December 2013: Florian is born!

Tuesday was the last evening of my pregnancy course and this time all partners were also invited. First all phases of the childbirth were being discussed. Then the partners massaged the pregnant ladies! After the course Erik and I went for a short walk to the beach. Normally in Ottobrunn we walked a lot in the evening and this was the first time we did this in the Netherlands. We should do it more often!

Wednesday I went to “Bagels & Beans” again to meet with the German ladies from my pregnancy course. The funny thing is that we talked Dutch! We had café and a bagel and chatted a lot, which was very nice!

Thursday it was Saint Nicolas day, but we did not celebrate it. Next year we probably will! It was very stormy weather with a high tide. In the morning I went to see the gynecologist again to check the progress of the pregnancy (now 39,4 weeks). I only had 1 cm dilatation, so we have to be patient. Afterwards I wanted to go to the market, but because of the really stormy weather I decided to stay at home the rest of the day.

Friday I went to our retired neighbors to borrow a shopping trolley, because I am not allowed to lift too much anymore. Then I went to the shopping street around the corner. It is nice to be outside and have a little bit of exercise! Afterwards I visited the neighbors and we drank some tea.

Saturday in the afternoon we visited Erik’s brother and his family in Amsterdam. In the morning I had some cramps in my belly, so I was not sure we could go. But in the afternoon everything stabilized and we could go. In Amsterdam Erik played a lot with his favorite nephew (1,5 years old), till he had to go to bed. Then we had dinner and went home again.

Sunday my oldest sister and her family came to visit us. We had lunch together and my two nieces (8 and 10 years old) were telling their stories. The oldest one was patiently feeling my belly, to make contact with the baby, but the baby was not willing this time! It was sleeping…

Tuesday morning I went to see the gynecologist again to check the progress of the pregnancy (now 40,2 weeks). I still had only 2 cm dilatation, but the doctor said that that was quite good for a first child pregnancy. But we still so we had to be patient. I had to come back in a week. Afterwards I went to the market to buy some groceries and to the butchery to buy some nice meat for Christmas.

Wednesday I went to “Bagels & Beans” again to meet with the German ladies from my pregnancy course. This time another German pregnant lady joined us and we talked German, because her Dutch was not yet that well. One of the girls met her on another pregnancy course. Coincidentally her husband also works for BMW and was sent to the Netherlands. We again had café and a bagel and chatted a lot! Afterwards I went to the Frederik Hendriklaan to do some shopping, In this lane they have all kind of specialties shops and I never really went there before. It was very nice and I got some things for Erik’s birthday and for Christmas.

Friday my mom and her husband came to visit me and we had a coffee. I told my mom that it would not be long now before the baby would be born. I already had some signs for the start of the childbirth.

Saturday was Erik’s birthday. In the morning my body was acting normal, so we decided that his family could come to visit. His parents and his brother and his family came and we had some cake. After a couple of hours they left again and I went to bed, because I was tired. At 23:30 my contractions started….

Sunday morning at 3:45 am Erik called the hospital and at 4:30 am we were at the hospital. At 14:45 my dilation was 10 cm and I could start to push. 44 minutes later our son Florian Reinder was born! He screamed out loud and was laid on my breast. He immediately started sucking on my breast and did not want to stop till 1,5 hours later! He is such a sweet boy and completely healthy! Due to some complications during labor, we had to stay in the hospital and we were moved to the maternity ward, where I got my own room. They laid Florian next to me in his own bed. Erik went home in the evening.

Monday morning Erik came back to the hospital and gave Florian his first bath and exchanged his diaper. I fed him every couple of hours. At the end of the morning my mother and her husband came to visit us for an hour. At the end of the afternoon Erik’s parents came to visit us too. Grandpa was very proud that Florian was called after him and that the 200 year naming tradition was kept alive.

Tuesday I was released from the hospital. I only still had a catheter. Within 30 minutes after coming home our neighbor was ringing the doorbell. He brought us flowers and visited Florian for five minutes. Only few minutes before the maternity nurse came in too. I immediately had a click with her and we laughed a lot! Erik also send out an email about the birth of Florian to a lot of friends and colleagues. We really got a lot of congratulations back, which was heartwarming! Florian got today his first pacifier, which he really liked.

