09.23.2005

I can't believe that Shelby is already two months old, and I have not updated the site at all. So much has been going on here that it makes it hard to get on the computer. Most of my down time is spent in the bed laying beside Shelby as she sleeps. She has a knack for telling when I get out of the bed to do something, and immediately wakes up. This makes getting anything accomplished very hard. For the last week I have been trying to fold some laundry and pack some boxes to ship to Dan. As of yet neither of these chores are done. As I type this Shelby is laying on my lap, and will hopefully fall asleep deep enough that I can move her to the bed.

Over the last two months she has changed so much. She has lost that newborn puffy look, and has developed her own looks. At times I can see Kaitlynn in her, but at other times she looks like a completely different baby than Kaitlynn did.

She has gotten chubbier and chubbier. Having a chubby baby instead of a little skinny baby has been fun. It is great to compare where Shelby is on the charts to where Meridian was. I know each baby will grow differently, but for now it gives me some sort of projectile to look forward to.

Early on she had great head control. From within the first few weeks of life she was able to support her head for minutes at a time, and it is just improving over time. Since she has gotten her head control down I try to have her practice tummy time everyday, but she hates it so far. I lay her on her stomach, and she allows it for 3 minutes tops. Then she begins to scream her little head off. I have tried it on both a flat surface and an elevated one. Neither seems to make her happy. I have tried to add stimulation toys in front of her to give her something to look at, and even that does not satisfy her. When she is elevate she will get herself into such a frenzy that she ends up scooting down the Boppy by about 6 inches. Adding a second Boppy to make her higher does nothing for her either. For now I am just going to keep trying tummy time, and see how it goes.

The swing and the bouncy seat also do not really impress her. I can get away with the bouncy seat only if I am physically bouncing it for her. At times she likes to look at the fish bar attached to the bouncy seat, but that is not something I can count on. She tolerates the swings, but does not like them. Normally I can only get her to tolerate them when she is ready for a nap, and then she just falls asleep in them. Again I am going to see how she warms up to these with time.

With all my resources not being cared for by Shelby, she is being constantly held. This is when she is most content, especially if Mommy is the holder. At times Dawn wonders if Shelby dislikes her because she will go from being contently held in my arms to displeased and furious in Dawn's arms.

Shelby had her first real smile at 6 weeks. It was very sweet because she was nursing, and pulled off to look at me. Then she smiled the sweetest little grin at me. It warmed my heart to have her first smile in such a sweet, loving way. It was as if we were having our own private communication about love.

At 8 weeks Shelby started cooing back and forth with me. She will make a gurgling noise, and then I will repeat it. We will play this little game for up to 10 minutes at a time. Right now this is her favorite activity. Every time I initiate the beginning of the game with her, she breaks out into a huge grin before cooing back at me. It is so sweet to watch.

I noticed last night that Shelby has the begun to lose her hair. Where she lays on it at night is starting to fall out. So at the moment she has a slight balding circle on the back of her head. It will be interesting to see if it comes back in a different color or shade.

Earlier this month she started to get a goopy eye and a rash that made us believe she had a virus. Of course the day I called to make a same-day appointment for her it cleared up. Since then the goopy eye has come back, and I asked about it at her 2-month baby-well appointment. The pediatrician said that it is a normal occurrence when they start to get their tears. Apparently all that fluid blocks the tear ducts, and they get rid of it through mucous. So during nursing sessions I am trying to apply pressure to the area to get it to drain faster. The drainage has slowed down some, but it is still there.

At her two month appointment, Shelby was right on target developmentally. She also had her two month immunizations. Poor baby! She was sound asleep when they stuck her with the first one, and she screamed bloody murder. She had to have two shots in one leg, and another in the other leg. I wanted to nurse her through the shots because studies show that it helps them deal with the pain of shots better. However, the corps woman giving the shots refused. She claims that it would cause her to choke, but I think they just don't want the liability. She should have a follow-up at 4-months. I am sure when we get back to the Embassy that Mari will want to look her over.

08.10.2005

Shelby Mae was born on Thursday July 21st at 11:34pm. She was 7 lbs, 10.8 oz and 20 inches long! She is just beautiful with a head full of light brown hair. She is already nursing like a champ!!!

She came after a very dramatic and eventful day. In the morning Dan and I took Kaitlynn to the dentist about the tooth she lost while in Tunis, and her other front tooth that was knocked crooked, and is now starting to discolor.

