Life recently

I am currently 1 week and 1 day overdue. I have an induction date scheduled for Monday. This baby is coming out whether she likes it or not:) But for now, an update on the recent happenings that do not include baby! My parents arrived last Monday, so they've been here about 10 days now. They have been adjusting great to the Dutch life. They are regular bicyclers and love rolling around town to different places.

Their first few days here, they got to experience the typical Netherlands weather, as you can see from the picture above. But for the last week or so, it's been beautiful. They've gone into Amsterdam and also made the trip to the Harley Davidson shop.
When we found out at my appointment on Tuesday that I'd basically made no more progress than the week before and then set the induction date for the following Monday, we decided it would be fun for them to get out and explore a little more of Europe, but still be within driving distance to get back if Eleanor shows up. So yesterday they rented a car and headed out for Belgium and France. They are visiting Normandy to see the American Military cemetery and the D-Day beaches.

They also hope to hit up Mont St. Michele

and Etretat and every Harley Dealers in between!

I so wish we could've gone with them but 5-6 hours in a car does not sound pleasant at this point and let's be honest, who wants their baby born in France??:)  So Dan and I are just hanging out back in the Netherlands, enjoying our last few days as a couple without kids (I feel like we've been saying that for weeks!).
I'm determined that my next update will be with pictures of our newborn baby girl so if you hear nothing out of me until next week, you know why. :)

40 weeks, 5 days

So I'm definitely overdue and little Ellie is still just hanging out in there. I'm big, hot, have to wear compression socks half the time because my feet are so swollen, and have taken to bouncing up and down stairs to give her a little motivation. I'm beginning to feel like this is going to be the end result (click on "Big baby" to see the video)

Big baby

A little humor to get me through. . .

40 weeks

Today was supposed to be Ellie's birthday. Unfortunately she does not care so much for this day apparently. We had our 40 week check up today. After waiting an hour for the doc to come,(she had delivery duty) I walked in with hopeful anticipation that maybe the small contractions I had been having would have somehow manifested themselves into dilating me into a 5 or 6. HA. No such luck. Only a 2 and my cervix is not thinned out much. Ugh. So she said she wants to give it one more week because she thinks things are moving on their own. We continue to wait for any sign that Ellie is ready to make her debut. Ellie, meanwhile, continues to be comfortable and cozy inside.

My parents arrived on Monday and have been getting adjusted to the time difference as well as the culture. They have picked up the art of bike riding as a means of transportation and are even venturing out and about on their own. Tomorrow they will tackle Amsterdam without us. It helps having them here, to keep me distracted from my lack of baby. For the last 9 months, we've been looking forward to July 18th and now we wait in anticipation for the surprise of what day her birthday actually will be!! Come on Ellie, there's lots of people who are ready to meet you!!!!

Love is in the Air!

So, this gal and this guy are getting married!!! She happens to be my best friend of nearly 20 years(wow, we are getting old). I could not be more ecstatic for her!! Her FIANCE', Adam, proposed last weekend right around their one year anniversary. Naturally, Meagan and I had been analyzing (ok, over analyzing) for weeks about when/if it might happen. I was so excited to wake up Saturday morning, turn on Skype, and see a message from Meagan at 3:30am. I knew right then that it had happened! They had waited to tell other people besides family until they got a hold of me. That is why she is my best friend people, because we all know how hard it is to keep that kind of information a secret for even a few hours!! 

Their journey started over a year ago when Adam finally realized how awesome Meagan was. :) I kid, because I had given him a hard time a few years before about how great I thought he and Meagan would be together. Luckily, instead of listening to me, he listened to God and I'm pretty sure His timing was better than mine:) I love how God works because less than 2 years ago at my wedding

Meg was not dating anyone and was worried about the dry spell we all experience in our dating lives! I remember saying that she never knew what the future held. That a year from now, she could be getting ready to plan her wedding! Now, I was off by a year but by that same time the following year, she was dating Adam!!

