A New Experience

Well, after seven months we’re almost ready to meet our baby boy!  This pregnancy has gone by so quickly and we’re thankful that it has been an uneventful one. Now that we’re almost at the end of this pregnancy reality is setting in that we will be delivering this baby in a foreign country!  Thankfully, Cebu is up to date in its medical field and is home to many local nurses and doctors. What we weren’t expecting was the different way a culture deals with medical issues.  Not long after we started seeing our doctor we realized that fathers in the Philippines are not allowed to be with their wives during the birthing process.  The only way around this is to write a letter of permission to the three doctors who will be delivering our baby.  Even then permission is granted only for the father to be with the mother during the actual delivery, not the labor.  This was a shock for my wife and I and it seemed like a great sacrifice until we met another missionary couple who has been living here for years.  They went where few will go and the only hospital they had was nicknamed the “pre-morgue”.  After hearing some of their stories, Elizabeth and I became very thankful for the hospital here in Cebu City!  It’s still going to be a completely different experience but at the same time we realize that we are blessed to have a good hospital nearby.  I will be asking for permission to be with Elizabeth this coming Monday. Please pray that their answer would be favorable.  It’s amazing how different things are from one culture to the next.