Friday, June 28, 2013

So, having a Baby in Scotland: Up to Inducement Day

Well, the first time I saw a doctor about my pregnancy was November, 2012 and I was already 22 weeks along. According to the information I gave her, the doctor calculated my due date as March 13, 2013.

I was surprised that she really didn't give me any useful information...Or maybe it's that I had read lots of books and had been taking my vitamins and already knew or was doing everything she recommended. I did get to hear the heartbeat for the first time:)

One of the most important questions that she asked me was, "Is the baby moving?"

I remember when I first realized that that "spasm" or "bubble" underneath the surface was the babe:) It was on a Sunday. My Mother-in-law asked me if I had felt the baby. I really hadn't been looking for it but as I sat in church I felt it! Well, I felt something! And from then on it happened more and more frequently and powerfully. So cool!


33 weeks pregnant


Of course I wanted to share this experience with my husband, Lars, but he couldn't feel what I felt just yet. One day we were out and about. He was showing me the Glasgow University campus and such. As part of our activites, we went to a cinema to see the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall". During the film, the babe was kicking like crazy! I told Lars to keep his hand on my belly. I kept looking at him to see if he had felt it. Nope.... Nothing... Then, "Bop, bop, bop!" I looked over at Lars and he was grinning from ear to ear! 

That was just the start of our relationship with the belly:)

The doctor sent an email to one of the two maternity hospitals in Glasgow (The Southern General or The Princess Royal, I wasn't sure which) and I was to hear back within two weeks to get booked and a scan (ultrasound).

Two weeks went by and nothing. By this time (24 weeks) I was VERY anxious to get the scan!  So I called the doctor's office. They said they sent it. So I called the Southern General. They said they didn't have it. So I called the Princess Royal. Same thing! Ugh. So I called the doctor's office again. Yada yada yada. Finally, figured out that the email was overlooked by Southern General. Which meant that I had to wait, again, for them to call me and schedule an appointment. Well, they did call this time and the earliest opening for the scan was late December. Four more weeks!!! (I would be 28 weeks by then!)

I was able to get "booked" before then, which just means that you go in and do all the paperwork and blood work and urine and blood pressure and they give you the low down on what's the next step: The scan.

We were SUPER excited to see our baby and to see whether it was a girl or boy. We both had felt that it was a girl but Lars wanted to guess boy so at least one of us would be right.

Well, I was right;) Girl! ONE girl:)




They couldn't give us a more accurate due date because up to 20 weeks babies grow at the same rate, after that is when genetics kick in, making it very difficult to guess anything. So, we just stuck with the original March 13 estimate.

At this point we still hadn't told anyone except close family and friends. Nobody was allowed to mention anything on Facebook and if they did I would delete it. I was kind of paranoid, I know.

I was totally fine with never officially announcing it but once Lars knew the gender he put his foot down. So we took some pics and posted them. (At about 30 weeks.)



I went for beautiful, serious and subtle.



And Lars' was lovable, cute and goofy, as always:)


After the scan I figured I wouldn't need to go in again 'till the delivery. I had had no problems so far. I was SO wrong. They had me come in every two weeks for another scan and checkup 'till the delivery. Because I was a "Late Booker" they wanted to track the babe very closely to make sure nothing went wrong. Six ultrasounds total!

Yeah, I suppose that was a good thing but I hate hospitals and I had to take two buses to get there and with Scotland weather being Scotland weather, it was often not fun or easy.

Which were some of the reasons why I switched to the Princess Royal Maternity, there was only one bus and better visiting hours :)

I found it quite ridiculous that even your husband could only visit you 10:30 am to 12 pm, 2 pm to 4 pm, and 6 pm to 7:30 pm at Southern General! And for anyone else it's 2 pm to 3:30 pm and 7 pm to 8 pm. That's it!

Princess Royal's visiting hours were much less strict, 10 am to 9 pm for the Husband, but I wanted Lars there all the time! 

