November 2013: preparing for childbirth
Door: Marja
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Marja
30 November 2013 | Nederland, 's-Gravenhage
Tuesday evening I went to my pregnancy course again. This time we had the first breathing exercises which were a bit funny.
Wednesday I went to the health care shop. In the Netherlands you are obliged to elevate your bed to 80-90 cm, when you are pregnant for 36/37 weeks. This is needed for the midwife and maternity nurse if your child will be born at home (which is quite common here). If you choose to get your child born in the hospital you also need to elevate your bed for the time at home after the birth of your child. The maternity nurse will help at home with taking care of the baby and the mother in the first week after birth. The standards under the bed will make the work of the midwife and maternity nurse easier. So I got 12 standards to put under the legs of our bed.
Friday I went to visit my mother. My brother was there too with his two youngest kids. We had lunch and shortly after that I went home again, but it was nice to be out of our house for a couple of hours.
Saturday we went to some friends for an after Halloween party for adults and children. Everyone was disguised, which was really fun. Erik was disguised as a wizard and I was a witch. Most were a little surprised to find a 8 months pregnant witch! At 18:00 Erik brought me home and drove alone to his brother in Amsterdam. The men were together at home with Erik’s nephew (1,5 years old). They played with him, till he had to go to bed.
Sunday morning my brother, his family and their small dog came to visit us. The small dog did not leave my side during the visit. She probably felt that I was pregnant! Erik played with my two nieces and one nephew. They got really hyperactive! Then we went to the nursery room and I put on the Winnie the Pooh dream show. This is a music box with a simple beamer on the ceiling. All three of them were immediately quiet and were fascinated by the ceiling. So funny to see! Later on my brother helped Erik to put the standards I got from the health care shop under the legs of our bed. So now our bed is really high and I almost have to jump in our bed! In the afternoon they all went home again and Erik and I went to the harbor for a drink on the terrace. Slowly it is getting colder and a good (winter) jacket is needed. While sitting there a really ancient car working on steam drove by!
Monday morning my mother called if she and her husband could visit me in the afternoon. I do not have much to do at this moment, so this visit was very welcome! I showed the nursery room to my stepfather and we practiced how the buggy works, which was really funny. Later on we made some pictures of my 36 weeks pregnant stomach.
Wednesday evening I went to a restaurant in the harbor to meet a former colleague from me from Munich. She also worked in the BMW Bank and knows me from the beginning that I was there. She now works in the Netherlands for BMW. So in the beginning she had problems to understand my German and now she is learning Dutch! It was nice and funny to speak the whole evening in German and talk about the cultures of Germany and the Netherlands!
Friday evening Erik had for the first time in a long time again to
a “Jaareten” (year dinner). After many years Erik still meets his year club (8 members) from his association from his student’s corps. They have dinner together once in two months in Amsterdam. Following tradition Erik had to spend them all sect, because we are expecting!
Saturday in the afternoon “Sinterklaas”/”Sint Nicolaas” Saint Nicolas and his helpers “zwarte Pieten” (Black Piet’s) arrived with a steamboat from Madrid(!), Spain in the Netherlands. He arrives every year on the first Saturday after Saint Maarten (November 11th). In all cities and villages he makes a tour/ parade on the same day, but off course later than what you see on television! In the other cities and villages it is off
course the “helping” Saint Nicolas ad not the real one. So Saint Nicolas made also a tour through Scheveningen and The Hague. This is part of a Dutch traditional party for children. Starting from this day on the children are allowed to set their shoes for him with a carrot in it for Saint Nicolas horse a drawing and maybe they even sings songs for the saint to welcome him. During the night Saint Nicolas comes with his white horse and his helpers on the roof of the houses and black Piet goes through the chimney to put candy or small toys in the shoes of the children. The next morning the children have candy (and maybe a small toy) in their shoe and (off course) the carrot and drawing disappeared! On December 5th they get more presents (if they were brave this year) and then Saint Nicolas goes back to Spain. It was a long time ago that a have seen such a tour/parade and this was a real long one. I think there were about 200-300 black Piet’s! The children were fascinated and quite a few dressed themselves like Saint Nicolas and black Piet. They also collected a lot of special Saint Nicolas Dutch cookies and candies in their bags!
