Everyone has been asking me to write about having a baby in a foreign country. Honestly, I was prepared for something culturally-crazy to happen during the labor and delivery of Megan. I know that I am not so good at surprises, so I tried to psych myself up for something weird to happen. Pretty much it all went according to plan, which almost never happens here!

I credit this all to my doctor. I was referred to this ob/gyn by an Australian friend who has since returned to Australia. The doctor is German, speaks English easily and fluently even with my kids, and has been in Chile for four years. He's the father of four kids, which I find a big plus in a doctor. He knows what I am experiencing in my daily life because he and his wife are also trying to raise their family in a strange culture.

Anyway, it was Dr. Buhler who put me in touch with my Swiss-German nurse-midwife and my British-trained Chilean pediatrician. They all let me pretty much do things how I wanted, and it all went very smoothly. Whew!

Post-delivery things got a little weird when I had to move on to the care of Chilean-trained nurses and nurse aids who look after new moms. Chilean women usually stay in the hospital for three nights after having a baby, and these nurses were a little hesitant to let me leave before that time was up. During my two days in the hospital, I also had to adjust myself to the Chilean meal schedule: breakfast at 8:30, lunch at 2:00, and dinner at 8:30pm.

Overall, it was a good experience. At my one-week checkup, Dr. Buhler informed me that he was taking all of July off to travel to Europe with his family, so I would have to see him again in August. "I just have to get out of here, you know?" he told me. "Santiago in the winter is pretty unbearable, what with the cold weather and all the smog." Yes, I know. And it's good to know that other people know too.