Why I’m Having a Baby in Thailand, Not Canada | Expat Family Life

Name: Why I’m Having a Baby in Thailand, Not Canada | Expat Family Life
Uploaded: 2026-09-20T12:09:48+00:00
Duration: 35 min 23 s
Channel: Lloyd & Mandy

00:00Run away, run away, run away

00:02It's free of escape

00:05Run away, run away, run away

00:08Run away, run away, run away

00:13Pages and Music

00:23What's my spot?

00:25What's my spot?

00:27to be able to do the same thing.

00:33Small stretch, there's a lot of strength for water

00:36in this class.

00:38Just a very long way, so you can be far away from

00:42all the way down with your hips.

00:44You don't need to change perfectly fine here.

00:50Drawing your lower back, you don't need a downward dog.

00:53It should feel really good after this warm form, the decorals that we did, which is cool.

01:06Good morning, guys. Welcome back to the channel. In today's video, I want to share a few reasons

01:12why my husband Lloyd and I decided to have our baby here in Thailand instead of going home to

01:18Canada or Australia. Let's get into it. So I had actually planned to film this video today,

01:25but I got a little bit behind on my chores and things. My energy kind of dropped this week.

01:30I'm at 22 weeks, I believe now. So energy got a little bit low and I've got behind on chores.

01:38So I'm going to be filming this vlog while I'm doing my chores, if that's okay. Lloyd and I

01:43leave for Canada in two days and we've just got so much to do, like the houses and all sorts.

01:49So

01:50I'll be doing some cleaning and preparing while I give you our little list here. Bear's here with me.

01:58Morning, Bear.

02:02So he'll be helping me out.

02:05I've made a whole list of what I need to get done here today.

02:12Lots to do.

02:14Still have to pack. I'm soaking laundry. Anyway, okay, even though I'm kind of all over the place and in

02:21all sorts today, one really, really big reason that we've decided to have our baby here as opposed to

02:28going back to Canada or to Australia is the slower pace of life. This is actually really hard for me.

02:35I've noticed that throughout our travels, like when we go to like a busy city or something like that,

02:42somewhere a little bit more chaotic, I feel more stressed. Like I take on that like stressful energy,

02:47I guess. And I think there's a lot of like unnecessary stresses that we put on our bodies,

02:53like not just even just like pollution, diet, but like, you know, your daily commute to work or

03:01different ways that we put unnecessary stress on ourselves. And I think that unnecessary stress

03:08causes a lot of issues with pregnancy or even falling pregnant. So that was a huge one was just

03:13eliminating unnecessary stress and having a slower pace. Not to say that you can't be have a crazy life

03:19in Bangkok, which you totally can or like Phuket or something. But we found that a slower pace is a

03:26lot

03:26easier to attain here.

03:57Okay, one thing that's made pregnancy a lot easier, and I think it's definitely going to make our postpartum

04:05experience much easier, is just the access to healthy food and organic food. And also like,

04:12there's like delivery is really, really easy here as well and affordable. I've had a lot of like food

04:19aversions and weird picky, um, like cravings and stuff. So being able to have access to a lot of

04:26different healthy options to help me fit fill my cravings has been amazing. And that's not really

04:34something I ever experienced in Canada, getting takeaway food or delivery food in Canada, super

04:40expensive. It was like a treat for me growing up, we never did it. And healthy options as well,

04:48I don't feel like are as accessible. Like here, there's like a stand down the street where I can

04:53just go quickly grab some fruit or a smoothie or something like that. And it makes it really easy

04:58to stay healthy. And there's just so much of it as well. This has pretty much been my go-to

05:04meal

05:04since we've been traveling. And when I need to like cook for myself, I feel like having one meal that

05:10like

05:11you always come back to, that's like your like main meal. This is mine. Oh, my rice is boiling.

05:22So it's just like a turmeric and chicken stock rice. And then I have like ground chicken,

05:30and then whatever vegetable is kind of available in the supermarket that we go to. And then that

05:35with like a fried egg or some scrambled eggs. That's been my like go-to. I get that pretty much

05:40every country. You can kind of guarantee you can have access to that. And yeah, I feel like mixing

05:47up foods too often. Not that great on the digestive system, especially when you're pregnant as well.