Monday I went to the BMW dealer in The Hague to exchange our summer tires for winter tires. This was very nice, because I could also have a look at the several BMW’s which were showed there like the 4-series and the new BMW I 3! The 4-series I had not seen in Munich yet.
Wednesday I went to the gynecologist for a check. Everything was fine, the baby still has a lot amniotic fluid. So the baby is feeling very comfortable in my stomach and might stay there for another while. At home I already started with the Christmas decoration like I always did in Germany. In Germany I was always early especially for the German who start on the 24th of December. Due to the fact that , we always travelled to the Netherlands half of December and I wanted to enjoy the decorations as much as possible. This year I am also very early for the Dutch tradition, but I do not know if I have time in December!
Thursday my sister in law came by. We chatted a lot and she made some pictures from my stomach, so I can remember later on how big my stomach was! For lunch we went to the harbor and later on we walked to the beach for some final photographs!
Friday I went to my youngest sister. We had some tea and then picked up her eldest son from school and drove to the markets place in the village with all three children, which required quite an organization! On the market we bought some groceries and got some fresh fish for lunch, which we ate outside and the children really loved it! Then we drove her eldest son back to school.
Sunday we went to visit Erik’s parents. We stayed for lunch and dinner and had therefore enough time to chat. Erik’s father took apart their playpen, so we could take it with us for our living room. They wanted to buy a lighter one for when the grandchildren are there. When we came home, we put the playpen together again in only one hour.
Monday I had lunch at “Bagels and Beans” with a (German) friend of my pregnancy course, which was really fun.
Wednesday my mom and her husband came by. We had lunch together and chatted a lot.
Thursday I went to see the gynecologist again and everything was fine, so now we are waiting till the baby will come with only 1,5 week to go for the calculated birth date. Then I went to the market in Scheveningen and bought some groceries. It was a nice small market, where I might be going again when the baby is there. Then I drove by the beach and saw preparations for the 200 Year Dutch kingdom event on Saturday. After the Prussian and Russian troops expelled the French troops (of Napoleon) from the Netherlands in 1813, Prince Willem Frederik (the son of our last governor Willem V) navigated to the beach in The Hague. First the last French troops were expelled by the English soldiers from the English “Warrior” ship in which Prince Willem Fredrik came. Then Prince Willem Frederik landed on the beach after living for 18 years in exile in the United Kingdom and the Dutch kingdom started. When I drove by on Thursday I saw four Dutch marine ships and two landing crafts navigating for the coast. So I called my dad and his wife if they could come early so we could have a look later in the afternoon. So they came early and we went back to the beach to have a look at the preparations on the beach. They were building up two tribunes and they moved the sand so that on Saturday the carriage with horses could drive up to the boulevard and then into the city. Afterwards we went to a fish restaurant in the harbor and ate the freshest fish you can get!
Friday I went to the city center of the Hague for some shopping for the baby. I did not go for long, because I got tired quite quick!
Saturday the celebration of 200 years kingdom started at the beach. On the beach they imitated the historical landing of Prince Willem Frederik for 200 years with 650 people in costumes. Every 25 years this is done, but this year it was done bigger than before. Planned was that Prince Willem Frederik would start from the HMS Tyne (British navy ship). Originally this was the “Warrior” ship. With a rowing boat they would bring him to the beach where a carriage was waiting for him. Due to the stormy wind and high waves today they could not land safely with rowing boat, so he was brought by a amphibian vehicle, which was a bit of a shame. The play was nice and a lot of people came to see it, even our king Willem Alexander and queen Maxima. After the historical landing our royal Dutch marine (which also celebrated her 200 years existence) showed a modern landing on the beach, with helicopters and amphibian vehicles. After the modern landing we went home, because we were feeling quite cold from the wind a rain.
