Our First Doctor's Appointment

Bryce and I went to my first doctor's appointment at a hospital in Amsterdam today. It was a bit confusing upon walking in as all the signs to point you in the right direction were in Dutch, so that wasn't very helpful. We found what we thought was the registration desk and they pointed us in the right direction upon giving me a registration card and asking about insurance, etc. The hospital was nice, the first floor was like an atrium with a lot of natural light coming in and fountains you can see through a big window overlooking a courtyard. Of course there was coffee and cappuccino machines where you could get yourself a drink while you waited. To the left of the registration desk was a reception area with chairs and all along the walls were the different offices - gynecology, obstetrics and some others that I couldn't make out because they were in Dutch. We were admitted to our appointment right away and followed a very beautiful, tall, blond midwife into an office that had a desk and chairs with an examination area at the back. it was all pristine and white and looked very state-of-the-art, just a bit nicer than the OB office partly under renovations that I was going to in Boston. The midwife introduced herself as Margot and spoke pretty decent English. In my haste to make it to the appointment on-time I suddenly realized I left my medical records at home. Ugh! So we talked through our history with her including expected due date, details about my last appointment and tests that have been run so far. To get us into the system, she said she had to ask us a series of questions, like family history, blood type etc. We ran through a bunch of the normal ones and then she asked us if we were related. Related? Confused, Bryce and I looked at each other and said, we're married..but she quickly was like, no, I mean are you first or second cousins or anything? We both laughed and were like, no, why? And she said oh, because we hear that happens a lot in the States. We were like really? Thinking suddenly about places like Utah or out west where this sort of thing may happen. We reminded her that we're from Boston and that it's not too common to marry a relative! She also asked us about how we do things in the US, like she knows that most people get an epidural and a scheduled C-section when the time comes. I think for all of us, it was an interesting conversation as the Dutch are very into doing things the natural way - whether in a hospital or at home, most women don't get an epidural, and C-sections do not occur unless it's absolutely medically necessary. Guess my initial thought about having a perfect little baby with lots of meds and no pain is going to have a change a bit! Just to be safe, we confirmed that they do have an anesthesiologist there 24/7 and an epidural can be given to anyone that requests it, unlike most of the other hospitals in Amsterdam. That was a relief. Sign me up! We had her put EPIDURAL (yes all in Caps) on the front of my file in the notes section just in case..