In all of the different things we have experienced, especially having a baby here, many of them fell into a “medical” category. Again I will say, we try to tell you about things that are true of Korean culture and not just our isolated incidences here so you get an {semi} accurate view of life in Korea.

I also feel the need to apologize if I repeat myself on here; I can barely (read: don’t) remember what I had for dinner last night, so remembering all the things I have already told you is basically out of the question (and going back to reread what I have already written is also not going to happen).

Now that you have been fully disclaimed, here we go…

MERS protocols

When we moved here last June, it was right in the middle an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS). We didn’t know what that would entail as we moved here, but we were prepared to avoid public and stay home if advised. The outbreak was not severe here in Korea, but precautions were taken. At that point we didn’t know what the “norm” was vs. what was just because of MERS, like taking our temperature before entering hospitals and government  buildings. I had just started to think it was normal as I made my weekly visits to the hospital for my prenatal checkups, but after about three weeks, the temperature-taking checkpoints were gone.

Pre AND post pregnancy rules

Bless the women that tried to tell me I needed my birthday steak well-done (Asher was 1-month old). We were confused because while in the States it is common to cook meat well-done etc. when you are pregnant, after you have the baby, a delicious medium-rare steak is fair game. The waitress explained that in Korea people still don’t eat the restricted foods right after baby is born, but that for me, since I was a foreigner, they would serve me medium-rare. The Lord must have been watching out for her, because if she tried to tell me {on my birthday} that I had to eat my delicious Brazilian steak well-done, I may have had to fight the woman, and we all know I still had all the crazy new mama hormones coursing through my veins, so there is no way I’d lose that fight.

This is our standing policy on steak doneness.

Scarring

I was greatly amused (and shocked) when at my first post natal checkup after my c-section I was given a prescription for scar cream for my incision. Let’s just say the scar my incision leaves below my waistband isn’t even on the spectrum of my concerns of “getting my body back”.

Korea is leading the world in plastic surgery and is extremely conscious of scarring or any imperfections. As a P.E. teacher I was told that if a student ever gets a cut or scrape, especially on the face, that I am to send them immediately to the nurse so that scarring can be minimized.

100 days

Let the record show, we make really bad Koreans with this unofficial rule especially. We are pretty crazy even by American standards in this respect, as Judah was at his first wedding at 7 days old. Don’t worry, he was just a guest. 🙂

In Korea, it is believed to be best if babies are not taken in public until they are 100 days old. So when we took Asher out to dinner with us at 5 days old in a desperate attempt to celebrate our anniversary while my dad was still in town to babysit, we got a lot of looks and comments. They would say “IS IT OKAY FOR HIM TO BE OUT??!!”. By some miracle we restrained ourselves from the many sarcastic comments that came to mind. Good news, Asher survived. It was this post c-section mama that almost died…but then again I’m sure they have suggestions about me being out, too.

Bedside manner

Or lack there of… This may just be because my nurses didn’t speak English, but the sure didn’t waste any time by telling me what was about to happen and I darn near almost dropped my brand new baby when they went on about their business checking my incision after my c-section.

or any reason to use a Downton Abbey meme…

Full Service Care 

Or lack there of…It is quite common here that at the hospital you are expected to have someone with you to do what nurses usually do in the states. The family is not just there for moral support, but they are the ones responsible for taking care of the basic needs of the patient. In many of the rooms there are pull out cots for your family to stay and care for you.

Shoe wear

Or lack…ok, i’ll stop. But really, I was shocked to see that it seemed to be acceptable for medical staff to wear opened toed shoes with socks. Let’s be honest, it is neither safe, nor fashionable. In the Labor and Delivery area, anyone entering would have to take off there shoes and put on a pair of the provided sandals, and then when you would enter one of the patient rooms, you take off your sandals and leave them at the door. I just can’t even imagine taking of my shoes in a hospital room in the States.

HIPAA 

I have no official knowledge on what privacy standards are here, but as tight-lipped as things are in the States I have been surprised to be in situations like waiting in the X-ray techs office while they take my kids x-rays, meanwhile patient info is laying out. Also, in the states there is always strict rules on taking pictures or videoing x-rays or ultrasounds, I assume for liability, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

Prescriptions

It is common practice here that when you are sick and go to the doctor they will give you 3-5 days of medicine maximum. If you are still sick, then you go back to receive more medicine. This was a big shock to us as we are used to getting something more like a 12 day prescription of antibiotics. Also here instead of pill bottles, they give you paper pill packets that are sorted into morning, afternoon, and night! So handy.

When the boys need medicine, we get separate bottles of their meds along with a small empty bottle and often a packet of powder. For each dose, we combine the prescribed amounts of each medicine into the empty bottle and add one packet of powder. It’s not really better or worse, just different.

Well there you have it…lots of stuff you never knew you wanted to know. Feel free to thank me later.