This and That

Well, I know all of you are dying for an update on Jonas, and for a multitude of pictures.  After all, he is one of the four cutest babies ever born.  At least until he gets into the awkward phase of cheeks down to his shoulders and double chins galore (I guess that would mean it isn't a double chin... but I digress).  Of course we all know babies are adorable to their parents, so please give me the luxury of believing he is the most delightful thing on the planet right now.

Our midwives came Day 1, 3, and 7 after Jonas was born.  When he was born he weighed 3690 grams.  Because as Canadians we technically use the metric system, especially as a nurse I should have an idea in my head of what that means.  However in life and practice, we speak in pounds and ounces.  It is a very strange thing.  So we "translated" it into 8.1 lbs.  I realized later this does not mean 8lbs 1 oz, but if anyone cares it actually is 8 lbs 2 oz.  So when they came back on Day 7 he weighed 3915 grams.  If I converted that correctly it means 8lbs 10oz, so an 8oz weight gain in his first week.  I was not kidding above when I said he would end up with funny looking triple chins.

We had fun putting him in a doll bed.  Does he not have the biggest "outie" in the world?

We didn't have a vehicle for 4 days this week and started running out of food, so Shaun has been trying different bread recipes.  He has been talking about it for a long time so this gave him the incentive.  The bread above is even twisted artistically.

A couple days ago we noticed Hazel had a little fringe of bangs.  You would think an 8-year-old would know better than to cut his sisters' hair.  That's right, it was Seth.  And he cut Hazel and Lyla's hair, and then they hid it behind a bookcase.  Fortunately on Lyla you can't tell and Hazel's is fairly minor.  You can see it in the picture below.

No one has gotten sick of trying to hold baby Jonas.  I will forever be hearing Lyla's voice whenever Jonas cries: "It's okay, baby, Mother's here."  Where has she ever heard us using the word mother even?  But it is super cute.

The kids have been waking up way too early, in part because the sun is rising around 5 in the morning.

Even his feet are cute!

"But I like to hold him when he's crying, Mom!"

A typical find in our house.  In other animal news, we are down from 5-10 cockroaches a day to around 1 a week.  This is exciting because at one point in my pregnancy when I was up every hour to use the bathroom I was having nightmares about cockroaches.  Now although I still have sandals beside my bed to walk to Jonas, I am fairly confident I won't step on one.  

Seth went to catch a lizard by it's tail.  Yep, it fell off in his hand.  And did you know they wiggle for a long time after they fall off?  Also, it was covered in ants eating it within a half hour and Hazel thought she had to rescue it and bring it into our house.  I explained it is an interesting thing to observe outside of the house.

So there's a few happenings in our life.

Another exciting thing is that during the trip to Maragogi the week he was born we found a place to live in!  It even has a bit of land around it, which is really exciting and we already have plans to grow everything from beans to watermelon and possibly get some chickens.  We didn't take pictures so that will have to wait for another post.

So we got the house, we got the baby, now we just need to find a vehicle.  This is a challenge because vehicles are still very expensive, particularly anything with more than 5 seats.  They haven't bought into the mini-van craze in north america, which allows you to buy very cheap mini-vans second hand if needed.  So Shaun is hoping to go out this week and find something.

Have a good week everyone! 

Introducing Jonas

Hello Again,

Well, it looks like I won't have to post about birth in Brazil and debate all the pros and cons of home births, hospital births, public or private health care ever again....

The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful healthy baby boy named Jonas Arthur:

