Baby #5

When we decided to move overseas in July 2012, we knew our family was not complete.  Seeing how we were just moving for 2 short years, we decided to wait until our return to the US to have baby #5. That way, we could bring the baby into the world in a more long term situation, and also avoid experiencing a new child and culture shock simultaneously.  Fast forward through those 2 short years, and we were presented with the opportunity to stay in Holland for an additional 2 years.  Our twins were 5 by this point, and that was already a pretty big gap between kids.  I knew I didn't want to wait any longer to have another baby - but having a baby in a foreign country was NOT part of my life plan.  After weighing all the options and praying about it, we decided to stay for the additional 2 years AND figure out how to have a baby here in Holland.

I feel like I could easily devote an entire blog just to navigating prenatal care in Holland.  In the US a lot of my friends complain that they have limited birthing options and that it's difficult to find a doctor that really listens to them and their needs and wants for prenatal care, labor, and delivery.  Of course, they are mostly referring to the fact that they are cornered into having a "medical birth" and have to really fight to go natural.  In my experience, birthing a baby in Holland I heard many of those same complaints (especially from the international community): limited birthing options and it's difficult to find a doctor that really listens to you and your needs and wants for prenatal care, labor, and delivery. In Holland, you have to fight to have a medical birth in a hospital because they really push for you to go au-naturale.  Most women birth their babies at home or in a birthing center.  If you do have a baby in a hospital, you are sent home within hours of delivery.  Epidurals are sparse.  The standard of care is to have a midwife oversee all your prenatal care, labor, and delivery - you don't even have the option of seeing an OBGYN unless you are high risk.  Being that I have had 2 high risk pregnancies in the past, this whole system makes me pretty uncomfortable.  I'm no medical professional - but it doesn't take years of training to conclude that what women really want in a maternity experience is to be given options and really be listened to.  It's not exactly rocket science.

What I decided is that since my pregnancy didn't seem to be high risk, I would go ahead and see my neighborhood midwife for all of my prenatal care.  I would additionally see an OBGYN in Belgium for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, and he would deliver my baby in Belgium where I would have no trouble delivering in a hospital with the option of having an epidural and postnatal hospital care.  Pretty complicated, I know - plus I had to be insured through the Dutch system as well as through my US insurance so I could have international coverage.  Pricey and complicated.  But worth it for my own comfort and peace of mind.  Suffice it to say - the whole experience would be an adventure.  

So enough of the medical complications - I love a good surprise.  Having a baby while living overseas and far away from any and all family is a pretty good recipe for a great surprise.  We didn't whisper a word of the pregnancy to anyone in the US until Grandma and Grandpa came to visit in July.  They were then sworn to secrecy until we made our trip back to the US in August to see my family.  This little video tells the whole story (along with a glimpse at baby Bennett's birth)...

https://youtu.be/6LrD6FCRMc0