On our way home we were in a car accident. I was driving on a 4 lane divided road. On the right hand side of the road there was a lady who had pulled over because apparently her dog jumped out the window of her car. Three cars in front of me a truck swerved from the left lane into our right hand lane to miss the dog. He barely missed him. Then the second car in front of me slammed on his brakes, and barely missed. The car directly in front of me also slammed on his brakes coming within inches of hitting the dog. I also slammed on my brakes, but with the chain reaction did not have enough room to stop. I could not swerve to the right because the lady was walking there, and I could not swerve to the left because there were cars in that lane. So I ended up rear-ending the car in front of me. To make matters worse I was driving my sister's minivan, which just adds more drama to the mix later.

The car two cars in front of me pulled over as a witness to the accident and called the police for us. The lady who's dog was in the mix of things jumped in her car and took off. So did the truck that swerved over into our lane. We started to exchange information while waiting on the police. Neither of us had been in an accident before, and the other guy was totally nice about it. He actually said at one point that if he knew there was a pregnant lady behind him he would have just hit the dog. The police officer came, and took all of our accounts of the accident. Since we all had the same version he allowed to witness to leave, and the people involved had to fill out an accident report. The cop did not give me a ticket since I did everything right, and even though I rear-ended the guy there was nothing I could do to avoid it.

So an hour later we show up at my sister's and begin the insurance process. We were not, and still are not, sure how that is going to pan out. Her insurance states that it will cover the damage to the other guys car since I am a household resident and also because I had permission to drive their car. However, they are now trying to find a loop hole out of fixing my sister's car since I don't technically live here year-round, and I am not stated on their insurance for that reason. Not to mention I own my own car and have my own insurance on it. So after dealing with insurance and finding out where to have the van towed to for an estimate I call the hospital to see if I just need to come in to be examined. I was not hurt in the accident. My seat beat tighten, and I barely hit the wheel. I was not bruised or bleeding, but their policy is to have anyone who has been in an accident to come in to be monitored for a few hours.

After settling how who will do what in relation to renting a vehicle, buying new car seats, watching the kids, and taking me to the hospital Dan and I left for the hospital with the intention of me just being monitored for a few hours and then being released. We got to the Labor and Delivery Triage center at 4:15 pm, and were told that it would take a while to get us back in a room to be monitored because they were so busy at the moment. Not feeling hurt or too concerned about the accident we were fine with sitting in the waiting area reading our books and watching some television. At 5:30 pm they had an examining room ready for me to be monitored.

We went in, and got all hooked up to the external monitors. They took vitals, and explained the monitoring machine to Dan since he had never seen one. The corps woman explained that the top line was Shelby's heartbeat, the middle was mine, and the bottom on rates my contractions. For about two weeks I have had really long belly tightening "Braxton Hicks" contractions.

Fifteen minutes into being monitored I started to get one of those really long "Braxton Hicks" contractions. I thought nothing of it since I have been getting them so frequently, and Shelby has always been fine. Well during this contraction, which rate on the monitor as 5 different contractions that never had spacing between them, Shelby's heart rate dropped drastically. It went from 152 beats per minute to 72 beats per minute, and stayed down for about 6 minutes. I knew from Kaitlynn that it was normal for the baby's heartbeat to go down during a contraction, but I was beginning to worry since Shelby's was down for so long.

Right as I was starting to worry, and Dan was asking what was going on about 8 medical staff came rushing into our examining room. Immediately they started turning me on my side, and started IV fluids. They were starting to prep me for an emergency C-section because Shelby's heartbeat was lost when they turned me on my left side. They gave tetrabutaline to stop my contractions, and to see if Shelby's heart beat could come back on it's own. Then they broke my water, and inserted an internal monitor on Shelby's head to look for a heartbeat. With the internal monitor and me switching to my right side they could find her heartbeat. During all of this there were two nurses giving me oxygen and stripping me naked from clothing to jewelry in the case of the emergency C-section. The anthologist came in talking about the spinal they would put in, and asking all sorts of questions. During all of this all I could think was that I had caused this with the car accident, and that this goes against everything I want in a labor and prepared for. Dan was led out of the room to prepare for the C-section. They wanted him to get prepped in the gowning so he could come back with me.

