Today I decided I would try to be more independent. I called a lady who will teach us Spanish and set up an appointment for our first lesson. Feeling quite confident (ignoring the fact the teacher spoke English), I decided I should try to call an schedule my next visit to my doctor. I made sure I knew what I wanted to say "Necessito una cita con Dr. (his name) por Lunez." I think she understood I wanted an appointment for Monday with the doctor. She asked me what type of an appointment. I told her 23 weeks obstetrical in Spanish, I think. She asked my name. I spelled it using my Spanish for Dummies guide for letter pronunciation. She got the last name but never got the first name so I just acted like she did and figured my last name was good enough. She asked me when and I told her after 4pm.

Then she asked me some questions I did not understand. She eventually said wait (esperar), something about 15 minutes (quince minutos) a bunch of other words and then there was click. I never got an appointment time. I think I frustrated her pretty bad. So the moral of this story is just because you know what you want to say does not mean you will understand the answer or be able to respond when someone speaks back. This is an every day occurrence but I was hoping I could get an appointment. I will have to have my friend call to see what a mess I made and try to straighten it out.

I was 18 weeks pregnant when we met our doctor for the first time. He is very nice. He does not speak much English but understands most words. With my limited medical Spanish we were able to communicate some. Our friends came along and were able to help translate a lot.

His office was in a building with many other types of physicians. Each office was just a door in a hallway. Outside of the doors were a few chairs for waiting and a secretary's desk, if he had a secretary. Behind the door to my doctor's office he had a very nice desk and chairs for two people. Behind the desk was a partial wall. There were two exam tables behind the partial wall. He did not have a nurse or assistant, so he took my weight in kilograms and pounds. Then on the first exam table he took my blood pressure and used a doppler to hear the fetal heart tones. Next he moved me to the other exam table where he performed an ultrasound. Actually two ultrasounds. He had tried to record a dvd for me to take home and it did not work so he tried a second time. The second time did not work either, but he had other patients waiting so we needed to go. We spent at least 45 minutes with him and for the whole process he only charged around $30 dollars.

Two other differences I noted in the care given where the lack of routine urine dips. He asked me if I had symptoms of an infection but did not check my urine. In the states they routinely check for glucose and protein. He stated that at 24 weeks he would recheck my lab work. This brought up another subject. I am Rh negative. In the states at 28 weeks and then within 72 postpartum Rhogam is given. I asked him if he would give Rhogam at 28 weeks. He stated only if I wanted it or my Coomb's test at 24 weeks came back positive. He stated the reason for both of these differences was that it is a poor country so things are done differently. I am okay with that. But I did not ask if him if he heard of an asymptomatic urinary tract infection. At my next visit.

That is quite a change from the States. Not to mention the amount of time and price for the doctor visit. The ultrasound which could cost $1,000 in the U.S.A. Even though this is a private doctor, there is quite a difference when insurance companies are not controlling prices in a country.

From my understanding there are three different types of health care you can receive in Mexico. One is the public system for the poor or those without a way to pay. This would be equivalent to a county hospital in the states. But much worse from what I hear. I guess it depends on your county :). These prices are much cheaper. The second is a hospital that working people can go to. The government pays for this hospital. I don't know if the employers contribute some how or not. The third are private hospitals run by individual physicians or groups. These anyone who has the money can go. I will try to find more information on this subject, perhaps my doctor will be able to explain at my next visit.

Mark wrote about the yellow house by Sam's Club. It is my favorite so I wanted to add a little about it.

It is very clean. The walls and floors are all white so that makes it look even more clean. It is the first house with a dishwasher, a pea green one as a matter of fact. I guess that dates it around 30 years old. So maybe it does not work. The master bedroom in this house has its own pink bathroom, Mark did not like it but it reminded me of my best childhood friend's bathroom. It had a lot of pink in it. This house is probably more than we need but it is very nice and if we could get it for cheaper it would be really really nice.

There are two more houses in the same neighborhood neither are not listed with a realtor. We looked at one of them yesterday. It was very nice. It had four bedrooms. The master bedroom even had a jacuzzi in the bathroom. It had two water heaters and a hook up for a dryer. All three of those things seem to be rare. It also had grass in the back yard. Grass itself has to be worth $200 in rent. There were also two apartments in the back yard and an outdoor kitchen. A lot of house for $850 a month. Tonight we go and see the other house. It is much smaller 3 bedrooms and 1 bath for around $425 a month. It may be the perfect one, if we can get the price down and sneak in another bathroom. I would like to have at least two bathrooms for when the baby comes and all our family is here.