Maya + Aca

sweet dreams

KOSMAJ

This morning we woke up and decided to go to Kosmaj to get some fresh air. It's so great to be able to drive an hour from the center of Belgrade and be in the wild, surrounded by green! The landscape reminds me of Tuscany, but is much more raw and untouched. I'll have to take some pictures of the land next time. For now, here are some from Mimi and Robert's house.

Maya chasing Eva in the backyard.

Boogie picking cherries from the neighbor's tree.

Two little monkeys resting.


Maya exploring


and hanging out.

Dragana and Aca

Dragana and Chubby shelling fresh peas. Yummmm

at lunch a few weeks ago

NOT ACA

This is Maya when she was 48 days old, which is how old Aca is today.

STUDIO UPDATE

our space is 99% finished and looks amaaaaaaazing!!!

ACA day 3

holding on for the ride

in the studio

MAYA

these were taken a few days before Aca was born

the bassinet

Maya has calmed down and is now used to having her new little brother around, but she still won't give up her old bed. It makes a good tent to play in.

maya cutting fruit

cold rainy may

The weather sucks lately in Belgrade. It feels like November.

A few days ago the sky turned orange right before a rain storm that nearly flooded our street.

Baba Dragana

some shots from Aca's first days

Mother Courage

For those of you in Serbia, the revolution has begun! Women are starting to speak out against the disrespectful treatment they've received in maternity wards here.

Check out this blog, Majka Hrabrost, which means "Mother Courage" in Serbian.

http://www.majkahrabrost.com/eng/english.htm

New York midwives lose right to deliver babies at home

It is a TRAGEDY and just totally backward that it's become illegal for midwives in NY to deliver babies at home. Midwives in NY State are required to get a "written practice agreement" from a doctor or hospital agreeing to back them up in order to see patients and attend home births. Since the closing of St. Vincent's hospital in Manhattan last month, most of the 13 NYC homebirth midwives have lost their backing and are at risk of losing their licenses if they are caught practicing.

When we arrived in Belgrade and I was 6 months pregnant, homebirth seemed impossible. Almost everyone we spoke to had had a c-section hospital birth, and I was terrified that the same would happen to me. People here generally view childbirth as a problem to be fixed, especially the doctors who are very arrogant and who are more concerned with following hospital protocols than for a mother and baby's comfort and safety. The view of childbirth isn't that much different in the US, but at least in "progressive" places such as NYC, one had options.

Giving birth at home is not "crazy" and I'm not "brave", as some like to comment. For me, bravery is giving birth in hospital where one has to fend off false diagnosis, drugs that harm your baby, and a cold, sterile environment. Why don't women trust their bodies to do what they were intended to do? All you need is to feel safe, protected and encouraged. The rest just happens, and your baby gets to be welcomed to the world in the best way possible.

Anyway, here are a couple of recent articles about this, one from the Guardian UK and another from the NY Times, which features my midwife, Kristen Leonard, who helped deliver Maya in Brooklyn. Whether you think this concerns you or not, one day someone you love will give birth, and she will want to decided where and how she wants this amazing experience to happen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/may/14/home-births-new-york-midwives

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/nyregion/06midwives.html

Here's another website for more information:
http://freeourmidwives.org/

big boy

Aca had his second check up on Wednesday and now weighs 4.58kg and is 60cm tall. The doctor said he'll be taller than Boogie.

Thai Invasion

It seems like yesterday that YayYay and KhunTha arrived, and now they are already back in NY. Seeing the two of them here doubles the number of asian people I've seen in Belgrade since we arrived 3 1/2 months ago!

Apparently, there IS a Chinatown here, somewhere in New Belgrade, which my parents and Dragana went to check out one day - all they had was cheap chinese crap, and groceries that looked old and dirty. Between that and the news story last year about the insane chinese guy wielding a machete on the main pedestrian street in the center, it's no wonder they have such a bad reputation.

Anyway, here are a few more pix from YayYay and KhunTha's visit.