Baby Belly Pictures Week 11-16

Paul and I have been taking weekly baby bump pictures for fun!  Here are the 1st 6 weeks of pictures.  From now on we'll post a new picture every week.  Paul thinks I grew a lot between ween 15 and 16.  I'd like to thank Thanksgiving for that growth spurt!  Enjoy!!

Day after Turkey day....growing growing growing

Thanksgiving was another hit this year. Since it was my 3rd year doing the entire meal from scratch things felt more organized and easier. Past years it took me 3-4 days to make the meal. Now I am down to 2 days. Day before Turkey day I make all the desserts and rub the turkey down my herb and salt rub. The big day I make the stuffing (which takes 2 hours) potatoes (another 1 hour) cranberry sauce, string beans, carrots, croissants, gravy and the main dish TURKEY. I feel like this years turkey was the nicer than the birds we've had in 2008 and 2007. I cooked for 8 hours straight yesterday. My girlfriend Roshan came over around 3PM to help and I can not thank her enough because just having another set of hands to peel vegetables and someone to catch with while cooking was relaxing.

Paul had to work, which some of his co-workers thought it was funny that he was at work on an American holiday, but for him he'd rather save the vacation days for another time. (and we only have 1 day left to use this year!!!)

Well the meal was amazing, Paul did an awesome job carving the turkey, and I think I ate more food in one sitting than I did in an entire week in my 1st trimester. My tummy never felt so happy to be filled with yummy sides and delicious turkey. Plus my amazing pumpkin cookie and pumpkin pie (I had a piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast this morning!!!)

Some things I've noticed this past week are that my hair and finger nails are growing at warp speed. I'm happy about my hair growing fast but not so much about the nails. I shouldn't complain though because I hear after the baby is born both of these positive pregnancy symptoms disappear...and I loose a lot of hair (so I'm told)


This week our baby is about the size of your palm, weighs around 5 oz, and is starting to accumulate baby fat. And our baby's heart is regulated by it's brain (no more random beats) to beat 140-150 beats per minute...that's twice as fast as my own heart!


Another new pregnancy symptom that's starting is forgetfulness and clumsiness. I drop things all the time, my bag, umbrella, ipod, phone, books. And sometimes I'll be on my way downstairs to get something and by the time I get to that room I have forgotten what it was I went in for. It takes me a minute or two to remember. I feel like I'm going crazy some days!!

24 things I'm thankful for

I only came up with the number 24 because that's my age. I know there are 1000's of things I can be thankful for, but here are some of the important ones.

1. My husband/soon to be daddy. He is my other 1/2
2. Our baby "coming this May"
3. Family
4. Friends
5. technology, without it we could not keep in touch with our family and friends
6. Music
7. yoga
8. health
9. traveling the world
10. being debt free before buying a home
11. being happy
12. opportunities to sing
13. determination to run 10k
14. weekends
15. a high school and college degree
16. growing up in the NJ countryside
17. sunshine...here in Rotterdam the winter doesn't see much of it
18. Great love stories
19. Teachers, I have some great ones
20. Kindness of strangers, a nice conversation or helping me lift heavy luggage
21. weight watchers teaching me how to loose 30lbs
22. being able to speak multiple languages
23. holidays with family
24. Today

Got my shots

So I ended up being scared into getting the swine flu shot. For some reason only pregnant women in The Netherlands are getting this flu. And they are the top priority of getting the shots. Yes I said shots. I went on Wednesday to my doctor for the shot and was told I have to come back in 3 weeks to get round 2. For some who hates needles, I was not happy to hear this. So December is looking to be a busy first half of the month with doctors/midwifes/ultrasounds, ect ect ect. But we want to get all of these appointments in before our big holiday trip back to America.

I can't believe I'm almost in my 5th month of pregnancy. I don't want to rush things but time sure is flying by. Next week I'll be a busy bee with preparations for Thanksgiving. Paul is working, but we have kept this tradition of making a big dinner for 3 years now I'm very impressed with how much my cooking has improved since year 1.

