be sure and get an old bra or one I dont like and to be sure and do this. I'm thinking dude this is the worse time in the world for me to be wearing old bras. So not only does it need holes it doesn't matter if its supportive and comfortable. So I just nodded my head so we could move on. The next page was the food guide and he wanted me to repeat back to him what he had told me the last month. Ok like I said I´m normally all for this stuff, but for one I'm tired, two I had already been there an hour longer than expected and was getting hungry and with these two items I could not think clear Spanish. It was only after eating and telling my husband about this next part that I got the giggles about it. So although in the situation I was frustrated please feel free to laugh at this. He apparently wasn't excited about me simply saying that I needed to eat from each of the food groups and was asking me to tell him what foods I should eat with ice (hielo). Not until much confusion and him deciding to list the foods for me did I realize he was saying hierro (iron). As soon as he started with the legumes, spinach, red meats bit I'm like ohhhhhhh hierro. And he looks at me like Im crazy and says yes. I was to tired to explain what I had thought he was saying so I quickly called off a few other foods that had hierro. He then decides to explain to me why this is important and I'm sad to say at this point I cut him off and said I already knew. I haven't told them yet that I'm a nurse and I felt now would be a rude time for it but it was coming close to my lips. Thankfully when he flipped the page and asked if he had talked to me about baby care and I said no the other nurse stopped him. She said that I still have two more visits with them and that he should spread out his teaching. I hope she saw the gratitude on my face, and I explained that the next time would be better anyway because my husband would be there to help clear up any confusions. It was then my turn to ask questions and as always they were patient with my round about way of explaining what I needed to know. I was asking about the labor and delivery process. After talking to a few people I was starting to think I had some confusions about how things would go at the hospital. And I was right thank goodness. The labor room and recovery room are general rooms set up with up to 6 women. But when your actually ready to deliver they take you into a private room for the birth of the baby. So as long as we wait long enough Ill just go right into a private room until after the baby is born. This was a huge relief an I will be praying that God will help us to know the right timing. Let me know if I left anything out or if anything is confusing. I just wrote this in like 4 settings. I want this to help out those of you who may be needing the seguro for treatment in the future or now.

Ultrasound #2, but first with the seguro

We went to day for our appointment at the hospital for my ultrasound. We made this appointment over three months ago. People had told us not to expect a lot and that it would be nothing like the ones we had with the private doctor nor at the ultrasound clinic we went to for the first one. One thing I didn't expect is that we had almost no wait. Considering it took them more than three months to get me an appointment I expected to have to wait like you do for everything else with the seguro. We had only just sat down when my name was called. The nurse actually was very kind (they usually are, props to nurses) and they let my husband and the girls come in also. The ultrasound tech asked his questions so quickly it was hard for me to understand but after thinking on them a min I was able to answer with little interpretation from my husband. He then slathered me with gel and began his work. He was very quick about the whole thing and only stayed on one body part long enough to get his measurements. I mentioned the sex and he did a fast sweep over the buttocks and legs and stated he thought it was a girl. Click... and turned off the screen. We were then quickly ushered out and told to wait outside while he typed up his info for me to bring to the doctor. We were told again that we needed to make a copy before our next doctors appointment and that was that. From the quick glance we got I cant agree with the tech. For those of you who have seen a ultrasound of a baby girl... I saw no line. What I saw was the but and a bump which could easily be interpreted either way. We have decided that we will wait a couple more months then hopefully if we have the money go pay the other clinic to get one done. Since you pay they are more than happy to sit around and wait for the baby to show itself. We have decided to at least think of some girl names. Any ideas.....
When the nurse handed us our paper half turned away and heading off my husband stopped her. And we got some answers about what to expect in 4 months. When we come in we go through the Urgencia (ER) no matter what time of day it is. The labor and delivery room is a general room with up to 5 or 6 other beds. I'm imagining something like a Chemo room or one of the older critical care units before they started having the glass walls and doors. They only give epidural to first timers or for C-section. No one not even a female member of family is allowed in with you. And the baby after being checked is left with the mom in the moms bed. She did say if the baby doesn't latch on in the first hour or so they will take it to the incubator to feed it. That kinda sucks because sometimes newborns are not really even hungry for up to 24 hours.
With all this information in mind my husband is now totally on board with me laboring at home until we are sure its actually time for the baby to come. I figure by that stage of labor most of it will be a blur of pain and such so who care if I have any support. Ok that was slight sarcasm and I think it sucks they wont let females in but hey such is life and I will survive. Thanks to a fellow blogger (sunshine) I have plenty of info to read to be sure all is safe for me and the baby. I'm just glad I now know for sure what to expect and plan for.