After finding Shelby's heartbeat and realizing that with my contractions stopping her heartbeat was rising and remaining steady for the time-being, they put off the need for an emergency C-section. However, since they broke my water and Shelby showed signs of distress I was being admitted to the hospital, and was basically being forced to deliver a baby in the next 24 hours. This was a disappointing and emotional moment for me because I really believe in "natural" childbirth, and knew from other's experience that they were going to be pushing pitocin and other drugs on me during the course of my labor. Not only was that worrying me, but I had also heard that pitocin makes you have much harder contractions than the ones that your body naturally prepares for. I knew that I was going to be in a position that really calls for all my inner strengthen and determination to have a "natural" childbirth.

While I was still in the examination room waiting to be formally admitted, Dan called David, who was at home with the children while Dawn was renting a car and was supposed to be getting car seats, to inform him that they were admitting me and that we were going to have the baby tonight. Dawn and David needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Dan was telling him who to call to come watch the children, and how to reach Dawn. Dawn was my co-coach with Dan, and David was going to film my birth. Both Dawn and David were there for the birth of Kaitlynn, and it seemed fitting since I was with them for the birth of Meridian for them to be there again with me.

At 6:30 pm I was formally admitted to the hospital, and was set up in a Labor and Delivery room. My door for the night came in to get background information and to set the pace for the evening. The tetrabutaline that they gave me takes about 30 minutes to wear off, and by this time it was starting to wear off. By this point I was still having contractions, but they were barely there. In no way was I in active labor. The doctor said that they would start the pitocin shortly. When I asked how long we could wait to start the pitocin since I really wanted to have a "natural" childbirth, and was not crazed about the idea of pitocin. She said, "I really can only wait about another hour to give it to you. Since they broke your water you are now on a time limit, and I have orders from above to get your labor started since the baby had been in distress." Not what I wanted to hear, and wondered if it was worth it to fight her on it.

At about 7:25 pm Dan wanting to get something to eat before things started, and asked the nurse to wait on giving me the pitocin until he came back from the food court. When he returned from getting something to eat Dawn and David still had not arrived, and I was still obsessing over the fact that this labor was now going to be NOTHING like I had prepared or hoped for. My nurse, Shawnda, brought in the pitocin for my IV, and was heating it up on the computer monitor before starting the drip. We asked questions about the pitocin, and she patiently explained how it would all work. Since I had the internal monitor and the pitocin I was not going to be allowed to get off the bed. This was huge concern for me since the way I worked through Kaitlynn's labor was by walking during my contractions. To be confined to a bed was something I was not looking forward to, and was not sure of how I would handle.

While the pitocin was warming up on the computer monitor, Dawn and David arrived. This was a big relief to me because I really wanted them for moral support in case anything went wrong again. Dan and I began to explain what was happening and what actually happened in the examination room. Dawn and David are also firm believer in "natural" childbirth, and we have had countless discussions on how things might go. So we began to debate what my options were, and how I wanted to proceed. Dawn listed the pros and cons to pitocin and basically giving into the hospital staff. We discussed how we should proceed if the contractions got so bad that I was wanting an epidural or other drugs to take the edge off. David immediately went into his "Bradley" coach spiel of all the things it would do to the baby, and how it only benefits me in the long run. Immediately I said, "That is EXACTLY what I will need to hear if I ask for an epidural!! Dave you will be the one to talk me out of it." Dawn reminded me that the hospital could do nothing without my permission. So if I decided to not get the pitocin by going against medical advice they would have to honor that decision. We discussed the pros and cons to such a situation. Knowing that I have relatively quick labors from Kaitlynn's labor, and knowing that this would be the staff on call with me all night I decided to see if there was a mid-wife on duty. If there wasn't a mid-wife on duty, I was going to go with the pitocin hoping to not alienate the staff and just hoping that I had a relatively quick labor again.

Shawnda came back in, and then she went through the whole process of administering the pitocin with Dawn. Dawn is a holds nothing back coach, and is involved in every aspect. You could tell that she put Shawnda off some by being so aware of things, and asking questions. She asked, "Are you ready to begin?" I replied, "Before we start the pitocin, is there a mid-wife on duty tonight?" Shawnda was not sure and went to find out. There turned out not to be a mid-wife on duty, and I agreed to proceed with the pitocin.

The pitocin was administered at 8pm, and the contractions immediately started to pick up from the tiny ones I was having naturally. In the beginning they were okay that I could talk and joke through them. Dawn and David caught me up to speed on how things went when we were at the hospital. Dawn and I started to play a game. Slowly the contractions started to get stronger, and I was having to focus on them more. To focus on them I would hold my hand up for silence in the room, and I would zoom all my attention into the rhythm of Shelby's heartbeat. While listening to the heartbeat and concentration on only her and me, I would shake my fist or my foot to the sound of her heartbeat. This gave me direction and purpose in my eyes.

