Gametes In Love

Because you end up with a small loaf of bread (to go with the roasted bell peppers back home), Liverworst, Chicken Ramen and just because it was in the same aisle, Chicken Noodle Soup.

Why? All cravings I had on my way TO the store.

I make fun of S getting random stuff when he goes shopping, but I think I just lost my credibility.

Some shots of G and his Baba from our Bulgaria trip

… are what we’ll be, ‘cuz, uhmn…. we’re having another boy!!!

Last week when we were in Bulgaria we got an unexpected ultrasound. I had mentioned to my dad that I hadn’t felt the baby move, and that I was a little worried. In my defense, I acknowledged G moving at 17 weeks, and having heard that second + pregnancies you recognize motion as such earlier, I was getting a bit paranoid. Also, in my brilliant and optimal approach to packing I had decided to leave my fetal monitor at home and around hitting week 16 away, was regretting it.

I mentioned it to my dad because he and mom have a good friend who is a doctor and they were planning to see him while they were in town. All I wanted was access to his stethoscope. Instead I got a call from my mom Tue morning at 10am, telling us that his friend had made us an appointment with one of the country’s best OB’s and we needed to be in her office by noon. So let’s recap – I’m in a country I don’t know my way around, it’s 10am and we’re still crawling out of bed in PJs and I need to navigate my way to a hospital whose address I don’t know to make it for a “I can fit you in if you show up within 2 hours” appointment. Not to even mention my insurance policy doesn’t extend benefits for non-emergency procedures internationally, and I had no idea how much this visit was going to cost me. However after my mom’s friend assured me it would cost 80lev (about $55 US), I consented… since I knew that if we get an u/s, there’s a chance that we could find out the gender, and I so happened to have 80lev (plus the necessary cab fare).

The appointment went well. Actually I was impressed that it ended up being a full fetal scan. She noted my placenta has moved to the posterior, measured all of the limbs, examined all of the organs, looked for cleft lip, and confirmed that this little dude is in good shape. I got to hear the heartbeat too 🙂

Then she said “So you have one son already? Looks like he’ll have a brother” S asked “Are you sure?”; She “100% sure”. With 25 years of experience staring at ultrasound machines, and being touted as one of the best in the country I’d like to trust her… but having experienced the wonders of Bulgarian health care with my sister’s and grandfather’s treatment over the last 5 years, I think I’m going to hold out on full and final validation for our fetal scan in July. So right now I’m 90% confident we’re having a boy.

His name will be Storm (one of the few times you’ll see it fully written out so take note). S was quick to point out that when he starts running around we’ll be Storm Chasers. We’re having t-shirts made. I’m not really sure what his nick-name will be. It’s already short. S is suggesting “Windy”… or “Cat-5” (since his middle name will be V like G’s). We’re open for suggestions, so share if you’ve got ’em.

I’m also not really sure yet how he’ll be referred to here as well. He might be S2 (as to not be confused with S), or l-S (for little S). I just don’t know yet.

Little S’ mug shot is coming soon. As soon as my jet lag lets me stay up long enough to actually scan it in, that is 🙂

How far along: 17w
Weight: me = 128.4lb; baby = 150g (per u/s);
Sleep: Just got back from a whole other timezone. Sleeping arrangements were changed. Overall well, but ask me how we acclimate in a week
Gender: TBD
Movement: Sometimes I think I feel stuff, and then since it’s nothing like what I remember I think it’s just gas.
Feeling: Good! I had two weeks of feeling pretty good and no yaking. Hopefully that wasn’t a travel fluke, so this week will tell.
What I am looking forward to: Movement that’s for sure.
Weekly Wisdom: Telling your dad that you are worried that you hadn’t felt the baby move yet, and asking to visit his doctor friend for his stethoscope results with a same-day appointment with one of Sofia’s top OBs. And a fetal scan. Not a bad deal if you can get it 🙂
Milestones: Had an unexpected fetal scan last week. Kiddo looks good. All limbs look good, organs look OK, no cleft lip. Looking forward to my long fetal scan here in a few weeks.
Food cravings: Meat-free dishes.
Fetal development:
Your baby’s skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — the lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and it’s around 5 inches long from head to bottom. The baby can move its joints, and the sweat glands are starting to develop.

(belly pic to come soon)

Consider this my confessional post. This last week I comitted two parental offenses I never thought I would.

Offense 1: taking a cab without a carseat for my kid. Yep, around the local 5m radius, I gave up the carseat while taking a taxi. Mostly because following those short trips we do a crapload of walking and lugging a convertible carseat (along with the other stuff we carry) hasn’t been too practical. I do insist we take it whenever we take a cab/car out of town though. While I don’t love being part of the polluting world I miss my own car and the ‘safe’ conveniences it comes with.