Other than the swine flu shot, nothing new or exciting, I didn't fall down, my leg is still bruised up from last week, but healing slowly. Also my appetite is 100% back, but I still need to be careful, I need to eat healthy or my body hates me. But sometimes it's just so hard to say no to french fries and all the holiday stands that are popping up with yummy treats. I've also been using the excuse "it's okay I'm pregnant" way to much. I am very curious how much weight I've gained just this week, my diet was not a good one, even Paul noticed how much crap I ate. He told me before I was pregnant I wouldn't even eat that much junk in 1 month and I did it in 1 week. But I don't think eating a small fries from the French Fries stand every other day is bad. I make sure I eat a vegetable an fruit too!

Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast, Ashley

   This week Ashley fell off her bike just outside of our house.  Everything is okay except Ashley banged up her leg.  Although the pain that she felt in her leg makes it very clear that an anesthetic free birth is out of the question.
   We also spent this weekend searching for new clothes.  Her tummy is starting to show and she needs shirts that can fit her.  We are looking at some of the maternity clothes but it is hard to find things functional and fashionable that Ashley likes.  We will probably have to pick up a lot of clothes when we are home for Christmas.  Nothing says Maternity like WalMart.

movin' around to much

I just found out through my reading that I could begin to feel our little baby inside me. They say for first time pregnancy's it will take a couple more weeks to understand the kicks on the baby, not mistaking them for hunger pangs or intestinal gurgles. Of course me being the person I am have started paying attention to EVERY little movement that happens inside my belly.


Yesterday I did something dumb. I went for a bike ride to my doctors office to sign up for the Mexican Flu shot since it's mandatory for only pregnant women. For some reason only pregnant women are getting Swine flu here in Holland...great news for me! But anyway, I was on my way home and as I pull between two cars to stop near the sidewalk. My feet loose control on the ground and I fall off my bike and land on my right knee. It was so painful I had to hop myself to my door and examine my damaged knee. Very cut up, and bruised but I was able to move it. I was a little worried about the baby, but landing on my knee with nothing hit my belly I thought I would just wait until Paul got home to see if I needed to go to the doctors. After a couple hours of ice and rest I felt sore but more confident that nothing was wrong with baby.

I also figured out why I am feeling sick after eating dinner. AND I think we also solved the mystery of why I am burping. So while I am home during the day I have my routine of house work, practicing, errands, and an eating schedule. But for some reason I wait to long between my afternoon snack and dinner and I am starving for dinner. So I eat way to much food and eat it way to fast causing an upset tummy and pockets of air that I swallowing causing me to burp.

So yesterday I began this new meal plan. I ate small snack like meals all day every 2 hours. And I felt great, the burping wasn't completely gone, but I can handle a couple, it just gets out of control when they feel like the hiccups, but in burp form. But I must give this new meal plan time to sink in, like any diet it take a week to get on a new routine. Maybe with these smaller meals I can begin to gain weight. So far I've gained nothing, but I feel like the fat I already had on my body is moving around, my belly has never been rounder, can that even happen??

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

14 week Midwife appointment

This morning at 8AM we had our 2nd midwife appointment. I'm no longer excited for these appointments because we do not get to see our baby on screen, we only get to hear the heart beat, which is fabulous because it eases my mind that something might be wrong.

The appointment was rather boring, we got there 10 minutes early they saw us right away, and then our midwife for this appointment read me our test results from the blood work that was done in week 6. One thing I found exciting was learning my blood type (0 positive for all of you as curious as I was) But other than that I am a perfectly healthy pregnant lady. The test results did say that our due date might be off by 1 day (new date is May 12th) BUT I am still going with May 11th. I like it for sentimental reasons.
Well now Paul and I have zero appointments until week 18. I'm looking very forward to the next ultrasound at week 20. I keep having dreams about the baby. Every other night the sex of the baby changes in my dream. It's driving me nuts!

Slowing things down

      Ashley is really starting to feel the changes in her body.  She wakes up feeling sore, like she was at the gym all day.  We have found that we also need to takes things slower.  Going out to the store was normally not a big problem but we have to be sure not to do too much.  We are starting to see a little baby bump forming and of course it is most obvious when clothes start to feel tighter.  Ashley hasn't really gained any weight but I guess everything is just being moved around.
      We have also been clearing out a lot of our stuff to make room for the new baby furniture.  We reorganizing clothes and closets and throwing out a lot of stuff.  It is a little difficult because we are only going to be here a few more months after the baby is born, so we are trying to balance setting up a nursery with not being able to use it for that long.  Anyway, as things start to take shape, I am sure we will post some pictures.

