Out and About in Gibraltar

We've taken a couple mini-excursions around Gibraltar.

On my first afternoon here Jay and I walked down to the little cafe at Europa Point for some lunch.  Jay made friends with one of the locals:

On Friday I went into work with Jay because I had a slew of medical appointments that morning and the base medical center is right next door to his office.  First up was the midwife which Jay came with me for.  I loved her.  Her name is Shelly and she's British, affiliated with the army, and super nice.  She only handles military births in Gibraltar so she averages about 35 a year, meaning she had lots of time to answer all of our questions - a luxury we definitely didn't have back in Marlborough!  Our appointment with her lasted an hour - some of it was just paperwork (information from my orange maternity book had to be rewritten in the correct spaces on the green forms they use here...good fun) but we also got to listen to the heartbeat, and she took her time to find a good, strong sound and then paused for a good minute or two to let us just listen and enjoy before our little girl moved out of earshot!  She also felt the baby's position and explained that she was head down with her back pressed up against the right side of my belly.  She said that this would likely cause some back pain (it has) and that it explained why I kept getting what she identified as a heel jabbing into my right ribs so often.  She offered some suggestions of how to lay and an exercise/stretch to try to encourage our little one to shift to the center - which would not only be more comfortable for me in these next few weeks but could shorten labor...so definitely worth a shot!  

She also got us all scheduled to head to the local hospital to see the consultant (doctor) this week, to have a scan next week, got us signed up for a birth class that includes a tour of the maternity ward next week and set up our next appointment with her in three weeks.  I was quite impressed and am definitely feeling really comfortable here.

After that it was time to head over to get my blood drawn.  A few blood tests had to be redone so the results could be confirmed and entered into the computer system here.  The young, male navy nurse was super sweet but not the best blood draw I've ever had - he collapsed the vein in my left arm and then went in at weird angle on my right arm (way right of center - I think I had my arm turned funny...oops!).  This left me with huge bruises on both arms - ouch!  Wasn't too bad at the time, though, and he was so nice, so I'll let him off the hook. 

Next up was meeting with the practice nurse to get me registered as a patient of the medical center.  This nurse was also Navy and she was fantastic.  She was really friendly and bubbly, and also took the time to answer all my questions - even taking the time to explain what the blood pressure numbers mean after I made a comment about having no idea if the numbers she told me were good or bad.  (For anyone else who is curious, she said the easiest explanation is the first/top number is your heart at work and the second/bottom number is your heart at rest.  If they're too close together, that's a bad sign.  It can also be a bad sign if the first number is above 120 or the second number is above 80.)  This appointment was mostly just medical history and explaining how the medical center works.  She got me set up to meet one of the practice doctors so I can sort out my prescriptions right after my next appointment with the midwife so I don't have to make two trips.

After that super fun morning I decided to be bold and head into town on my own.  I started off at the "American Steps" - a landmark a lot of people here use to give directions.  Of course, with a name like that I wanted to check it out!  I found that it's actually an American War Memorial.  I snapped a few photos:

After that, I headed down to main street, starting at Casemates Square (the main square at the Northern end of main street with lots of shops and restaurants), bought some sunglasses (mine broke and it was a gorgeous, bright sunny day) and then strolled along main street.  I stopped off at GibTel, the only local cell phone company, to get a pay-as-you-go SIM so I can make local calls and text/call Jay's work phone more cheaply.  Then I continued up Main Street, browsing in a few shops and taking in the atmosphere.  About an hour or so later I got pretty hungry and Jay wasn't going to be free for lunch for about an hour and a half, so I decided to venture onto the bus to head home on my own.  We had gotten my Military ID the day before which entitles me to free use of the local buses and I was pleasantly surprised to find it was super easy!  The #2 bus goes right from downtown to just a few minutes walk from our house.  The bus was a bit crowded but as soon as I walked on a woman noticed I was pregnant, hopped out of her seat, and told me to please sit down (or at least that's what I think she said in Spanish - there's a lot of Spanish speaking here...the military and ex-pats all speak English but the locals and those commute in from Spain mostly speak Spanish or a funny mix of the two, sometimes switching from one to the other mid-sentence!  I'm hoping to try to learn some while I'm here.).  

Yesterday, Jay and I decided to be adventurous and head up on the Rock.  It was a little bit of a nerve-wracking drive (windy, steep road with only Jay's steady hand on the wheel and a few very small stones separating us from a steep cliff!) but the views were gorgeous.

View of the center of Gibraltar from the Rock

One of the Rock Apes enjoying the view.

One of the apes hitching a ride.

View of Spain across Gibraltar's airport runway - the runways is running left to right and the road going across it towards Spain is what we drive on and people walk across!

The end of the airport runway and another view of Spain beyond it.

The bump!  Just over 33 weeks.