The Hospital Tour
The hospital where Little One is planned to be born offered its tour last night, and we went. I'm zwanger and, though once proud of my ability to plan ahead, I'm not planning ahead very well these days. So we didn't have anyone lined up to come with us to help us translate.
Anyway, the presentation started, and I was fairly surprised how much I could understand. It helps to have pictures and the subject matter fairly defined. In fact, the first three sentences (of the 45 minute presentation) I understood perfectly! After that, it did get a little harder, but I did come away knowing a few important facts:
1. The wheelchairs at the entrance of the hospital require a 1 Euro deposit, not 50 cents like the shopping carts at the grocery store.
2. Coffee and tea are readily available throughout the maternity ward. I lost count how many times this was pointed out in the presentatation and on the tour. Nearly 24 hours later, I recall at least 6 mentions of "koffie of thee". The nurses will also serve the typical Dutch birthday cake. I'm glad they put to rest my worries as to how soon we would get to celebrate with biscuit, slagroom, and anise candy.
3. There was a lot of interest in the electrodes that are sometimes used to monitor the baby during delivery. I don't know why.
4. Rest time for the mother and baby is between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. No visitors, not even Dad?!? (I hope I'm wrong on that one.) Nevertheless, for those of you who will be catching the first flight to Holland upon hearing our news, plan accordingly!
5. The hospital rooms for delivery and recovery are quite sterile and VERY hospital-like. Nothing like in some hospitals in the States.
Since these 5 points summarize what we got out of the 90-minute long presentation and tour, we had a lot of questions. Thankfully, I have the nicest midwives in Holland caring for us, and at our appointment today, the midwife I saw cleared up a lot of our questions.
Anyway, the presentation started, and I was fairly surprised how much I could understand. It helps to have pictures and the subject matter fairly defined. In fact, the first three sentences (of the 45 minute presentation) I understood perfectly! After that, it did get a little harder, but I did come away knowing a few important facts:
1. The wheelchairs at the entrance of the hospital require a 1 Euro deposit, not 50 cents like the shopping carts at the grocery store.
2. Coffee and tea are readily available throughout the maternity ward. I lost count how many times this was pointed out in the presentatation and on the tour. Nearly 24 hours later, I recall at least 6 mentions of "koffie of thee". The nurses will also serve the typical Dutch birthday cake. I'm glad they put to rest my worries as to how soon we would get to celebrate with biscuit, slagroom, and anise candy.
3. There was a lot of interest in the electrodes that are sometimes used to monitor the baby during delivery. I don't know why.
4. Rest time for the mother and baby is between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. No visitors, not even Dad?!? (I hope I'm wrong on that one.) Nevertheless, for those of you who will be catching the first flight to Holland upon hearing our news, plan accordingly!
5. The hospital rooms for delivery and recovery are quite sterile and VERY hospital-like. Nothing like in some hospitals in the States.
Since these 5 points summarize what we got out of the 90-minute long presentation and tour, we had a lot of questions. Thankfully, I have the nicest midwives in Holland caring for us, and at our appointment today, the midwife I saw cleared up a lot of our questions.
posted by Beth at 4:04 PM
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