So Much For Mother Knows Best... Belgium Knows Best?

I'm angry, I'm sad, and I'm confused all at the same time. We had the intake appointment at the imburgering office today. They do not make any exceptions for breastfeeding mothers. In other words, I will have to put my child in day care and stop breastfeeding in order to go and sit in classes in which I will learn mostly ignorant things that anyone from a modernized country would know.

We were given a list of two creches (large daycare centers) here in Landen and the office that organizes the local onthaalmoeders (smaller home based daycares), and we must report to each of the three locations and inquire about daycare. If they have no slots available, they can fill out a form stating that and indicating when a position may become available. If there are no positions available at any of the three, we will get a six month extension to continue searching for childcare. HOWEVER, if there IS a position available, even if we find the creche or onthaalmoeder not to our liking for some reason, we MUST take it and I must start classes immediately.

Which would mean I will have to wean Luna. Even if we purchase another breast pump (mine broke, and the one I borrowed from my friend won't work for me - breast pumps clearly hate me), we have no freezer, so there is no way I could pump and store up enough milk to be away from her 8 hours a day. We tried her on formula this week (I'll explain later) and she was so disgusted that she gagged until she vomited and did not swallow a drop. So what exactly is she supposed to eat??? Geert was so astonished by the insanity of this law that he actually said, "You're telling me these classes are more important than the health of our baby?" Our intake counselors response was, "That's Belgium for you." He then started mumbling about lawyers, but we of course cannot afford to fight this. If we do not comply with the law, we'll be fined, possibly repeatedly, until I comply.

I am excited to learn Dutch. Those classes I actually look forward to, or I would if I could attend them without harming Luna. But the "social orientation" classes will likely be an insult to my intelligence. A big clue about what I am in for came when we used the bathrooms at the imburgering office. I did not have my camera with me, but the sign was similar to this one. Apparently the office caters to people who have to be told not to squat on the toilet seat. No wonder they feel these classes are so damned important!


I'll post an update once we find out about the availability of childcare.

In other news, Luna isn't gaining weight as fast as the doctor would like. This is unsurprising, as the vomiting from her acid reflux has gotten really bad in the past month to six weeks. She still nurses well, she just vomits a lot of it back up. Her solid food usually stays down, but not always. The doctor suggested we start giving her one bottle of a special thick formula they make for babies with reflux at night before bed. The idea being that it will give her some extra calories, and might help her to sleep through the night better. We bought the formula, which was ridiculously expensive (about a third more than the cost of standard formula), and Luna will not eat it. She was simply horrified, the looks on her face were hysterical, and she gagged and gagged and gagged until she eventually threw up. I tried it from a bottle and from a spoon, both times she gagged as soon as it touched her lips - before she could have felt the texture, so it must have been the taste. I tried two nights in a row to no avail. We've been in touch with the doctor, and she's arranged for some samples of another kind of formula that we can go and pick up. But I don't have high hopes. I've read, and the doctor confirmed, that solely breast fed babies frequently refuse formula. In the meantime, I have increased her nursing sessions almost two fold and I have started adding a little avocado to her fruits each day for the extra fats. I squeezed in an extra nursing session between her evening solids and her bedtime feed and she has been sleeping for much longer stretches the last several nights. She is not LOSING weight, mind you, but her rate of gain has leveled off. Hopefully it will pick up again.

I've been having some weird pain in my abdomen in the area around the C-Section. Our family doctor thought it was a hernia, but none could be found on ultrasound. He did not order any further tests, so I have just been living with it. We made an appt. with a new gynecologist, but its not until next month. The pain isn't debilitating or anything, but as is always the case with chronic pain, its exhausting. I've been way tireder than normal. Just one more thing to deal with I guess.

I haven't gotten around to cleaning out my Photobucket page and posting new pics, but will try to do so soon. She's getting big - she is sitting up on her own now and she eats in a high chair! Our little girl is growing so fast!

Adventures in Antwerp

On Sunday we journeyed to Antwerp to see the Royal De Luxe giant marionettes. The trains were crowded with teenagers returning from the Pukkelpop music festival and we nearly gave up before we started, but eventually we found seats on a very crowded train.

I had never been to Antwerp, but the park where the marionettes were that afternoon was in the opposite direction of most of the parts of Antwerp we might normally have visited. So I still need to go to explore Antwerp. We followed the people to find the right park - there were a lot of people! According to the news, 800,000 visited the marionettes during the three days they were in town.