After a while the contractions started to get pick up both in lengthen and in force, I was no longer able to focus on the game Dawn and I were playing. I was still able to keep up with the conversations in the room. At 10pm, the doctor came in to exam me, and see if I was progressing any. When they broke my water at 6pm, I was 2 cm dilated, my cervix was thinned 80%, and Shelby's head was at a -3 station. After two hours of pitocin, I was 4 cm dilated, cervix thinned 90%, and Shelby's head was at a -1 station. I was progressing about a cm an hour, which both the doctor and the nurse judged as good. This estimated that I would be in labor for another six hours or so. Every two hours the pitocin is up, so after the examination the drip was upped to get my contractions every two to three minutes apart and lasting for at least 60 seconds.

The up in the pitocin drip was noticeable within minutes. My contractions were noticeably strong to me and to the people in the room with me. However, I was having back labor, and they were not showing up on the external monitor that I had to wear for he duration of labor. I was no longer able to work through my contraction with shaking my fist or foot and concentrating on Shelby's heartbeat.

I immediately had to flip to my hands and knees to work through them hoping to relieve some of the pressure from my back. I would rock on my hands and knees. I would smash my face into the bed while pulling on my hair. I would bang my foot. Dawn would apply pressure with tennis balls in a sock to my lower back. I would grind my hand into the sheets. Anything to cause pain in another part of my body to take my mind off the contractions.

Periodically I would have conversations to myself and with Shelby working my way through the pain. All the while wondering if I was going to be able to get through this ordeal. Wondering if I could do another "natural" childbirth. I remember at one point I said to my belly, "Shelby, it is only up to you and me now. We can do this. You have to help mommy through this." At another point during a strong contraction, said to my belly, "Shelby I know you are so worth this pain! I can do this. Don't worry."

During this tough phase Dan decided to try and take a nap since it looked like it was going to be a long night, and he was going to be needed later. Dawn had completely taken over the coaching side of things when she arrived, and Dan happily handed them over since we seemed to have a system. At one point Dan turned over on the sleeper he was on making awfully loud noises with the plastic sheet beneath him, and I just glared at him thinking to myself, "He gets to just sit over there and sleep while I am in pain!"

At 10:40pm, Marisa, Dawn's friend who sweetly volunteered to watch Kaitlynn and Meridian, called on her cell phone to check my progress, and to give us an update on the kids. Dawn had to rush out of the room to answer the phone because cell phones are not supposed to be in use in that area of the hospital. While Dawn was gone my contractions were again picking up, and I was feeling the slightest pressure on my bottom. With Kaitlynn I knew immediately when I had to push from the pressure, and it was not in the bottom area. So I thought I was just getting my hopes up since the pain from the contractions was so intense. At one point when she was gone I was sitting on the bedpan, a tactic that helps me through contractions, and feeling that pressure in my bottom. Then I thought to myself "what if I just push you out now, and you are born in a bedpan?!" Again I thought I was just getting my hopes up for the pain to end soon.

About 10 minutes after Dawn came back into the room, and I had to use her to lean on through the contractions I really felt the urge to push. At 11:20pm I said in a very demanding voice, "Go get someone to check me NOW!" Dawn new from the switch in my persona with Kaitlynn that things must be moving along quicker than any of us thought.

They reluctantly sent Shawnda in to check me, and to her amazement I was completely dilated and ready to push. She told to go ahead and push. I pushed for two pushes wondering the whole time where exactly the doctor was and thinking they really must not have believed me that I delivered my first child 45 minutes from arrival to the L&D ward. After those two pushes, she told me to hang on, and went to get the doctor. They all came in and started setting up. I am visibly trying not to push waiting for the doctor to get her gloves on and be ready to deliver my baby.

After I started pushing Dawn realized that I needed some direction and guidance through my pushing. Something to focus on and help me push. With Kaitlynn, one of the nurses counted to 8 for three sets while I pushed through the sets. Dawn immediately started to count, and at time I would really feel the need to push through and past them. During other sets, I could barely reach four before I needed air. When I started to feel "the ring of fire" I pushed and pushed as much as I could because Shelby had to come out then! The pain was awful, and not something I experience with Kaitlynn. I wonder now if that is because I was numbed for an episiotomy that I did not feel "the ring of fire", or if the episiotomy itself took away the ability for me to even have a "ring of fire".

