My domicile

Still waiting on the babies, so here I will give you a tour of my place. It is the same one Laura stayed in (and I think all previous UBC students.) I had the camera on a weird setting, so it's really not that scary in person. First is the picture from the outside, that is the bathroom(s) windows. There larger window is where there is a huge tub, toilet and sink. The other one has a shower and sink. My bedroom faces the road, and the window is on the front of the house towards the road. The next picture is my bedroom. The bed looks so small but is actually pretty comfy. The wardrobe holds some dishes and cutlery. There is a small fridge, coffee maker, kettle and radio. Oh yeah, there's a TV but I haven't figured out how to turn that on yet. Today I discovered every Saturday there is a market in the center of town. There were lots of fresh fruits and veggies, flowers and a few stands with hot food. I just browsed today - suggestions Laura??

Something baby related

http://www.movieweb.com/movie/babies/VIpoXvpyuRs7tq

Since I'm still waiting to go to my first delivery, here is a trailer for a movie that looks so good!
It's another gloomy weather day. I was thinking summer when I packed, and now am really glad I threw in a couple of sweaters at the last minute. I'm staying on call for the weekend, but not going to any of the postpartum visits. Right now I'm at the office to do some work that requires internet and having a coffee (made here of course). Don't know how, but I'm managed to avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms since I haven't been having a coffee every day. I guess the tea is powerful enough. Bye for now!

Rainy day

There's not much news on this side. Spent the morning at postpartum visits - still have yet to actually HOLD a baby! There was a birth last night, but she didn't want a student, so I got to sleep all night (and it was a good sleep). Here's a couple things I learned today: the midwives don't do the PKU blood test for the baby, they have a specialist who comes to the house to do it. Also, if there are any other "medical" needs (we had a mother who was feeling a little dizzy and tired 4 days after delivery) there is another house doctor who comes to take a blood test to check her iron levels. Normally we would just send the person out to the lab for that.
We're going to finish the day with 2 more visits this afternoon, then I have to figure out my weekend plans. Probably I will be staying on call for any births I'm invited to, but maybe not go to the baby visits. Not sure.
That's it for now. Hopefully I'll need to update soon with some birth news!

Liberation day

Today is a national holiday so there are lots of kids around, most shops are closed and there is a party in the town center.
Here are a couple of pictures I took yesterday and today in Doesburg.

Shopping day

I made it to the grocery store again and had some more time to explore it. Below is my shopping list. I didn’t take my phrase book and took a chance on a couple of the things. I ended up getting a quiche which I knew was spinach and some kind of cheese. It turns out it’s blue cheese - probably not my favorite, but I’m hoping to get 2 meals out of it. The other treat item is the salade nicoise - Laura thanks for the tip about these. I had the bocconcini pasta one last night for dinner and yum! There are some really nice touches I found today, first they offer bread in full or half loaves. Very convenient when shopping for one and having the freezer the size of a small ice cube tray. I also like the huge variety of sandwich/cracker toppings which are packaged in very appealing containers. I would probably never choose it at home, but I got chicken curry which I just tried on a cracker and it was good. I splurged and got a Canadian sized coffee/tea mug. The one in my cupboard makes me feel like I’m wasting tea bags and it was on sale and it was one of the life improvement ideas I had in the early hours of the morning. There was an impressive selection of licorice but they didn’t have my known fave licorice cats by Venco so I passed on that today. I’m going to make some tea now. Maybe tomorrow they’ll be some more midwifery related news for ya!
PS - Quiche update. The “schimmel” in “blauwschimmelkass” translates as mould/mildew. It just did not taste good. A piece of chocolate for dessert should take away the staleness.
PPS - the mug was a success.
item cost €
peanut butter 350g 1, 09
raspberry jam 450g 1, 21
shopping bag 0, 22
ceramic mug 2, 99
chocolate & hazelnut bar 0, 79
chicken salad spread 0, 99
1/2 loaf bread 1, 03
quiche 3, 19
strawberries 2, 29
cup a soup 0, 82
salade nicoise 2, 99
braeburn apples 0, 96
black tea 1, 17