Cheers,
Marja and Erik
Wednesday I went to the health care shop. In the Netherlands you are obliged to elevate your bed to 80-90 cm, when you are pregnant for 36/37 weeks. This is needed for the midwife and maternity nurse if your child will be born at home (which is quite common here). If you choose to get your child born in the hospital you also need to elevate your bed for the time at home after the birth of your child. The maternity nurse will help at home with taking care of the baby and the mother in the first week after birth. The standards under the bed will make the work of the midwife and maternity nurse easier. So I got 12 standards to put under the legs of our bed.
Friday I went to visit my mother. My brother was there too with his two youngest kids. We had lunch and shortly after that I went home again, but it was nice to be out of our house for a couple of hours.
Saturday we went to some friends for an after Halloween party for adults and children. Everyone was disguised, which was really fun. Erik was disguised as a wizard and I was a witch. Most were a little surprised to find a 8 months pregnant witch! At 18:00 Erik brought me home and drove alone to his brother in Amsterdam. The men were together at home with Erik’s nephew (1,5 years old). They played with him, till he had to go to bed.
Sunday morning my brother, his family and their small dog came to visit us. The small dog did not leave my side during the visit. She probably felt that I was pregnant! Erik played with my two nieces and one nephew. They got really hyperactive! Then we went to the nursery room and I put on the Winnie the Pooh dream show. This is a music box with a simple beamer on the ceiling. All three of them were immediately quiet and were fascinated by the ceiling. So funny to see! Later on my brother helped Erik to put the standards I got from the health care shop under the legs of our bed. So now our bed is really high and I almost have to jump in our bed! In the afternoon they all went home again and Erik and I went to the harbor for a drink on the terrace. Slowly it is getting colder and a good (winter) jacket is needed. While sitting there a really ancient car working on steam drove by!
Monday morning my mother called if she and her husband could visit me in the afternoon. I do not have much to do at this moment, so this visit was very welcome! I showed the nursery room to my stepfather and we practiced how the buggy works, which was really funny. Later on we made some pictures of my 36 weeks pregnant stomach.
Wednesday evening I went to a restaurant in the harbor to meet a former colleague from me from Munich. She also worked in the BMW Bank and knows me from the beginning that I was there. She now works in the Netherlands for BMW. So in the beginning she had problems to understand my German and now she is learning Dutch! It was nice and funny to speak the whole evening in German and talk about the cultures of Germany and the Netherlands!
Friday evening Erik had for the first time in a long time again to
a “Jaareten” (year dinner). After many years Erik still meets his year club (8 members) from his association from his student’s corps. They have dinner together once in two months in Amsterdam. Following tradition Erik had to spend them all sect, because we are expecting!
Saturday in the afternoon “Sinterklaas”/”Sint Nicolaas” Saint Nicolas and his helpers “zwarte Pieten” (Black Piet’s) arrived with a steamboat from Madrid(!), Spain in the Netherlands. He arrives every year on the first Saturday after Saint Maarten (November 11th). In all cities and villages he makes a tour/ parade on the same day, but off course later than what you see on television! In the other cities and villages it is off
course the “helping” Saint Nicolas ad not the real one. So Saint Nicolas made also a tour through Scheveningen and The Hague. This is part of a Dutch traditional party for children. Starting from this day on the children are allowed to set their shoes for him with a carrot in it for Saint Nicolas horse a drawing and maybe they even sings songs for the saint to welcome him. During the night Saint Nicolas comes with his white horse and his helpers on the roof of the houses and black Piet goes through the chimney to put candy or small toys in the shoes of the children. The next morning the children have candy (and maybe a small toy) in their shoe and (off course) the carrot and drawing disappeared! On December 5th they get more presents (if they were brave this year) and then Saint Nicolas goes back to Spain. It was a long time ago that a have seen such a tour/parade and this was a real long one. I think there were about 200-300 black Piet’s! The children were fascinated and quite a few dressed themselves like Saint Nicolas and black Piet. They also collected a lot of special Saint Nicolas Dutch cookies and candies in their bags!