I think I was more bothered by the visiting hours because of all the terrible things I had heard about how the midwives treat you. (Ninety nine percent of the time you're dealing with midwives.) Things like making you empty your own urine bag after you just had a c-section. Or that they won't give you the medicine that was recommended by the doctor because it's more expensive, leaving you in pain. That they'll ignore your requests for help with breast feeding then yell at you for not doing it correctly or if you're using a bottle. I was worried about being with them so much without anyone who loves me there to help and protect recovering helpless me. I honestly kept a pamphlet on hand that had a number to call to complain about a midwife if need be:)

The midwives I had already met were super nice and helpful though... Especially at the antenatal classes. Poor Lars, I dragged him along and he was the only guy there, but I think the classes made me more uncomfortable than him. Especially the breast feeding class. I'm still a bit immature I guess.

I really appreciated those classes.  (Some of the lingo, well their pronunciation, was funny. Example: Vagina-ly:) They just went through what to expect during all the stages of labor, which was nice because it's usually the unknown that causes you to be afraid. Then, of course your options for pain relief.

I imagined that all contractions are are really bad menstrual cramps, which they are. I also figured that because I usually have pretty painful menstrual cramps contractions would be a breeze...yes and no.

Plus, if anyone knows me they may know that I don't like taking anything into my body that isn't natural or normal. (Now you know:)

So, I focused more on the breathing techniques, body positioning, mind over matter stuff, etc.

I was very confident that I would not go into labor before my due date so my Mother-in-law scheduled her plane to arrive on March 16th. So when I felt cramping the night of March 11th it really scared me. I was mentally not prepared. Also, a few days later at my 40 week checkup while they were checking if/how much I was dilated they did a membrane sweep without my permission! I was furious!!! (A membrane sweep can begin labor.) My Mother-in-law was not there and would not be there for more than 48 hours. I seriously prayed that my uterus would stay strong 'till Kathy arrived...and it did:) At that point I was already 2 cm and we scheduled an inducement for the following Thursday, the 21st. One more week.

This was also pretty weird for me. Instead of the doctor coming in a saying, "This is what we're going to do and this is why..." They were really just looking to me to see what I wanted them to do. They would've induced me right then if that's what I wanted! (I was one day over my "due date"?!?) I wanted to give my body more time to go about it naturally. Even with the chance that it'd be an even bigger baby...

Up 'till that last scan I was feeling pretty confident that the babe would be an average 7 lbs. 5 oz. type. (That's what I was.) However, some of the Facebook comments said that my belly generally looked huge and my grandma did give birth to a 12 pound baby! On top of that, the Shurilla babies tend to be on the large side, and then at that last scan, the Technician mentioned that it was a good thing this was the last scan because the next recored sizes might not fit on the graph. (They are not supposed to tell you how big they think your baby is due to parents being really upset if the Tech was wrong.)

So, the whole next week we did, not everything we could think of to naturally induce labor but close:) Eating spicy Indian food, drinking certain kinds of tea, LOTS of walking...

It helped that my Mother-in-law was here. We wanted her to see Glasgow. More specifically, to see the antique (junk) shops. If you want to read more about her Scottish adventure go to her blog HERE.

Well, nothing worked and inducement day came...

The night before...
I wanted to put this sweater on and take a pic before the belly was gone.
I don't remember why it was so important...
(I purchased it here in Scotland and had never worn it before.)



Wednesday, June 19, 2013

I LOVED being pregnant...for the most part:)

Seriously, I really loved being pregnant! I FINALLY got to wear all those cute maternity clothes. Ask Lars, I would always eye the maternity section whenever we visited Target:) But it wasn't necessarily that I wanted to BE pregnant...

When it came down to it, I was afraid that I wouldn't be
able to get pregnant or I wouldn't be a good mom.

Well, I got pregnant:)

Crappy Pic, I know:)
Prego Progression (Preg-ression?) <-- Thanks Lars:)

But we kept it a secret....for the most part:)

My Mother-in-law says she knew something was up because she'd 
always find me like this...



Yeah, so there was a 'little' fatigue...

and a "little" heartburn...

and nosebleeds like a faucet...

and holy bleeding gums...

and then the "morning sickness".

They really need to think of a better name then that because it really doesn't do the malady justice. For me it felt like, "Whenever you have worked hard to eat a healthy meal" sickness. Or the "Don't stay up too late" sickness. Or "Whenever you think you're over it" or "Surprise" or "Ramen noodles are the only thing that stay down" sickness:(

Thankfully it only lasted from the middle of my 3rd month to the middle of my 4th. 
Those poor souls who experience it throughout their entire pregnancy...!

