Greg's been after me for a while to write about my experience going through my prenatal care and birth with Luke at the German hospital. It was definitely a 180 from my experience with Julia and from most people's experiences so here it goes.
We found out we were expecting on our 8th anniversary, May 22, 2007. While Greg and I were both really excited I was a little nervous about where the baby would be born. We had our first prenatal appointment (more of a consult) at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the Army hospital down the street. Needless to say the nurse at LRMC did not give me the warm fuzzies. In fact I walked out of there in tears. I was really torn as to where to turn next. Greg looked into the possiblility of me going home to CA to have the baby. My biggest concern with that is that he would miss the birth. So we were off to St. Johannis, the local German hospital also in Landstuhl.
When I met my doctor, Dr. Buchler, at my first appointment I was kind of shocked. He's a bit of a hippy and wears birkenstocks most of the time. Looks can be deceiving though and his bedside manner could not have been better. He reassured me that all was well and showed us our first pictures of little Luke. The technology in the hospital was second to none. My prenatal care was fantastic. I had ultrasounds, including the 3D version at every appointment and the staff was amazing and caring.
When I was about 7 months along we took the tour of labor and delivery. This was a huge shock. The hospital where Julia was born in AZ was like a resort. This was nothing like that at all. There were contraptions of all kinds in the room (i.e. birthing balls, strange things to hang on and a weird bed that didn't look like a bed at all). There were bathtubs in a couple of the rooms as well. I was okay until they told me that all the recovery rooms were shared and there are no curtains in between. Talk about no privacy. Also, the Germans use olive oil instead of wipes to clean up the baby's poop. I was really upset again on the way home. It was just too unlike what I was used to. At that point, I really didn't have choice. I should have skipped the tour...Ignorance would have been bliss.
On to the delivery and after care. Luke took his time coming. We walked and walked and basically did everything to try to evict him, but no luck. Finally one really cold Tuesday night I started having contractions and they came fast and furious. We were really worried about the ice on the roads and getting to the hospital in time so we headed down the road to St. Johannis. It was quiet in the delivery area. Just us and one other American couple. They hooked me up to the monitors and checked the dialation then we were free to do whatever we wanted. I chose to take a nice relaxing bath. I would later realize that this would be the reason I would not get an epidural in time. The bath was so relaxing that I had no idea that the contractions were getting closer and closer together and more and more painful. By the time I asked for the epidural it was too late. Luke was born about 45 minutes later, drug free! The midwife was amazing!!!! Dr. Buchler didn't expect Luke to come so quickly and didn't end up making it to the birth.
I was moved into my hospital room about 2 hours after Luke was born. It was a shared room and even though Luke slept soundly, the other baby in the room screamed all night long!!! I didn't get one once of sleep even though I was exhausted. I finally fell asleep in the morning and in came food, then cleaning people, then nurses. At the point I was about to lose it I was moved into my own room.
Once I had my own room things were amazing. The nurses pretty much left me alone unless I needed something. Luke and I were able to spend lots of time bonding and cuddling. After Julia's 20 month stay in our bed I swore I would never sleep with another baby, but there I was cuddling Luke in my bed all night. A nun brought me my meals and oogled Luke. The staff was absolutely amazing in every respect.
I can honestly say that having a baby in a German hospital was an amazing experience that I will never forgot. Before Luke was born I could have gotten on a plane, left Germany and never looked back. Now I will always have a little piece of this place with me.
I leave you with a list of the differences between having a baby in an American hospital and a German one.
1. In Germany there are no hospital gowns. I labored in yoga pants and a tank top.
2. There are no traditional beds for birthing. They are designed to give birth in various interesting positions
3. Oil olive instead of wipes.
4. Babies are swaddled in towels and cherry pit bags are used in the bassinets to keep them warm.
5. The nurses are really hands off. No interrupting sleep for vitals, etc.
6. I had to bring all of my own toiletries, including towels and hand soap. Nothing is provided for you except the basics.
7. Dinner was cold cuts and bread served around 4 p.m. Thank God for the refrigerator in the room and my amazing husband to bring me munchies.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember at the moment.