The marionettes were amazingly detailed and a wonder to behold. We did not get to see them walk around or dance, as we got there in between the 2 parades. We did actually wait until 4 o'clock, even though the baby (and the husband for that matter) were getting tired and cranky by that point, but the parade did not start on time so we ended up leaving. But even just sitting and looking around they were fascinating. The Giant Little Girl was my favorite. She had a sweet, slightly sorrowful look about her. The Diver was a bit scary looking, reminiscent of Frankenstein. He did not have his diving helmet on while we were there.

The park where they were settled in the afternoon was pretty cool in and of itself. There were very neat fountains that had hundreds of children playing in them, and an enormous, tall, futuristic looking playground. There was a large exposition building with a craft fair going on. We bought Luna a knit hat for winter, and she was so cute in one of the hats we tried on her that the vendor asked permission to take her picture in it. We had hotdogs for lunch (not exactly the American hotdogs I'm used to, but not too bad) and fed Luna her veggies right there at the festival. Other than the occasional fussy time, she was great all day, despite being unable to get a good nap in. She doesn't mind interruptions to her routine at all.

We were all exhausted by the end of the day, but it was definitely a fun day!

All the pictures and video we took are here, but I encourage you to check out the videos of them in action I found on YouTube here, here, and here.

Photobucket Cleanout

Just got notice that my Photobucket page is getting full. I will be clearing it out at the end of this week, deleting some of the older photos and videos to make room for the ones still to come. So if there is anything you want to download, this is your last chance!

Brussels Flower Carpet, 2010

Luna and I went to Brussels with Ambre, Hannelore, and Kirsten today to see the Flower Carpet. Every other year, the Grote Markt of Brussels is transformed into a colorful carpet of flowers! 750,000 to 800,000 flowers, mostly begonias, are used to create the design, which is different each year.

We had our hands full with two babies (Kirsten is one day older than Luna) and Hannelore, who is almost three and very independent. But we had a nice time all the same, visiting the carpet, having pizza and ice cream, and strolling through the outdoor market. I had planned to go up to the city hall balcony for a better view, but the line was too long, so we settled for the close-up view from the ground. We bought some professional pictures to show it from above.

Check out the pictures and videos!

Soldiering On

Its been a bit longer between posts than usual, I apologize. I just haven't found the time to blog. Lots has happened, I'll do my best to update without making this tooooo long.

First on everyone's minds, I am sure, is Miss Luna. She is doing well. She is back on her acid reflux medication, and it started helping almost instantly. She began sleeping better within two days of being back on it. She has not miraculously started sleeping through the night, but most nights I am only up with her twice, which is fine with me! She usually sleeps about 12 hours a night, and I feed her before I go to bed and one to two times during the night.

We have introduced new vegetables into her diet, and she has so far tasted carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, and zucchini. She doesn't seem to care much for the broccoli, but she eats it anyway - just cracks me up with her "yuck" faces. She is having trouble with constipation, a common problem after the introduction of solids apparently. We've been giving her glycerine suppositories as necessary (poor thing!), and today we are introducing fruits, which is supposed to help. So starting today, she will get one portion of vegetables mixed with potatoes and olive oil and one portion of fruit mixed with baby cereal and orange juice. And she continues to nurse regularly.

Luna got the last of her shots this past Thursday. She still has one oral immunization left, but that's it until her first birthday. Her height (63 and a half cm) and weight (6.710 kg) are right smack in the middle of the growth charts, so she is growing just right. Her head continues to be on the large side, but its growing at a smooth rate so the doctor is not concerned. Its got to be that big to contain all her brains! She is a little smarty.

Her biggest achievements this month have been perfecting rolling over (she uses it as a means of transportation now) and the discovery of her feet, which she chews on all the time. The doctor told us babies usually don't discover their feet until five or six months, so we're very proud of our little toe nommer. She has also started laughing big belly laughs now, which is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. The first time she did it, G and I looked at each other and discovered we both had tears in our eyes. Unfortunately, I haven't caught the belly laughs on video yet, but I will eventually!

As for mama, I've had a rough week. After much discussion, we decided its not financially possible for us to visit home this fall as we had hoped. I have been very homesick and the thought of that trip has been keeping me going, so I am struggling pretty hard now. I don't know when we will be able to make it home, and I am extremely saddened that my family and friends will not get to meet Luna while she is a baby. Many thanks to all the family and friends who have sent such touching and heartfelt emails to cheer me up and to remind me that being here is what is best for my family. Special thanks, also, to my friend Ambre here in Belgium, who has been great at helping to cheer me up this week. I will survive, I know, and eventually I will adjust to being so far from home.