But after that it was great...

Except the last month. How could anyone love the last month...When my nights became a bit restless and SO many bathroom trips!

Walking began to be difficult. I had to do stretches before leaving the house or 
else my left calf muscle would just ache.

But that didn't stop me from getting out and about. 
Heck, I was walking all over Glasgow a week after my due date!
(And eating spicy Indian food:)







(My Mother-in-Law, Kathy, must have really liked taking pics of our backs:)



Night before I was induced at 41 Weeks:)

Yes, I really LOVED being pregnant!
Especially the photos!
(I think I did a decent job of not posting too many on Facebook... ;)













But the No. 1 reason why I just LOVED being pregnant...?

NO PMS !!!

Lars actually said that I was the most sane and reasonable when I was pregnant :D



Wednesday, June 5, 2013

It's A Baby Shower!!!


If any of you love the movie "Father of the Bride 2" like me, you'll remember when Franc exclaims, "It's a Baby Shower!" 

I tried to find a clip but could only find the one where Fanc and his assistant sing "Every party has a pooper that's why we invited you! Party Pooper!" Good movie:)

Anyway, I was just as excited to find out that the Sister Whitney, from our church, was going to throw me a Baby Shower!

(Her and Elder Whitney are the couple missionaries in charge of the Young Single Adult group here.)

Sister Whitney was able to rope in my friends, Rachel and Mairi to help:)

Now, I was kind of surprised to find that they don't do Baby Showers here!?! They find it bad luck to give gifts before the baby is born:( I think it has to do with the fact that the people who want to know the sex of their child before it is born are in the minority! Which I also find surprising. I could never NOT know before I saw the babe. 

So, forget having an actual baby registry! Plus, if we are to leave in October to fly back to America...one bag of 50 lbs. is not going to fit much:( So, all I could ask for was disposable goods: Diapers, wipes, baby soap, shampoo, etc. Not much surprise when unwrapping:P But I am SO GRATEFUL for everything!!!

I had a mini anxiety attack trying to decide when it should be. Weekday? Weekend? Day or night? I must have picked the perfect day and time because we had a fabulous turn out!





How this room contained such AWESOMENESS, I'll never know because these women are AMAZING!!!

First, we all grabbed something to munch on. Food was provided by Sister Whitney, Valerie M., Josie K. and Patsy R. Thank you! There were chips, sandwiches, cake, pastries, juice, etc. Yum!



Then they watched me open their super generous gifts:) 
(If you know me, I HATE so much attention! So this was pure torture!)
But at least I hope I wasn't too boring...With all THESE faces:

The MANY faces of Spring:)
I received so much stuff! Mostly Diapers, or Nappies as they're called here:)

That's another thing. The different baby lingo in the UK:


There were a couple things that had to be explained to me:( 
As well as all the stuff that any new mom has to know!

Afterwards we had a few games. My ONLY stipulation is that there would be NO game with candy bars melted in diapers. PERIOD! Yuck:P

So, we played a game where the attendants write down as many baby names they can think of for one of the letters in the alphabet that we would choose. 
(Lars and I were still undecided about a name:)

Then, we had them decorate cupcakes and I would choose the winning cupcake:)



What beauties<3


It was a VERY tough decision...
Hard not to get your hands messy:)

But in the end there was only one that REALLY stood out:)


The one that actually LOOKED like a baby:D Pacifier/Dummy and all! Congrats Patsy!

Then, we get to EAT the cupcakes:) And SURPRISE! Whoever gets the cupcake with the Jelly Baby inside is the next one to get pregnant!!!

Congrats, Mercy!!! Hahaha:) 

Erin and Rhona were very helpful in disposing of the extra frosting:D

YUM!

Here are a couple of extra "faces" that I forgot to add to my collage:)



A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME AND CONTRIBUTED! 

WE HAVE NOT HAD TO PURCHASE DIAPERS YET!!!
(Baby born March 22nd. Today is June 5th:)

We have REALLY been blessed with every needful thing:) 

SO GRATEFUL to be here in Glasgow, Scotland!

Thank You!!!