Tenacity

We have mentioned this before, but it truly bears repeating.  Folks here are REALLY used to knowing whether an upcoming baby will be a boy or girl.  We get asked by everyone (often several times having forgotten that we don't know), but none more than Maria José, the daughter of the Presbytery secretary, Doris.  Maria José is terribly cute, about 7 years old, and nothing if not tenacious.  

At first she did not actually believe I was pregnant.  Her mom told her, but since I didn't show for quite a while, she was simply not convinced.  I had noticed her looking at me awfully hard, her mom mentioned that she had double checked to see if there was some joke being pulled on her, and once she finally screwed up the courage to come up to me and ask herself.  "Are you really pregnant she asked me?  Are you sure?"  I have mentioned here before that I had this question my own self on occasion after the morning sickness stopped but the showing and kicking had not yet begun, but I answered very confidently that I was quite certain.  No worries, no tricks here.

Well now that I am showing Maria José fairly runs up to me and greets Peanut, offering a little rub and even a kiss on the belly.  Then she looks up at me and says, "Ahora sí se ve, ¿verdad?" (Now you can tell, ya know?).  However, though she is now completely confident that a baby really is in there, she is dying to know whether it is a boy or a girl.  I have told her any number of times that we are waiting to find out, but she never fails to ask...just in case we are holding out on her.  We see her several times a week, and she asks every single time.  Finally last week I changed it up a little...

MJ:  "¿Es niño o niña?"  (Is it a boy or a girl?)

Me:  "Sí."  (Yes.)

MJ:  (gasp of surprise and hope...)  "¡¿Es niña?!"  (It is a girl?!)

Me:  "O niño."  (Or a boy.)

MJ:  (gasp of surprise and hope...)  "¡¿Es niño?!"  (It is a boy?!)

Me:  "O niña."  (Or a girl.)

MJ:  (sigh of frustration and furrowing of brow)  "Pfff...entonces, ¿es niño o niña?"  (ACK...so is it a boy or a girl?)

Me:  "Sí, es niño o niña."  (Yes, it is a boy or a girl.")

MJ:  "Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!"  

She might be tenacious, but ain't nobody saying I'm not either...  :)

G.I.T. and the Corral

My dad came to visit this past week.  He now signs his emails G.I.T. - Grandfather in Training.  He was only here for a short time, but he too brought a boat load of things down (okay, an extra suitcase, but these suitcases are jammed people) courtesy of a lot of pre-shopping done by my step-mother Libby.  I am now suited out with all the accouterments for breast feeding and pumping, my fair share of Combos and protein bars, first-aid supplies, and...of course...Cheerwine.

We took dad to church, to our grocery store, to the Museum of the Caribbean, and of course to the office on the grounds of Reformed University, but mostly we just hung out.  Dad loves to observe and people watch, so he was pretty content wherever we were, whether it was waiting for lunch in the food court, checking out the patrons of Crepes and Waffles, or marveling at the differences between north and south Barranquilla.  We were really sorry that Libby, Rob, and Jean could not make it down with him, but being a G.I.T. is tough work and there was some pretty heavy lifting going on.  It might have been safer for them at home this time. 

Here is the evidence...

G.I.T. and the Corral from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

Moving to Finland

Okay, so it is possible that we are not moving to Finland.  It is also possible that if I actually consider moving to Finland you all should quickly remind me that I have lamented our tendency to swing between regions with extreme temperatures rather than settling down in a nice, temperate zone.  However, Finland does have some pretty nice maternity/paternity/baby deals.

For instance, if you are a mom-to-be, you have the right to go on maternity live 50 days before your due date (at the earliest) and you have a maternity allowance paid to you for the first 105 days after your baby is born (not including Sundays or holidays - and if your employer pays you while you are on leave then the government pays your employer the maternity allowance).  The allowance is based on your salary, but there is a minimum, and if you were a student and not working or were not employed then you get the allowance (minimum) all the same.  Now, I have no idea how much it costs to live in Finland, but I still ascribe to the theory that some money is better than no money - can I get a witness?