To flu shot or not to flu shot

Pregnant women are at the top of the list to get the seasonal flu shot and this years H1N1 (swine flu) shot. But for some reason I feel very apprehensive about getting either of them. I'm going to wait until next Monday to make my final decision when Paul and I have an appointment with our midwife. But right now my heart is set on not getting any flu shots. I've never had a flu shot before, so I'm afraid of what might happen if I do get one. I'm not scared of getting sick. I know December is always that time of year when a cold gets to me, but I think as long as I am careful I can stay away from sick people and keep myself healthy. PLUS swine flu is not as big in the Netherlands as it is in the UK or USA. If I were living in either of these countries than I'd probably be telling a different story.

Week 13

This week our baby's vocal chords are being developed. Lets hope baby gets mommy's so he can sing one day!!

Our baby is 3 inches long and about the size of a peach. But starting this week the baby will either take a faster pace or slower pace at growing (all babies are different)

This week I've been feeling really sore in my abdomen. The ligaments that surround my uterus will stretch in the upcoming weeks to accommodate our baby, and this stretching often results in what is called round ligament pain. Round ligament pain is fairly common by 13 weeks pregnant, but can be alarming. It usually presents as a brief but sharp or stabbing pain in your abdomen.

vitamin drama....and an ultrasound

So the last 10 days I have not taken a prenatal vitamin because the current ones I had were making me sick. I of course wait to tell Paul this after it's been 7 days, I should have told him right away to get his advice. He suggested I get a new brand that I can cut in half. Take 1 in the morning and 1 before bed. I used to get stomach aches from regular vitamins so I rarely took them because I hated the side effects. I am hoping it was just the fact that the old prenatal vitamins were store brand from a vitamin store. This time I'm on Centrum prenatal. Cutting them in half also making swallowing the horse pills easier!


Last night I had my second ultrasound appointment. Paul came home from work early to drive me. The drive over I always get nervous, my mind starts to wander into the dark side thinking about all the possible things that can go wrong. But Paul always reassures me nothing is wrong. And he was right. Our baby was right on schedule. About 2 inches long. While looking at the baby I asked the technician if he could tell the sex of our baby yet, even though I knew this would just be a guess I wanted to hear what he thought, for myself I've thought it's a boy from the very beginning. So the technician did his measuring and close ups and told us that right now he would guess that it's a boy!!! A BOY!! But, that it's still very early and he'll be able to give a better opinion in a couple weeks!

This is so exciting that my prediction might be right. Now back to the waiting game. We won't see our baby on screen again until 20 weeks....ugh that seems so far away right now. It's right before we fly back to the States for Christmas!

Week 12 Pictures

Week 12: Last week in the 1st Trimester!!

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Our baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, they say if I prod my abdomen, our baby will squirm in response, although neither myself or Paul will be able to feel it. The intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into the abdominal cavity about now, and the kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder. Ewwww to gross to think about!!!

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in our baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. Baby's face looks unquestionably human: The eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and the ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, our baby is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. But we'll get this confirmation at the ultrasound tomorrow!

This week dizzy spells have been hitting me hard. If I've been sitting for a long period of time and stand up to fast I have to be careful not to move to fast cause I get dizzy. When I first wake up if I bend of and come back up to fast I have to hold on to the nearest chair or wall because a dizzy spell hits me. The morning ones I can understand but the ones in the middle of the day are just annoying. I'm told I can blame these dizzy spells on the increased blood flow and low blood sugar. Everything is going to baby right now so I need to make sure I eat and take it easy when standing.

Last week Paul and I started our baby belly pictures. We want to wait until we have a couple weeks until we post them. I got this adorable t-shirt that I think everyone will just love. It will be in the picture every week as I grow. I'm hoping when we get to week 16 we'll put the pictures up. Until then you'll just have to wait until tomorrow when we get a new picture of baby at the ultrasound! I'm so excited to see him or her again!

