Clinic hopping

Sorry you're going to get all the pics first. Blogger has changed something and I can't seem to organize them around my text...

The virgin Mary and Jesus looking over me as I recovered from my C-section.

Right before surgery and the arrival of Zion. I look happy, but I'm not actually too thrilled this is all happening.

First day of a short-lived bed rest stay in my own home. Yes, that is Natty's bib. And, my bedpan...

Mommy and Natty are resting. Pretty sure I got a sponge bath this day so I'm looking pretty good. :)

The golden thumb in the entrance to the Garden Clinic.

The pool. Can't imagine it ever got warm enough to be used.

The reception desk. Used to be the bar and floating dance floor.

Natty entertains herself with videos.

Well, my slow days on bed rest before Zion came often brought the desire to blog, but because I had to have my feet up higher than my head, I found the angle very awkward for typing. So, I'll take the time now to give a little tour of clinics. We'll start with Talentum- the Garden Clinic. This lovely retreat is nestled between the major highway running through the south zone of La Paz (the part of town closest to us) and the road that leads up to Mallasilla. It was fantastically close to the house compared to most of the nice clinics in this city and boasted a beautiful yard, swimming pool and various plants, trees and flowers. The clinic actually used to be a home that is now converted into a plastic surgery site and is somewhat frequently used by my doctor, who has some type of friendship with the surgeon who owns the place, for her patients who need less medical care and more rest. Because my main purpose in those days was to be on my back, she decided that I should at least enjoy good care by the attentive and friendly nurses and a beautiful view out my sliding glass windows of the sky and the greenery. It was a godsend, to be sure. There was cable, there was wi-fi, there was a menu with steak!, there was the treat of seeing outside, and there were 2 nurses who worked hard to keep me comfortable all hours of the day and night. I also had an incredibly large bathroom, that I wasn't able to get up and enjoy, complete with walk-in closet, whirlpool tub, and large shower. The benefit of the place once being a home, I suppose. There were also 2, tasteful topless women framed in pictures hanging in front of my bed. I quickly got tired of them and decided they were not a part of the decor I wanted for my temporary residence. Nobody seemed to miss them when they were gone. Natty loved to come and walk out on my porch, play barefoot in the grass (which is a very rare luxury in this arid and cold city), pick up unripe plums that had fallen from the tree, stick her hands in the cold pool and watch videos. I had tons of visitors to make the time pass a little faster but constantly on my mind was the uncertain future of what would happen with my baby. Every other day seemed to bring a new scare, even after I had undergone the procedure to sew my cervix closed, the contractions returned and the days extended longer than originally planned. And yet, I was content to do whatever it took to keep that little boy inside. I even got excited about what little projects I might accomplish once I was home and able to sit up, knowing that I would not be off strict bed rest until the baby came. God's perfect plans were different however and my doctor continued to reassure me that those 9 days made a world of difference in Zion's growth and strength. I am so thankful for that.

So, after a wonderful day and a half of reclining in my own bed, I was back in the car headed to a new clinic- The Virgin of Asuncion. Here there was no menu, there were no attentive nurses, there was no outside view, there was no tub, there was just the very basics...but also what my doctor considers to be the best NICU unit. The rest of the clinic impressed me so little that I have a hard time believing her, but must trust because this is where my child must stay. At least our good friend is a doctor there and he actually pumped air for who knows how long into my baby's lungs when they collapsed.

So, there is a little tour of my life in La Paz clinics. How happy I am to be home!