As if child birth wasn't a rough process already...

I am currently writing this from the kitchen because Octavio is spending the afternoon sleeping in our room after getting zero hours of sleep on a concrete sidewalk while I enjoyed a solid 7 hours in a comfy bed.  Why, you might ask?  Because his sister was having a baby of course!  Wait...I should probably explain that.


So Octavio's younger sister was due to have her baby towards the end of this month and went into labor Tuesday.  They took her to the hospital outside their home town but her blood pressure was high and the doctors were worried they were going to have to preform a C-section and weren't equipped for that so they sent her to the hospital in Veracruz City about 2 hours away.  Octavio got a phone call explaining all this from his dad and he went straight into big brother mode and started worrying up a storm.  We were going to wait to meet the newest baby girl until they got home to Tres Valles but he was worried and then his other sister called and said they might need him to give blood (more on this in a bit..) so we hopped on a bus (so handy to be able to do that!) and made our way to Veracruz City.  We met his dad & oldest sister in the parking lot of the hospital and right away I could tell I would need some things explained to me about this whole process.   Holy smokes, I have never seem so many people in a hospital!  I got overwhelmed just standing outside!  Well it turned out his sister had had her baby at 4 AM on Wednesday morning but no one had been able to see her or the baby yet (as of noon on Wednesday)  No one is allowed in the area where the women give birth, all the families have to wait outside until a social worker comes and gives them news or tells them they've been transported to the maternity floor of the main hospital.  So we waited.  And waited.  And then waited some more.  I watched nervous fathers jump at the sound of their wives names being called and race over to the door of the hospital for any news of their wives and new babies. In between the waiting we went to the blood bank (a really fancy sterile looking building with a bunch of rooms for donating blood) because since Octavio's sister went to the government hospital her stay was free but someone had to donate blood as a form of "payment." (there's really no none creepy way to say that)  I liked that part because I was thinking how I don't mind giving blood but I sure hate paying bills! (Well, my mom sure hates paying bills...) Octavio's blood failed the test because he was still getting over an infection and his white blood cells were low but they gave us the sheet of paper we needed anyway.  His sister added that to her folder of official looking papers that she was gathering in order to get her sister released from the hospital when the time came. We then went back to waiting outside but tookbreak to get dinner then headed back to the hospital by 6:00 before the next round of news was announced.  They told us everything was fine & she and the baby were healthy but they were just waiting on a bed to open up on the maternity floor to move her.  When it became clear that wouldn't happen anytime soon Octavio's aunt took her sister (who had spent the previous night on the sidewalk outside the hospital with her dad) and I to her house 20 minutes away.  Octavio decided to stay and keep his dad company outside the hospital as they waited for more news.  I was lucky enough to be able to go to his aunts house, shower, enjoy a dinner of Domino's pizza and sleep in a real bed.  Octavio, on the other hand, spent the night on the sidewalk outside of the hospital.  His dad was able to sleep (probably because he was exhausted from spending the previous night on the sidewalk as well) but Octavio stayed awake the whole night.  At 11:00 PM the social worker came out & told them his sister had been moved to the maternity floor and gave them a pass to her dad could go bring her some things she might need but he couldn't stay to visit.  He then returned to his "cama de piedra" as he jokingly called it or "bed of rock" for the night.

The next day Octavio's sister & I woke up at 6:30 AM to get back to the hospital.  The masses of people from the night before were still there spread across the hospitals front steps and sidewalks reminding me slightly of what I imagine a refugee camp might look like.  One man was complaining because his wife was ready to be released the previous afternoon but didn't have his paperwork completed and the correct copies of certain official documents and the hospital couldn't release her without everything.  He was complaining because no one told him what he needed to do and wasn't aware of the entire process because in his smaller town the hospital just does it for you.  All I could think while watching him was 1) how frustrating that must be to know he could have been home the day before with his wife & new baby 2) how pissed his wife probably is sitting in a hospital after giving birth waiting for her unorganized husband to get his act together and 3) how that would totally be me fumbling around not knowing what to do.  I'd be doomed.

We ended up leaving before getting to see his sister & meet the new baby because it was going to be until at least 4:00 that afternoon before they let her go but the doctor said it would probably be the next morning because they wanted to observe her more and make sure her blood pressure and everything was stable before they let her go so Octavio & I basically gave up & went home deciding to see her later this month in Tres Valles. 

Hence, him sleeping right now while I type this!