Pregnant in Burundi

Fast-forward from April, I am now 3.5 months pregnant (15.5 weeks to be exact!!!) and went today for my first blood work.  Clinique "La Misericorde" (personally, I can't come up with a way to pronounce it that doesn't sound miserable) is near the public garden in Bujumbura and has the reputation of having the best lab in the city.  Many expats get their bloodwork done there, pick up the results and take them to a doctor for analysis.  When we took Wim for blood work about a month ago a cat walked in while he had the needle in his arm (a decent distraction), but otherwise it seems nicer than other places.

While waiting at the reception to pay (one always pays first and then takes the receipt to the lab for the blood draw), the husband of a VERY pregnant woman cut in front of me, which I found fine considering her size.  She looked at least 40 years old and quite tired, while her husband looked not a day over 30 years and very spry.  They did not interact until he started digging in his pants for the payment.  Even though he had an honest-to-goodness man purse around his neck (necklace-style), he went down so deep I think he must have had a pocket on the inside of his underwear.  No wonder the Burundian Franc bills mostly look/feel dirty and/or wet.

I picked up the results at 5pm tonight and will take them to the doctor in the morning, assuming I get in to see her.  Given the number of pregnant expats in Buj, there's really only one doctor people trust and you don't make appointments to see her.  As at all doctor's offices, you get there early and wait - hopefully they come to work!

But all in all, being pregnant in Burundi is pretty great.  The food is really healthy and fresh, the weather is great, swimming is always possible, there are tons of young families, an ultrasound costs $12, and it's both fun and economical to have clothes made to fit, which I've been doing a lot of lately (right now they're pregnancy clothes but just imagine - in 2012 I'll have nursing clothes made-to-fit!).

Of course, I do need to qualify the above statement as coming from a seriously privileged expat point-of-view.  I can't confirm that the woman in front of me in line this morning felt the same.  Burundian women have an average of 6.2 children and the majority are not born in a hospital.  I see pregnant women walking down our hill with a basket of avocados on their head, a baby on their back, and a child by their side heading for the market.  How does one survive morning sickness like that?!  At least I get to throw-up into a normal toilet that flushes away the yuck.

The national monument at the end of our street is situated in a large park, which is maintained by a group of women, primarily widows, from the neighboring hills.  I'd estimate that it's roughly the size of 2 football fields and these women groom it with nothing more than hoes and their hands, most often with babies tied to their backs.  Their slightly older children (1 - 2 years) sit in the shade nearby.  The weeds are pulled by hand, the rocks lining each pathway are straightened by hand, hoes are used to keep the gravel orderly.  Maintaining this park requires a lot of bending over and knowing how hard it is to simply put on shoes when I'm really pregnant, I am seriously impressed.  For most Burundian women, being pregnant doesn't mean a break from the ordinary.  They keep cultivating their fields so their other children can eat, hauling water, cooking over charcoal, washing by hand, and then breast-feeding in the shade.  Whew.

I am seriously lucky.  And I need to remember that the next time I'm desperately craving box macaroni and cheese with crunched up Cheez-Its on top.  (If you haven't tried it, I HIGHLY recommend...)