China vs. USA…which is a better place to give birth?

It is after midnight right now and I am up because I have baby on the brain.  Adam and I went to Ikea yesterday to pick up a few baby things and as long as we were in Shenzhen we decided to go out of our way by about 30 min just for some Mexican food and Duncan Donuts.  At the Mexican restaurant there were 2 couples with babies having dinner. Since we had been working on our emergency plan (more on that later) I decided to rudely interrupt their dinner and ask them where they delivered (I know…not the best dinner conversation).  One of the ladies delivered in Hong Kong in the same hospital I plan on delivering and the other lady delivered in Shenzhen in a Chinese hospital (SCORE!!!).  Within 30 seconds I had their contact information and they had mine.  I was offered a place to stay if I needed it and they both offered to come see me in the hospital and bring me food or whatever I may need.  I know that any of my friends back in the US would do the same for me but how many people would offer a complete stranger a room in their house?  This is my absolute favorite thing about living overseas, especially in a place like China.  When you see another foreigner you know what it is like to go from a cushy life in the States to living in a place where the majority of people can’t speak to you and stare at you as if you were an alien, a place where you can’t find things that are familiar to you, and a place that is far from your family and close friends.  Strangers become your family instantly.  Even though my emergency plan is a little (ok a LOT) more complex then say if I lived a mile from the hospital and had neighbors I could call to help me get to the hospital, I have a support system made up of people from all over the world who are willing and ready to do whatever they can to be there for me…not just help but really be there.  In fact not only do I have some “stranger friends, who are like family” in Shenzhen but I have a support team in Hong Kong ready to meet me at the hospital if Adam is in Huizhou.  How many people do you know that have met you once or twice are willing to travel an hour to be your birthing coach?  I also know that if I happen to be in labor at the same time my mom’s plane lands (by the way she is coming in the beginning of April) I know I can ask my Hong Kong ladies to meet her at the airport and take her to the hospital.  I know that my trip won’t be the easiest especially if Zachary decides to come before I move to Hong Kong (but he and I have discussed this in great detail and he won’t dare come before my 36^th week). 

I have written in great detail how wonderful it is that I am pregnant and not working.  I so would have been fired with good reason for my inability to do my job.  God knew what he was doing when he allowed me to become pregnant while we were here.  I am so blessed that I was unable to find a job and even more blessed that because of the benefits we have from Adam’s company I don’t need to bring home any money.  Not only that but I am able to afford to have someone come and help with the chores a couple days a week…and to overpay her, because honestly she has been a lifesaver during pregnancy and before I became pregnant she helped scrub the black off my floor and the oil off everything in my kitchen (the old apartment).  I can also afford (which I haven’t decided yet) to have more help around the house after the baby is born.  My freezer can’t fit pre-made meals; our grocery store doesn’t stock anything that makes it easy to cook a decent meal (no frozen lasagna, no hamburger helper…not even boneless chicken breast or any decent form of beef).  My friends don’t have ovens where they can cook a meal and bring it to us.  So I may have someone come and help with laundry and cooking after the baby comes.  I would much rather have quality time with my little boy then put him in the bouncy seat while I try to make a decent meal (which will be necessary due to breast feeding). 

So back to comparing this experience to the experience I would have in the states…incomparable.  Not easier, not more difficult…just different.