We found out we were expecting on our 8th anniversary, May 22, 2007. While Greg and I were both really excited I was a little nervous about where the baby would be born. We had our first prenatal appointment (more of a consult) at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the Army hospital down the street. Needless to say the nurse at LRMC did not give me the warm fuzzies. In fact I walked out of there in tears. I was really torn as to where to turn next. Greg looked into the possiblility of me going home to CA to have the baby. My biggest concern with that is that he would miss the birth. So we were off to St. Johannis, the local German hospital also in Landstuhl.
When I met my doctor, Dr. Buchler, at my first appointment I was kind of shocked. He's a bit of a hippy and wears birkenstocks most of the time. Looks can be deceiving though and his bedside manner could not have been better. He reassured me that all was well and showed us our first pictures of little Luke. The technology in the hospital was second to none. My prenatal care was fantastic. I had ultrasounds, including the 3D version at every appointment and the staff was amazing and caring.
When I was about 7 months along we took the tour of labor and delivery. This was a huge shock. The hospital where Julia was born in AZ was like a resort. This was nothing like that at all. There were contraptions of all kinds in the room (i.e. birthing balls, strange things to hang on and a weird bed that didn't look like a bed at all). There were bathtubs in a couple of the rooms as well. I was okay until they told me that all the recovery rooms were shared and there are no curtains in between. Talk about no privacy. Also, the Germans use olive oil instead of wipes to clean up the baby's poop. I was really upset again on the way home. It was just too unlike what I was used to. At that point, I really didn't have choice. I should have skipped the tour...Ignorance would have been bliss.
On to the delivery and after care. Luke took his time coming. We walked and walked and basically did everything to try to evict him, but no luck. Finally one really cold Tuesday night I started having contractions and they came fast and furious. We were really worried about the ice on the roads and getting to the hospital in time so we headed down the road to St. Johannis. It was quiet in the delivery area. Just us and one other American couple. They hooked me up to the monitors and checked the dialation then we were free to do whatever we wanted. I chose to take a nice relaxing bath. I would later realize that this would be the reason I would not get an epidural in time. The bath was so relaxing that I had no idea that the contractions were getting closer and closer together and more and more painful. By the time I asked for the epidural it was too late. Luke was born about 45 minutes later, drug free! The midwife was amazing!!!! Dr. Buchler didn't expect Luke to come so quickly and didn't end up making it to the birth.
I was moved into my hospital room about 2 hours after Luke was born. It was a shared room and even though Luke slept soundly, the other baby in the room screamed all night long!!! I didn't get one once of sleep even though I was exhausted. I finally fell asleep in the morning and in came food, then cleaning people, then nurses. At the point I was about to lose it I was moved into my own room.
Once I had my own room things were amazing. The nurses pretty much left me alone unless I needed something. Luke and I were able to spend lots of time bonding and cuddling. After Julia's 20 month stay in our bed I swore I would never sleep with another baby, but there I was cuddling Luke in my bed all night. A nun brought me my meals and oogled Luke. The staff was absolutely amazing in every respect.
I can honestly say that having a baby in a German hospital was an amazing experience that I will never forgot. Before Luke was born I could have gotten on a plane, left Germany and never looked back. Now I will always have a little piece of this place with me.
I leave you with a list of the differences between having a baby in an American hospital and a German one.
1. In Germany there are no hospital gowns. I labored in yoga pants and a tank top.
2. There are no traditional beds for birthing. They are designed to give birth in various interesting positions
3. Oil olive instead of wipes.
4. Babies are swaddled in towels and cherry pit bags are used in the bassinets to keep them warm.
5. The nurses are really hands off. No interrupting sleep for vitals, etc.
6. I had to bring all of my own toiletries, including towels and hand soap. Nothing is provided for you except the basics.
7. Dinner was cold cuts and bread served around 4 p.m. Thank God for the refrigerator in the room and my amazing husband to bring me munchies.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember at the moment.
Soon I'm going to try a post on what it's like to live over here as an American. You might be suprised at the differences!
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