05:53So having like your one solid meal. So everything's so fresh here. I've mentioned it so many times,

05:59but the quality of fruits and veggies here is just incredible. And I've never felt so healthy before.

06:05Also in Thailand, it's actually like normal for someone to provide you with like meals and stuff

06:13after you have a baby. I'm having a little bit of trouble finding that in Hua Hin, but I definitely

06:18know it's available like in larger cities where someone for 40 days after you have your baby,

06:25someone comes and brings like healing soups and stuff to help you heal and recover after having a

06:31child. I have a bunch of recipes and stuff that I'm going to prepare and get ready myself. I might

06:37get

06:37someone to bring meals to. I might be being a bit ambitious, but that's also something that you can look

06:42into as like a meal service for postpartum. And another thing that I've learned is here in Thailand

06:50that they take those first 40 days after having your baby really seriously. And it's just about mom

06:56bonding with baby and pretty much not leaving the house or breaking that time, that real golden

07:03special time together. And that's really important here. And postpartum is just...

07:11really taken seriously here. And a little bit more than it is in the way that it's going to be

07:11in the pool. I'm sorry, as I was saying that postpartum is just really taken seriously here. And a little

07:36bit

07:36more than it is in the West where we're kind of expected to just like bounce back straight away.

07:41And like, you know, a day after having baby, be up walking and doing your thing. But like rest is

07:47a lot

07:47more pushed here. And like it, yeah, I'm, it was just something that I'm kind of struggling with.

07:56Like I want that slower pace, but it is also way slower than the lifestyle that we had ever lived.

08:05So I'm, I'm going to take those 40 days definitely seriously. I've started reading this book called

08:10The Fourth Trimester. Definitely, definitely recommend every woman read it. It's an incredible book.

08:16But it also mentioned the first 40 days after pregnancy. So just sort of hearing it from multiple

08:22sources, like how important that is to slow down and do nothing during that time, except be with your

08:27baby. So that's sort of something that's come from this part of the world that I would like to,

08:33um, that I'm glad that I learned that I hope that I can share with more in the West that

08:37you don't have

08:38to be busy and bouncing back straight after having a baby. So another thing that I'm really happy about

08:45here in Thailand, like being able to actually afford organic stuff, which I know not everyone has that

08:53luxury. I definitely did not have that luxury when we lived in Canada or Australia, uh, here I'm so happy.

09:00I've been able to swap out all of our like chemical filled products with, um, organic natural products.

09:06Um, I've really been loving this brand. All of our cleaning products are Soganics. Um, they're really,

09:16I really like them. They smell really nice. And we also have their, like the shampoo, face wash,

09:21body wash, um, is their other brand called Common Ground. Um, they're both really good. I recommend

09:28them not sponsored. I just, um, really like it. And, um, yeah, it feels good being able to bring a

09:34baby

09:35into a fresh space without any products that have stuff in it that can make us sick or, um,

09:43have adverse reactions to them.

09:53We love coming home to a really clean house. So that's why, um, we're going a bit nuts with it.

10:00Right now Lloyd's scrubbing outside for us, which is amazing. While my food is cooking,

10:05I'm also stripping all my whites. I saw someone, um, do this on Pinterest. I don't know if I really

10:13had the right like products to do it, but the water is looking pretty, um,

10:20pretty dirty. So it must be working a little bit, even if it doesn't do it perfectly, I'm just happy

10:26that they'll be a little bit wider. The water that comes into our washing machine. I'm not sure

10:32if it's the cleanest or if it's the washing machine, that's the problem. Um, sometimes the clothes will

10:38come out dirtier than they went in. I have mentioned on here that we had like hot water

10:44problems in this house as well. Um, we're still getting that sorted. We've got one bathroom that's

10:50got hot water and we've got hot water pressure now. Um, but our main one still, they're trying to fix

10:57it.