Shelby Mae came into the world at 11:34pm in less than fifteen minutes of pushing. She was perfect and completely healthy.

Now the doctors think that she went into distress from the contractions themselves, and I think she would have been completely fine if I had not happened to be at the hospital during that contraction. It would be odd to have those types of contractions for weeks, and for it to really affect her differently that one time. However, medical intervention stopped us from finding out.

After birth she was immediately put on my chest for some "kangaroo warming". Dan cut the cord.

I had a 2nd degree tear over the scar of my episiotomy, and had to be stitched up. That was an experience in itself. The doctor was showing a medical student how to stitch a tear, and she apparently did not use enough Lydicane for local numbing because I could feel the needle and thread going through. During this time I was also shaking from the adrenaline of having a baby, and it was extremely tough to try and control the shakes while the stitching was being prolonged for a teaching lesson. After about 10 minutes of teaching and feeling, I asked the doctor if I was supposed to feel what they were doing. She replied, "Well we only have 3 more stitches to go, do you want me to give you some more Lydicane?" With 3 stitches I figured what was the point, but at the same time I was completely annoyed with this doctor. I was thankful that things went fast, and I did not have to deal with her after this.

Shelby had an Apgar score of 9,9. After being weighed, measured, checked over, and cleaned off some they gave her back to me. We started breastfeeding then, and she lathed on immediately and ate for 20 minutes. The nurse came in at that point to give her "baby's first bath". Dawn took pictures while David filmed some, and Dan took part in the bath itself. When Kaitlynn was born, Dawn got to do more of the bath than they allowed Dan to do. It seemed pointless to him to even partake in it by the time the nurse was done. Which is a shame since it should be such a sweet meaningful moment for him. After the bath and warming for 30 minutes, they again gave Shelby to me.

Another part of my labor to focus on is that filming part. With Kaitlynn I labored completely at home. We went to the hospital when I thought I was in good active labor not realizing that I was completely ready to push her out. So I have no film of my actual labor with Kaitlynn. With being induced for Shelby I was excited over the prospect that I would have good laboring film and her birth. However, when the doctor came in and started setting up so did David to film the birth. She immediately said, "You can't film this. You have to turn that off." Dawn and David both questioned her since I was delivering at the same hospital. She replied, "It is now against hospital policy to film births." This upset us all, and was not something that we had even discussed since it was the same hospital. When I was pregnant with Kaitlynn and on the tour of the hospital we were told that it was at the discretion of the doctor if you could film, and we were surprised that they doctor told David that if he wanted to get it on film he better get down there. When on the tour this time, I never even thought to ask about filming. I just assumed that it would be allowed. It was a total disappointment to not have the actual birth on film. With Kaitlynn I did the filming more for Dan to get to experience it after the fact, but it is something that I have come to really cherish.

Shelby and I stayed at the hospital for a day and a half after delivery. We were both released on Saturday morning. Shelby lost 5 ounces from birth until then. We went for her 4-day baby well visit on the following Monday since we were released before 48 hours, and she had gained 4 ounces back. She was documented as completely healthy, and looked great!

Kaitlynn has really taken to being a big sister. I was really worried about how she was going to take to Shelby after she was "here". She always wants to hold and kiss on her.

When she was visiting us in the hospital a nurse came in to get Shelby for some exams, and when she left the room with Shelby, Kaitlynn went ballistic about her taking Shelby. It was so sweet to watch. She is overly protective of her.

Kaitlynn is a normal toy stealing 2-year old. However, if Meridian takes the stuff pig that is with Shelby in the car seat, Kaitlynn immediately takes it back from Meridian placing it on Shelby, and says, "Shelby pig!!" It is sweet to see the love she has for her already, and to wonder where this sisterhood of theirs will go.

It is also amazing to feel this love for another little person. During pregnancy I often wondered if I could love someone else with the same measure as I love Kaitlynn. It is amazing how much love you have stored up in you. I now can't imagine my life without Shelby, and I am so thankful that a day that was so frightening turned out so well in the end. At times I just sit there looking at her and am overwhelmed with my love for her.

05.26.2005

Last night I got heartburn again. This is only the second time I have ever gotten heartburn, and both times have been during this pregnancy. I can't imagine people who get this condition regularly. It is awful. Both times I have gotten it has been right before bed time, and it is so uncomfortable that I can't fall asleep. I have not been chewing gum, so the Tunisian OB can't blame it on that factor. I think it has happened on evening when we have eaten a later supper than normal. So I guess that is something that I really need to watch out for in the next few weeks.

