Anniversary!

So Mamie and I snuck away last week for a quick celebration of our eighth wedding anniversary. Yes, eight years ago, many of you were dancing it up in Winston-Salem, NC.  We had a wonderful stay-cation right here in Barranquilla, going to one of the city's historic old hotels, the Hotel El Prado.  The grounds, and the pool in particular are fabulous (see above, or click on the hotel name to take a virtual tour).

During the stay, Mamie proved that pregnant women do not float, but we're pretty sure Peanut enjoyed the pool.  Mamie at least enjoyed the feeling of being 8 kilos lighter again!  It was a great time to get away, because Mamie has been put on bed rest for the duration of this pregnancy.  Sooo, lesson learned is: take the vacation when you can!

Laying Bets

Okay, we are now close enough to B-day, or P-day, or whatever, to really lay down some odds.  When we first told our families about Peanut back in March, the first thing Richard's sister Laura did was to jump up and get some paper to record the family predictions.  I am not sure what the prize is for the winner, but rest assured the cut-throat Williams competition lives on.

Margaret, Richard's mom, sent us those predictions the other day as a reminder, and I thought I would open up the field a little bit...make this more interesting.  

So, if you want in, here is your chance.

Due date according to medical science: Sept 21 

(to be fair, the due date in March at aforementioned prediction time was said to be Sept 25 - do with that information what you will.  All entries will be judged by actual reality.)

Entry requirements:

• You must be of legal age, or at least know how to leave a comment on a blog.  Only blog comments will be registered as official entries.  No separate email messages accepted.

• You may enter only once.  (I mean really, it's not a drawing people.)

• Winner(s) will receive some sort of prize that no one has yet determined.  This will not be anything gross.

•  Final entries must be received by Sept 8.

You must provide the following information:  

(We'll see how savvy I am after I have a newborn as to whether each field will be judged separately or whether some system for figuring out the closest person all the way around suddenly occurs to me.)

1. Name (YOURS, not one you are picking for the Peanut.  That is NOT the prize...)
2. Baby's Gender
3. Birth Weight
4. Birth Date

A later post will provide you with information on your competition, and, of course, an even later one with the winner(s).

All the best.

2 Kg in 2 Weeks...Do Not Try this at Home

I am officially no longer worried about Peanut's weight gain.  

For the first 7 1/2 months I had a pretty low-key belly.  Through at least 6 1/2 months it often depended on what I was wearing as to whether folks even thought I had anything going on around there or not.  This was not good news for bus rides, but otherwise I just took it as par for the course for me.  I was a little worried because all the books say that you should gain around 25 lbs over the course of your pregnancy (more or less, of course), and they spoke of 2 lbs a month (with extra toward the end).  

I recognize now that this was perhaps a mere mathematical trick, trying to make it seem like there was a logical progression to this whole pregnancy gig.  Still, I was nervous because having started out at about 62 kg, I was only at 68 kg even just two weeks ago.  I must say that until I was all preoccupied with my weight gain, kilograms had virtually no meaning to me.  All I knew is that everything sounds heavier in kilos, no matter what.  I now know that a kg is approximately 2.2 lbs, so having gained only 6 of them for a whopping 13 pounds in basically 8 months was a little unnerving.  After all, how was I going to be anywhere near 25 recommended pounds in just another month?

Well, Peanut has the last laugh. 

Yesterday I went to the OB's office basically two weeks after my last appointment.  I stepped on the scale, and BAM!  70 kilograms.  Holy cramoley.  I gained 2 whole kilos in just 2 weeks.  Given that it took me 8 months to gain 6...let's just say Peanut is not to be underestimated.  Onward and outward!

Beach Day

When the group from the Presbytery of Chicago was here last month, we all went to the beach on their final day to relax.  Though Richard and I are the sun god and goddess of Colombia (yeah...), we stayed under the shady huts most of the time.  We did make it out once though when our friend Andrea, a professional photographer, offered to take some family shots. 

Here are a couple of our favorites:

And even though we want to be super-sun careful, Peanut did want to catch a few rays... :)

Birthing Classes

We would really like to go to birthing classes.  All the books you read encourage you to go, but I promise we do not need encouragement.  We would really like to go.  The problem is, they don't seem to exist here, or at least not in the format I imagined.  When I asked our OB/GYN she told me to call a woman named Piedad who would be glad to do "profilaxis" classes with me.  To me that sounds a lot like prophylactics, and I thought about quipping something about how those were obviously not at issue now, but I chose to let the moment pass...

At any rate, in talking with Piedad she said that the routine with me would consist of exercises to help strengthen me for birth as well as breathing, positioning, etc.  This sounded as close as I had heard for birthing classes, so we signed up.  The challenge is, I am still waiting for the breathing, positioning, etc, and we are now under 30 days until B-Day.  On the plus side, I am sure I have stretched/exercised more in the past few months, and more regularly, than in most of my life.  I also get the bonus of a massage for about 20 minutes or so after I finish all my exercises - not a bad deal at all.  

However, Richard and I are still pretty clueless as to what is going to happen when this whole labor thing gets under way.  We have done a lot of reading.  We have gotten a lot of meaty emails from Vanessa.  We have even watched some (very scary if you ask me) videos on the web, but it just doesn't feel the same.  I had always imagined being in a class with a lot of parents-to-be, sharing nervous smiles and maybe even making friends that would be connections post-partum-Peanut, but that does not seem to be in the cards.

Piedad swears we will get to some breathing and positioning soon.  I am just hoping that we are not having the joy of cultural misunderstanding just now as time becomes even more important to me.  At any rate, I am relying on the "this is a natural process" thing, planning my distractions, readying the hospital bag with massage oil and good tunes, and figuring that whatever gets me through is/was the right thing to do.  

Still, we would take classes.  Honest.