Dear Baby,

I love that you are finally letting me eat. Chicken Breasts are still off limits because I can't stand to look at the raw meat section of the grocery store, but so far everything else is satisfactory. I also love not having to use the bathroom every 30 minutes. But can we please work on the exhaustion. You are draining all my energy, I must take naps in the afternoon and find myself snoozing on the couch at 9:30PM. If we could work on the exhaustion that would be great!

xoxo Mommy

Fun with Fung Shui

    We have started to look at furniture and accessories for the baby.  I never knew how many varieties of strollers / carriages there are.  How many wheels?  How big the wheels?  Direction the baby faces?  Lying down or sitting up?  Too much pressure.
     We also looked at furniture.  Then realized we need to do some rearranging of our existing furniture to fit any new furniture.  So the next few months are focused on getting our home in order.  Then we can start to seriously look at baby furniture.  I thought this would be easy.  Who knew a baby would be so much work?
    
 

We are approaching week 11 and I can finally say with confidence that morning sickness (or all day sickness) is easing. I'm trying to get used to grazing more than eating big meals. I'm also jumping back into my exercise routine with some modifications. No more aerobics or Zumba. But I can do spinning and yoga. I went to yoga on Wednesday and my body has been sore ever since thanks to 2 weeks of no working out while in the US.

Our baby (now about two inches long) has been pretty busy this week, growing hair follicles, fingernails, and ovaries (if she's a girl). While the baby has distinct human characteristics by now, with hands and feet in front of the body, ears nearly in their final shape, open nasal passages on the tip of its tiny nose, a tongue and palate in the mouth, and visible nipples.


One new pregnancy symptom that began the right before my friends Rose and Ryan's wedding was burping. Now at first I thought I was just from drinking a soda or two, but since then I've axed soda from my diet and the burping will not leave.
So being curious I took a look in the pregnancy book I bought and it says I have pregnancy hormone progesterone to blame for just about all my symptoms. And that it will only get worse as I grow larger and larger!
I'm going to be the belching Queen!

Paul posted the two photos of our baby last night. I was just amazed on how clear you can see the baby at 10wks. I kept having these dreams that we would go to the ultrasound and there would be nothing in my belly. And then Paul and everyone we told would think I lied. For some reason until last night I could not grasp the concept that something is living and growing inside me.

Okay so more details on the ultrasound. We went in and they took a look at the baby. When the technician had a clear picture of the baby he started to jiggle the wand to make the baby do some flips or jump up. But of course he/she did not jump. The only thing it did was wave one of his/her cute little arms that right now looks like nubs. The bottom picture if turned to the right looks like our baby is facing you and smiling. You can see all it's 2 arms and 2 legs. Paul and I are already trying to look at the pictures very close to see who he/she resembles.

As of now the baby is right on schedule with his/her growth. And my 1st trimester symptoms are starting to ease. That's right almost no nausea for 3 days. I thought it was kinda early for the symptoms to be going away, but I guess every woman is different. But now I am facing jet lag. Last night was my first night back in Europe. I did not get to sleep until 5AM. But luckily I woke up at Noon, so I don't feel like the whole day is wasted, I just need to stay away all day and maybe I can get to get earlier tonight, I know not to rush this process, it takes at least 5 days for me to get back on schedule.

One Baby, Two images (not twins)

Week 9 is here

How Big is the Baby at Nine Weeks Pregnant?
By pregnancy week 9 our baby is between 22 and 30 mm long, (that's about an inch) or about the size of a large grape. Our baby weighs less than one ounce at 9 weeks pregnant, but will soon start putting on weight dramatically as we continue week by week.


What I find so cool is that the baby's heart has already formed 4 chambers by this week and that he/she already has adorable facial features. Also what is sooo cool is that by this week our babies sex organs have formed, but we won't be able to tell what sex the baby is until week 18-20.
Oh Boy or Girl!

America...land of large portions of food

I've been visiting family and friends in America for the past week. My biggest problem while being here, besides keeping a secret that I'm pregnant, is the size of meals I recieve. When I'm home I can control the amount of food on my plate, but the moment we go out to a restaurant I am doomed. I've seriously been living in Europe to long if I've already forgotten how large meals are at Italian restaurants. I'm very happy that so far I've been able to eat slowly and when out pace myself and make sure if the plate has to much food on it I don't eat it all.