So last night I was talking to Dan about names again. I am really feeling the need for us to decide on a name for this little one, and he said that he likes Rebecca Danielle better than Shelby Mae. So who knows how the name picking is going to go. I was starting to think that maybe if we did Mae for this little one, and we ended up having another girl yet again that we could do Francis for a middle name for the next one after my mom's mom. That is a little ways off, but it never hurts to think about the future.

Kaitlynn and I were in the Embassy a few days ago when I was getting her third Rabies shot, and we both weigh ourselves. I only weigh 144.5 pounds. So I have only gained 1 pound since my last appointment with Mari on the 11th. Now I am starting to wonder if my weight gain is slower with this baby then with Kaitlynn. I can't look at my medical records to compare them though because after I delivered Kaitlynn and found out that Dan was coming home, I was too excited and busy with his homecoming to think about my medical records at Portsmouth. If I keep gaining weight at this rate with only 9 more weeks to go at ½ a pound a week, I will weigh about 10 pounds less than I did when I delivered Kaitlynn. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.

05.23.2005

"Pregnancy brain" is really kicking in for me right now. I have been so forgetful these last few days. I go to tell someone something, and can't remember anything that I wanted to tell the person. I think about writing journal entries for the site, and then when I sit down at the computer days later I can't remember what I wrote about last and what I wanted to update. I am so used to have a good memory that this drives me nuts!

On other Shelby fronts -

We have her name narrowed down to two choices: Rebecca Danielle, which we have thought about since finding out we were having a girl, or Shelby Mae, which is a new addition that we have finally agreed on. For both names the middle name is a family name. For Rebecca it would obviously be after Dan, but also his father and his grandfather. Dan is the third generation with Daniel in his name. For Shelby the Mae part is his grandmother on his mom's side middle name. I think giving her Mae as part of her name would really mean a lot to Dan's mom because she was really close to her mother, and she just passed on her mother's wedding band to me in hopes that one day I will pass it on to Kaitlynn. She also has the engagement ring stones that her mother had turned into a necklace set aside for me to one day pass on to Kaitlynn. I have a feeling that we will probably go with Shelby for this reason, and not to mention that means there is some sort of pattern with both kids and their initials with both having M middle names and last names. Dan really wanted to do a pattern. Also with us wanting 2 more children we still have the hopes of getting a boy to name after Dan's father's side of the family. If we for some reason have a boy this time, we have settled on Zachary Daniel. Having some idea of where we are going with the names is comforting to me since we are getting so close to the due date.

Speaking of getting close to the due date, today I got my orders to go back to the States for the delivery. I gave a copy to the travel section, and my plane tickets should be issued in the coming weeks. That is very exciting. It makes the whole thing more real feeling. I also talked to the outside travel agent that we have inside the Embassy about Dan's tickets home. He is doing more research for me. The cheapest ticket he could find was non-refundable costing $800. I would really like to get a refundable, changeable ticket in case something goes wrong, and we need to change the dates of his coming and going. However, the $800 price is comforting to me because the cheapest I could find online was a little over $1100, and the official travel section in the Embassy (who we use for official travel) gave him a quote of over $1300 for non-refundable and $2400 for refundable, exchangeable tickets. That is outrageous to me, and I would have been buying the non-refundable ones from the internet at that point.

In my orders it says that I can get up to 80% per diem in advance. That is very exciting because I would rather have the money up front to by the baby things we need than to charge it all, and have to pay my credit card down. If only I was not staying with family, I would make a fortune on per diem. On housing per diem alone to go home and have the baby I could get almost $28K. Yes, you read that right -- $28K. That is almost Dan's yearly salary! In food per diem alone we are making a pretty penny, but to imagine getting the housing per diem too is incredible. I am hoping to meet with the financial section this week to do the paperwork for that.

I have been jumping through hops to get things taken care of with TriCare before I get to Virginia Beach, and need to schedule appointments. I had been under the impression that I needed a referral to get into Portsmouth OB clinic from their website and a clerk I spoke with on Friday. On Friday the clerk tried to transfer to the lady I would need to talk with about referrals, and of course she was not at her desk. I let the phone ring for about 5 minutes straight just in case she walked in from lunch. Since I was calling from Africa you would think that they would make sure she was at her desk, but that is too much to expect from a military hospital, I guess. Today I talked with someone else, and she said that since I am already pregnant I do not need a referral. I just need to be in the TriCare system for the Portsmouth area. That is good to know. I have already filled out the change of doctor paperwork for TriCare, and it is being sent in the mail tomorrow. So they should get it before the change needs to take effect, and then the change should be in the system by the time I leave Tunis allowing me to schedule an OB appointment as soon as I get home to Virginia Beach.

