36 Weeks and Counting!

Oh my! I can't get over how fake my stomach looks in this picture. It's like a basketball is hiding under my shirt. The doctor on Friday said all is looking good. The baby has moved down and the head is right where it should be. She's thinking it will be about 3 kilos at birth, or about 6.6 lbs - perfect! We still don't know if it's a boy or a girl for sure, but I'm thinking it's a girl.. we'll see! Only 22 more days until Oct. 6!

PS. After spending a weekend of unpacking, the house is starting to get in better shape, too. It's only taken us two weeks and we're sure several more to really feel like we're organized. So far so good though!

Move-in Day

Finally, our stuff from Boston arrived! As much as we were looking forward to having our own things here, the fun of moving in lost it's luster after going through the first few boxes. Overall, it went pretty smoothly. A few things were broken as Customs officers apparently ransacked our carton during one of their random searches. They don't tend to pay any attention to the words "fragile" on boxes either when doing this. Several things were broken or missing, like a bureau for the baby's room, a box of electronic equipment, a couple of pictures, vases and kitchen dishes... bummer. Hopefully putting in a claim won't be too difficult and that's the worst of it!

Book Club Walking Tour in Amsterdam

Coffee with ladies from the book club I recently joined. We took a tour of sites around town that were part of the book "The Coffee Trader." I didn't read the book personally, but it was a great way to see the city. From left, me, Kathryn, Lora, Judy, Kim and Kay.

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..

Drinks out with new friends in Leidseplein

Night out with expat friends we met our first week in Amsterdam. Jessie (pictured left front)

got in touch with me through the American Women's Club and is also expecting her first child in early November. She's from California and others pictured are from Minnesota, Chicago and New Jersey.

Who knew shopping could be so exhausting?

We sold both our cars upon leaving the States and are now city-dwellers in a lovely apartment in museum square in Amsterdam. While we do live near the supermarket, a big Farmer's market called Albert Cuypstraat, and other shops, it's hard to get over not having a car.

The walk to the Albert Cuyp market is about a half a mile and the market itself stretches for a half a mile. At the end of the farmer's market is where the bigger super market is, so I'm getting in plenty of exercise just getting groceries. I bought a little pushcart with wheels to help me along as I shop, but like any typical American, I can't erase the way I tend to think about shopping. I mean, why not buy a weeks' worth of groceries at once? For starters, they won't all fit in my pushcart, and here, it's not the Dutch or European way so you look pretty funny when the pushcart is overflowing and you have 2 bags a piece over each of your shoulders and are sweating walking down the street. I got some horrible looks on Monday when I did this. It was probably even worse that I have this large, protruding pregnant belly in front, making me waddle all the way home. Eventually I'll learn. But I was really happy that I didn't have to go to the store immediately the next day to restock.

And I have to say, the food is fresh daily - produce, fish, meats, cheeses - it all looks delicious and tastes great for dinner. It's just when you need specific ingredients that it gets hard. Like today for example, I want to make chicken parmesan for dinner and need bread crumbs. After looking high and low in the store and checking the Italian seasoning section, I was still dumbfounded. So I decided to ask a salesguy. "Do you have bread crumbs?" He had no idea what I meant. "Meal? Is that what you want?" I was thinking corn meal, so I shook my head no and said, "I'm making an Italian dish with chicken and it has a breading that you cook..." Still not understanding me, or so it seemed, he walked over to the aisle with me and handed me a small box. It had breaded chicken on the cover and was called "Paneer Meel" Ah ha! Bread crumbs. I thanked him and was on my way.

I'm glad that they have normal labels on things that are more personal- like tampons, diapers, and toilet paper - would hate to be trying to sound that out for someone!

Tip of the day: Pack ice trays

We're just getting situated here in Amsterdam. It's pretty warm (upper-70s to low 80s) but probably not as bad as the States right now. Problem is, they don't have ice here. I've learned that since the freezers here are really just the size of ice trays (except ours, we have a much larger one, thank God!) People don't buy or use ice trays. With no AC when it's hot, that's pretty annoying! And I don't know about you, but I like my drinks COLD! What they do sell are these weird freezer bags (called "ijsblokzakjes' - try to pronounce that!) that you fill with water and then cut apart when they are ready.. so weird. They only make 10 small cubes at a time. And I can't find anything like the plastic box to hold the ice in either so I have a frozen bowl stuck to the bottom of our freezer. So the next time you head into the kitchen for a quick drink and grab some ice- think of me- as I wish I had some!