confident in Gods care

This morning I woke up to a minor irritation. I hate to admit it but I usually check my e-mail and such before I do my bible study in the mornings. And today it was a good thing. Anyway it helped and touched me so much today I thought Id share it on my blog. Truly this reading has helped me also because I am often scared about the birth of this baby. And to be honest its not so much the pain of not having the epidural as knowing I will not have any loved ones in the room with me. Often prayer is what gets me from thinking on it to much. I'm thankful that my God is a comforter and that he can give me the confidence that I could never have on my own. If I let myself take control I am weak and fearful, but; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me John 3:16. I have come to rely so deeply on him I'm not sure how I would take my next breath without him. Here is the reading I had for today.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles Psalm 34:17
When faith seems difficult, we struggle to understand its privileges. Trials conceal the truth concerning the benefits that come with being God´s child.
Unbelief obscures the tender care he has for his children. After all, nonbelievers would find it hard to believe that God cared much for their greatest problems, much less the intimate details of their day. Only with faith comes the certainty of love.
As God´s children, you can be confident He cares for every trouble, even the small, irritating ones that still ruin a day in seconds.
Face the loss of a loved one or a minor argument with the same confidence: God cares for you r troubles. Cry out softly or shout it from the roof tops, and He will hear.

Lord, You have shown Your love in so many ways, yet we still miss the point. Thank You for the privilege of coming to You with even our small irritation.

From God´s word for Couples devotions for growing together.

Seguro: week 19

Sorry I get annoyed with using the months because they are really off from the true date of pregnancy, so from here on out I will be posting the week that Im on when I visit the seguro.
This visit was a little tougher because they made my appointment during a time when my husband could not get out of work. Because I knew I would be seeing a nurse and not the doctor I was ok with it. The girls actually did pretty well... I have good kids thank God. My appointment was set for 445 and I got there about 430pm. I was called in to see the nurse around 5pm. So not to bad of a wait. I have decided that when I meet someone for the first time I should outright explain that I sometimes have trouble understanding if they talk to fast or do not enunciate properly. The problem is my husband is so picky sometimes about how I speak that for a bit people dont realize that I do not know spanish well. But all in all I was able to understand her and when I wasn't I explained things to her and she was patient and either slowed down or spoke more clearly. She asked all the normal questions about swelling, head aches, dizziness, pain and or bleeding. Everything is going well so we moved on and a guy who was obviously a new nurse took my blood pressure and measured my stomach. He did the measuring with me lying on my back on the table then stepped back and told me to get up. These tables are tiny and I was afraid of falling off if I rolled over and so I tried to get up to my elbows first and get up the way you do when your not prego. He then was like no no no and came over to help me roll over and started a teaching charade about how I should get up from a lying position. I explained to him that I understood this but that I was scared because he moved so far away from the table. I hope he will stand closer for future women, but who knows. The other nurse was steady putting stuff in the computer and I assume documenting the teaching and such that this young nurse was getting ready to do with me. He flipped through a booklet that on my side had pictures and on his side had information for him to read to me. He did a good job and talked to me about eating right, hygiene, and taking my prenatal vitamins. He also discussed properly fitting clothing and shoes and how important that is. I never mentioned I was a nurse because I like that they do the teaching and am interested in how much the do with the general public. The other nurse then addressed what type of birth control we wanted to do after the baby was born. As I said with the other visit the doctor had mentioned this also and when we told her we wanted my husband to have the operation she said it would be no problem and moved on. We forgot at that appointment to ask how he was to get set up to have it done through the seguro. So I now asked the nurse if he had to see the general practitioner first before seeing the surgeon. NO HE DOESN'T. Get this all he has to do is show up at my 7month appointment and they will set it up from there with her. This is all turning out to be much easier than I had thought it would be. I also asked her about what they do for pain during the birth of the baby at the hospital. As I suspected there will be no epidural but if they have to cut they do give you a local anesthetic. So that came as some relief. I also asked about if the baby would be left with me and thankfully she said it would. In the private hospital I wanted the baby way way earlier than they would bring her to me. And Im pretty sure they feed her before bringing her to me. I mentioned this and she said that if I was wanting to nurse the baby they would rather me be the first to feed the baby. So aside from not getting the epidural Im liking the out look of this hospital stay better. I hear the nursing care sucks but seriously it sucked at the private one also. They made sure I had enough vitamins for the next month and sent me on my way. On my way out I set up my next appointment and headed home.

