The Waiting Room

My friend Maria moved to the capital a few weeks ago, just weeks before she was supposed to have her third baby. She asked me if I could be there with her at the hospital when she got her C-section because she didn’t have anyone else who could come and look after her. I was honored that she’d asked me and made the 3 hour trek to Santo Domingo.  

I arrived after 5pm and ate the lunch they’d saved for me, then they took me around town. We went to China town and the historical district.

The next morning Maria, her oldest kid, her husband and I all went to the hospital early in the morning. The doctor she had consulted with twice told her to go to the emergency room of the hospital on that Wednesday at 8:30 am. That’s what we did but the doctors in the emergency room told her there wasn’t enough surgical gowns to operate on her. By 1pm Maria got one of the doctors to sign her name on a list so she could get a C-section the following day.

So once again, early in the morning, Maria and I went to the hospital. This time we went at 7am. When we arrived at the emergency room the main doctor told her that there wasn’t enough surgical equipment to give her a c-section and that the doctor who’d signed her up on the list didn’t have any real authority. While Maria complained and made some phone calls, I sat in the waiting room. They wouldn’t let me go where Maria was so all I could do was wait. At noon I saw her get rolled out in a wheel chair. The nurse made her give all her belongings to me. And then I waited some more.

By 5:30pm I was starting to get worried because I hadn’t heard anything. I started to ask around to find out when they were going to let me see my friend. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to and that in the capital they don’t let people stay the night to look after patients. (Maria had invited me to the capital because she thought she needed someone to stay the night in the hospital like they do in La Vega). That’s when a nurses aids did me a favor and went and found out that Maria had gotten her C-section. Then he took me back to see her even though visiting hours were over. (He later asked for a small amount of money because of the favor he’d done for me).
It was good to see her but I was only allowed to visit for 30 minutes before I got kicked out. Not exactly how I pictured the night going.

The next morning I hung out with Maria’s mom, kids, and husband. Visiting hours are only from 1 to 3 so we got there right at 1pm. Unfortunately they don’t let kids under 13 into the hospital to visit, so I spent most of the visiting hours outside with Maria’s son. Again, not really what I’d expected but it was fine because Jesus Adrian and I played lot of games and met a lot of people. Then finally I got to hang out with Maria and her new baby Greisy Angelina!