In other mama news, we reported to the office regarding my integration classes. We don't know much more than we did before we went, though. I learned that I am required to complete 60 hours of social orientation and 120 hours of Dutch instruction. Which seems like way too much social orientation and way too little Dutch, but nobody asked me. :) Classes are in 3 hour blocks 2 to 4 times a week, so depending on which schedule I choose, I could be doing up to six hours of classes 2 to 4 days a week. Which means that the whole process will be completed within 3 or 4 months, but during that time I will be away from Luna a whole hell of a lot. The next step is to meet with our intake counselor, and our appointment for that isn't until September 20th. At that time we can explain our situation and they will supposedly work with us to find a solution. The woman we met with did say that they will pay for daycare and transportation, and pointed out that the waiting list for government sponsored daycare is so long that we may not have to worry about the breastfeeding issue because she will be weaned before we get a placement. So classes are not imminent. Which is a relief and a frustration all at once, to be honest. I do not want to put Luna in daycare, and I do not want to be away from her for 20 plus hours a week. The thought of that makes me tear up - I would miss so much - she changes so much every day! But, on the other hand, I am also extremely frustrated to not know the language and I will be happy to finally learn it. I wish I could start language classes now, somewhere closer to home for shorter intervals, and wait for the ridiculous social integration classes when Luna starts school. (Kids start school at two and a half here.) But again, nobody asked me. I will have to do whatever they tell me, unfortunately. I had all I could do to not roll my eyes when the woman we spoke with said, "So, I understand you received an invitation from us?" I think the word she was looking for was ultimatum.

G's toes are still giving him trouble, but he is back to work. He is not happy about that - he had gotten used to the extra time with Luna and is convinced she is already becoming less interested in him now that he is not here as much. I'm not sure if that is true, but I do pity him having to be away from her so much. I am very lucky to be able to stay home with her!

Enough for one post, I don't want to put anyone to sleep. I could write four more pages about the new things Luna has been doing every day, but I'll resist. Will try to update a little sooner next time. I hope everyone is doing well!

Someone Is Always Sick Around Here!

I'm grateful that none of us has any life threatening illnesses, but it seems like one or the other of us is perpetually sick or injured, frequently several of us at once!

G's three week vacation was unpleasantly extended when at the end of the second week he injured his foot, leaving him housebound for two weeks. He is just now returning to work, and I suspect it will be a painful first shift, since he hasn't worn shoes for two weeks. Walking around all day is going to be tough on him. :(

Friday night I took the baby out for walk, and halfway through I got horribly ill and just barely made it home in time. I spent the next 24 hours miserable, and only returned to the land of the living Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure if it was just the flu, or if it was a reaction the the insect bites peppering my arms and legs. I have probably eight bites right now, we think they are mosquito bites but its hard to tell for sure because they are swollen up and there are large red welts ranging in size from a dime to a half dollar. Apparently I am allergic to Belgian mosquitos. The same thing happened to G last summer in Maine, but there are a hell of a lot more mosquitos in Maine, so he was far worse off than I am. Let's hope I build up an immunity fast. I haven't even left the house, so the mosquitos are getting inside somehow. G has a few bites, and Luna has one as well, but neither of them is reacting like I am luckily. G was very helpful in taking care of Luna while I slept all day Saturday. He'd wake me when she needed to nurse, and then I went back to bed.

Luna finished her eight week course of omeprazole for acid reflux on Wednesday, and at this point her reflux is AWFUL. She is choking and gagging constantly, and just seems utterly miserable. Further, she's experiencing what I understand is a common occurrence in babies just starting solid food - constipation. We don't see the doctor until Thursday. This morning I called the pediatrician's office and got one of our doctor's colleagues. Apparently our doctor is on vacation today. The substitute doctor told me to put Luna back on Gaviscon (which is available over the counter) until we see our doctor on Thursday. She told us to give Luna glycerine suppositories today and tomorrow, and to switch her food from carrots and potatoes to either broccoli or cauliflower and potatoes. Apparently carrots are known to cause constipation. So is rice cereal, which is what babies are started on in the states. Which begs the question, WHY do we start babies on things that are known to cause this problem when the very act of starting to eat solid foods already causes the problem?? Anyhow, she'll be experiencing new veggies today.

That will have to suffice for today's update, because little bird is making waking up noises over the monitor. Happy Birthday to my brother and to my sister-in-law!