Seguro: Three month visit

First things first for my last appointment I was told that I needed blood work and an ultrasound done preferably before the next appointment in one month. I was to take the papers the doctor printed out and gave us and bring them to the IMSS hospital lab area to make my appointment. Due to our new situation with my husband always needing the truck every day a friend of mine was kind enough to take me to make my appointments. Thankfully she is fluent in Spanish and English so the few things I didn't quite catch she filled me in. We simply walked up to the desk that said Lab and gave them my papers and booklet. She was sure to check when my next dr. appointment was and made the blood work for a week before the appointment at 7am. She gave me two copies of paper that had all the information on it and what I was to do, she also handed me a glass jar. I was to fast that morning and to bring my urine sample back with me in the jar. My friend assured me that there would be a lot of people there when I showed up but that I would be out by 8am. I didn't believe her. Then we walked to the next desk which said X-ray and handed over the ultrasound papers. She also checked the date of my next appointment but couldn't get me into the ultrasound until Aug. I took the appointment knowing I would need one around then anyway. They also explained that their printer wasn't working so I needed to bring back two copies of the paper they gave me when I came back in Aug. The next week we went to the private ultrasound place and spent 450p ( a lot for us, but hopefully don't have to do this often) and were in and out in minuets. The technician was great and talked all the way through it and explained everything even to my daughter who is three but totally interested and excited to get to see her new baby brother. Oh yes its a boy, I'm thinking I may have mentioned this already but not sure. It was really early I was only 13 weeks but it was clear as day and the guy said he isn't suppose to point it out that early but it was so clear I saw it before he said anything. He then gave me a paper with my datos (I think that's how they say it) which was all the info and a x-ray type copy of the pictures. We of course then went out for tacos to celebrate that we were having a boy and over tacos decided this would be our last. Whoo hooo!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Ok sorry I digress, ehh! Last week, thankfully Issacs aunt came over to stay the night before my blood work. So that morning I woke up and complained about not getting to eat, I peed in my jar, got ready and waited on my husband to get ready. After dropping him off at work I headed to the hospital lab. When I got there it was packed already, for sure at least 60 people who were there before me. At about 715 they started calling names, the lady would have them put their jars if they had one on a metal cart and she would put a sticker on top and hand them a paper with more stickers and have them form a line. After about 30 or 40 names she went back to her desk and I assumed that she was making more stickers for the rest of us. I was right also I think this was necessary to let the line shrink down some. It was obvious there were two lines being formed and so I assumed two blood drawers. There was a third and it was also obvious that this was for the elderly or disabled.
My name was called about 730ish or so and I handed over my bottle and got my stickers and stood in line where told. Then a lady came out and took my paper from me and the others around me. The line kept moving and at one point the lady came back with my paper and empty blood vials with my stickers on them. I asked her after this was over if I needed to come back for my results or not and she said no that they would be in the system. When it came to my turn it was no funny business the guy said, "sit down put your arm out squeeze your hand." I did as told and it was obvious I didn't know what I was doing so the nurse gently folded my paper and told me to put it in my purse and to present it at my next dr. appointment. And before I knew it he was telling me to get up. Really that's what he said. So although you kind of feel like a cow in a heard it went fast and with no hassle. And when I did have questions they were quick to answer for me.
We didn't expect to much in a way of surprise for the dr. visit and once again we got some. My appointment was at 530pm and as soon as the receptionist took my wt and wrote a few things in my book she said, "Go on in."
I said, "ahorita" (right now) with surprise in my voice.
Si.. si... she meant right then and there no waiting. Surprise number one.
We sat down and the doctor actually addressed me and not my husband which was a little different than last time and she spoke slowly and clearly. Surprise number two.
First she asked me if I had the results for my lab work and I told her they told me it would be in the system. She had me bring my paper out to the receptionist who quickly pulled up the results and printed them out for the doctor. We also explained the ultrasound and she was glad we kept the Aug appointment anyway because we would need one then. She asked me all the normal questions of how I was feeling, first ever menstruation and when was the last, details about both my previous pregnancies and labors ext ext. She then took my blood pressure, checked my feet for swelling and sat down to review my blood work and ultrasound. Every thing is good, then she asked about what type of birth control we were planning to use after the baby. I found this odd for the 3 mo appointment but was glad she asked because we were wondering if the Seguro offered surgery and which ones. We found out that they would be more than happy to do which ever we choose. Surprise number three. We had read that Mexico has been big on birth control over the last few years but this was still a surprise to me. And to be honest at our age some doctors in the US would give us trouble about wanting a permanent fix so to speak.
Then she explained that this was a low risk pregnancy and this would be the last time I see her unless something went wrong. Surprise four I will be seeing the nurses from here on out. I love the idea and think its great. For both my other ones I felt that seeing a dr every month and telling them what they already knew was a little excessive.
She also said that she wanted me to see a dentist because of the problems pregnancy can cause on teeth. I about fell through the floor. Surprise five we are racking them up today. For Joslin I went to a private doctor and I was actually the one to suggest the dentist appointment and hes like sure what ever.
So the doctor printed out our papers to make the dentist appointment (the office door next door), to make my nurse appointment, and to get the refills for my vitamins from the pharm. We walked next door and made my dentist appointment. I asked the nurse if it was possible to also make one for my daughter at the same time so she could watch me then have her turn. Im pretty sure she has at least one cavity on a molar. When she was more than happy to do so Issac asked if it was possible to get us all three in. Sure why not it would just be two days later than the other one would have been. How cool we all get to have our appointments on the same day. Surprise six.
We then went to the nurses station and made my appointment with them, and went to the pharm and got my free vitamin supplements.