On top of these benefits, I was amazed to see that every Finnish family-to-be (by birth or adoption) gets a pretty kicking "maternity package."  While the snowsuit, hat, and insulated mittens and booties might not be as critical here in Colombia, the balaclava would fit right in (in its own way...) and the onesies and jumpers and mattress/cover/sheets (and more) would be grand.  I would add a sun hat, sunscreen, and earplugs for overly amplified church services, but a little tweak here, a little tweak there and it still seems like a very good deal.  The package is valued at about 275 Euros (around $362 USD and $663,233 COP), so it is clearly nothing to sneeze at.  And if you do sneeze, you can use the included muslin squares to wipe your nose afterward.

It seems they thought of everything...

(PS. The real "mother/parent-lode" seems to be in Sweden where you get 480 days - that is 16 months - of leave with 80% of your salary for the first 390 days and the remaining 90 days at a flat rate.  A minimum of 60 days of this leave must be shared with dad, but you can divide it up however you wish.  Okay, so Sweden anyone?)

Battle of the Barrigas

A couple of weeks ago we documented our epic battle.

First we turned to the judges (okay the camera).

Then we "faced off."  May the best barriga win.

And while Peanut and I put up a good fight; he still won.

...but we are gaining on him. 

 (Nota importante: Richard is seriously puffing out his belly here people.  

Besides, biggest isn't always best, right fellas?) 

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3...

There are a lot of tests when you are pregnant.  It starts with the one in the picture, but it certainly doesn't end there.  Every time I go the doctor I have to have some test or another, and more often than not I have to go to a separate clinic to have it done, and I have to go "en ayuno" - fasting - so I can't even do it the same day.  I am glad for all the helpful this information this seems to be giving to my doctor(s), but gee maneezy!

It also turns out that we did not have some tests that we might have had were we to have been in the States, or if we had started with our OB earlier than we did.  More specifically, we did not have any of the 11-18 week testing for Down's Syndrome.  As every god-blessed book or website on earth harps on the various worries an over-35 mother should have (not the smallest of those is ever managing to become pregnant, step 1 down) I am very clear that the chances of a Down's baby is higher for me than it might have been if Richard and I had gone through all this earlier.  As it is now, the sonogram and such don't seem to show any worrisome signs, but as with most tests it is not conclusive.  There is a test we could still do that might tell us something (or might not...and the false result rate is pretty high) which Dra. Lucia suggested to us, but we refused.  After all, why?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I am all up for knowing things ahead of time.  And the chance to read ahead, to figure out what (if any) services there are here for a child with special needs would certainly be valuable.  Still, Peanut is going to come however Peanut is going to come, and we are going to deal with that, love that, work that out, etc.  I worry about it sometimes, and I pray about it a lot, but in general I figure that I can't do much and that it is what it is (and will be), so we hope for the best.  

And lately I have worried about plenty of other things that we can't know at all until Peanut progresses all the way on out.  What if Peanut can't see, or hear?  What if Peanut really didn't get enough vegetables (this is likely true), and some internal system didn't get formed so well?  And of course the worst of all possibilities, what if something happens in labor or soon after and Peanut simply doesn't make it?

These things don't take up too much mental space, don't worry, but they are there.  I am sure they are there for everyone, at least in passing, but it remains absolutely stunning how much thoughts like that (especially the last ones) can just stop your heart.  It is amazing how much of an investment you can have in something you can't really see and someone you don't really know.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons people return so often to faith when children come along.  The prayers certainly start with a different intensity when you become responsible for another life, and the idea of a God you can talk to, feel close to, and be invested even though you can't really see her and you don't really know him suddenly doesn't seem so strange.

At any rate, no need to tell me all the reasons things will likely be fine.  I know the stats and I know I have done as well as I know how.  If you do have time, feel free to throw Peanut and family in your prayers though.  We can always use all the help we can get.