It' very funny since being home I have had no morning sickness. The only time I get sick is when I don't eat every 3 hours.

As of right now about 10-12 people know I'm pregnant. It's such a hard secret to keep. Especially at weddings, when I'm not drinking it looks suspicious. But less than 2 weeks until we can tell the world. I'm really looking forward to that. Now Paul and I just have to figure out how we'll make the big announcement!

Sleeping like a baby

      Lately I have been getting really good sleep, maybe my body's way of telling me to get it while the getting is good.  Normally, I wake up a bunch of times but lately I have been sleeping deeply and long, it has been great.  Oddly enough, Ashley used to be a deep sleeper and now is up a bunch during the night.  Advantage:  Me. 

1st Midwife appointment

We had our first appointment with our midwife Tuesday. I have to say this appointment was the first one that actually felt like a real pregnancy appointment. A few weeks ago our appointment with our regular doctor was a waste of time.
So the midwife asked Paul and I all the standard family history questions, about our health, so on and so on. Then she took some blood to test, which freaked me out because I has not eaten, felt so nauseous, and was thirsty. None of this helped, I ended up lying down after. Then before we knew it the appointment was over. We didn't get to hear the babies heart beat or see it with an ultrasound. :-(

We did find out that you have to go to another office location to get the ultrasound. So the moment we got home, first I grabbed some juice, then ran to the phone to make an appointment for an ultrasound at 10 weeks. Now comes the patient waiting until we get to see our little baby on screen for the first time.

Week 7

I feel my body changing daily.  I'm not talking about seeing a baby bump yet, I'm talking about all my other body parts.  The baby bump will come in time, but right now  my chest looks like someone elses!!  Paul has been making fun of me because right now I can only wear one sports bra, luckily it's reversible so for the first couple weeks he didn't notice, but now the gig is up.  It's bra shopping time when I'm in America next week!!

Another part of me that I can no longer control is my mood.  One minute I'm happy and giggly and the next I'm super annoyed (my friend Gina would call this "stabby")  But I think the exhaustion and nausea are contributing to my mood.  I'm getting pretty bored with food, nothing tastes satisfying and if it does I'm afraid if I eat to much I will feel sick, which most of the time this happens after I eat anything.   My "what to expect" book tells me I will be feeling nauseous until week 12.  But I could be a lucky one that continues to week 15!  Lets hope not, poor Paul has been such a good sport with my moodiness and lack of appetite.

Eta get (Etiquette, get it?) those kids out of the restaurant

     This past weekend, when Ashley and I were in Luxembourg, we experienced that ever more frequent event that we had once ignored.  That is: screaming children in public.  Normally, we just walk faster or shoot dirty looks.  Now it has us thinking, is that going to be us?  How would we handle this?  Can we tune this out as well as other newbies?
     We saw a kid screaming in one of the Luxembourg castles but it was started by the parents.  The little girl was taking her time in one of the rooms but the parents wanted to move on.  They pushed her too soon and she flipped out.  Heard her screaming through 3 walls of solid rock, made the tour more realistic though.  The other time was at breakfast where a family had 3 kids.  And it became a contest.  Fortunately, the bacon and coffee was plentiful and I made it through but not before a number of eybrow raised glances between Ash and me.

Confessions of a Baby Daddy

        Apparently, the first 3 months of the pregnancy are the hardest.  Ashley seems to be handling it well.  She feels queasy a lot but not too bad on the "Morning Sickness."  The queasiness though does ruin her appetite and it is tough making sure we are eating healthy.  Vitamins help.  Ashley has felt run down too, which makes a lot of the chores fall to me but this is good practice for when the baby is here.  And finally, and my favorite, is the grumpiness.  This may be from feeling tired, the upset stomach or the hormones, but I am sure it is nothing that I do.  I am a ball of joy.
        

Singing

I swear that while singing I can feel something in my belly.  Right now it feels like a small apple.  When I sing I feel like my diaphragm is pushing down on it, it's amazing.