Monday I went to the BMW dealer in The Hague to exchange our summer tires for winter tires. This was very nice, because I could also have a look at the several BMW’s which were showed there like the 4-series and the new BMW I 3! The 4-series I had not seen in Munich yet.
Wednesday I went to the gynecologist for a check. Everything was fine, the baby still has a lot amniotic fluid. So the baby is feeling very comfortable in my stomach and might stay there for another while. At home I already started with the Christmas decoration like I always did in Germany. In Germany I was always early especially for the German who start on the 24th of December. Due to the fact that , we always travelled to the Netherlands half of December and I wanted to enjoy the decorations as much as possible. This year I am also very early for the Dutch tradition, but I do not know if I have time in December!
Thursday my sister in law came by. We chatted a lot and she made some pictures from my stomach, so I can remember later on how big my stomach was! For lunch we went to the harbor and later on we walked to the beach for some final photographs!
Friday I went to my youngest sister. We had some tea and then picked up her eldest son from school and drove to the markets place in the village with all three children, which required quite an organization! On the market we bought some groceries and got some fresh fish for lunch, which we ate outside and the children really loved it! Then we drove her eldest son back to school.
Sunday we went to visit Erik’s parents. We stayed for lunch and dinner and had therefore enough time to chat. Erik’s father took apart their playpen, so we could take it with us for our living room. They wanted to buy a lighter one for when the grandchildren are there. When we came home, we put the playpen together again in only one hour.
Monday I had lunch at “Bagels and Beans” with a (German) friend of my pregnancy course, which was really fun.
Wednesday my mom and her husband came by. We had lunch together and chatted a lot.
Thursday I went to see the gynecologist again and everything was fine, so now we are waiting till the baby will come with only 1,5 week to go for the calculated birth date. Then I went to the market in Scheveningen and bought some groceries. It was a nice small market, where I might be going again when the baby is there. Then I drove by the beach and saw preparations for the 200 Year Dutch kingdom event on Saturday. After the Prussian and Russian troops expelled the French troops (of Napoleon) from the Netherlands in 1813, Prince Willem Frederik (the son of our last governor Willem V) navigated to the beach in The Hague. First the last French troops were expelled by the English soldiers from the English “Warrior” ship in which Prince Willem Fredrik came. Then Prince Willem Frederik landed on the beach after living for 18 years in exile in the United Kingdom and the Dutch kingdom started. When I drove by on Thursday I saw four Dutch marine ships and two landing crafts navigating for the coast. So I called my dad and his wife if they could come early so we could have a look later in the afternoon. So they came early and we went back to the beach to have a look at the preparations on the beach. They were building up two tribunes and they moved the sand so that on Saturday the carriage with horses could drive up to the boulevard and then into the city. Afterwards we went to a fish restaurant in the harbor and ate the freshest fish you can get!
Friday I went to the city center of the Hague for some shopping for the baby. I did not go for long, because I got tired quite quick!
Saturday the celebration of 200 years kingdom started at the beach. On the beach they imitated the historical landing of Prince Willem Frederik for 200 years with 650 people in costumes. Every 25 years this is done, but this year it was done bigger than before. Planned was that Prince Willem Frederik would start from the HMS Tyne (British navy ship). Originally this was the “Warrior” ship. With a rowing boat they would bring him to the beach where a carriage was waiting for him. Due to the stormy wind and high waves today they could not land safely with rowing boat, so he was brought by a amphibian vehicle, which was a bit of a shame. The play was nice and a lot of people came to see it, even our king Willem Alexander and queen Maxima. After the historical landing our royal Dutch marine (which also celebrated her 200 years existence) showed a modern landing on the beach, with helicopters and amphibian vehicles. After the modern landing we went home, because we were feeling quite cold from the wind a rain.
Cheers,
Marja and Erik
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