I’m sharing a bit of our experience in our hospital stay in FV.  The thing is lots of expats seek information on health care in Vietnam and hopefully, this entry will help answer some questions.  Right off the bat, I’d have to say we had a good experience overall.

On April 16 at 5 PM, we got admitted to the FV Hospital in preparation for my early operation the next day.  Upon arriving at the hospital, we headed directly to the Admissions where I handed my admission card.  The admission officer quickly called one of ’em Man in Black (hehe!) to bring us to the Maternity Ward where we stayed at the waiting area for a bit.  After less than 5 minutes, a nurse brought us to our room and got us acquainted with all the amenities and the bells and whistles in the room.

Our evening meal arrived at 6 pm and our sort of midnight snack arrived soon after.  By 8:30 PM, a nurse came in with the Fetal Heart Monitor to monitor my baby for around 30 minutes.  We turned in early because I was scheduled to undergo operation preparation by 5:30 AM.

April 17

On operation day, 5:20 AM, the nurse came in and woke me up.  I was asked to take a bath in Povidone-Iodine (except the head) and was back in bed by 6:30 AM when I was stuck with a dextrose.

By 7 AM, my mom arrived and our nanny took my son home.  And at 7:30 AM, I was wheeled into the Operating Theatre prep unit.  It took some time (8:30 AM) before I was finally wheeled  into the delivery room because they were still prepping up.

I was still able to talk to my OB-Gyne a bit and then the anaesthesiologist, asked me to sit and then gave me an epidural.  Then hubby came in (with the camera) to be with me all throughout the operation.  I was not put to sleep during the whole operation but I had an oxygen mask on because I had a bout of mild asthma during the night.  My blood pressure was taken every few minutes so I was kept awake by that.  And it was quite harrowing too to see my BP go up as the operation progressed.

By 9:08 AM, my son Rafael Antonio was born.  I was sewn up, cleaned, and then brought to the Recovery Room.  Oh and as soon Rafael was taken to the nursery (after pictures were taken of course), Manuel went with him to make sure he doesn’t get mixed up with the other babies.  But there was no other delivery scheduled that morning so it was really just Rafael in the nursery (all babies are roomed in with the moms).

I couldn’t sleep in the Recovery Room at all next to a guy who was snoring so loudly and another baby crying who underwent an operation (poor baby!).   And really, I was too keyed up — excited to see my baby again!  The effect of the anaesthesia was wearing off and I was shivering that the nurses gave me an electric blanket!  Yay!  After two hours, I could wiggle my toes and I was warm and toasty.  They brought me back to my room together with my son (yes! we were together in the elevator!) soon after.  Those in the hallway waiting for their loved ones get out of the operating theatre were looking on probably wondering what kind of operation I underwent.  But soon, they were all smiles when they saw me reunited with my son (in a bassinet).

I didn’t get to sleep during the whole afternoon at all!  Nor did I sleep well through the night.  The midwives and nurses were all very good to me and my son.

We stayed till the 21st and everyday, the Head Midwife, Dominique would come in the morning and the afternoon to check on me and see if I was able to breastfeed Rafael well.  She’d give tips and would listen and answer all my queries.  Dominique is God-sent because she saw that my son had Angkyloglossia.  On my son’s second night, he got so fussy and wasn’t feeding well.  Dominique told the pedia about my son’s “tongue-tied” that they had him checked out by an ENT.  Hubby brought him to the ENT and the doctor cut a bit (just a tiny bit) of his lingual frenulum.  If left untreated, the baby can have problems feeding and speaking.

Everyday, I was checked by the Head of Obstetrics (not my doctor).  My doctor, Dr. Hieu would also visit me.  Luckily, my wound was healing well and I could go to the toilet the day after the operation and I had no need for the dextrose too.

Praises to Dr. Didier for supporting me in my decision to breastfeed.  He’s my son’s pedia and wasn’t too worried about Rafael’s loss of weight.  I was still recovering and was still getting my milk supply up.

While it is normal to lose 10% of the birth weight, my son went a little overboard (11%) .  The other pediatrician was quite alarmed and wanted me to supplement with formula milk.  I really, really want to exclusively breastfeed this time around (my eldest was mixed fed).

It came to a point that they had to weigh Rafael after every feeding — which is probably an SOP but was quite stressful in my part.  But I understand they only want what’s best for my son.  I had to give in to let them feed Rafael formula once but after, I asked them not to do so anymore.  They just asked me to sign a waiver that I refused to give my son the bottle.

After a week, Rafael is .100 kg shy from his birth weight.  Hopefully, he’ll get his birth weight back in week 2.

I’m happy to report that we’re exclusively breastfeeding and I truly, truly pray we can keep this up for as long as we can — probably up to 18 months like my eldest son.

Thanks FV Hospital for all the care and assistance.  I kid you not that the midwives and nurses were all so nice.  I couldn’t remember all their names but I only have good things to say about them.  So, so grateful!

P.S.  The food in FV hospital was delicious too!