Last week Wednesday, while we were in Maragogi, I started having contractions.  We spent the whole night awake wondering if we should drive back to Recife, two hours away.  They subsided somewhat the next day, but over the next three days and nights I had probably 2-3 an hour.  And of course in the evening there's a little more, so every day I thought was the day!  Anyways, on Saturday night I finished my birth plan, sent it off and went to bed.  It took a long time seeing as it was Portuguese, but I copied and pasted a lot from examples she sent us.  Right after that the contractions got worse.  By two o' clock on Sunday morning we called our midwife, as she lives 40 minutes away and we thought we should warn her.  They were maybe 4 minutes apart.  She happened to be at a restaurant 3 minutes away!  So she came and hung out.  I was hoping to have the baby before the kids woke up.  During the next couple of hours we had the other midwife arrive and the English speaking doula.  She did not know she was part of our birth plan.  Our midwife didn't know the doula was part of the plan either, until she read it after she got here.  When I emailed her the plan earlier I had asked her if we needed to meet with the doula and the doctor to let them in on the plan.  Shaun and I were thinking maybe we didn't need the doula, but I felt we should in case we ended up at the hospital or in an emergency.  The midwives can't go into the hospitals and we don't speak Portuguese...or at least medical Portuguese.  Shaun actually met the doctor we had as a "backup" when he dropped off his wife in the middle of the night: the other midwife!  At around 5:00 I actually laid down as the contractions had spread out, and was able to sleep 10 minutes at a time.  I was thinking that maybe I wasn't in labour after all and I was wasting everyone's time!  Lyla, who was super sick this week with fever and stomach issues, crawled into our bed at 6, then Seth and Hazel woke up.  I was still having contractions around 10 minutes apart, however at that point we decided to drop our kids off at our friend's house.  In my mind I had thought I would have been much more able to handle pain for the sake of my kids if they were in the house... however I realized I cannot.  I admire and respect those women who are peaceful and serene, even when in pain.  So at 7:20 in the morning Shaun went to drop off the kids.  Right as he left I had probably four contractions in ten minutes and we were wondering if it was a good idea to leave.  He returned at 7:45 and Jonas was born at 8:25!  To be honest I can't believe it was only 40 minutes after he returned because it felt like an eternity.

The kids came home yesterday evening and are enamored with little Jonas.  Hazel for some reason had told us a few days ago that she was going to call the baby Jo-jo. Seth is excited to teach his little brother hockey and soccer, and also to share a bunkbed with him.... hopefully that lasts :)  Lyla is very excited as well, however is definitely still under the weather.  The fever/vomiting symptoms have subsided but she still has loss of appetite and now she has blisters on her tongue...

In all (after the whole labour part that is), it was a great experience.  It was super relaxed and low key after Jonas was born, and nothing happened without our consent or knowledge.  This is an interesting observation because in Canada I don't think I ever even thought about everything that gets done during/after a birth, but now that I've thought about it there are a lot of things that we should at least think about.  

Above all we are so thankful to God that everything went well and that He kept us safe and in His care.  Here's a few pictures of the last day and a half:

Home Birth

I don't think that I ever thought I'd be writing those words in regards to me.

A friend of ours came back from a trip and was shocked that we were considering a home birth, seeing as when we had talked about it two weeks before I was adamant that was not an option we were comfortable with.

I think that must have been before we decided the hospitals were not an option we were comfortable with. I mean, the private hospitals have a decided emphasis on cesarean sections/interventions/and no parental say in what happens to your baby, unless you have found/hired a doctor and pediatrician who actually agrees with you about what you want (see my post here).  The public hospital had a good option, with a low-risk/low-intervention/baby-with-you rooms, but there were only 5 rooms, with everyone from the region coming there and a high potential to be turned away, or if anything went "wrong" you would be moved to the "high-risk" area and apparently have a totally different experience with many interventions and no say in what happens to your baby either.

So in week 37 1/2 of pregnancy we decided we would meet with some "parteiras" (midwives) here in Recife, at least to hear what they had to offer and see if it was an option we could stomach.

There were two: a traditional midwife and an obstetrical nurse who had done her masters in obstetrics with a focus on home births.  They both were friendly and knowledgeable.  They had lots of experience.  I think in the end both of them would do a good job and as birth is a normal, natural thing and we have had three babies without concerns, everything would probably work out just fine.  However we decided to go with the midwife who had studied obstetrical nursing.  The biggest reason being that she brings along medical equipment and medications "just in case."  She has another trained nurse with her.  She also helps you make a plan B and C in case of emergencies and "semi-emergencies."  This included talking about doctors in Recife who promote natural birth, and who work out of private hospitals which are maybe further away from us.  We also talked about what we would do for an extreme emergency, as to which hospital is the closest.  Included in the cost is three weekly visits from weeks 37-40, and after week 40 visits every 3 days.  An English-speaking doula met with us at the same time.  That was very informative, and she was able to explain that it was not actually the private hospitals which were the problems, it was all up to the professionals who you hired.  So if you are ever looking for a doctor who is actually pro-normal birth in Recife, I now have two names.  In all of Recife.  She also told us that it is important to actually hire a specific pediatrician to look after your baby, as it is also very dependant on the pediatrician as to whether you can keep the baby with you, or have it at all while you are in hospital.  One other side note is that until the last half-year, these two were the only midwives in all Recife.  The mother of the traditional midwife also is a traditional midwife, but it sounds like she is busy advocating for home births and natural births and flying all over the world learning how they deliver babies in different parts of the world.  The obstetrical nurse to our understanding has now trained four other nurses as well this past year, so there are a total of five midwives in a metropolitan of approximately four million.

