One step forward, two steps back

Where I come from we are normally scared going to hospitals. Not just because of the whys but also because of the whats - doctors and nurses can be really scary. They do not look at you when they talk to you or when you talk to them, and when they take blood sample they can be brutal (ask my dad for his experience, he can spend half an hour with you), and yes, they just don't care. We have this joke among friends - when you go to doctors at a hospital, it is very likely that they do not know whether you are a man or woman by the time you leave - because they are not even bothered raising their heads when they talk to you.

Anyway, enough said about my horror stories in Hong Kong. I had my first (and possibly only) baby in Winnipeg this year, she came out three months earlier than she was supposed to. The night that she was born, I was under the impression that I would lose her anytime because she was 14 weeks premature and weighted less than two pounds. I had her at the HSC at about 8pm on a Sunday night, then she was taken straight to the NICU at the Children's Hospital.

She spent almost nine weeks in NICU, I went there everyday as if it was a full-time job. Each day I would need to pump twice in the morning (yes, she could not and still cannot take milk on the breast), grab something to eat before rushing to the hospital so that I could kangaroo care her. I got to know almost all the nurses at NICU. Each day I had my dinner at the hospital, I read my paper at the Ronald McDonald’s Home at the 3rd floor at the hospital, and I talked to complete strangers and we ended up praying for each other's family. Thanks to the NICU team, Alice, my precious baby, grew from a tiny baby to now a big baby (she is almost 13 pounds now)!

Back then Alice only had a 50 percent chance of making it, she would NOT be around without this team of amazing health care professionals. They told me I had to be prepared for setbacks, she may progress one day and then two steps back the next day. It was easy to say, but whenever Alice had problems, it was nerve-wracking. During the time that Alice was there, the nurses and doctors did not just save Alice, they helped me too. They would talk to me and ask me how I was doing everyday, as they knew I was in the city alone without any relatives. They were practically my 'family'.

You may not believe it, but to me, Winnipeg is next best to Heaven, it really is. If you don’t trust me, come to Winnipeg - or read my blog, then you will know why.