"In the end, my hospital stay was barely over 24 hours — a success in my book. Would I recommend it to a friend? It depends on the friend." Tico Times Managing Editor Jill Replogle shares her experience giving birth at Costa Rica's Hospital Calderón Guardia.
Chila's baby is the first ocelot born in captivity here and reason for boasting. Ocelots are on the endangered species list; these small spotted cats are losing ground as their territory is given over to encroaching urban life.
Like sea turtles that navigate across oceans to lay their eggs in the exact same spot where they were born, and in spite of not having been born in Costa Rica, I knew that I wanted to give birth surrounded by familiar faces, in my mother tongue and in the country that I called home.
