A taste of home for Ukrainian OB patient at Palmer

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A taste of home for Ukrainian OB patient at Palmer

It had been a long, harrowing journey for Halyna Fytsyk. The mother of three children and her husband needed to get out of Ukraine quickly as Russian aggressors pushed into her country and made the life they were used to living no longer safe.

So, they left everything behind and fled to safety via two other countries before finally reaching the United States - and more specifically, Postville, Iowa. Doing so alone would be difficult; doing it with three children could be nearly impossible.

Halyna also did it while pregnant.

"We just felt it was in the best interest of our family, for our children, and we decided to take them to somewhere safe," Halyna says over the phone through an interpreter. "Our friends also helped us a lot. They became our sponsors, and we moved as part of a Uniting for Ukraine program."

The move to the United States has, not surprisingly, been challenging, especially filling out the necessary paperwork to put down roots in a new country - all while navigating a language barrier that's made it that much more difficult. But the Fytsyks haven't had to do it alone.

"We've received a lot of help," Halyna says. "Everyone around us is very helpful."

And while establishing their new life in Postville, they were also preparing to welcome another child to their family - in a city where they knew no one and in a hospital system she'd never experienced. But one person amongst many at Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital in West Union - where Halyna chose to give birth - made sure she felt welcome, comfortable, and connected to her homeland.

A common bond

Shyla Taylor, who's worked as an environmental assistant at Gundersen Palmer since January, moved to West Union from Oregon, where she had taught art for behaviorally challenged teens. At her school, an English-as-a-second language classroom sat across from hers, and it was made up of a large contingent of, amongst others, Ukrainian students.

"They would greet me every morning in their native language and say goodbye to me every afternoon," says Shyla, whose family, including her grandfather, is from Ukraine. "I'm the first generation in my family not to speak (Ukrainian) fluently."

But Shyla can speak enough Ukrainian to get by, so when she made her daily housekeeping rounds through Halyna's room, the two would visit and bond over their shared heritage. Sadly, that wasn't all. Shyla shared that she had lost five family members in the war with Russia.

"You could see her eyes get a little misty," Shyla says of Halyna when she heard that revelation. "She told me about her and her husband and three children having to walk for miles and miles to their destination - Poland and then to Ireland and then to the United States. I told her I have such great respect for you and your husband wanting to give your children a safer environment and I'm so sorry that you've lost your home."

Shyla's grandfather, too, lost his home, and the only thing that remained was the front door, which he shipped back to the United States - and made into a dining room table for Shyla.

A baby, a celebration, a meal

One thing Shyla misses, she told Halyna, was her grandfather making plov - a Ukrainian recipe that consists of rice, meat, vegetables and herbs - for various celebrations. He'd cook it for hundreds of people at his church, and as much as Shyla enjoyed that meal, it's one she never made herself - until she met Halyna.

"I thought, 'I'm going to do this for this young lady,'" Shyla says. "I don't know if she's had it since she's been to the States or not."

Shyla made a large batch of the dish, enough to feed both Halyna and her family. Unfortunately, her husband wasn't present for the birth because he was home with their other children, so the food was boxed up and sent home to them.

"I made it and brought it in, and I was so excited to share it with her," Shyla says. "She got a little misty-eyed again, so I gave her a squeeze and I told her, 'I just want you to know how strong and what an inspiration you are because I can't imagine myself doing what you've done.'

"You've entered my heart, and I just want to say thank you."

So how did she do?

"The meal was great, and I was full before going into labor, so I had the energy to do that," Halyna says with a chuckle.

It was an unexpected gesture, Halyna says, but it was a very important one in her eyes.

"People were so warm. I felt very welcome, and I felt as if I was home," she says.

Added Shyla, "There's nothing more satisfying and peaceful to a person when they're in a strange area than tradition and traditional foods. I know plov is a traditional meal for celebration, and this was a celebration."

'I didn't feel alone'

Despite the uncertainty of welcoming her fourth child in a foreign country on July 20, Halyna could not have been happier with the care she received at Gundersen Palmer Lutheran.

"In general, all of the medical professionals, all of the personnel, were super friendly," she says. "It was my first time in a foreign hospital, and all their explanations were helpful. They walked me through the processes, and I didn't feel alone. I didn't feel on my own."

While she was apart from her husband during the birthing process, Gundersen Palmer staff were her people.

"I was just talking with him on the phone, so the whole medical personnel, all the nurses, midwives were actually my only support there," Halyna says. "I feel like they really had my back, and they helped me a lot."

But now she's home, taking care of Sofiia while continuing to do what she enjoys, such as cooking for her family. Her husband is working, and her older children are enrolled in school and doing well.

"The children love being here," Halyna says. "They're learning the language, and they've found some friends already, so step by step, we are getting settled."