Pregnant in the UK

Ok, so I have to be honest...part of the reason we waited to have a baby here is because I was a little concerned about the healthcare system.  I hated taking Parker to the Dr...mainly because we never saw an actual doctor and most the time the nurse would spend less than five minutes with us before handing out a prescription.  BUT it's free...that has to count for something...right?

Needless to say, I knew that prenatal care here would be different than home.  I was pretty attached to my doctor at home and was looking forward to having someone around who knew me this time around, but I'm getting over it...just don't ask Brady:).

Here is a rundown of the prenatal care so far...

First of all, you have to know that they prescribe to the 'midwifery model of care.'  If you read online about midwives, you might find something like this...

"Under the midwifery model of care, pregnancy and childbirth are considered normal events, not medical ones. The focus is on preventative care during pregnancy.Prenatal appointments with midwives are generally longer. Midwives take a lot of time to answer questions and talk about nutrition.
The use of the midwifery model of care has been proven to reduce the likelihood of C-Section and other intervention, including the use or forceps and vacuum. The midwifery model follows a “wait and see” approach during labor and birth. This means that medical interventions are not used unless there is a medical necessity for them."

After reading this, I was more excited about the thought of a midwife.  It sounded like it would be a very personalized relationship between the midwife and myself.  What I didn't realize is that I would never see the same midwife twice...even if I did, I wouldn't see her often enough to form a relationship...here is a timeline of my appointments...

8 weeks   Full medical history taken...urine sample taken

11 weeks   Routine dating scan (did not see midwife, only technician)

16 weeks   VBAC vs C-Section appointment...I had to meet with someone to discuss my options and risks

20 weeks    Ultrasound (no midwife, only technician)

28 weeks    midwife appointment

34 weeks    midwife appointment

36 weeks    midwife appointment

38 weeks    midwife appointment

41 weeks    midwife appointment (seriously, we don't meet at 40 weeks)

For the most part, the only gap in the timeline that bothers me is between 16 and 28 weeks...I still haven't heard the baby's heartbeat and won't until 28 weeks...it is all I can think about somedays...

A few other interesting facts...I carry around a packet of medical information to every appointment (seen below)...every time I see a new midwife, they look through the packet and make notes inside...I'm honestly not sure if they keep track of anything anywhere else...also, I get letters in the mail telling me when my next appointments are...they have a barcode on them used to identify me (also pictured below)...when I had my ultrasound, I had to pay 4 pounds (around $6.50 for one picture)...I never get weighed...I am in charge of checking my own weight and making sure I'm on target (I might get weighed at 28 weeks, but I'm just not sure)... also, I found a worksheet in my packet showing how to measure the fundal height...I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to do that as well...

Ok, so I know that this might not seem strange to many of you, but it has been a big adjustment for myself.  It's all part of the adventure, right?

marriage proposal

I'm not sure what Parker saw or heard today, but for some reason he had marriage on the brain.  He asked me to marry him at least twenty times throughout the course of the day.  Gosh, I love him.  Here was our conversation in the bathroom (where we have all of our best talks:) right before bed...

P: "mommy, will you marry me?"

Me: "oh, I wish I could, but I'm already married to Daddy."

P: "but will you marry me first?"

Me: "I can't because I'm already married to Daddy, but someday you'll meet a girl and fall in love and get married...someone close to your age like Ellie."  

(Ellie is Matt and Mandy's youngest)

P: "or Gracie...could I marry Gracie?" 

(Gracie is their almost 5-year-old...P likes the older ladies:)

Me: "maybe...you'll have to ask her...and her dad."

P: "can Gracie and I have a wedding?"

Me:  "sure..."

P:  "can I where my dancing hat to the wedding?"

Me:  "absolutely...everyone loves the dancing hat!"