So that being said, we have decided to have a home birth with a midwife.  We had met with both of them on separate afternoons last week, but the one we chose wanted to check out our home.  She came by yesterday and although I've never classified myself as a "worrier" when pregnant, it was a relief to have a checkup after over a month.  My feet started swelling on Sunday, which I have never had before (you may have thought I was swollen when I was pregnant with Seth, but that was strictly weight gain ;)).  Having heard a few stories regarding pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure lately I admit it was on my mind with my swollen feet.  

However, all appears well, and it was a relief to have her come to our home and have something decided on for the off-chance I possibly have a baby in the next month...  It seems I could have this baby any day, but my initial ultrasound said October 23rd, so I'm trying to remind myself it may not be until November!

Please pray for us that all will go well and that our baby is born healthy and strong!  We are blessed to know that in all things God will provide us with strength, and thankful we have peace knowing that in all things His will is done.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Finally Some Pictures

Our current living quarters.

We visited old friends in Maragogi already almost a month ago!  We're hoping to go there again for one day this week and look at a few potential rentals for us.  Maragogi is around two hours south from here and located on the coast.

Seth doing some work over his morning coffee.

There is a nice little pool located on the property here.  Hazel has become a proficient swimmer, as well as Lyla when she is in her lifejacket.  We make use of the pool probably 3 times a week in the afternoon....obviously this is part of my schooling by stealth: gym class!  We can't use it everyday because there has been quite a bit of rain.  September apparently had more rain then usual, and when we looked at how much rain Recife had annually, it was DOUBLE Vancouver.

And finally, here's a picture of me this week if you are curious: 38 weeks along!  We have come up with a solution we think we are comfortable with, but I will have to write another post talking about our last week meeting with people and trying to figure out the system here.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday! 

From Seth's Perspective

Today I thought it would be interesting to interview Seth about his views on Brazil.

What did you think about the trip here?
I got a lot of headaches.  I hate going on planes and feel like throwing up.

What's the best part of your day?
My favourite part is seeing Micah.

What do you like about Brazil?
I like catching lizards, geckos, and all types of animals.

What's the best thing we've done here?
I don't know... there's so much stuff that happens.  Catching lizards, playing in the pool... something like that.  I liked going on the coral reef because I saw sea urchins, crabs, all kinds of fish, and maybe I will see squid and octopus and baby sharks if I can go again.

Is there anything you're looking forward to in Brazil?
I'm looking forward to buying a science lab so I can study animals really hard every day, especially reptiles and amphibians.

What do you think about school with your mom?
I like it because it's fun.  I only go to school for 5 minutes and other people go to school for 6 hours.

What's your favorite activity in school?
I like math, including math games.  I like that we are studying coral reefs.  I also am making a book called "Seth the Sailfish."

What do you dislike about school?
I don't like spelling.

What do you think about learning Portuguese?
I do not like learning Portuguese.  It is boring.  I just have to do it because I need to learn Portuguese so I can speak to other people so they can understand me.  (Seth now gave me a list of Portuguese words he knows that he thinks I should write down for the reader's benefit.  He concludes this list by saying "and twinkle means star.")

What do you miss about Canada?
I miss my cousins.

If you could pick two people to come visit you here, who would it be?
Adam and Dylan of course.

What would you want to show Adam and Dylan if they came here?
How to draw a helicopter.  I would want to catch lizards and snakes with them, and have them help me with my science lab.

What do you not miss about Canada?
It is so cold in the winter, I hate getting snow in my boots.

Seth also wants to let you all know he likes to make up songs and he wants to be a song-singer and get money for people to watch him.  He also likes to draw helicopters, particularly Apaches.  He also can count to over 1000 in 1000 seconds.  He's excited about having a baby brother if it is, but if it's a girl he'll be sad, because boys play hockey.  When we pointed out girls can play hockey and Hazel does sometimes, he reminded us that she always quits on him.  He also points out that Lyla always slashes and hits the ball so it bounces up.  

The author of this blog would also like to report that although Seth thinks he does 5 minutes of school a day, I prefer to call it education by stealth, or guiding of the self-directed learner....