Now we get to have fun planning her wedding, talking about flowers and dresses, looking at honeymoon locations and picking out music. It is such a great joy to get to share in this time with these two. Adam's already been given the best friend approval test, literally a test I wrote up. In case you are wondering, he passed :). He understands how much she means to me and luckily I get the feeling that she means quite a bit to him so I'm pretty sure that I won't ever have to show him the wrath of Sam. I know she is in good hands. 

Megs, I love you and am so blessed to have you as my best friend! The journey you are embarking on is an incredible one and I'm so happy you get to take it with your other best friend. Now, let the fun begin!!!!!

Market Weekend

This past weekend we decided we needed to get out and about and try to enjoy some of our last free weekends together. The weather has been warm for here, about 85 (I know, I know, I shouldn't complain because most of you are suffering in 105 degree heat but cut me some slack, I'm 9 months pregnant and there is no air conditioning). So most of my days last week were spent writhing around my house, positioning all the fans we have, on me as I lay with my marshmallowpuff  feet up and willing this baby to come out. But on Saturday, the temps had dropped back down to a much more reasonable 70 degrees and I was feeling good enough to get out and wander around for fun. 

So we went to the market and walked around. I love going to the market because there are just so many fun and different things to see. We bought a bunch of flowers from a place like the one you see above. We scurried through the fish market because the smell of fish still makes me want to throw up. Not sure I can blame that on pregnancy though. It's really a catch-22 because I like looking at all the crazy sea life they have laid out on ice (octupus, squid, giant fish, moving lobsters, etc) but can only stand the smell briefly. We were on the hunt for a taco stand we had heard about. Good Mexican food is a rarity here in Holland so when someone told us there had been an authentic Mexican food truck at the market, we knew we had to find it. And we did. And it was delicious. And expensive. And small. Basically we both had 1 taco and it was 6.50euros, which roughly translates into $8 for 2 tacos. It will not be a treat we have every week. 

Since we only had one tiny taco, we decided we needed some frites(fries) to eat. Frites are very popular here and very good. You eat them with mayonnaise. Sounds gross, I know but they have grown on us and now we love them that way. Of course, to top off our already super healthy lunch, we decided we needed some ice cream. So we sat down and ate that, giving me some much needed rest before our long trek home (long to me these days is 5-10 minutes, which was about the distance to home:) ). By the time we got home, we had been gone for an hour and a half and I was ready for my regularly scheduled nap. We spent the evening making homemade pizzas and I tried out a new dessert recipe. 

Mmm, they were so good but SOOOO rich. You can seriously only take like 2 bites because they are so rich. They are super easy. I made them from scratch but the recipe uses cake and brownie mixes

http://www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html


I'm continuing to try and keep myself distracted so I don't dwell on when Ellie will arrive! It's getting harder and harder but I'm trying to keep in my mind that she will come at 41 weeks so when her due date comes and goes,I don't go crazy trying old wives tales to get her out:)

Chugging along

Officially 38 weeks today! I had my weekly appointment on Monday and everything is looking good. The midwife asked how I was feeling and I told her that I had good days and bad days. She told me that meant that I probably wasn't quite ready yet, since I wasn't having enough bad days!ha! I think they are unsure what to do with me, being American. They told me they don't get many English speaking patients. Last week when I met with the midwife, she told me that the doctor had put a note in my chart saying to be extra nice to me since we were foreign! haha! I think they are worried that I am nervous about giving birth here. I'm really not. I've been very pleased with my care so far and actually feel like they treat childbearing and birth as it should be...a more natural process. We'll see what I think after I've actually given birth but so far, so good!

The midwife usually feels around on my stomach to feel baby and then uses a dopler to listen to her heartbeat. Ellie was pretty active that day and typically hates the dopler anyways. She is head down, low and in a good position. However, her heartrate was around 160, which the midwife said is good for her, bad for me. Apparently babies typically settle down a bit and become less active right before labor starts but she's still moving and a groovin' so we continue to wait. The midwife said that since most first time moms go late, to put in my head that she will come at 41 weeks (the latest they will let me go here is 42 weeks as long as there are no other concerns prior to that) so that I'm not disappointed if my due date comes and goes. Sigh. I'm ready to be done with pregnancy but more than that I just want to meet my baby!!