Seriously...who doesn't love this dancing hat?

today

today P and I had a 20 minute discussion about how to pronounce 'poorly' (as in "thomas' mummy called and said he is feeling poorly").  Turns out he was trying to say it with an accent and my British accent was just not up to par...

today Parker declared, "we need some of these" and proceeded to throw two boxes of condoms into the grocery cart (in a very crowded aisle)...

today Parker argued with me for 10 minutes about how he didn't need a nap before he fell asleep in the car...mommy always knows best...:)

today I realized I shouldn't be allowed to grocery shop while pregnant...seriously...

today I realized I really shouldn't be allowed to go to the 'posh' grocery store while pregnant...by my calculations I spent almost 30% more than usual...shoot...

today P asked me this..."mommy, can you buy me a car?  That would be lovely."  Goodness...the vocabulary is definitely rubbing off...

today P and I got a special treat of getting to meet Daddy for hot chocolate in the middle of the day...seriously...such a treat...

today P and I baked m&m cookies because yesterday P picked out a cookbook from the library...good choice P...

today P fell asleep on the way to pick up Brady from work which meant that Brady and I had the special (and super rare) treat of having dinner alone...so nice!

today (right now) we are watching 'that's my boy'...I cannot believe I'm wasting two hours of my life on this movie (ok, so I'm laughing out loud too, but don't tell:)...

catching up

Warning...this post is not going to be very interesting (not that the rest are) nor will it contain any pictures of parker (sorry:).  This pregnancy has just been so much different that I want to record a few memories before I forget.

Finding Out
With P we didn't find out until I was almost seven weeks...this time I just had a feeling and took a test because I was hours (literally) late...call it a hunch...I can still remember driving home from the store after buying a test and feeling like I was going to be really disappointed if it was negative...luckily, it wasn't:)

Symptoms
I really didn't have any symptoms with Parker (besides the blissful extra cup size:)...I sometimes wonder if I mistook pregnancy symptoms for marathon training symptoms (super tired, hungry, some cramping)...I'm not going to lie...my body hurt a lot at the time (I'm a terrible stretcher) and I don't think I would have noticed one more thing...

Because I found out sooner and was constantly wondering what I was feeling, I think I was just more in tune with my body this time...I was exhausted all the time (I also have a three year old now), super nauseous (but no vomit so no complaints here), and had a lot of cramping and back pain in the first trimester...I was also sick (you name it, flu, cold, uti, then repeat) for so much of my first trimester that I don't know how much was pregnancy and how much was just being sick...I also had some bleeding...twice...first, here in the uk (spotting only) and the second time back in wichita...on my 30th birthday...at my surprise party...it was a lot of bleeding so we had to leave the party to go to the emergency room...scary and embarrassing...

Cravings
This one is a little embarrassing...with P, my weird craving was hot dogs (terrible, I know)...I only let myself have like one a month, but I would think about them all the time...this time it is egg mcmuffins (eggs in general)...the week this craving started I had 5 mcmuffins in one week...don't worry only two were mcdonalds (I never get sausage) and the rest were made with whole-wheat english muffins at home...seriously, some days I have a hard-boiled egg for breakfast and then some kind of poached egg something or other for lunch or dinner...I cannot seem to get enough...even worse?  I pass a mcdonalds every time I drop p off at school...at least once a week the temptation proves to be just too much:)

Things that haven't changed?  Being excited, scared, nervous, happy, etc...all the time...praying every day for the health, happiness and safety of the little life in my belly...worrying how every action I take impacts the baby...constantly wondering how I can be a better mom for both of my babies now...

I am so, so blessed.

answered prayers

Sorry for those who already know this...I've taken a while to make it official:)

Brady and I are planners...more accurately, we are planners who often have to be reminded that we are not in charge of the plan.  I'm not going to lie, I always find comfort in the fact that God is in charge and that he knows what is best for us at what time in our lives...and that he is always, always right.