Everyday I keep waking up feeling really sick, but once I force food down I feel better.  I keep focusing away from the icky feeling in my tummy and trying to keep my singing in tip top shape.  I have lots of singing to do until the middle of October.

6 Weeks and everything's not smelling like roses

So last night I was reading that the baby already has a heart beat of 80 times per minute, and everyday our little bundle of joy's heart will beat faster and faster.
An interesting part of pregnancy is my sense of smell.  This week I can't even go near the refrigerator without smelling some of the worst smells of my life.  I thought something went bad inside, but when I asked Paul to smell he didn't smell it.  YUCK!!  I felt like I could taste the smells of the fridge in the back of my mouth...barf!  Paul has been so good to me, last night I was so tired I couldn't lift myself off the couch, so he made dinner and cleaned up for me.


So far pregnancy has not been as bad as I expected, I really thought I would be spending my days hugging the porcelain bowl.  But I haven't. I think the hardest part of being pregnant is keeping it a secret until Paul and I decide to tell the world.  I'm not the #1 person to tell a secret to unless it's super super important.  I think the only way I'm still keeping it a secret is that we live over 3000 miles away from all our friends.
So far I've slipped 2 times and told 2 friends, but they are sworn to secrecy, and one of them knew we were trying so I only felt it was fair I told her the great news sooner rather than later, the other just had a baby so they know how important it is to keep it quiet until the time is right.  I just worry that friends or some family might be upset that they were not one of the first to know.  I guess I'll find out the answer to this when we make the big announcement in a few weeks.  We're thinking at releasing the news the day I am flying back to Amsterdam, at that point I'll be 10 weeks. 

Fat feelings..Good bye weight watchers

I'm tired, but I slept 8 hours.I'm hungry, but I feel queasy.
I'm achy, but Paul is at work so he can't rub me.
I'm feeling really fat, but I look the same as usual (does that make sense)

I feel like I'm retaining loads of water, some days my cloths are super tight in the waist then the next day I am back to normal.  I guess I should be happy that I go back to normal because soon there will be no normal sized cloths.

Today I am officially signing off weight watchers until the baby comes.  I thought I could stick to the program while pregnant but it was a silly thought to try and stay on a diet program.  A pregnant woman should not be on a weight loss program when her body is going through a major change.  It's time to start eating a healthy diet for myself and our baby!

Castles and Evening sickness

Saturday Paul and I took a road to to Luxembourg to visit two castles.  Chateau Vianden and Chateau Bourscheid.  It's been a serious long time since we've taken a road trip.  These castles we visited are really in the middle of farm land and 40-50 minutes outside Luxembourg city.   I can only thank god for the invention of GPS.  If we did not have this glorious system for Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  Paul and I are not good when it comes staying calm in navigation situations.  We came into a few closed roads and detours on our way to the castle.  But my wonderful husband and I survived and found our way.  I think the funniest part of the trip was testing our car to see if it could make it up the steep hills.  We have a small European sized car that can't go very fast or make it up hills at a normal speed.  So many of the country roads we took at 90 degree hills.

Take a look at the castles we visited 
                                                                  Chateau Vianden

                                                      Bourshied Castle

After our castle visits we drove to our hotel and took a nap.  I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep on the car ride to the castles.  Pregnancy makes me feel like sleeping all day.  Well after our hotel nap, we took the hotel shuttle into Luxembourg City center for our dinner reservation for some delicious Luzembourisch food.   Well the food was fabulous, but I think I ate to much because Saturday night was the first time I was sick.  I got a horrible nights sleep, but thankfully Paul let me sleep almost the whole ride home today.  But for some reason I still feel queasy and extremely tired. 

Pregnancy Dreams

So I had this dream last night that was just beyond weird, I just had to write it down in this blog because I'd like to blame it on my pregnancy.  Well, you be the judge.

So I am in the forest with a friend and we hear there is a killer in the forest that will kill all the animals.  So we are running around collecting all my babies.  But my babies are not human, they are kittens, baby lions, and baby mice.  The weirdest part of my dream was when I heard a white baby mouse crying on the forest floor.  I picked it up and asked it if it was okay.  And it began to start talking back to me, telling me that the killer stepped on it's foot.  I then started giving it kisses and consoling the mouse.