Many people have asked about the pain medication situation here and I talked about it briefly in my last post but here's a more in depth look at it. I think I previously mentioned that most Dutch moms give birth without the use of any medications. In fact, it wasn't until a few years ago that they passed a law requiring hospitals to have epidurals available 24/7. My hospital offers 3 different options. One we have completely ruled out...it's basically a morphine shot in the thigh (more technical and in depth than that but I can't really remember all the details because we ruled it out right away). The 2nd option, and one we are planning on going with at this time, is a pain pump. Basically it's a pump that you control. It's more short term and you can administer it as needed (to help through the contractions). I like this because it doesn't completely eliminate your ability to feel anything but also takes the edge off. It is also completely out of you and the baby within 30 minutes from the last dose.This is the most popular option at the hospital. The 3rd option is the epidural. The thing I don't like about these is that you can't get up and move around plus I've had friends who have had complications with them. So my plan right now is to try and go as long as I can unmedicated and then have the pain pump as my backup. We'll see how labor goes though and I'm not dead set on having a natural birth.

I've decided to park the ole bike. When I mentioned to my midwife I was still riding, she said " do you feel like you're sitting on her head??" and since the day before I actually did feel like I was sitting on her head and then that was confirmed through the midwife, I feel a little weird and uncomfortable smashing her head. So it's the bus or by foot for me for the next few weeks. 

Long Lost Update

I realize it has been quite some time since I updated last. I have no excuses. I have not really been too busy nor have I had nothing to share. I just forgot. But, with the impending arrival of Eleanor Anne, I figure it's time to jump back on the blogwagon and try to be a little more diligent in keeping people up to date!

So, to bring you up to speed, I am almost 38 weeks pregnant, big as a house, and ready to meet our Ellie!! Many people ask me if I'm still riding my bike and the answer to that is yes! It's definitely getting harder and more uncomfortable and I pretty much poke myself in the stomach every time I get off but honestly it's easier than walking around. Although I think I am done with trips longer than 5-10 minutes. Yesterday we rode to church and that was no fun, even with Dan pushing me most of the way. On the way home, I felt like I was sitting on Ellie's head...whoops! But I will keep riding close distances as long as I can. 

I'm down to weekly doctor's/midwife appointments. I've started seeing a doctor at the hospital I will be delivering at, which will help me to become familiar with the staff there. If everything goes fairly normal, I will be delivered by a midwife in the hospital. So far, everything is looking good. She is head down (although needs to keep moving lower!), I have no complications(blood pressure is great-low even! no glucose problems, etc), so as long as everything remains like that, the plan is to have the midwife deliver me. Obviously if there are problems, they will call in the OB. 

At this point, my plan is to try med free as long as possible. I'm not hard core stuck on it, which may be a bad place to be if I really want to have a med free birth :) They do have epidurals here but the majority of Dutch women give birth naturally. I think my second option will be a pain pump that they offer. It allows you to control it, is only short term(so, basically to get you through the contractions) and is out of you and the baby within 15-30 minutes after giving birth. We'll see though, you know what they say about best laid plans!

Everything is ready for Ellie's arrival. The nursery nook is finished (see pics below). We basically took one side of our room and turned it into her nook. We only have a one bedroom apartment so while she's little and while we continue our hunt for a 2 bedroom place, we will all be sharing a room. Her little cloth diapers are all washed and ready to go (with some disposables in case she's too little or it's just too hectic the first few weeks).  The rocking chair sits empty and all her clothes are folded or hung. Now all we need is baby!!

My parents will be here 2 weeks from today! I can't wait for them to experience life here, although it will be pretty different from our usual normal obviously. Dan's mom will be coming in mid-August so we will have lots of help for the first month/month and a half and I'm very grateful for that!


So now we just wait. We have our travel plans for getting to the hospital in place, thanks to some generous friends who will be offering rides as well as our back up plan of calling a taxi. Contrary to what my adorable husband thinks, we will not be hopping on the local bus while I'm in labor. :)


I'm posting a few pics below of Ellie's nook as well as a few of me being this pregnant. I promise to try and update more often!!