It is no secret that I have had babies on the brain for a long, long time.  Brady and I have been trying to figure out when to start 'trying' (sorry to my friends who hate that term:) since last April.  It seems like we have always had a reason to wait...trip, someone visiting, not wanting to be too pregnant to come home for Christmas, etc...the list could have seriously gone on forever...around the end of September we decided to just start trying in December and see how things went...that is also about the time that we really started praying for God to once again overrule our plans...my prayers went something like this, 'dear God, please just let us get pregnant when we are supposed to get pregnant because if it is up to Brady and I we might not find a 'perfect' time until Parker is 18.'

We got pregnant in October:)

It seems that God was just waiting for the right prayer to let him do his job...we are thrilled and so incredibly blessed.

Parker is going to be a big brother sometime around July 4th and he couldn't be more excited!

proud mama moment

Gosh, I just love this kid...he always makes me smile and constantly makes me proud...however, this yesterday at school, I couldn't help but beam when his teacher told me this...

"He is such a polite boy.  Today at lunch he wouldn't eat his food until everyone had their food and had sat down...even the adults...we kept trying to get him to eat, but he just kept saying, 'no, I need to wait until everyone has their food.'"

I just love when little things you try to teach them actually sink in...just love him:)

Happy Birthday Brady!!

I am pretty, darn blessed.  It was no accident that God sent Brady into my life...he is the perfect compliment to my personality...the calm when I'm crazy...the voice of reason when I am worked up...the disciplinarian when I fold...I cannot imagine my life without him and really can't imagine getting through this crazy adventure without anyone else by my side.  Yup, I am pretty, darn blessed.

We celebrated over the course of the weekend...he went sledding with us saturday morning...had a massage (unfortunately he had to pay when he was finished...I couldn't get out to get his gift card because of the snow...way to go sam), ate at his favorite cheeseburger spot, Zac's later that night...had queso on Sunday (we had burritos too, but it wouldn't have mattered what else I made...the queso was enough:)...then we delivered his favorite pizza to work today.  I always want to make it so special and sometimes just struggle to find ways to show him how much we appreciate everything he does and how hard he works.  Such a great daddy and husband!

Happy Birthday My Love!

This is how the cool kids...

...in norwich travel in the snow...seriously...

More Christmas Pictures

  And for my camera...sorry for all of the randomness...:)

P at Covent Garden the night before we left...our friends Kat and Tom were nice enough to let us stay with them and hang out in London!

 

I couldn't resist these next few pictures...they are just a glimpse into daily life with little man...he breaks into these crazy dance moves any time a song 'moves' him, ha...I know, I'm not that funny:)

P and I's date to the zoo while everyone was at work...so glad we were blessed with a nice day!

Grandmother Millie!

Sumo!

The cape GG and my mom made for P...he loves it!  Especially because it has powercats on the inside:)

Surprise!!  Uncle Landon's here early, yay!!!

The picture P (with my mom's help) made for my birthday...seriously, my favorite present:)

A Bevan tradition...P's first time trying peanut butter sandwiches dipped in homemade hot cocoa...:)

Making my birthday cake...apparently, I am hard to surprise and they felt like they needed to make a real cake to fool me into thinking we were still having a few people over to the house for my birthday:)

 Wine tasting in Parkville, MO...so fun!!

K-State basketball!!  Yay!

Papa Marvin and his boys:)

and Grammy too:)

Christmas light tour in KC...so fun!

Checking out the mess 'Santa' made on my parents fireplace...that crazy Santa:)

 Following the string to all of his presents...such a cute idea mom!

Playing doctor:)

Using his new cars in the sink...I'm pretty sure he had just gotten in trouble for making a mess...

Love:)

P loves to build

One of my favorites:)

Grandma and P

Helping Papa Marvin feed the cows...probably one of P's favorite things to do:)

This is what happens when mommy decides to put vaseline on your face right before you carry hay...what a mess...

Grandma and Grandpa Alexander:)

My brother's girlfriend, Babette and P...P loves her.  We were so blessed to have her bring fish and moose back from Alaska so her and Landon (mostly Babette) could cook for us!

Oh...so that's where P gets his 'serious' face...

Uncle Jeff

Hanging out in AZ after the game in B's grandparent's community...so fun!

Papa Wes!