Pregnant in Spain... Anyone else?!

[Umlauf]

Hello! I'm in really early pregancy with my first child and haven't a clue what to expect in the Uk, let alone here. We moved here in September so are still picking up the language and I feel really alone! We live in San Sebastián in the Basque Country.

Just wondering if there's anyone else out there who has been through/is going through the same??

[EspressoMartiniToGo]

Yes! Well, my dd is 1 now and she's my third (only one born here though). I'm right down south in Andalucia though so quite a ways from where you are. Plus I cheated and had my baby in Gibraltar so no language barrier.
However, many of my friends here in Spain speak very highly of their birth experiences and antenatal care. Postnatally, not so much! We shipped out MIL for a couple of weeks to help and for extra support.
Having kids here in Spain is wonderful, the culture is so much more family oriented, all children and babies especially are feted.
If you have a girl though, be prepared for her to be presumed male unless you have her ears pierced - drives me crazy that even when dressed head to toe in pink, I get 'Nino? Que guapo!'
Try and do some Spanish lessons, it will really help you feel less isolated.
Good luck!

[Umlauf]

Oh thank you! I have only just seen this reply! Yes you are very far (lucky you) but nice to know I'm not the only one! I've been for a visit to the doctor and they have set a few appointments up in March but nothing before. I was laughed at a bit when I asked about an English speaking doctor! I'm learning Spanish around work as much as I can (been here 5 months so far) but worried about forgetting all language in the delivery room and panicking! When I get to 12 weeks and the scan ill be able to share it with some of my students who are also pregnant which I think will help a lot!

I really don't want to pierce a girls ears... Will have to prepare for the boy mistakes!

[chicaguapa]

I was pg in Spain but had DD in the UK. My antenatal care over there was great. They did more tests than I remember having here with DS.

My friend's mum in the UK was a MW so she sent me over the NHS book they hand out at antenatal appointments here. It was really informative so see if someone on mn can get one for you. A lot of the vocabulary we use in English comes from Latin so if you familiarise yourself with it, it'll help you in Spanish.

Another thing to be aware of is that they all sex their babies as a matter of course at the 20 week scan. We kept telling everyone that we didn't want to know so they didn't tell us by mistake and we mentioned it at all the antenatal appointments after that in case it was in my notes and they were going to use a gender when they spoke to us. So just bear that in mind if you really don't want to know either.

The midwife pierces the girl's ears in the hospital and it's a sign of social status & wealth (the opposite way round to the UK ). But I would have felt the same way about a baby having earrings so I'm glad I had DD in the UK so I didn't have to decide what to do.

Good luck and congratulations.

[Umlauf]

Thank you so much for your advice! That's good to know about the gender and pierced ears, luckily I definitely want to know the gender and was quite disappointed when they said "only if they can see at the 20 week scan!" A student found out at the 12 week here! Will endowed little man he must be..

Tricky decision re ear piercing, I don't want it done at all but wouldn't want it to be a 'chav' sign if we stayed here and she went to school here... I think I'd stick to my guns and brace myself for many arguments....

I'd love to go back to the uk to have it but can't really as want DH to be there and he can't exactly take a month off work.

My next appointment is just the bloods and urine in march and no scan until end of march. I have no clue what I'd do if I felt something bad was happening but wasn't sure. Go straight to hospital?! It's my first pg so I wouldn't even know if something ws just normal ms or trapped wind!!