Hey, Baby Girl!

Precisely three weeks have passed since our latest addition, a precious baby girl, was born. Emma Sophia Kraft was born on September 6th at 6:22 pm; a healthy 9 pounds, 3 ounces. Emma was born in the Erlangen Frauenklinik, here in Germany, seven days after her official "due" date.

How did it go? Well, let me start by saying that, because each of our children has been born in a different country, we've had to learn as much as we can about the birth process time and time again -- once in America, once in The Netherlands, and finally - in Germany.

And just what are the differences? In a nutshell, American hospitals tend to hand out epidurals (or in Germany, "PDAs") on a silver platter. As a result, the average hospital stay is 2-3 days (they can't possibly send you home on the same day if you've had an epidural). And, unlike most countries, your personal obstetrician is typically the one who delivers the baby (as opposed whatever OB is on duty in the hospital). In our case this worked out poorly, as Lukas was a very large baby and my doctor could (and should) have been much better informed on matters of stitching-up.

Onto The Netherlands, where the majority of women try to give birth at home (but many end up being rushed to the hospital). And Dutch women are tough as nails. I'm talking the female equivalent of Ghandi walking on hot stones. Insanely tough. And the midwives call the shots. Want an epidural, but your designated hospital midwife at doesn't think you need one? Chances are you won't be getting one, then. Hospital stays are kept to a minimum, with many women returning home on the day of the birth. On the upside, you have "Kramtijd" and "Kramverzorg" for the week following the birth, which means strict nurse-like helpers will be at your home, cooking and child minding, and even doing your grocery shopping and dog walking for the week following the birth. And some strange organization comes to your house a couple times to make sure you're not abusing or neglecting your newly born child. They'll check the sleeping conditions and other miscellaneous areas of the house for any red flags.

In Germany, they prefer to keep you for a few days after the birth. And - in typical German nature - risk is kept to a bare minimum. For those needing to be induced (our case with all three births), this translates into multi-day-long labors, beginning with the lowest amount of medication (known in the U.S. as pitocin or oxytocin), with incremental increases every 6-8 hours. We asked for double the dosage at the beginning, which resulted in our labor being (only) 9 hours. The Epidural / PDA was an epic failure, with a doctor-in-training practicing (poorly) on my spine for 10 minutes, followed by the lead doctor, who also failed to get the needle into the appropriate spot in my spinal column. They would have gladly kept going, but after 20 minutes I decided I'd rather do the birth naturally or with some other method of pain relief than risk a rare and unpleasant spinal column / nerve injury resulting from two seemingly clueless anesthesiologists. Shortly thereafter I

received something to calm my nerves in the IV drip, but it quickly faded away, and when I asked for more when the time came to press, the terrible truth was revealed. Pain medication is not usually administered around the time of the actual pushing, for fear that the woman will not feel when and how she needs to push. Sorry, but WTF?!? So the reality is, if you're having a non-cesarian birth in Germany, and you do not get an epidural, you will probably enounter excruciating, blood-curdling pain. Glückwunsch (Congrats!). ;)

With our first and second child, we immediately got an email out to friends and family to announce the birth. And then came number three... And a breast infection with fever and chills... And flooding in the basement... And two little boys with tonsilitis. And Lukas trying to light a fire in the garden. And Alex burning a hole in the floor of his bedroom (with a halogen reading lamp). The list goes on and on.   

So friends, family, and fans of our blog, consider this a very belated birth announcement of sorts. I hope you enjoyed my little segment on the joys of giving birth abroad. My experience has been - no mater where in the world you are - it is the most terrifying and wonderful day of your life all at once. But it's our nature to forget the bad and remember the good. And how could you not, when you find yourself holding an intricate little masterpiece in your arms? And nothing else matters...

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