Pregnancy across 3 continents

I am 28 weeks pregnant with our second baby. I am an expat and will have been out of South Africa (my home country) for 3 years on May 13th. I conceived our first child and spent the first 13 weeks of my pregnancy in South Africa, then moved to the United Kingdom and spent the remainder of my first pregnancy in England. This time around, we conceived baby in Cebu and I have spent the entire pregnancy thus far (save one weeks holiday in Hong Kong) in the Philippines.

I prefer midwife care during pregnancy and so have experience with working with 3 groups of midwives thus far, the South African home birth midwife, the English community midwives and now Cebuano Birth Centre midwives.

My experience with all three groups has been a pleasant one, I don't think its fair to compare them as each individual midwife will have her own way of working. My SA midwife knew me personally pre-pregnancy as I had worked with her as a doula during some home/birthing centre births. She taught me all I know about water birth for which I am eternally grateful as my daughter was born in water. My english midwife was one of the most gentle kind woman I have ever met, she spoke so softly and was just so relaxed it was such a pleasure being under her care during my pregnancy. My current team of midwives have very varied personalities, one is gentle, one is strong. I am hoping to have my "gentle" midwife at my babies birth but am glad to know that if need be the "strong" midwife is there to oversee and guide over any serious complications.

All 3 sets have had a focus on staying active, eating healthy and being positive about pregnancy and birth. My UK midwives joined my husband and I at our home for the birth of our daughter when I was in active labour. They were in my space but not in my face which I appreciated. The PH is different, we will go into the birthing centre when ready and I will be given the space and time to labour alone in my private room for as long as it takes. When I am ready to push, I will go to the delivery room and inform my midwife who will then prep for the birth. Immediate separation of mom/baby and cord clamping is practiced routinely here which I am against, however I have been assured that this will not happen with us and this has been discussed with the birthing team. I am left to now trust that what has been said will be done.

I have approximately 12 weeks left of this pregnancy and am in good health. I am looking forward to labouring and birthing this baby into the world. I am still processing and working through some thoughts in my head, I know I cannot control any situation but I do feel I can prepare for it.

 I read something along these lines recently which has really stuck with me:
I am the only person who can birth this baby into the world and for this I take full responsibility

12 weeks tomorrow and starting to feel it.

I am one of those women who start showing from the moment they fall pregnant, okay maybe not the moment, but by 6 weeks I have a discernible baby bump. So by 12 weeks, there is no question about it, there is a baby on board. I like this for the most part, I like wearing maternity clothes (any excuse to wear super comfortable clothing is a plus in my books), I like having the physical reminder at arms length for feeling under the weather. It also means that the stretching and pulling and growing and aching starts early for me... like today early. Fun :) Lucky for me I have already made a rice sock which comes in handy. (Take a long sock, like a hockey or rugby sock, fill with rice, heat up in the microwave as needed **not too hot, direct heat is not good for your baby**).

Whoa today I have had my first experience of "ptyalism", commonly known as too much saliva in the mouth. For a while today I felt like I was sucking lemons, you know that scrunch-up-your-face-mouth-filling-with-spit feeling, yes that. Not fun. No thanks. I find that drinking lots of water helps (seems counter-intuitive I know).

I am glad to be moving out of first trimester soon, and into second, second is fun.

My second expat pregnancy - another interesting journey lies ahead.

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Watch Your Words

A twitter friend posted a tweet this morning discussing her symptoms of pregnancy. Which got me thinking.

Why do we call the natural signs of pregnancy Symptoms? The definition of Symptom: Sign of Illness or Problem (Dictionary.com). Is that really how a new mother wants to view her budding pregnancy, to refer to the unborn child in her womb as a problem or illness. Even if you think one step further and argue that you are not referring to her baby but to the process of carrying and growing life in a womb... As problematic or as an illnessn it is still fraught with negative connotations.

Pregnancy is a natural process, a beautiful amazing process. It is not a problem or illness, if it is viewed as such, then human beings will want to heal it or solve it. You cannot heal or solve a pregnancy. You may believe that you are stronger than that, but that doubt will sit in the back of your mind and niggle, it will surface at the most inopportune time like at the end of your pregnancy when you are preparing to give birth. If you have generally viewed your body in a positive light during pregnancy, that will carry through to labour and birth. If however you get to 40+ weeks discussing pregnancy as a problem or illness, it is likely that you will search out a solution in the form of medical intervention.

We define our experience of this world with the words we use. Choose your words wisely.

Alternatives to Pregnancy Symptoms:
- expressions of pregnancy
- manifestations of pregnancy
- tokens of pregnancy
- evidence of pregnancy

Discuss your "bodies expression of your pregnancy", FTW!