Category: koala update
-
Birthing at Shaarei Tzedek.
Shaarei Tzedek has quite a different reputation to Hadassah Ein Kerem; offhand I can say that it is more of a hospital’s hospital, procedural, stiff. It’s very religiously-oriented in staff and patients. Less concerned with natural birth, more concerned with working with Hashem to get the baby out and move on (as summed up by…
-
Birthing at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
I have heard the horror stories: laboring in a janitor’s closet, giving birth in the elevator, no epidural available, recovering in the hallway. I have heard the beautiful stories: sweet, caring midwives, a tendancy towards leniency, rooming in available, wonderful aftercare. While I cannot say for sure what it’s like to birth at Hadassah Ein…
-
Babies need stuff.
Tada! In a feat I could never have pulled off on my own, we have managed to choose and order and place a deposit on a baby package consisting of furniture/stuff/things. That, about a week after we first became traumitized when taking a commerical peek at what we were in for. To answer a few questions: What…
-
Acquiring possessions in baby steps.
While I still don’t know how/where I plan to give birth, I do know this: apparently I’m supposed to be shopping for this prima dona that hasn’t even arrived yet. Last night I dared venture into the black hole that is Babies R Us (.com) and the only thing stopping me from shrieking and waddling…
-
Only classy chocolate for the little one.
Here’s what you get when your OB-GYN is a French-Israeli: “Basically, just make sure you’re feeling movements. Check when you are relaxed and at peace. Make sure you feel some in a half an hour’s time and if not, after an hour, give it some Brenner*… <insert us laughing here> No, really. Give it Brenner…
-
Homebirth in Israel.
UPDATE (April 2011): After this post was written, down the road, for my second child, we did a home birth in our apartment in Tzur Hadassah. I’ve got more info on the subject now from firsthand experience and am happy to share: My home birth story: Israel, Tzur Hadassah, apartment, bedroom. Registering your newborn after…
-
A lizrael update pregnant with… updates.
Pregnancy is probably the ultimate example of time flying while also feeling like the slowest dimension, which I’m realizing is especially true for the third trimester. It’s a period filled with inner conflict: yalla, let’s do this already/whoa, what’s the rush, self?! At times I feel like a kid, constantly being asked, “how are you,…
-
On preparing, inside and out.
It’s amazing how the female body prepares itself for birth during pregnancy. There’s the obvious: the beefing up on body mass, the need for sleep, the extending belly. There’s the less obvious: the slowed metabolism, the hyper hormone production, the nesting habits. There are bi-products: the heartburn, the gallstones, the stocking up on vitamin E. Then there’s…
-
Birthing in Jerusalem hospitals.
As my third trimester quickly approaches, I’ve been getting serious about touring and registering at hospitals, considering alternative birthing options and doing the doula dance. Yep, this is the ‘bureaucratic’ and technical aspect of being pregnant. In the last month we’ve done hospital tours in two popular Jerusalem hospitals: Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaarei Tzedek.…
-
Sorry in advance, Jewish baby.
Me: check this out… “As the fetus reacts to sounds, its pulse increases. Your baby will even move in rhythm to music.” we’ll see if it has two left feet like it’s momma Husband: funky Husband: but it is jewish… how good can it really move?
-
To the pain.
It’s been six months… do you know where your gall bladder is? These days, I’m nostalgic for the time in my life when I didn’t think the gall bladder was a real organ, just a body part for use in a humorous rant. Apparently not. It’s a real organ, like the rest of my organs which…