And now the conclusion of my parents’ story giving birth in Costa Rica and the fate of Nick. If you’ve missed their tale it begins at Missionary Travel Stories.
The next day we went to visit our doctor. I wasn’t worried about having our first baby in Costa Rica because I spoke Spanish and felt at home in Central America. I believe Dr. Cabezas was Costa Rican, but he spoke English and had studied in the States. I liked him and felt very confident immediately. He worked at the Latin American Mission Hospital, (I believe its name was Clínica Bíblica). Someone here in the States asked me if my children were born under very primitive conditions, but that was definitely not the case.
Hal got busy right away to build a changing table for our new baby. It was just the right height for me, and we padded the top to make it comfortable. I wrote elsewhere that we never got to use the changing table because the first time I put our newborn baby on it, she almost jumped off.
As I said, we got to our new house on Thursday night. Sara was born on Tuesday night, or actually very early Wednesday morning. I was only in the hospital a few hours, I think it was five. Dr. Cabezas stayed with me the whole time. Sara was born breach (bottom first) and the doctor told us later that a Caesarean is customary in such a case, but he was confident it wouldn’t be necessary, and it wasn’t, for which we thanked the Lord.
The story of our trip from the States to Costa Rica began with Nick, our bird dog pup, and I’ll end it with him. My parents wrote us that the bus driver did indeed take him to the Bible Institute where they lived. They, as well as the students, immediately fell in love with him. We were looking forward to making the necessary arrangements to take him with us from Managua to Costa Rica in December, as we planned to visit my parents during the Language School Christmas holidays. But . . . Alas! One of the students left the yard gate open and Nick went out exploring. He came back with a little puppy in his mouth. My dad scolded him, so he ran back out with the puppy and we never saw him again. Hal says of all the dogs we have had over the years, he still remembers Nick with the most affection. He was such a loveable dog that I like to think he found a happy home with someone who cared about him.
Wow….what an adventure….or should I say “adventures”?!
Thanks so much for sharing ~ I really enjoyed reading the account of your missionary travels = )
I need to get Esther to make a correction but don’t know if I’ll find her right now. My internet has been down for a couple of days. Anyway, I said I was only in the hospital 5 hours–I hope everyone knows I meant until the baby was born. Actually there at that time it was customary to stay in the hospital FIVE DAYS after the birth of a baby. I didn’t need that long, but at that point, I was very happy for the rest!
Thanks for clarifying, Freida!
I was wondering if you were one of those “super” women who recovered from their deliveries quickly ; )