10:57So hopefully it'll be fixed by the time we get back from Canada. Um,

11:05this place isn't perfect, but we, we still love it. We love it here.

11:32So as you can see, um, we've got our lounge here. This is our new lounge. One amazing thing about

11:39Thailand, even though it does, it takes a bit of time to like find the right things or things that

11:44you love.

11:46Um, but you can find beautiful, affordable, handmade furniture here. So furnishing this place,

11:54even though it's going slow, cause I'm picky and I don't like spending money on stuff I don't absolutely love.

12:00Furnishing this place has been really nice. Like we've got this lounge. Um,

12:07I can't remember exactly how much it was, but like this would be like a $5,000 lounge,

12:12I think in Australia or Canada, like it is so high quality. It was made to order.

12:18It's so comfy. We got it from jazz furniture or jazz sofa. I think it is on Instagram.

12:24They delivered it, set it, set it, set it up at the house. Like everything was just super easy.

12:29And it's just so high quality as well. And we also got this coffee table that was handmade as well.

12:37This side table also handmade. Like I've been able to get so many handmade, uh, pieces for the house,

12:44which I really, really like. I think it brings a nice like energy into the home and for much more

12:50affordable

12:51than anything I've been able to, much more affordable than anything I would have found back in Canada

12:58or Australia, nothing that I would have been able to afford these pieces. Um, and they're just really

13:03high quality. Hey, did you just open the door on your own? Yes, you did. You're not allowed to open

13:16the door.

13:19Oh, and that goes for your baby furniture and nursery furniture and stuff as well. So obviously there's

13:25a lot of things that you have to buy when you're having a baby. Um, and it can be quite

13:29overwhelming,

13:30like looking at the costs, like how much like a crib is going to be a bassinet and they keep

13:35growing and needing new things. And, um, that can be really overwhelming for most people,

13:41most parents, and it still is. Uh, we've got mostly everything picked out and I'm actually

13:46like really comfortable with the amount that it's going to cost and the quality of everything that

13:51we got. And I feel, um, yeah, I just feel really grateful that we're able to find everything.

13:56We found so many like cheap, good things on Lazada. Um, the Lazada delivery guy knows my name now.

14:05He knows Bear's name. So they come to the house quite often and I've been able to get like handmade

14:13things for the kitchen. Like our salt and pepper mills are handmade, like beautiful wood and a lot

14:21of the baby stuff as well as like handmade, really beautiful things that you would like see on Pinterest,

14:26but not sure where to get. Like you can get things that you would find at markets and stuff if

14:31you dig

14:32deep into Lazada. So, um, I really love that that's all affordable and I love that I'm able to nest

14:39and

14:39we're going to be doing that when we get back from Canada is going to be like full nesting mode.

14:45Okay. We just need to take a quick break to thank Level 8 for sponsoring today's video and also supplying

14:50us with the best quality luggage for the past two years now. So if you want to live the nomadic

14:55lifestyle, then you'll need luggage that will hold up in all conditions, which is why we've been using

15:00Level 8 for so long. Like us, Level 8 is all about traveling light and efficient, which is why we've

15:07recently upgraded our carry-on to these awesome new hard shell Roadrunner 20 inch carry-on pieces.

15:12Just like the full size luggage sets, the carry-on luggage is made from durable materials that are

15:18also waterproof, which is super important if you're traveling and you're going to be walking around

15:23with your luggage through cities because you never know when you get caught in a rainstorm,

15:27especially somewhere here like Thailand where it rains all the time. They also have this cool little

15:31compartment for our laptops, making it so much easier to access your electronics when you're at the

15:36airport and going through security. Honestly, I don't know why they make you take your laptop and your

15:41electronics out of your carry-on when you're going through those security checkpoints, but they do.

15:45It's super annoying, but that's going to be a lot easier now with our new upgraded carry-on pieces.

