We’re staying in Provence for another year and I can’t have a home birth. Two very difficult decisions.
We didn’t think I’d get pregnant so quickly, so moving to Challans (Northwest France, south of Pointiers) would not be a big deal. We love Provence but it’s difficult trekking 13 hours to visit my husband’s family. Since we were planning on having another baby, we figured it’d be best to live closer to family. We lived in Bordeaux for almost a year and enjoyed it there, so moving a couple hours north of there wouldn’t be too bad. It was a good compromise. We’d live only five hours away from his family, yet not suffer through all those rainy, dreary days of Normandy.
The plan was to move into a temporary, furnished home month-to-month until we find an unfurnished home in the outskirts. We would then have to buy all the furniture because we’ve always lived in furnished apartments/houses over the past couple years. We would be moving while I was 3 months pregnant, and searching for a home. It would take at least 2 or 3 months to find a long-term rental, and then we would need to buy furniture, cookware, tv, curtains, and everything else that comes with furnishing a place. Doing this at 6 months of pregnancy would be stressful with a toddler in tow. During my last pregnancy, I began dilating early a month after we moved (I was six months pregnant when we moved from Bordeaux to Normandy).
So we decided to stay put here. We absolutely love this house, the village, our neighbors, and our in-home babysitter. We feel at home here and it’s a great place to bring home a baby. The downside is this means I will not be able to have a home birth. I was really looking forward to it this time around! This house is 40 minutes away from the closest maternity, on winding, dangerous country roads through the mountains… so if there is an emergency, it would be difficult to get me and the newborn to the hospital in a fast/safe manner. If we lived 20 minutes or less from the hospital on regular roads, I would definitely be doing it, no questions asked. But this time around, I would be putting my life, or the newborn’s, in unnecessary danger.
Also, we’ll be living far from his family so we will not have many visitors at the hospital. My mother is going to come for at least three weeks at the time of the birth, so that will be absolutely wonderful!!! I missed having my mom there when my daughter was born. My husband’s father would also most likely visit after the new baby is born. I’m not sure about my mother-in-law and sister-in-law though, they both have trouble traveling. So it will be sad not to have many visitors.
I can’t wait to take portraits again in the blooming lavender fields with our newborn and Juliana. We came to Provence with one baby, and will be leaving here with two. What a year! Looking forward to what the future has in store for us!
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