So... I wasn't going to post about any of these, er... events individually, but now that they have all happened within about a week, I think it's a sign...
STORY 1: It's no secret that a lot of public urination goes on in Rio. During Carnaval it takes place even more. You know, it's normal - the drinking, the outdoors-ness. No, sorry I don't understand it. Oh you really really just "had to go"? Yes, I am familiar with the concept being that I am now more than 30 weeks pregnant... trust me if I can hold it, so can you. Yes, I realize that there are a lack of public washrooms, but frankly, no one wants to see or smell you do it... Can you tell I saw a few too many people partaking in this over Carnavale? According to this little piece in OGlobo, the city of Rio is using 120 thousand litres of disinfectant to combat this... situation.
STORY 2: Continuing on the topic... then, at Carnaval, I was handed a little envelope as I entered the premises. After we got settled in, I checked it out. See the photos below:
Understand the directions? It's a device for women to direct their urine (so they can pee standing up). How nice for the Sambodromo to provide us with this technology!
Back home, thanks to a girlfriend's stagette (bachelorette party) ... I am familiar with such devices. The brand of choice is called the "Freshette" and at my friend's last celebration of singledom, which had an out in the bush theme since we were in rural BC, a freshette was purchased for her as a gift/dare.
After reviewing the Freshette website I see there are many benefits to using such devices... check it out here.
STORY 3: This surely falls in the TMI (Too Much Information!) category and also in the completely mortifying and pretty disgusting categories... but like I said - I didn't intend to post about any of these incidents individually but now that they've all come together it does make for an interesting blog post... and also a head's up to anyone who's pregnant in Brazil. And posts like this also make me happy that this blog is fairly anonymous ;) Okay, so consider yourself warned.
Being pregnant, I frequently go for blood and urine testing. I noticed that the directions for the urine testing are much more "thorough" (meaning diagrams and everything) when it comes to the pre-urine cleansing or wipe-down that is to take place, as opposed to back home where they sometimes just give you a wet nap type thing or something to use beforehand. Ok, so no big deal. However, last time I went for testing, when it came time for the urine test, the nurse had me lay down on the table, get into the stirrups (so that she could ensure the "pre-urine cleansing" was done properly - yikes!) and then after that MADE me pee in a cup she was holding WHILE I was still in the stirrups at the lab. I was SURE that it was a language barrier issue at first until she showed me some MORE detailed instructions with drawings and everything. Yes, I had some major stage fright.
It should be noted that I have talked to a few people about this and NO ONE back home has ever heard of anything like this, and people here who have been pregnant in Brazil have not necessarily gone through this either, depending on which lab they used. So I'm not saying this is a procedure that is followed in every Brazilian lab, I'm just stating the facts of what happened to me!
Recent Comments