Clinic day one

Day one at the clinic was very nice. Everyone working here is so friendly and welcoming. They are really delightful. Most (well all) of the clinic visits were done in Dutch, so I admit to wishing that I had studied up on some vocabulary. The visits are short compared to the Canadian appointments I’m used to ~ 10-15 minutes, but strangely things don’t feel rushed. I got to do a number of belly checks and meet a few people who will be due over the time I’m here. They all said I am welcome to come to their births. Sweet! The morning started early at 8 am and normally there is a coffee break midmorning but my midwife admits she talks a bit too much, so we had tea in the office and kept going with the visits. We were done in the early afternoon. Then I got to meet another one of the midwives who was on call and we went together to a client’s home who was 36 weeks +3 days and having some regular contractions. She is too early in her pregnancy for the midwives to do the delivery so we had to check what was going on. It turns out she’s not in labour so we were able to head home. I also got my cell phone organized so I am officially on call. Overall, it’s going well except for the past 2 nights I’ve woken up at about 2 in the morning and then toss and turn until I have to get up at 6:45. That really stinks because I really want to sleep. It’s been cool here and rainy the past days but smells really nice with all the lilac bushes blooming and other flowers whose names I don’t know. One day I will take some photos of the gardens around here - there are some serious green thumbs at work. Today the sun is shining!
So now it's actually the end of clinic day number two (and it's only 1pm). There is a clinic meeting right now with all of the owners, so I'm out in the front making use of the internet. Not sure what the rest of the day holds but the sun is still shining so maybe a walk and trip to the grocery store to get some fruit.

Welcome in Holland

I’ve just unpacked - my arm wants to fall off from dragging my mega-suitcase.
The flight was pretty uneventful and I did manage to sleep for 5 hours maybe. It was pretty uncomfortable for sleeping and I never thought I would say this but I’m starting to understand why people purchase (and use) those around the neck travel pillows - Yes you need one! I saw a guy wearing one today that was inflatable. He looked like a total dork, but well-rested.

I’ve created a list of my top 5 rookie traveller mistakes:
#1 Don’t be late for the boarding call. I was supposed to be there at 1920, but got there about 1930. I really needed to use the washroom, but decided to go to the departure gate first. Guess what? They were announcing my row to board (thanks god not by my name - though for a second ...).
#2 Time your in-flight washroom trip appropriately. Due to the circumstances of point #1 I really couldn’t wait long after we were all loaded onto the plane and had been flying for a while. I bravely unbuckled and headed to the W/C (that’s european) only to find out I couldn’t see how to open the door. Luckily for me there was a helpful flight attendant stationed right by the door, only she was telling me to go back to my seat because the fasten seatbelt sign was still illuminated. Just as I was processing what she was saying, the light disappeared! She graciously opened the door for me after explaining the dangers of disobedience on board.
#3 I was feeling really impressed with myself for breezing through all security checkpoints and was ready to hop on the train. Here I encountered my first inconvenience related to the mighty euro. For some reason the automated ticket machines (they are very friendly in all other ways) only take euro coins or chip embedded credit cards. My simple plan was to get something small with one of my nice bills so I would be able to get the 15 in coins. Unfortunately for me, the shop I went to only had 2.50 in coins, so I had to go to plan B. I couldn’t see the huge counter that was train ticket info and I wasted time doing two extra laps in the area, and also fretting over the fact that a message saying “embedded credit cards only here.” They took my cash no problems. Only 3 euro down for a water and postcard. Still feeling good. Lesson: have a Visa card with a “chip” in it or just ask where the desk is and save your poor arm an exhausting and annoying workout.
#4 Take a cell phone. My plan was to call from Arnhem to see if one of the midwives would be able to meet me at the next train station (Dieren) and if not to climb on the bus and head to Doesburg. Even though I have a supply of coins, there is not a pay phone in sight. Another helpful and friendly Dutch worker let me use a work phone check in with the on call midwife. She was surprised to hear from me - knowing that I will start my placement officially on Monday, but not expecting me today. Anyway she’s busy so I have to get on the bus. No problem, I’m getting the hang of this travel stuff, except I need the bathroom again...
#5 Use the bathroom even if it costs .40€. You would have thought I learned this one already but I was weirded out first because I think the W/C might have been co-ed plus I wasn’t sure how I was going to navigate with the massive suitcase. I decided I was too weary to investigate and just left. It turns out that was a poor decision because when I got to my place there was a note from my hostess that I should get the key from the neighbour (I expected that one) and a note from the neighbour saying that they had gone for dinner and I should Call them - see point #4 or walk over to the restaurant using his lousy map. I left the arm mangler at the front door and wandered around trying to make sense of the map. Couldn’t locate the “bridge” or the street indicated. But eventually they came back and let me in and here I am. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon. It had rained really hard but the sun was out and there were beautiful birds all around everyone biking around. I’ll see if any pictures turned out and post them. Hope I can send this tomorrow.