I then woke up thinking how gross it is to kiss a mouse.  I watch way to many Disney movies.

A Baby in the Dutch Oven

       We have been spending the past few weeks reading up on having a baby in general, "What to Expect when Expecting" and having a baby in the Netherlands.  Of course we read the horror stories but they all seem related to not getting anesthesia.  Having no anesthesia is actually very common here.  Adding anesthesia makes things more complicated (longer labor, more monitoring necessary for the baby, etc.), so they try to keep things simple.  That also goes for testing.  They do the basic tests and really don't do too much of a work up unless there is some history or other factor (age, other health problems).  And an OB/GYN isn't really consulted unless the Midwife, the main medical expert that we interact with, determines that the pregnancy is not progressing along the normal path.

         But from everything we read, we know that we need to figure out what we want, make that clear to everyone and not leave any room for confusion.  Now the only thing to do is figure out what we want. 

1st Doctors visit

This morning Paul and I went to the first of many doctors appointments.  Since we live in a foreign country we had no clue what to expect.  But last night we spent some time writing down as many questions we could think.
The doctor gave us loads of information and answered every question I had.  She also confirmed our estimated due date of May 11, 2010.

Next she gave us a phone number of verloskundige (midwife)  I am going over to the office tomorrow, it's only a 3 minute bike ride away from our house, to make an appointment.  It's weird here, in order to see a Gynecologist I have to see a midwife first to explain what type of birth plan I want.    But right now I have no clue what type of plan I want.  Every plan has so many pros and cons.  I am just happy I have 8 more months to decide what I want.

Tomorrow it's off to the midwife to schedule an appointment for right before I leave for America.

Expat life: The Test

My husband Paul and I have always loved to talk about what the future holds in store for us.  We love to day dream about where we will live, how many children we'll have, and the exciting careers we have.   There is not a doubt in my mind that we are two of the luckiest people in the world to have found each other.  We love spending all our time together and cheering each others careers too.

By my blog name you have probably guessed I am an opera singer.  It's a very exciting career, full of busy periods of time and then not so busy times.  But I love what I do, I have sung some pretty amazing opera roles and met some very talented singers.
My husband Paul, is a chemical engineer for a very popular oil company.  Right now we are living in Europe because of his job.  He is working on location at an oil refinery as an applications engineer. ( to put it simple, he builds computer programs!)  We've been living in Europe for 2 years and have between 6 to 12 months left.

THE TEST:

Last week I just finished singing the 1st Lady in Die Zauberflote on Saturday August 29.  I was exhausted more than usual.  Normally singing takes a lot out of my body but this time something was off.  So knowing my period was supposed to come on September 1st I waited and just kept my curiosity at bay for another 2 days.  Tuesday is my big day of gym classes, I normally take 2 classes in the evening and do some cross training.  But for some reason I was still exhausted beyond belief.    So after my first class I came home, taking a break from cross training and my second class.  While home I couldn't wait any longer so I took a home pregnancy test, I've read everything about the best time of day to take it, but I really couldn't have cared less at that time.  The test I had said a positive result can show at little at 40 seconds, but if not you should wait 5 minutes to read the results.   After a few minutes I took a look and immediately saw the faintest pink line.  I shouted at Paul to come down stairs and take a look to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me.  Well he saw the line too.  For the next couple of days I took a test every morning to see if the pink test line would get darker, and it did.

We're pregnant!!  Now it's time for this opera mommy to start taking her daily vitamin and eating healthy.  I'm very happy to report than I am 5 weeks pregnant and I am not feeling to bad.  I get extremely fatigued in the afternoon and if I do not eat every couple hours nausea hits me like a brick wall.    I'm also a lot achier in my body that usual.  Tomorrow morning Paul and I go to our first doctors visit.  I wish I could say I know what is going to happen at this visit, but we are living in a foreign country.   From the research I've done my doctor will confirm the pregnancy maybe do some tests and then refer me to a midwife or gynecologist. 

We are so excited that around May 11, 2010 we will be the proud parents to a little boy or girl!!!