Oct 14, 2018 – the day I became a mother. I woke up early with light contractions and started making pancakes for Sean bc it was his 30th birthday – about 12 hours later I was holding Ezra in my arms. In the blink of an eye my identity expanded and ‘mother’ became a role forever imprinted on my being.
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I’ve often been asked what it was like to have a baby in Saudi. Although I don’t technically have anything to compare it to, I tell people it’s basically the same as the US, except more affordable. ☺️ Saudis have lots of babies so I was never worried about their ability to provide a safe labor and delivery experience.
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I had Ezra and Abel both at Dr. Samir Abbas Hospital in Jeddah, which is a private hospital dedicated to women’s wellness and baby delivery. It opened less than a year before I had Ezra so everything was new and clean, and the staff was eager to please.
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The delivery room was spacious with all the labor assistive stuff – birthing ball, birth support rope, birthing tub, etc. – and the recovery rooms were bright and beautiful with floor to ceiling windows and motorized blinds. Sean was allowed to be with me throughout the whole process. The nurses were sweet and attentive and, with the blessing of our doctor, we were able to do what we wanted in the delivery room (lights off, wireless monitoring so I could be mobile, snacks). Overall, the full cost was around $6000.
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The hardest part about having a baby here (for us) wasn’t related to hospital care or cultural differences; it was the emotional aspect of doing all this without our family. We all have expectations of what the milestone moments in our life will be like – and usually having a baby involves family visiting in the hospital (flowers and balloons in tow) marveling at the precious new addition to their clan. Facetime is wonderful but it doesn’t fulfill the aching we have for our family to experience the beauty of our little creatures in person – the smiles, coos, and powdery baby smells just don’t translate through the screen.
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It’s hard, and a major sacrifice we’ve made for living overseas…but I’m learning that sacrifice and motherhood go hand in hand. ❤️
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