Message in a bottle
On a cold and rainy February night the notorious two stripes appeared on my pregnancy test. I was devastated. It was so not the time to be pregnant. My husband and I had just moved to Barcelona from Russia, I hardly spoke any Spanish, we were living in a shared apartment, no stable income, and I had left a handicapped mother back home, for whom I felt great responsibility.Upon my visit to CAP I had it confirmed, but there was no further action, they didn’t even do as much as examine me, or schedule an ultrasound to make sure it was a proper pregnancy. My visit with the comadrona was scheduled in about another month’s time. What was I supposed to do in the meantime? I was confused, scared and quite desperate.
After much research I decided it was easier to learn Spanish and go through the public healthcare system for antenatal care and birth. I was automatically directed to La Maternintat and I felt comfortable with it. Pregnancy was progressing just fine, all tests and ultrasounds coming out perfect. It was going to be a girl. Later when I went to the local CAP for classes – there were a few couples who had private insurance and were opting for La Maternitat, because of its lower c-section rate.
Also I signed up for intensive Spanish classes – and was digging them as if my life depended on it. Besides everything else, I learned pretty much all the vocabulary related to pregnancy and labour. It felt good to have that level of independence and confidence. I went to all prenatal visits on my own and was just fine.
It was late August, we had just finished moving when I got the news my mother Ruzanna back in Russia had a stroke. I was already 8 months pregnant and couldn’t travel to be with her. I had planned to go see her before, but had lost my documents and by the time I recovered them, we were really pressed for time to find and move to an apartment, so my trip didn’t work out. My plan was to have the baby and then go to Moscow and stay with my mom and take care of her and the baby. I just knew that the proximity of new life would stimulate her recovery like nothing else.
But it didn’t happen. Ruzanna died the night of September 30. My family was afraid to tell me, for the effect it could have on me. Also I wouldn’t have been able to travel to the funeral anyway. So I found out a few days later. I was so devastated, I would break down crying anywhere and at any time. The crying provoked contractions and it felt like the world was coming to an end. I had nightmares of my mother, and had very hard time sleeping. It was all I could do to just keep going for the sake of the baby. I even went to a sophrologist who helped me get to sleep at last.
In the midst of all this horror, Esther kept me going, and a couple of weeks later told me she had become pregnant herself. She was only a few weeks along, but it was hard to contain the excitement. Of course, I predicted it would be a girl.
Labour
Then there was the Halloween weekend. I was 40.3 weeks gestation and went to the movies to see The Shining. My mucous plug had come out 3 days before after the 40 week tacto. It was anytime now. And it was at the movies that labour started. I felt I needed to go the bathroom every 10 minutes, and sitting no longer felt comfortable. I paced back and forth in the theatre lobby poking my head in to check on Jack Nicholson’s mad progression (his chasing after his son with an axe haunted me for hours during labour, it was such a stupid choice of film for late pregnancy).
When the movie was finished – around 11 pm, I told my husband I needed to lie down. We went back home and started timing the contractions. They were finally regular and were 4-5 minutes apart. We called Esther and soon she arrived. It was after midnight and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. I could no longer talk through one. Both the hospital and Esther had told me to stay home as long as possible, but it was getting too painful and I was afraid I would be too uncomfortable to travel if I delayed it any longer.
At the hospital they said I was dilated 4 cm and that they were admitting me. I asked if we could get a room all to ourselves, and luckily there was one available. It’s funny, but a year later I met the woman who had stayed in that room right before me – we’re friends now.
I had been to the birthing unit the week before, when we went for an emergency checkup, because I felt no movement of the baby, so the surroundings were familiar and so was the baby monitoring procedure, although now much more uncomfortable with the contractions.
I changed into a gown and went to the laboring room, frequently stopping during contractions. My husband was in the corridor waiting for me, but unfortunately they didn’t let Esther in. Also it turned out they didn’t do walking epidurals, contrary to the options that were offered in the birth plan they make you fill out. I opted for not having anything. I thought I’d wait for an hour to see at what pace I dilate naturally and then decide. It was around 2 a.m. and I was in pain. I was free to move around, and it felt like the most comfortable place to be was on the toilet, because I constantly felt like peeing. Then I could no longer sit and went on to pace the room – like a tiger in a cage, mad fast circles. I almost knocked down my husband when he got in the way.
Finally, I felt I could no longer stand the intensity of it and asked for an epidural. It was nearly 3 a.m. – the huge clock hanging on the wall was very convenient. The comadrona came in to check on me. It was only an hour since I got in the laboring room but I was 8 cm by then. She asked if I felt like pushing, and I finally realized what that weird feeling of discomfort was – the urge to push. She figured we didn’t need the epidural since I was so close. I couldn’t believe I really was but went with whatever she said, whatever was happening inside my body was too intense to think. Besides, I was terrified of the catheter they insert into your uretra for peeing, more so than of the epidural itself.
