Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Almost Perfect Walk

The sun was out on Saturday, and Rebecca and I embarked on a nearly perfect walk around Rhenen. It was one of those times that was quintessential Europe. The quiet, cobbled, narrow streets. The old buildings in the bright sun. The sheep and cows grazing in the pastures. The lone man in a beret walking to the market. The couples riding their bikes along the dike, and the men fishing along the riverbank.























I enjoyed myself a lot, weaving along the streets and paths, getting closer and closer to the river. I admired the church tower and blue sky in the background. Then I walked along the old city wall, admiring the tower again along the way.











The was only almost perfect, though...  Posted by Picasa

Not-So-Perfect Ending




After walking along the old town wall, I took a right and decided to walk along the inner dike. I thought twice about it when there was a gate and a sign posted telling me to keep the gate closed because of the sheep.






But I like sheep.














Even these sheep. They just look mean. They looked at Rebecca and me, then one tried to follow me, but he didn't go very far. I decided my fat cat Madeline not only looks like a sheep, but acts like one, too: Takes three steps and has to rest.

Anyway, the not-so-perfect ending to my almost perfect walk is that it was perfectly impossible to avoid all the sheep droppings. So I spent a good bit of time scrubbing our "kinderwagen" wheels to remove it - caked on and mushed in the treads...

The dumb thing was I went BACK out yesterday and went along the same route. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The Birth

People have been asking me what it was like giving birth in Holland, especially given that painkillers are not a normal part of the procedure here. Here is what I’ve told a few people recently:

1. “I decided early on in the pregnancy that I was going to trust the ‘Dutch’ way of doing things. Otherwise I would have driven myself crazy trying to compare the two systems.”

This was especially important during the last two weeks of my pregnancy. In the States, I would have been induced over a week before I delivered Rebecca. However, I never felt at risk; in fact, I felt very well taken care of.

2. “The nurses took really good care of us in the hospitals. They were extremely attentive and made sure both the baby and the mom were OK.”

Kudos to the nursing staff at Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei and the Utrecht Kinderziekenhuis!

My view of the delivery isn’t as rosy. I’m not really sure I’ve come to grips with it yet, actually. Part of trusting the system was trusting the midwives in helping me through the delivery. At 42 weeks 1 day, my midwife couldn’t be there during the delivery. Instead, the ob/gyns delivered Rebecca in a much more medicalized birth than I was anticipating.

Read on...

The Birth Con't

3. “I guess what really gets me is this: Rebecca's birth was so medical, but they still call it "natural" because I didn't have pain meds. I got hormones, had the belt to measure contractions, was strapped to IVs, had an electrode in her head, she ended up being vacuumed, and I had an episiotomy. What on earth is the point of a "natural" birth when it's not natural? Just give me pain meds since everything they were doing was making it more painful for me.”

After the birth, one of the doctors told me she had turned up the hormones to the maximum level, which meant the contractions were as strong as they could be: And this is without any painkillers or with the freedom to use the techniques I had learned because I felt too strapped down to all the equipment. Truthfully, I felt like I was part of a morbid science experiment equivalent to the frog that doesn’t jump out of the pot as the heat is turned up slowly. Then there was the other doctor who said, “You should be proud. You did it yourself.” Huh? I should be proud that I just experienced one of the most traumatic things in my life? I just don’t get it.

Monday, December 04, 2006

My Apologies

Mr. Kruik, I’m so sorry. I underestimated your worthiness. Please forgive me. You are a splendid piece of baby equipment. Although you are heavy (do they make kruikjes?), you have so many wonderful qualities:
You keep Rebecca warm when we are outside.
You keep Rebecca warm when we are inside.
You warm up Rebecca’s bed so she doesn’t cry when we put her in it.
You warm up Rebecca’s clothes so she doesn’t cry when we put them on her.
You warm up Mommy’s hands so Rebecca doesn’t cry when she touches her.
You warm up Mommy!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

The Overuse of “Je”

I gave y’all a lesson on the diminutive awhile back. And since LO has been with us, I’ve gotten a lesson for myself. For small babies, there are two VERY common words using the "je". I think the old (very cute and very nice but I didn’t understand 75% of what she said and I’m sure she walked away from the conversation thinking, “That weird couple, I wonder why they only gave me one word answers.”) lady must have used the following 2 words 4 times each as she admired Rebecca while we shopped in the produce section of the grocery store.

Babytje (spelling unknown; pronunciation “baby-tyuh”) – I mean, really, do we need to say “baby-ie”?
Klientje (spelling unknown; pronunciation “kline-tyuh”) – I mean, really, do we need say “small-ie”?

I wonder when Rebecca will stop being a “babytje” or a “klientje”. 3 months? 6 months? 1 year?