Austria's Population is on the Rise!

Here is the reason for the 6 week gap in blogging.....

We are having another baby!! 

And yes, that means come early May the kids will outnumber us! The baby is due around May 2, which is Brian's birthday. It's only fair that this baby is due on his birthday since Francis was due on mine.

So yeah, I'm 12 weeks now and the morning sickness and extreme fatigue has passed! Hopefully now I'll go back and blog about some of the more exciting recent happenings here... Like our nephew Billy visiting (huge shout out to him & Ashley who are getting married this weekend!!), the mission trip to Romania, our stop in Budapest, and Scott & Kimberley Hahn watching the Steelers game in our living room (ok, so that may not be blog worthy - but I know my mom will be thrilled :)

Back to this baby growing inside of me... We told the kids last night that we're having a baby by giving them a cake. Ellie has been asking God for a girl baby for months, so as soon as I told her I was pregnant with either a boy or girl - she firmly insisted that it is a girl! 

Francis was just super excited about the cake (or more accurately, the frosting).

We do plan on finding out the sex of the baby. My next appointment is at 20 weeks (they do things differently here!) so that puts us at December 22. I'm thinking we will have the doctor write down the sex and then we'll open it 3 days later on Christmas. We will keep you posted!

So now I get to document what it's like to be pregnant and give birth in Austria.  The only big difference I know so far is that they don't regularly use epidurals, so natural birth with midwives it is! You meet with the OBGYN six times leading up to the hospital visits at the end of pregnancy. His office is in a town 30 minutes away. He is very nice, has delivered a LOT of the babies in the Franciscan community here, and speaks very good English. 

His office is huge. Here's me in the waiting room...

Here is Brian! Despite his choice of picture poses, he's been AMAZING helping out at home with a lot of cooking, cleaning up, and diaper changes while I have been on the couch as much as possible. 

When you arrive at the office there are two receptionists. One speaks some English, so that's who I go to. You provide all of your personal info right there at the front desk, she then gets your weight, blood pressure, etc. - still just sitting in the front room. Different. You then collect your urine sample and carry it out to that entryway room. Nothing like trying to be polite and use the Austrian greeting "Gruß Gott!" to other people entering the room while carrying a cup of pee in your hand :)

The doctor's office is huge. There is an exam chair - used for internal ultrasounds. And a standard exam table. A little area where you de-robe (but no sheet to cover yourself). And an area next to his desk where the doctor takes your blood. That is a huge plus not having to travel anywhere for that. And he did great drawing my blood. 

Everything from my appointment is recorded in my Mutter Kind Pass (Mother Child Pass).  You get one at the start of each pregnancy and it has all of your info and all of the kids' stuff - all of their vaccinations, etc. I already had one for Ellie and Francis - and now I've got number 3!

I can't really understand anything written in it though... But my weight does look really small in kilograms :)

They also gave me a Mutter Kind box...

Which has a bunch of brochures in German and promotional baby stuff. Always fun to  get a little care package to celebrate this new babe!

So that's our big news!!

One closing thought... October is Pregnancy, Infant, and Child Loss Awareness Month.  While we rejoice over the health of this baby thus far, we also pray for all of the families grieving the loss of a child - no matter the age.  We remember especially our second child, Dominic Mary, who we lost in miscarriage in 2014.  We look forward to the day when we will be together once again!