I also downloaded the passport paperwork I need for the little one. I need to get with someone in the Consular section to get a Power of Attorney to sign the passport paperwork for Dan, and a notarized letter from Dan allowing me to sign for him. I am not sure why I need both of those, but I do. I think after that I will be done getting everything organized to leave and have the baby.

Later this week I see the Tunisian OB for the last time, and I need to get her to issue a letter in French saying that it is safe for me to travel just in case they give me a hard time at the airports. I wonder if Mari is going to issue one in English for when I am in the States. I guess I should ask her that the next time I see her. After that appointment, I only have one more with Mari before we leave. Time is closing in on our departure date. Now I need to think about everything I need to pack, and I need to make some lists considering the "pregnancy brain" I have been having.

05.11.2005

We had another routine check-up today at the Embassy. Today was exciting because it was the starting process for all my paperwork to go back to the States. Exciting as it was the process was still not what I was prepared for. It was not as hands on as I thought the process would be. They have to send all of this electronic paperwork to DC for approval for me to leave, and then DC will send my orders electronically to the medical department here. I thought that Mari, the medical officer, would just write up my orders. We are in an interesting bracket for all of this paperwork. Even though we are military and fall under TriCare insurance, for MedEvacs we fall under the State Department guidelines. So it is neat to see these two different departments work things out. It is also interesting because they do not get much experience with the TriCare aspect, so this is sort of new to them and obviously to me.

About the appointment in general, everything looks good. I weighed in at 143.5 pounds. I guess Mari's concern about my "high" weight gain during vacation was unwarranted. That is how it was with Kaitlynn too if I remember correctly. I gained a bunch of weight in one sitting, then it slowed down, and then in the last 6-8 weeks it picked up again.

My blood pressure was normal, and so was my urine. For some reason in the mornings no matter how much water I drink before my appointments my urine is always concentrated. Then the very next time I have to urine after the test it is very light. I am beginning to think that I should schedule my appointments at the Embassy for the afternoons. Then Rose would see that my urine really does lighten up.

The baby's heartbeat was in the 140's, and sounded strong. She was kicking all over the place during the heartbeat. It was odd though because she was kicking on the opposite side that Mari was using the Doppler. It is also neat because she is starting to have those really strong movements that you can see through the skin. I like this phase because Dan did not get to experience any of it before. He never saw Kaitlynn move in that way. So for him to experience it personally for the first time with me is very moving. He did get to see it on Dawn, but to see it with your own spouse knowing that is the child you created is very spiritual.

The baby is starting to measure smaller than my weeks. Again this happened with Kaitlynn. I always measured about 2 weeks smaller than my due date. I guess this has to do with the fact that my weight gain dies off for a certain amount of time. It is not do to not eating. I eat 3 meals a day and at least one snack. I am thinking it is a genetic thing with my pregnancies. In both pregnancies I have only gained weight in the stomach area, and I have not gotten any stretch marks except on my breast. I must get that from my mom. It is amazing to think that we think it is normal for women to just blow up like a balloon when they are pregnant. Several women here have commented on what great "stick" legs I have. I am assuming that they are making these comments because we view it as normal to gain weight everywhere when pregnant. So to see someone who doesn't is sort of odd. The funniest part is that my legs are not one of my favorite body parts, but during this pregnancy I have gotten so many comments on them.

During the whole appointment all Kaitlynn wanted was to read this Muppets book that they have in the medical unit. Every time we go in there we have to read it at least once. She kept trying to climb up on the table with me.

I have one more OB appointment with the Tunisian OB/GYN at the end of the month. Then I have one more appointment with Mari before I leave for the States. It is hard to believe that it is that close already.

After my appointment I was talking with Rose because she called me on Monday to tell me that she wanted to throw me a shower or a welcome the baby party. She left the choice up to me, but during our phone conversation we both stated reasons that we thought a shower would be better. The only problem is that Rose has to accompany a patient back to DC for some testing, and now they are saying that Rose could be gone for over a month. Rose wanted to send out the invitations before she left, and being gone for over a month would mean I would be gone back to the States. So this morning we realized that it would have to be a welcome the baby party instead. So we made up a list of people to invite to the party once I get back. We are planning it for 3 weeks after my estimated return date to allow extra time for just in case.

