We're a little behind these days when it comes to our blog, but we have a pretty good excuse to our delay in publishing a new post - our sweet daughter Teia Beatrix Johnsen, also known as Tei Tei and Teia Bea!
Our little one came into this world after a long 26 hours of labor on September 3rd, at 11:03 am. What I thought would be a short and sweet labor proved to be different. I did everything humanly possible - birthing center, bath tub, remifentanil, epidural, pitocin and then got off the epidural and finally gave birth naturally. I don't need to go into all the gory details, but know that with out the support of my husband and midwife - the journey would of been much more difficult. I owe them everything!
Our lovely midwife Antje-Martje stuck with us for the whole journey! We met her back in February and had an immediate connection. The system is a bit different here. When I originally went to my house Doctor to confirm that I was in fact pregnant, she, after 5 minutes of meeting me, said congrats and go find a midwife. So we did and a good one at that!!!
Teia weighed in at a whopping 5.5 lbs and unfortunately we were not able to get her height since the Dutch don't believe in taking that measurement until they are a month old. They find it incredibly cruel to stretch out a baby as it's been curled up and nestled inside a mother's belly for some time! Teia and I stayed for one night in the hospital so that we could make sure she was able to regulate her temperature.
Courtney, Michael and Erin visited us at the hospital! I think it was love at first sight for all of them!
The next day Kirk and my mom arrived to pick us up and take us home! Waiting for us at home - our Kraamzorg. A Kraamzorg is like a maternity nurse. Here in the Netherlands they provide a medical service for postnatal care for new mothers and their babies. Our Kraamzorg, Marlene, was here for 8 days - supporting us in many ways from cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, and also providing care and instruction for newborns. This service is completely covered by health insurance in The Netherlands.
I would have to say we were pretty spoiled to have help from our Kraamzorg, my mother and Kirk had a the week off from work. It was a nice transition into becoming parents. I especially loved how protective my Kraamzorg was - she insisted that I sleep, not go outside, avoid exerting any energy and made me fruit salad everyday. Her goal was to ensure my recovery was quick and efficient and that Teia was thriving in her first week! It was incredibly comforting to have someone there to ask questions about breastfeeding, potential issues, sleep schedules and how to heal. The Netherlands also send the GGD to your house - another service for infants to children. This group checks on the environment of the home, the mother, the babies weight, hearing and heel prick test, and then at future appointments at their clinic you follow up with a doctor for more information, weight and height, and finally screenings and vaccinations. I got to be honest, it sort of felt like child services when they arrived and asked to see the crib to make sure it was up to code - the Dutch sure take their moms and babies seriously.
Our lovely nursery sits right next to our bedroom. It's been waiting for Teia's arrival for some time now!!! Highlight - Miffy night light. Miffy, also known as Nijntje (little rabbit), is a popular 1950's female rabbit starting out in children's books and then television, clothes and toys. When visiting The Netherlands you will most likely spot Miffy!
In the middle of all the baby madness Kirk went off to Brussels for the Euro Effie awards Gala. They won Gold for the FIFA 12 campaign!
As mentioned before, my mom, Diane, arrived the day after Teia was born and stayed for 3 weeks to help out and get to know the little misses! Stating the obvious it was really hard for her to leave Teia, they had a nice time bonding, cuddling and spending not enough time together!
We got in a little newborn photo shoot with Alejandro Peralta - it was wonderful capturing so many precious moments!
Another set of guests arrived for a short weekend stay - Matt and Emily Hulen. This was their 3rd time out to visit. They arrived from Singapore via London and it was really nice to spend some quality time lounging about, walking around the city, dining out, shopping and getting to know Teia! Thanks for making it out again, Hulen's! We will hopefully be in Singapore in April!
That's it for now - our little one is now a month old and we are loving every moment of it! Keep you posted with future guests and travel as they approach!