Offense 2: I kept my kid up until 10pm at a restaurant. While G has adapted a bit more to local time, he’s off by 3 hours accros the board. He wakes up at 9:30, wants lunch no earlier than 2, and does his bedtime starting at 10:30. In a way it makes planning time with friends a bit easier since we don’t have to be confined to our apartment by 7 every night (like at home), but I am sure that people think I’m nuts.

So ughmn, yeah. Bad Mamma.

I’ve been away for awhile, but with good reason: we’re out of town. Let me elaborate: we’re more or less on the other side of the world, in a timezone 10 hours ahead.

While this trip so far has been easy in some respects, it’s been brutal in others and I’m having serious thoughts about doing another family trip of this magnitude with any child under the age of 5. We did this cross-over with a ratio of 3 adults to 1 toddler and I admire anyone that can do it in less. As far as I’m conserned 2 kids ounumber 2 parents on these types of journeys.

I’m envious of parents that have the luxury of road trips. Right now an 8 hour drive in a private space, and option to pull over sounds heavenly.

20 hour travel day: one 14hr flight, followed by a 3hr lay-over, followed by another 3 hour flight on the other hand? Not so much fun. As an adult, this is a tiring trip. I don’t blame my toddler for having his scram-fest fits.

G did pretty well flying actually. It helped that our trans-Atlantic flight was a red-eye and he slept through just about all of it. The carseat onboard was def. helpful, but he couldn’t sleep in it comfortably. Well, if you sat, restrained for 4 hours in one spot, you’d get pissy too. MY butt hurt after sitting that long, and I could shift my bum around. His 5 point harness on the other hand, didn’t give him that option. So he slept in my lap for a good few hours, pretty much sprawled out. It was the best sleep he had on that flight. Me? Not so much.

The time shift has been difficult. G’s been waking up routinely for 2 hours each night from 2-4am wanting to play. It’s been brutal. His naps are all over the place too, and I’m torn between keeping him on his regular schedule or following the sleep-begets-sleep rule. He’s been bed sharing with us too, which is also challenging (He can’t seem to sleep in his pack and play.)… for the parents mostly. G does 360s in his sleep. And kicks. I have a nice, welty bruise on my arm courtesty of a size 5 foot. S avoided a black eye last night, by miracle, as G slept with his head in my arm-pit and feet at S’ face. As I write, his feet are at the headboard and he’s literaly upside down. But he’s at least sleeping.
I am starting to wonder if our son really sleeps through the night. Or if he wakes up and chills out in his room without asking for us.
I’m also realizing that he’s not ready yet for a big boy bed. I was hoping that when the baby arrives it would move into the crib and G in a big-boy bed, but observing his sleep patterns these last few nights rules this out for me. He sleep-crawls/walks on the bed, and those little side rails won’t keep him from falling off the bed. S used to sleep walk as a child, and I think G might be too. I also have no idea how to keep him in said bed until he falls asleep. Luckily we have until Nov to figure this out, but my grand designs about using this trip as big bed training is a massive fail. And here I thought G would sleep in the other apartment room by himself. HA!

On the bonus side though, he is doing SO well culturally. He’s eating the food, which is a big bonus. My family adores him and he’s been so good to them. He also got to meet some new cousins, which is really heart-warming for me. He’s been in a great mood while awake, even given his lack of toys.

Now here are two travel tips I’ll put out there for parents. Bring masking tape and balloons.

In my McGuiver thinking, I knew we needed to child proof the apartment we rented. We can’t do anything permanent and with no international guidelene you can’t exactly bring outlet plugs from home, or know how many you’ll need. Hence the
masking tape. You spend 15 min covering outlets, taping down drawers and cabinet doors. It peels off easy, without taking the paint off too. My curious toddler isn’t onto this yet, and hasn’t managed to open anything I didn’t want him to. AND he’s tried! No, don’t do this at home, but in a travel pinch it works.

Item 2: balloons. They pack small, and when blown up give you hours of chase around, safe fun. Safe as in ‘it keeps the electronics safe’ from harder items thrown at them 🙂 I thank S for that idea.

So there you have it. My thoughts on the first few days. We have a memorial service to get through (which as it turns out G and I can’t go to – bad juju for pregnant women and kids under 3 to go to a cemetery here) and another week, but we’re getting by.

On my side, I am having somewhat of an identity crisis, but I need some more self reflection before I can share my thoughts. S and I are doing great, but I’m struggling with how I define myself culturally.

On the baby front, things are OK, I guess. Still no kicks, and I’m hoping that’s just the anterior placenta talking. I shouldda brought my monitor. I could use the peace of mind right now, rather than plotting which one of my mom’s doctor friends I can visit for their stethoscope. Silly me.