My first appointment.

I finally got an appointment with a nurse here and it was wonderful. She went over the medical history of both myself and Tim and translated a form for me to review and whatnot. Then onto the fun stuff!
She found that the head is downward by pressing on my belly and that the legs are to my right side...like an L Shape I suppose.
The blood pressure was good, she took my hemoglobin which was good - pretty much everything was good. Heard the heart beat - sounded like a bunch of rowdy teenagers having a party it was that fast - about 160/min.
Then she booked me for my appointments for next Monday with the doctor and my final check up during the 39th week of the pregnancy with her again. Very pleasant experience overall.

So I went across the street to the hospital and got some blood work done. I thought it might be a smoother process here - new country - sure why not?
No it wasn't. The blood tech didn't speak English and I kept pointing at my hand suggesting she put the needle in there - and she just grunted and finally chose my left arm for the ceremonial piercing. She got out 2 tubes and I was pleased until she wiggled the needle in my arm to make the blood drip faster. Then she said, "Hmmph, ai ai". AI meaning NO. So she re-labelled my tubes and went for my hand instead. Within 30 seconds she had 2 full tubes and my patience was wearing thin.
Finally I was released and here I am.

Oh and I confirmed with the nurse that yes even though I live across the street - it is still regulatory to leave the hospital with a car seat.