Labor Day

I am a first time mom so I can never really compare giving birth here in Germany to the Philippines. But i can really say that the decision of giving birth here in Germany was one of the best i ever did. The hospital is just 5 minutes away from our home. so on a rainy Friday of the 29th of July 2010,when i saw that there was a little blood mark on my underwear,i told my hubby that we must go to the hospital immediately.i was really thinking that in a few seconds after that i would already give birth hehe...so we rushed to the hospital.we have been to this hospital a week before becausemy hubby said we must be able to familiarize the place. Krankenhaus Porz am Rhein was for me, the cleanest and most advanced. (http://www.khporz.de/)

when we arrived there,we were greeted by the friendliest team of doctors,nurses and midwives. when they checked me and my baby,they told me my baby's heartbeat has gone slower.and so i must come back in the afternoon so they can check me again.they said one reason must be that i am already few days overdue.i was really scared thinking of what could happen to me and my baby.so we went home and hubby has to go back to work.he asked me if i want company in going back to the hospital.but i said i can manage alone. i really acted brave but deep inside i was soooo scared. so i went back at 4pm the same day.when the midwives(hebamme as they call them here) tell me i am already in labor and that i must stay in the hospital so i will be ready to give birth,the first thing i said was,'can i borrow your phone?, i need to call my hubby' ... after that i was told to go to the rooms area and to look for the nurse-in-charge. when i saw her,i gave her my documents and then she immediately showed me my room. she cannot understand any english,and i cannot understand any german.i guess you know what that means.hehehe...

so when she left me in my room,i had the time to see how clean,big and comfortable it was. the toilet was remarkably clean,really clean. it also has a television and a small refrigerator.and what makes it more beautiful is the view outside of the window.



and so i rested for few hours before i have to go back to the clinic for another check-up.the clinic is located just in the same floor and is just few walks away. so when they had to check me again at 7pm of the same day,i am already near delivery.they told me i must walk up and down the hospital stairs or even have a walk around the hospital with my hubby so the delivery would be easier for me. and so i did what they told me. i did few walks up and down the stairs as i waited for my hubby to arrive. so at 9m when hubby was there,i could already feel the indescribable pain.yes really indescribable.i have to beg the hebammes to give me special pain reliever. normally,visitors are not allowed to stay overnight but with pregnant women giving birth,they usually allow hubbys to be there with them.so my hubby was there the whole time and witnessed the pain that i have to go through. i had a long labor. the day after, July 30, 2010,they have to give me a pain reliever to be injcected on a part of my spinal cord.when you are in a hospital in Germany,everything and everyone is available so when they see that i need to have a special doctor for the pain reliever,he is immediately there. the process was explained to me before it was done.so after all,it was not a scary thing.

so few minutes after that,should i say few sweaty and breathtaking minutes after, i already hear our little baby's cry. it was not easy,but when you hear and see your first born,it will be worth it.

Filipina giving birth in Germany

PRENATAL CHECK-UPS

The idea of giving birth in Germany for an alien like me is really the last thing i would do. it would be best to give birth in my homeland Philippines where i am comfortable with all my relatives especially mom around. but circumstances gave me no choice. so when i was 8-months preggy with my baby,i was on a flight going to Germany.that way the best choice for my hubby so he can be present when i give birth,and for my my baby and her german citizenship.

So when i arrived, my hubby immediately looked for an ob-gynecologist(frauenartz as they call them) nearby. and so we got someone whose clinic is just 5 minutes away from our house.and that someone is a 'HE'...yes, you got it right,my ob-gynecologist is in the opposite sex and worst is i must see him once a week so he can check it down there regularly hehe. as much as my hubby would want me to be comfortable, woman ob-gynecologist in Germany is not common.

for weeks,i was able to feel at ease with him though. the doctor's clinic is not really a typical one you see in Pinas( i was saying this as a comparison to my first and second trimester doctor's visit in Pinas). when we got in, we were immediately greeted with their staff. and they checked if we have an appointment.unlike in Pinas,here they are particular with time and your scheduled appointment.so it means you don't have to spend the whole day there waiting for your name to be called. Then whey have checked that we indeed have an appointment,they let us  go to the waiting area where cozy seats,huge aquarium,reading materials and some clients greeted us. it is usual here to greet everyone (example, Guten Morgen which means Good Morning) even if you don't know them. Their clinic also has its own laboratory.so it means,urinalysis,baby scan,heartbeat monitoring and all others are done in one same place.

the beauty of Porz, Köln

Porz (German: Köln-Porz) is a city district or Stadtbezirk of Cologne, Germany. It is situated on the right side of the Rhine in the south-east of the city. Porz is the largest borough of Cologne by area at 78,87 km² and has 107,500 inhabitants.
Porz borders with the Cologne boroughs of Kalk and Innenstadt to the North, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis and Rhein-Sieg-Kreis to the East and South, and the Rhine to the West. On the other riverbank lies the Cologne borough of Rodenkirchen.  (info extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porz)

Porz has the greenest of green

a beautiful landscape

beautiful forests

beautifully lined trees

river

and big buildings and busy streets....


technology meets nature, that is how i can describe my beautiful town of Köln or Cologne in Germany

things that amaze me in Germany

Germany amazes me in so many ways.
1) they are using the most advanced technology you can ever imagine,yet they still were able to keep the beauty of nature intact. you would understand more when i say, when you step out of a huge building,you still get to see a lot of trees around. from where we live, malls are just a few steps away,yet the fresh river is also just nearby.
2) when i went to the pharmacy to buy something,i was surprised to see a computerized machine handling all the orders,instead of a warehouseman or a stockman.
3) whenever you are in a pedestrian lane and about to cross,cars would stop for you instead of you stopping for cars.
4) you can just order online and they would send it to your address few days after even if you have not paid yet (no COD or payment before delivery thingie)
5) germans are not camwhores(hehe), they will never stop what they are doing just to smile to the camera
6) furnitures are delivered in pieces, and it come with a manual as a help for the buyer for its assembly
7) and the list goes on and on....

my first time to step on a German ground

Last June 13,2010, i arrived in Frankfurt, Germany with 3 kinds of baggages along with me. First was the checked-in baggage,second was the one i handcarried,and the third and the most important was the 8-month old baby inside my tummy. It was not an easy flight for me,aside from being pregnant,leaving everyone i know for 30 years behind was the saddest thing that i did.But because of the reality that i got married to 'the' German that i fell in love with.
And so i arrived in Germany at 6 in the morning of that specific day. For a first-timer in a foreign land,Germany airport is realllllly different,i can really spell DIFFERENT in big letters from where i come from. I can really say that i am the 'ignorante' pinay roaming around.hehehe.My husband was really amused.Here is why:
1) The temperature is way too cold, it is like when you are in Pinas and you are in SM or in Ayala.
2) Doors will open by themselves for you, everywhere even in the toilet.
3) Most signs are written in German,god help me.
4) No one is speaking english,god help me more.
5) You cannot see security guards around.
6) Everyone is busy and no one seems to care about you and what you are doing.
7) And we get to ride the longest,fastest train i have ever seen.