I climbed back on the chair and on my side grabbing tight the arm of the chair. Things were pretty foggy by then – it felt like I was in another world. My husband’s whisper to breathe very close to my ear was the only real thing at that time. And breathing with your stomach makes a huge huge difference during labour and pushing. Judging by a sore throat I had for a few days after I must have been screaming very hard – it was that amazing animal kind of a scream that comes from your very core (some movies get it right). I think that’s how midwives tell one is at their last stage of labour. They told me to hold my screaming powers and direct them at pushing instead. Somewhere around that time they broke my waters, as they still hadn’t broken by then (a friend who birthed there recently said she had an option of not having her waters broken, and her baby was nearly born in his sack).
I pushed as hard as I could and even harder than that. There was a crowd of people at my feet now, and I judged we were very close. Also I saw a table with lots of shiny instruments down there. I had a feeling they were going to do an episiotomy to speed things up and I screamed several times at them not to cut me (I still wonder if they would have, if I hadn’t screamed at them). Then all of a sudden I was told to stop. The head must have come out. A moment later there was this thing placed on my chest. It was live, warm, wet, with eyes open, moving, clean (I thought she’d be bloody and slimy), and it had the most intoxicating baby smell. I was so shocked I asked them what it was and when they said it was a baby, I asked if it was mine. It was surreal. I screamed at them once
I’m in my forties and yes I need to learn Spanish. I’ve never been able to pick up on other languages, it is like a wall that I can’t break through. My co-workers always try to teach me and over the 13 yrs at the cafe I maybe can speak 10 words in Spanish. I know very sad! So happy came in to my life because I don’t want to feel bad when I can’t communicate with someone. Sometimes at the cafe I will have a customer that only speaks Spanish so I need to help taking the order.
However, I know myself and I wouldn’t do very well in a class with other people so taking courses online is what works for me. My daughter who took Spanish in 5th grade wants to learn more and other languages so when we came across Babbel I knew I wanted to check it out!
You can learn on the web or on your phone (iPhone and Android). I found myself taking the classes/courses on the phone while we went on our trip last week. What I liked the most about these courses is its visual! I learn better with pictures, words, and sound. It’s not just a video of someone trying to teach you the language- they go through steps, puzzles and quizzes.
To register it was very simple- username, email, what language you speak now and what do you want to learn. I can go at my own speed. Here are the courses and I’m starting from the beginning then work my way down. I’m impressed they teach you so much, even traditions!
Babbel allows the users to decide and proceed according to their level of understanding and interest in every subscribed course. I feel this is a very custom site- allows users to work at their own pace and ability. With each course babble test each user by various types of puzzles where user has to submit and write correct spelling and word associated with the picture. I need this because I need to see the word and hear it to actually understand.
Babbel also has a PEOPLE section that shows other users, boards you can join & ask questions, and just message other users. The Chat seems like an awesome place to meet and learn from others- love that you can ask questions on the site and other users help you out. I felt very welcomed in the Babbel Community.
I’m doing this with my daughter who is 11 and we are pretty much at the same level. Every day we spend about 30 minutes and sometimes she will spend a bit more time learning and going through the vocabulary words. She will be homeschooled this year so this might be a site we incorporate in her learning if her program doesn’t have language- (which it should). She wants to learn French next- because of course she wants to go to Paris! Don’t let the fundamentals of language education learned in school lose their luster. Market-leading language learning app Babbel can help stop the summer learning slide with more than 7,500 hours of interactive online courses hosted in a mobile app. Babbel can also continue to help students once they return to school, as there are certainly many benefits to picking up additional languages! See perfect for homeschool!
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Please Read Blog Post from Babbel Blog:
Here are twins who take the challenge of learning a language in 7 days!
ALSO:
Babbel’s “My Favorite Word Competition” is looking to answer the question: what are American’s favorite words? The competition encourages U.S. residents, 16 years and older, to create a short video about their favorite word in a foreign language and submit it by uploading from a mobile device or through YouTube by November 12.
The process will begin as an internal panel of judges narrows down the videos, naming the top 50 submissions that will be up for public voting for a popularity vote and the chance to win: iPads, noise-cancelling Bose headphones or free six-month Babbel subscriptions in the language of the winner’s choice. On December 17, 2015, after the public has cast its votes, America’s favorite foreign word will be revealed!
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