Done deal in about an hour. Surprise number seven. I like that number.

I hope I'm helping all to understand that public health care can be a good thing. I am for sure learning that.

My Spanish

While I know I need a lot of work still and will continue to work on getting better Im glad to say I'm no longer the woman I never wanted to be. You see as a nurse in St. Louis I frequently had women patients who couldn't speak for themselves do to a language barrier. I always felt so bad for them and hated the fact that I had to ask an interpreter such personal questions. I also wondered if this was a choice they had made or if they had actually tried to learn English and couldn't. I still wonder this and know that it was prob different for each person. But my first couple years here I was devastated to see myself in this same situation. To know that as badly as I wanted to express myself I couldn't. But I am finally at a place where I feel like if I had to I could go to a dr. appointment alone and be ok. For sure I know I can communicate with the nurses alone. I do have to admit that when my husband is there I let him do a lot of the talking just because it is easier. And at times I wonder if these women had done the same. But you see this is all going to become very important in about 5 months because Im pretty sure at the seguro Issac will not be allowed in the delivery room.
But this week I have overcome another obstacle. You see one of my favorite things about Mexico is servicio Domicilio, or delivery service. As we all know in the states really the only thing that gets delivered is pizza, and a few sandwich places do. But here you can get anything delivered. I actually asked my Tia the other day if this is everywhere in Mexico or just here. I tend to expect that anything that is different to me here is the same everywhere and Iv found from friends who live all over Mexico that this is not always the case. But servicio domicilio is apparently a country wide thing. When I say everything I mean, your medications and or baby formula from the pharmacies (and you don't have to be old or debilitated to get this), meat of any kind including mariscos (seafood), and pretty much every restaurant. I think the only thing missing is dairy and fruit, I almost wonder if this is something I just haven't tried or do they really not deliver. Anyway all of that to say that this week I have ordered my meat from two different places. I say two different places because this means that I didn't get the chance to speak to the same person both times. But they understood everything I said and I didn't have to repeat or look for another word one time. I did have to ask them to repeat a couple times but not enough to frustrate them. Oh and this may be obvious but its important to be sure you understand that this was done ON THE PHONE. Up till now I have been insanely frightened to speak on the phone in Spanish. Here is what broke that fear. I have a friend who is Mexican she is married to an American man. Her English is good but she is very self conscious of it and because I just don't care anymore how I sound I try my best to conversation with her in Spanish. She is the one we got our cat from and so I had to call her and set up a time for us to go to her house. After getting off the phone I realized most of our conversation had been in Spanish. I didn't realize at first because there was no confusion or repeating. When we did make it to their house her husband told me that she actually commented on how proud she was that my Spanish is so much better. This gave me the confidence to try and order my own meat, well that and necessity. You see our new house is to far from Issacs work for him to come home every day for lunch (I miss him). Before I would hand him the phone and say call now please.... And he would. But now I cant do that and by the time he is off work its to late. So there you go necessity combined with accidental conversations builds confidence. And Im more and more getting to be myself and the person I know I am. ;)
This deserves a drink... to bad Im prego. lol

