The Private Hospital and Two Beaches

First thing Monday morning we set out on the quest to check out the private hospital. We left in the later morning and successfully  found our way up the roads to the somewhat secluded hospital. It takes about a 15 minute drive from our house, and hopefully Tony can remember the turns. Upon arriving at SAM's (St. Augustine's Medical) we found the window to the driver's side window once again stuck and not rolling back up... yayyyyy.... We would call Shawn again later today. We went in to the hospital and found the lobby completely full of people, all foreigners from what I could tell. We approached the information desk and they nicely asked us to fill out a form with our information required for registration and that someone would come to talk to us.

After less than 5 minutes, a lady approached us and invited us back into her office. Well, really it was a patient room- she said there was a meeting taking place in her office, but there was AC and the room looked clean. She patiently talked to us about everything on the form and asked us questions about our OB and possible pediatrician options. She was from the UK but highly recommended 5 pediatricians that all frequented the hospital for births. The administrator was a very knowledgeable lady that was very helpful and patient with all of our questions. In fact, she highly recommended the SGU insurance because they will cover everything except $250 USD. Can you imagine?! Only $250 to have a baby... Wow that will help out a lot.

After the initial meeting, she showed us the second floor of the hospital where the maternity ward was. There was one delivery room which was air conditioned and had a shower and tub available. There was also, from what I saw, only one operation room available as well. I guess when you're that small of a hospital you only need one. Ha. Then she showed us the shared rooms. They each had a TV and air conditioning unit. Yayyy A/C. I cannot tell you how happy that made me. They cover the bed sheets and hospital gown, but everything else I have to bring (which I previously knew from contacting that girl that had a baby on the island). There was also a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet, again it all looked clean.

When we left the hospital we felt pretty good. The visit had made us feel comfortable and valued. Sure things are different than that in the US, but we knew they would be. They don't have the massive corridors or loud-speakers with doctors and nurses busting their butts off, but that's because they didn't have anything going on at that time. 

I think with all of our research, all of our doubts and worries, all of our prayers and asking for comfort, we were finally able to feel excited to have our baby here. No, it won't have a NICU, but we knew that. No, the hospital won't give you all of the pain meds and comforts like those available in the US, but we knew that too. It does however, provide a safe environment where you really are the only one the staff is taking care of. Now as long as this pregnancy goes smoothly, like we feel it will, our daughter will be able to have a safe entry into this world. Any and all prayers are still welcomed though ;)

After the hospital we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. When we got out, our car was dead. Yes, once again the IGA mysteriously killed our car. Tony called the mechanic, as previously planned, and explained the now worse situation. Shawn showed up in 5 minutes and discovered the battery wires weren't hooked all of the way on. Whew at least it was an easy fix, but he did take our car again later that night to work on the window and air conditioning. We went to the SGU clubhouse pool though for about 3 hours that afternoon to cool down.

Tony made an Ariel bra.

Tuesday day was pretty uneventful except that we checked out the Grand Anse beach, just beside the IGA. It's about a 5 minute drive from our house. It's the beach that puts Grenada on the map with one of the world's top beaches.

We eventually drug Bear all the way into the water. It was a little upsetting for him, but I think he secretly liked it.

That night we hung out with friends, Reed and Katie. It was nice company with a great home-cooked meal.  The really fun part was getting home. We started walking (we're about a 5 minute walk), and it started sprinkling. Oooh, we better hurry we thought. It ended up downpouring on us, much similar to the first downpour I experienced when I went to China. There were buckets of rain falling accompanied by wind so that you couldn't see where you going and had to cover your face with your hands so that you just see your feet. Even if we had had umbrellas the wind would have broken them. Don't worry, the rain ended just as we were coming up our driveway. Haha. We were completely soaked to the bone. It was actually a lot of fun though just because we knew it had to happen sometime.

We were really lucky to get before and after shots haha.