15:51And having the hard shell on it also means you can rest assured that your stuff isn't going to get

15:56damaged when it's in the overhead lockers. I know whenever I'm flying and we go through turbulence or

16:01like the guy in front of me just slams his bag on top of my backpack, I'm worried that when

16:05we get off

16:06the flight my camera is going to be in pieces or my computer is not going to be working because

16:10it's

16:10being damaged during the flight, but not anymore. And Level 8 also offers a lifetime warranty on

16:16all of their products. So if you're interested in leveling up your travel game, click the link down

16:20below in the description and don't forget to use code Lloyd and Mandy because you'll get 10% off your

16:25purchase.

16:54I'll see you next time.

17:11okay lloyd gifted me my first grown-up vacuum this was not very cheap um quite expensive

17:21actually but definitely worth it being in a white house with a lot of white and neutral

17:30furniture with a chocolate dog um the hair does sort of show up so having a good vacuum is important

17:35and this one it's electrolux um and it came with this like pet pro handle so it like picks up

17:42all the hair like so well after one thing over i don't have to go over anything it picks everything

17:48up it's it was very worth the purchase i'm so happy with it i think it's my favorite thing in

17:52the

17:53house now oh the sun has just come out it's been a little bit rainy this morning sweating already

17:59might be time to turn the air con on soon one really nice thing has been obviously having extra

18:05sunlight when you're um pregnant oh i really think it's been like made a huge difference for my mood

18:12and just like being able to just sit out in the sun and connect with nature more that's been

18:19huge it's made pregnancy so much easier and thailand is like pretty much summer year-round even now in

18:26rainy season we still get so much sun um and it's just like made me a lot happier i've felt

18:33more

18:33positive being in more sun so i just think this climate for me is definitely better than cold weather

18:39for growing a baby

18:40so

18:44so

18:54so

18:56so

18:57so

18:58so

18:59so

19:03so

19:07so

19:12so

19:13so

19:23okay it's actually getting a bit too hot

19:25so i'm gonna

19:27close everything up we usually

19:29have everything open for the first half of the day to like let all the fresh air in and

19:34air out the bed and all that type of stuff

19:38but

19:39usually gets a bit too

19:41too humid and hot by the middle of the day so that's usually when we'll turn on the air conditioning

19:46and then sometimes at night we'll turn it off in the afternoons depending on how hot it is

19:51air air conditioning can be a bit expensive that's probably one of the more expensive things that we spend on

20:00but it's worth it to be comfortable

20:14might just keep those white soaking those they're really dirty i'm i'm washing like all the pillow covers from the

20:21couch and everything and bear likes to use them so they're a bit dirty i do just have to say

20:28i think i've been treated better

20:31i think i've been treated better here during my time being pregnant than i have anywhere else

20:37the thai seem to really go above and beyond for like when they notice you're pregnant especially now that my

20:41belly is showing i've noticed like people being like overly kind and helpful and smiling and it just seems like

20:48the thai people are like genuinely really happy for you to be having a baby in general it sort of

20:55does feel like thailand's a bit more family oriented

20:58it seems a lot easier to like take your kids out with you and like live your life and do

21:04things with kids all the time whereas in western culture i feel like not everywhere obviously i'm generalizing but i

21:11did notice

21:12in canada and places is that kids aren't as welcome in a lot of places um but like if you

21:18go out to dinner here the waitresses will like when we were in bali like the waitresses took our nephew

21:25and we're like playing with him so the parents could eat

21:28and we've also heard that's really common here as well so like you can actually still go out to dinner

21:32and enjoy yourself which is which is really nice and it's it i'm excited to have kids in a place

21:38where they're going to be welcome

21:40and they're going to feel comfortable

21:43of course when i say some things like that's just my experience doesn't mean it's like for everyone but i

21:52i do i did find

21:53that asia in general is more kid friendly and kid excited and um more inclusion for children

22:22so i actually used to be a very messy person one of my parents was quite messy so i had

22:29like

22:29one very messy house um they were split up so uh i was used to having mess around and it

22:37just was never

22:38a priority but like since living in like hotels and stuff um and just like airbnbs and like always having

22:46like clean space i realized like how much more like how much better my mental health is when stuff is