Just here there and everywhere

Can I do that after just saying I wanted to make my blog easier to navigate. Can I write a stuff post. Well why not its my blog after all and since my mind is full of stuff Ill put it here.
First of all this last couple weeks Iv just been in awe of my online support. I call it this because now that I'm in Mexico even my family is online support. I don't have anyone to come over and give me a hug when I freak out. I take that back my husband gives the best hugs ever and when we were living apart the only one who could match them was my little sister. If you ever meet her give her a hug and your day will brighten while shes hugging you. But now those hugs only come through her writings or her eyes on the web cam. And thanks to a family site my mom pays for I am able to stay up on the going ons of everyone and to fill them in as well. I love the net its been so much help with this whole move and new life thing. But what I find so amazing about the net and something I never thought was possible, is that I have made such close friends. When I was younger and meaning in my 20s I had friends who would talk about people online that they met and how close they had gotten and would talk about one day meeting in person. I was always like how close can you really get to someone you cant sit down with to a cup of coffee and really talk. Well now I know. And thankfully Iv been blessed enough to get to meet a few of them in person and found that I really do get a long with them. Im now pretty convinced that if both parties are being them selves online that you can know if its someone you could get a long with or not. I do wish some of you lived a little closer and that we had time to hang out more but hey such is life. And to be honest even when I lived in the states I only really had one friend who took the time to hang out much (love you Samantha). And aside from the regular banter about our lives my friend Adelina and I do a bible study via skype every week (well we try. lol) and this has made here one of the closest people in my life right now. Isn't that funny that Iv never seen her in person. Sure we did web came one day or two but usually just the phone call on skype but if I have news shes one of the first to find out. Or if I feel like crying I send her an e-mail. I was just realizing today how crazy this is to me and how only like 5 years ago I was a skeptic. You just never know right?

