From the moment you get pregnant in Israel,每个人都会问你是否要呆在梅洛尼特，or the baby hotel.Melonitis a full-on hospital that functions as a high-end hotel,充满了苗圃和员工，还有卡布奇诺咖啡机和新鲜糕点。当面临是否留在那里的问题时，我从来没有得到过答案，因为在美国，公共和私人邮递服务之间没有选择；on the surface,婴儿旅馆充其量似乎是多余的。
随着我的截止日期越来越近，这个问题越来越频繁，我开始觉得这个婴儿旅馆对我来说可能太放纵了。However,在我出生后的几个小时里，I was certain that I would be heading there as soon as they released me.
我们欢迎我们的儿子，Yuval晚上11点36分到世界各地。on a Saturday night,在接下来的两个小时里，他躺在我的胸口，nursing,盯着他看。凌晨3点。by the time we were settled in the recovery room,and we were beyond exhausted,工作了18个多小时，一整天都没有睡觉。我花了一点时间才意识到我并不孤单在我的房间里，but rather that I was sharing it with two other women,这种分享明确地意味着我的丈夫和孩子都不会和我一起睡在房间里。
As this was my first child born in Israel,我不知道分娩后的协议。我参观了医院，seen the delivery room,显然忘了问重要的问题。我躺在床上，护士转向我丈夫，给了他选择：回家或坐在候诊室的椅子上，直到早上7点。
很明显，这些选择已经到位，因为这是一家公立医院，尽最大努力为以色列所有的新母亲提供住房，and that not every woman wants random men around as she recovers from labor,but this logic only revealed itself after overreacting,sleep,还有咖啡。
医生早上6点到。测量我的血压，基本上把我从睡眠中唤醒。I brushed and washed and waddled my way down to the nursery to find my baby and take him back to my room.当我把他抱在床上的时候，一个护士走过病房，大喊大叫，"Breakfast,ladies.起来吃吧！”
Unlike my experiences in the US,there was no menu,and no delivery of food or hot beverages.如果你想吃东西，you had to get your sore,疲惫的身体下床了，没有护士或伴侣的帮助，roll your baby in his plastic bed,去公共用餐区吃他们提供的任何食物。
While this felt excruciating in practice,in retrospect it was fascinating to be surrounded by a dozen other new mothers,他们的孩子，以及他们的家人和朋友。病房里弥漫着自制食物的味道，新生婴儿的声音从每个角落回荡。Grandparents cooed and welcomed their grandchildren to the world in mixtures of Hebrew,Russian,法国人，and English.If I had been sequestered in my own room,我在美国的时候，我不可能知道以色列社会的缩影。
下午2点之前，my husband arrived after a short sleep,两次托儿所接送，and a trip to the market—with some homemade food of our own.After checking the baby at the nursery one last time,我们沿着两条长长的走廊走下去，基本上从我在夏令营的第一个夜晚穿过，来到了一个五星级的度假胜地。
代替瓷砖地板和冷水浴室，婴儿旅馆装饰豪华：美食，单人房，哺乳顾问，以及为新父母开设的无休止的课程。从我们进入婴儿旅馆的那一刻起，we were indulged with the best service we have ever experienced in Israel.接待迅速专业，食物健康可口，房间很干净，配备了新妈妈需要的所有东西，包括一张可换的桌子，婴儿浴，refrigerator,微波炉，tea kettle,淋浴（甚至坐浴盆！），and free goodies ranging from a Carter's onesie to lotions and diapers.
Once I arrived,我没有再想我留在那里的决定。Despite the high price tag,the梅洛尼特is so highly utilized in Israel that you are lucky to reserve a spot and not permanently remain on the waiting list.像其他以色列妇女一样，比起和陌生人分享做母亲的最初几天，我更喜欢独处和洗澡。
我不仅休息了整整两天，但我把时间集中在离家（读：洗衣）和两个大点的孩子之外，to bond with Yuval and recover from the labor.不仅如此，I am aware that both the public and private options afforded me excellent healthcare despite the differences in comfort,为此我深表感激。
Read More:
After Struggling With Infertility,我对怀孕感到内疚
As a Mom Who Suffered From Infertility,母亲节苦乐参半