22:53really clean um and it's yeah it's changed a lot of things for me and i also i definitely want

22:59a baby

23:00coming into a really clean space one hack that no one ever taught me is to dry um dust everything

23:09especially in the bathroom before you spray everything otherwise you're just pushing dirt around

23:13a little tip for you if you didn't know that if you're a messy person like me

23:18i got better at cleaning just from watching youtube videos actually watching how other women clean and

23:24what their like procedure is and now i have like a daily cleaning routine which really helps if you

23:29do a little bit every day i find it's so much easier to stay on top of it

23:39i've sort of just realized i think like in being pregnant like how much

23:43your kids take after you and how they copy you and stuff and there's some things like yeah like

23:51them inheriting money is a good thing obviously and really helpful in life but there's a lot of other

23:57things that your kids can inherit if um that would make their life easier and growing up in a clean

24:04house

24:04and having like clean habits is something that you can give to them um that doesn't cost anything and

24:13makes life better so those are the sort of things i've been like focusing on

24:20yeah our kids really do inherit everything from us like all of our habits so i think it's good to

24:27like take an inventory of the habits that you have and ask yourself am i comfortable with my kid

24:34copying me doing this and because that's pretty much what it is and is this habit serving me or can

24:42i

24:42change it to make it so my kid benefits in the long run that's sort of where i'm at with

24:48my headspace

24:48at the moment and i found that it's really helped me focus on what matters most the things that i

24:55can

24:55control and like letting go of everything else that really feels like the secret to not getting

25:00overwhelmed also at the moment one thing that i read in the fourth trimester was about how one mistake

25:15that a lot of women can make when they're having a baby is only focusing on the day of birth

25:20and not

25:20thinking about what happens after and how big of a transition that is and just you know you're going

25:29through so much especially in those first couple weeks you know you're learning how to be a mother

25:34um your body is trying to recover from doing something quite you know traumatic that you know has pretty

25:42large effect on your body and it's all your internal organs are trying to return to their original spot

25:48so a lot's happening in those first few weeks and um it's important that like we take care of our

25:56health during that time because the baby's health is affected by the mother's health so taking care of

26:01the mother's health should come sort of first and being able to have like access to um acupuncture

26:10chinese medicine regular massage um physical touch for a woman after having a baby is really

26:18important i've read um and so as you know like having chinese medicine help um even in the lead up

26:27to

26:27me getting pregnant having regular access to that stuff has been just incredible i've noticed a huge

26:35shift in my health and i'm more focused at the moment on my recovery and how i'm going to

26:43be able to feel well again after having a baby um and you know there's only so much you can

26:49control

26:49on the day of the birth and plan for but you can definitely prepare for what happens after to make

26:55it

26:56so your body recovers um the best that it can so that you can you know be yourself again as

27:02soon as possible

27:02so yeah there's like there's obviously so much like yoga and gyms and um we'd be able to like get

27:10a massage therapist around here there's a massage joint just around the corner that's like i think

27:16it's ten dollars every time we go Thai massage is meant to be very good in healing um after you

27:22have

27:22a baby depending obviously on what state you're in not giving medical advice by any means um but there's

27:29just access to all that and i'm and we're able to afford it as well like a massage a prenatal

27:35massage

27:35here um is actually covered by my health insurance i use nomad health insurance by safety wing it's so

27:42good i highly recommend it we'll link it down below but the prenatal massage here is about 60 or 70

27:50canadian dollars um we'll put the conversion down for you uh but in canada i was looking at it's about

27:58225 to 250 to get a prenatal massage and obviously that's not really attainable for most people to

28:05get that regularly and regular massage after having a baby is like really really beneficial

28:12so i'm really happy that i'll be able to afford and have access to somewhere or someone to come to

28:17me

28:18um to get that massage because the medicinal benefits are massive

28:32wow look at the color of this water

28:41definitely working even if they don't come out perfectly wide it definitely wasn't needed

28:47might leave them for a bit longer before i chuck them in the wash

28:52okay i'm just cooking white a steak so i can finish cleaning the kitchen

28:55he's got lots of work to do he's doing all the adult boring stuff in his office right now so

29:03i'd

29:03much rather be cleaning and cooking

29:08okay

29:31Hi, honey.

