of light & flight

Week twenty two

Mom

• is halfway through her pregnancy and has officially “popped”, as they say.

• is feeling baby moving around tons, especially in the early morning and evening up until she falls asleep. Sometimes they feel like little kicks, other times it feels like rolls across the belly. Nonetheless, she’s ended up one of those pregnant women who ALWAYS has their hands on their belly. Not ashamed.

• is experiencing some heartburn at times but energy is high and she wasn’t sick in the first trimeter, so can’t complain too much!

• learned that she is pumping 1 1/2 times more blood than usual and is thinking that might explain why for one day her fingers turned blue (more on this story later).

• is back from travelling to Tbilisi, Georgia with her friend Sarah. Baby and mom’s first travel adventure was a success.

• doesn’t have any stretch marks yet and still has a very stretched, flat-looking innie belly-button.

• is still biking to and from work, 40 minutes a day, sometimes going off on little tangents through the park in the nice fall weather.

Dad

• was so excited to feel baby move for the first time this week on Sunday, October 27th.

• booked a meeting with the ‘gemeente’ or town hall for this week so mom and dad can “elope” this winter, just the two of them, before the wedding aka sign the legal documents and go out to a romantic evening.

• helped out at EPST, the European Pilot Selection and Training organization, to inform and inspire all the aspiring future pilots.

• found out another one of his friends his having a baby, too. That makes three of us all around the same time!

• says in his own words about this week, “I think you look great and the belly is so cute. I can see you are happy and so excited which makes it really fun. Oh and I love to be the heater for my ladies hands and feet when she is cold (being sarcastic).” ;) Just keeping him busy…

Life

• Mom and dad are legally getting married this month! To go along with that excitement…

• they’re going home for Christmas! It will be their first time utilising the KLM benefits so they will fly KLM to Vancouver, Canada for a few wintery days and take the train down to Portland for a perfectly festive West Family Christmas.

• All major parts of the August 2020 Destination Wedding are in order such as the locations, accommodation, and even the photographer and caterer.

• Aaron moved in to his new house!

• The Kuipers are planning a winter sport holiday in the Alps for January (sad to be missing it).

Lessons Learned

• When in doubt, just go to the doctor. On a usual day in the classroom, while 20 weeks pregnant, I looked down to see parts of my knuckles were slightly blue. I thought it was odd but didn’t panic. A bit later, the blue had spread to most all areas of my fingers. I still didn’t panic, as they were warm which meant oxygen was flowing. I called the midwife, they calmly said not to worry. I called my huisarts or GP and they also said not to worry but to come in just in case so I left work and ran to the doctor. Again, they said they weren’t too worried but they also weren’t quite sure what it could be. It didn’t come with other symptoms similar cases had in the past. I went back to my classroom, relieved. A bit later in the day my palm and insides of my hands were also blue. Maintaining my cool, I tried to be reasonable and listen to what the midwife and doctor had said, but I couldn’t help but also hear everyone else around me’s worry. I’m lucky to be surrounded by so many maternal women. They thought I should go to the ER. I called Cas, he agreed, so again I left school and we met up at the ER just to see if they might have a bit more knowledge. Again, they had no idea. After 2 hours and multiple visits by gynecologists and different doctors who checked both me and the baby, we were both deemed perfectly fine and healthy. We were sent away with confidence and haven’t been revisited by blue fingers since. So, yes, when in doubt, just go to the doctor (even if just to ease your mind) BUT with that said, the Dutch health system has also taught me how important it is to.…

• Trust your body. It will tell you when something is wrong. That has been the theme of almost all my questions during this pregnancy by every midwife and doctor I have spoken to. I absolutely love it. There has been almost nothing medical about it, starting with the adorable, home-like atmosphere and fact that no one is in medical attire. Is it bad that I keep rolling over on my back when I sleep? What if I accidentally ate something I shouldn’t have? I had two coffees today, forgive me! “You aren’t dying, you are pregnant”, they say, “your baby is perfectly protected, your body has made sure of it, many of these things will just impact how comfortable YOU are so just listen and trust your body.”

• Lean on your partner, don’t try to undertake everything yourself. Not only is it a life saver for you but it also involves your partner in the process, makes them feel connected to both you and the baby as you go through so many changes. It could potentially be quite isolating for them, as it is difficult for them to understand such changes and every little feeling, so let them in in every way you can. I always knew Cas would be an awesome partner in this life but I must admit, the love is BIG during this time in our life. I am so happy to be doing this with him.

• Life doesn’t stop because you are having a baby and because it might seem a bit more complicated than before. Yes, you need to sit down a bit more, not overwork your ligaments and muscles too much, eat healthy, and consume an absurd amount of water along with various other nutrients. But life continues. Travel. Do what you love. It’s important for the baby to get to know you as the person you are.