Wednesday Florian was bathed for the first time at home by the maternity nurse. He liked it! Erik and I watched her doing it, so we could do it the next time ourselves.

Thursday was our first trip outside the house with Florian. We had to go
for a checkup for the catheter at the hospital. The maternity nurse helped us to get ready, because now we had to take a lot more stuff with us! The catheter had to stay…

Friday morning I first showered with Florian. At the end of the morning my father and his wife came to visit us. Florian’s grandpa made a big blocks world especially for him. At the same time the midwife came in to check up on me. So my father and his wife stayed for lunch so we could chat a bit. In the afternoon the maternity nurse showed us how we could massage Florian. He did not like it that much yet, but she said that he would get used to it and that it will help him to relax in the future. Florian held his own bottle of milk and Erik was very proud because of this. Friday night Florian was very hungry and after feeding him a lot in the night, he slept the last 5 hours and we had our first better night sleeping.

Saturday morning my brother and his family came to visit us. My sister in law could not wait to see Florian. She was messaging me all week, when they could visit to see Florian! My sister in law and niece and nephew decorated a box with all kind of toys and clothes for Florian. Some pieces had his name on it! My niece made also some nice drawings. At the end of the afternoon Erik’s parents came to visit us. During dinner Florian of course was also hungry….Saturday night Florian was restless again, but after being up for 3 hours and feeding him, he finally fell asleep and did not wake up till nine o’clock the next morning!

Sunday morning Erik went showering with Florian for the first time. In the morning my eldest sister and her family came to visit us. My eldest niece could not wait to hold Florian. After they were gone, my youngest sister came to visit with her family. She has a son of 8,5 month, which looked really big in comparison to Florian. Then they went to celebrate Christmas with my family, which we could not attend this year. This night Erik was up a lot: Florian had cramps. The maternity nurse showed us during the day how to recognize them and how to relief the pain for Florian. So it was a lot of work, but Florian did not cry as much anymore.

Monday Florian started to drink more regularly and more, so we could stop giving him some extra milk in a bottle.

Tuesday I changed Florian’s diapers for the first time. Till now Erik had done that every time, because I was still in bed. We had to go to the hospital again for my catheter. I really hoped to get rid of it. I again failed the test and had to come back on Friday…

Wednesday, the first day of Christmas, we stayed at home. We slept a bit longer and had some Christmas specialties for breakfast. Florian was a little bit out of “his rhythm”, but that is normal on his tenth day after birth, they say. For dinner we grilled some vegetables and meat. Of course Florian wanted to be with us to during dinner!

Thursday we bathed Florian together for the first time. We put on his Christmas clothes (and the green Christmas socks he got from his aunt), which looked really sweet on him! In the afternoon my mother and her husband and my stepbrother came to visit us. My mother really wanted to hold her grandson, which was really sweet! After they were gone, Erik and I grilled again. This time without interruption!

Friday we had to go to the hospital again for my catheter and this time (after some exiting moments, because I failed the first test again), I was allowed to go home without the catheter! What a relief!!!

Saturday I went for the first time since Florian’s was born alone outside. I only did some shopping, but I felt really nice to be outside of our house and the hospital! Florian slept a lot, but in the evening he had pain because of colic’s. So Erik walked around a lot with Florian.

Sunday Erik’s brother and his family came to visit us for the first time. They wanted to come a week earlier but, his nephew was ill then. He had the chicken pox, so they could not come to visit. We grilled together and Florian wanted to join us too, so I cuddled with him during the whole meal. Erik’s nephew found it a bit strange that there was a baby and he did not get all the attention. At the end of the visit he was curious and said a couple of times: “baby”. In both his families Erik’s nephew was the first grandchild.

Monday we went to the hospital again for a checkup for me. Everything was fine. In the afternoon the district nurse came to visit us, to explain us all about the vaccination program, the support and courses of the infant welfare center, etc. In the evening Erik visited my brother and his family. I stayed at home with Florian.

Tuesday, new year’s eve, I did some grocery shopping. Erik went for a beer with a colleague of his in the harbor. In the evening we grilled again and Florian wanted to join us. At 21:00 you could a lot of firework outside, but luckily it did not bother Florian for him I think it was the same like a vacuum cleaner (surrounding noises) and nothing spectacular. We stayed at home the whole evening and shortly after the new year started we went to bed.

Cheers,
Marja and Erik