29:32Hello.

29:33How you going?

29:35Good.

29:38Hey, bear.

29:41Hi, would you make a treat?

29:48Peace.

30:15Okay, I just need to sit for a second.

30:20I guess overall what I've been trying to say is that basic needs are sort of met here

30:26a lot easier.

30:27I will probably need to hire help as far as like cleaning when the baby comes.

30:34Right now I'm sort of just figuring out what I, how I like things done so I can ask someone

30:39else to do it the same, but yeah that wouldn't be an option probably in Canada.

30:45House cleaning is quite expensive, everything is quite expensive so I think if we had the

30:54baby in Canada even though I'd have like some family closer, I don't think we'd be able

31:01to have as much help so being here that feels like I'll be a much more relaxed mother in

31:09that way.

31:10Bear is sick of me cleaning and kicking him out of every room.

31:15I'm sorry.

31:17I need to do the couch now though.

31:36Alright, I'm starting to fade a little bit.

31:39I've just got to finish mopping and I'm going to vacuum Lloyd's office because I haven't

31:45done that in a while but almost done, we're getting there.

31:48I added some peppermint essential oils to my mop water.

31:54It's my new thing.

31:55I got it from Baba Beach Club.

31:57Another thing that makes me really happy here in Thailand is the hospital actually.

32:04It's really really good and I wasn't exactly anticipating that.

32:09It was probably my biggest worry and I wasn't sure if the quality would be as good as Canada

32:18or better or worse or you know but the hospital's been absolutely great.

32:24And it's got this cafeteria in it that actually has healthy food options.

32:28There's a good cafe there as well.

32:32It's super clean and it's not overly busy.

32:34My experience going to the hospital in Canada, I don't know if it's just because I lived in

32:39small towns for the most part but my experience was always that it was super crowded and always

32:44took like hours and hours and hours to get in but for the most part we've been like on

32:48schedule and on time for our appointments.

32:50We actually have an appointment tomorrow before we fly out so that's why I'm trying to get everything

32:54done today just to like get a certificate to say that I'm like healthy enough to fly while

33:01pregnant and that should be all good.

33:05So yeah that's something to keep in mind.

33:07Some airlines do require it.

33:09It doesn't look like ours does but we're just getting it just to be safe because we don't

33:13want to have that headache at the airport.

33:16They've also been like really really accommodating with my demands.

33:20Like I've asked a lot of strange questions I guess like just things like about like delayed

33:26cord clamping and if I'm allowed to like bring my own music or lighting incense so that sort

33:34of stuff to the birthing room and they've been like they've said that all of that is fine.

33:38So they've been they've pretty much accommodated for like all of my questions that I've had

33:42and even though they they kind of think I'm weird there I don't think a lot of the things

33:47that I ask are common maybe to ask here yeah they are open and there's not like a strict

33:53like things have to go this way you just need to communicate what your needs are I guess.

34:00And I I so I feel really heard and I feel really comfortable.

34:05Hospital birth it was not my first is not my first choice but it's kind of the only thing

34:11we have accessible to us at the moment and that is legal here in Thailand so we're making

34:17the most of that and so far Bangkok Hospital in Hoa Hinn has been great.

34:24Okay, the house is clean most of the stuff is done on my list I might have to start recording

34:30myself cleaning more often because I think it may be more diligent.

34:35Thanks for joining me I hope you found some value in today's video if you did don't forget

34:40to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel we're heading to Canada I don't know

34:44exactly what we're going to be filming or if we're going to be because it's kind of

34:48like a family catch-up before the baby comes and bear is well looked after he's

34:55staying here in Hoa Hinn we have someone that's amazing that looks after him so

34:59thank you to all you guys who worry about him while we're away he's very well taken

35:04care of love you guys heaps thanks for watching see you in the next one

35:09bye

Why I’m Having a Baby in Thailand, Not Canada | Expat Family Life

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