So about my new place, we have been here now for a couple weeks. I must say the niceness of it has not worn off. Even with the few downfalls. I am so content here I cant even tell you. The leaky toilet and fact that I had to tape up the screens doesn't even bother me. Yes I said it I taped up screens. Sometimes a long with blessings comes new challenges. My husbands new promotion has him working 12 hour shifts every day of the week he hasn't had a day off since last Sunday and we are hoping for Tue or Wed. We knew it was going to be long hours and rough for a while so we are taking it in stride. The problem is there are thing this new house needs that I just cant do. Like figuring out a better way to do screens than to tape them. lol I have to re-tape them every couple days due to the dirt but its gonna have to work till hubby has the time and energy to do something more permanent. Thankfully our landlords believe in maintenance and have sent a guy over for the things everyone needs like leaks and the hot water heater. He still has to come back this week and do some more but its nice to know we even have him coming. All our other landlords told us to fix it our selves and no it wasn't coming out of our rent. What a blessing these people are. Really I didn't think this kind of renting existed here. The girls are loving the front yard and pack porch, in the mornings they play our front and in the evenings when its hot I put a tub of water on the patio for them to play in. I can actually mop the floor with out little foot prints showing up all over because they are content where they are playing. Oh and my husband just figured out that there is an extra cable in the play room. We were told that if we hook up our motum to this cable we could use our lap top in there. So out of curiosity he hooked it up to the TV. We don't get any cable channels but we do get the main ones that you would get with antenna, which we have but isn't reliable. So good for him he gets to watch the world cup. Oh and its so much easier to do the trash. The truck actually comes when the bell guy comes through and the girls are on my same level so I can hear them the whole time Im waiting. And now that we have the gate in front its no big deal for them to be out there while Im tossing in the trash. Oh and we have an extra recycling trailer attached to our truck. Iv been having trouble remembering to trow our plastic and stuff in a separate container but Ill get there again. Im excited about that. We also have a little mini supper that is actually better stocked than the old one I was buy. This is a good thing because I never get the truck anymore we are way to far from Issacs work for him to walk now. We are praying for a second form of transportation preferably a scooter for him to use for work. We have no idea on prices so if anyone does let me know.
Wow this post is getting really long but I still have a couple more things to write about. As I think I said in my previous post we found a church close by. Im just so excited about this. I love that its so small and comfortable, I actually went with out Issac yesterday and felt good the whole time. Although Im sure Im still missing a lot of what the pastor says he sticks to the bible pretty close so I get his point and a lot of what he says. And as always because of the repetition in praise music that is usually a given for me. Alana loves the little class, she is going to do so good in Kinder, I cant wait. The teachers at the church told me they cant believe how disciplined she is and how smart. Apparently they played a color game and after yelling out the color in Spanish Alana was teaching them the colors in English. Sorry I had to brag because my heart just swelled up to hear the teacher tell me these things. I was worried that Alanas Spanish wasn't advanced enough for her to do well in Kinder because her English is so good. You can seriously have a regular conversation with her and shes three. But they said they thought her Spanish was great for her age so I suppose she will do fine.
The last thing I was going to type about was the girls. Well there was my bragging on Alana. Joslin is the cutest thing you will ever see. She loves hugs and kisses and is so sweet but at the same time she will come up and strait up punch you in the face with her fist. And when she does she will give you this mean look, that makes you want to laugh. But I don't and I get on to her for hitting but it really is to funny to see her pretty little face all squinched up. Shes a tough one and doesnt let big sister push her around, Im afraid when shes a little bigger it might end up the other way around because Alana is supper sensitive and my little princes drama queen. Its so fun to have two and I cant wait to have three. Watching them interact is so interesting. Joslin now says her sisters name kind of and if she hasn't seen her for a bit will walk around the house yelling for her. She is a great communicator and no longer crys if shes hungry thirst or tired. She just tells me what she needs and we take care of it. Shes still using her sign language of course but you can hear her trying to get different syllables out while shes doing it. Ok I could go on and on like this so Ill stop now. ;)
Oh and I did finally get to the IMMS to make my appointments for my lab work and my ultrasound. They were able to get me in for lab work before my next dr. appointment but my ultrasound isn't till Aug. I will be 6mo along by then and am not comfortable waiting that long. So as soon as Issac gets off work before the ultrasound place closes we are going to go into there and pay for one. They are really cheap and its the same place I used for my gallbladder. This is one of the things with using the public system you may not get things done when you want but there is always a reasonable alternative.
I think that's the end of my random post and I just want to say I haven't been this happy in my life since right after I got married and before Issac left for Mexico. God really is good and is working in my life. Even a year ago I thought this post was a long way off. I never would have thought that I would be so comfortable and happy here this soon. I know it is a lot due to my network of online buddies. Leslie for sure was a big big help. Every since I met her she has given me hope that a white girl can be happy here. So to all of you who haven't moved yet or who have just got down here know it does get better. There is hope. I didn't know a lick of Spanish when I came and that was the hardest part and now I'm comfortable with speaking to people. This is doable and you can be happy. Ok Ill say good buy for now and sorry for such a long post I usually try to keep them shorter but I had a lot to say this time around. Well this took a while and my girls are begging for attention so Im not going to read over it. Hope it wasn't written to badly. lol