Talking with Rose was also nice because we were talking about when I was leaving. I was originally going to try to leave on the 15th because our wedding anniversary is the 14th, and I did not want to leave before that since we were already going to miss Father's Day with Dan. Rose informed me that if I waited until the 16th that we could work it out to have me on the same flight as her daughter and sister back to the States. This works out perfect because it will give me two extra sets of hands all the way into the States, and then from wherever our layover in the States is I would be on my own to Norfolk. Not a bad deal considering the entire flight is a little over 15 hours, and I would have help with a little over 13 of them. That is a pretty awesome deal if you ask me!

05.05.2005

It is funny how pregnancy makes you think about foods from your childhood. The other night I really wanted some crushed pineapple over chocolate ice cream. When I am not pregnant this would in no way sound appetizing to me. I knew we did not have crushed pineapple, but I thought we had pineapple rings. Blending those rings to make crushed pineapple seemed like too much work at the time. Instead I decided to look in my cookbooks to see what I could make with pineapple rings. When I came to Pineapple Upsidedown Cake, I immediately started thinking of it when I was a kid and my mouth watered. It sounded like a simple enough cake to make, and I went to get the pineapples rings only to discover that we did not even have pineapple. So I craved that cake for 2 days, and finally made it to the commissary to buy pineapple rings only to discover that they only had crushed pineapple in stock. Ironic since that is what I wanted originally. Really wanting this cake I decided that I was making it with the crushed pineapple. Last night I made my cake, and it is so good!! For never having made a cake from scratch it is darn good! Dan refuses to eat any, so I pawned half the cake off on Marianne and Freddie. I don't need to be eating whole cakes. Not to mention I am supposed to make Larry some peanut butter cookies this week, and I know I will be eating those too.

05.03.2005

This baby is taking all my energy. I have been sleeping 9 - 10 hours a night, and still not feeling rested during the day. So this leads to catnaps when Dan is home, or full-fledged naps during the week with Kaitlynn. This is all fine because I know I need my rest, but on the same hand I feel like such a bum. My housework is not getting done during the time I normally do it because I am sleeping or thinking about when I can go to sleep. I hope this is not going to last through the whole last trimester.

By the way, today is 28 weeks, and there is a new belly shot posted. (Waiting on getting that in email. -Dawn)

05.02.2005

Today we were at the Embassy for Kaitlynn to get her second Rabies shot, and decided to eat lunch with Dan. The main choices for lunch were spaghetti, cauliflower, and fried chicken legs. Now they always have these Tunisian salads, soup, grilled chicken salad, pizza and sandwiches from the grill. Dan and I were both going to get spaghetti and Kaitlynn was going to eat from our plates. It is a cheaper way to get her to eat since she hardly eats to begin with.

So I am standing in line ordering for us, and Dan is at the table with Kaitlynn. Another spouse who happens to be an elderly man said to me that I needed to eat vegetables. First of all, it annoys me that when I am pregnant for someone to instill their views on me. Second off to have a man do it annoyed me even more. This man how has never carried a child before has the balls to tell me what to consume when I am carrying my own child. Maybe it would not have bothered me as much if I really knew this man, but I have only had one previous conversation with the fellow.

Of course, I have to grin and bare it. So I smile at him, and tell him that I hate cauliflower. He went on to tell me to eat it anyways that the baby might like it. Great point that the baby might like cauliflower, and one that I can try when the baby is not in me eating what I eat. Instead of politely telling him to mind his own business, I pointed out that I had an orange on my tray for the baby, and that I would eat a salad at home for my afternoon snack. That seemed to relief him some, and he backed off.

04.25.2005

We had our Tunisian OB appointment this afternoon. This is the first appointment Dan was not able to attend with us, and I was a little disappointed. This pregnancy has been very nice in the fact that Dan has been able to go to all the appointments. It just makes him seem more hands on. With Kaitlynn's pregnancy he only got to go to the U/S and one appointment, and of course he missed the last 3 months of the pregnancy and the birth. So having him as a constant in this pregnancy has been nice especially knowing I have to leave here 6 weeks before the due date, and knowing that it is not guaranteed that she will make it to the states before I deliver. It is all a guessing timetable, and I wholeheartedly disagree with inductions that this is not even an option. At times I think it will be odd to have him in the delivery room just because Dawn, David and I have gone through 2 births without him being there. It is almost as if we have the system down by now.

So Kaitlynn, the driver and I went to this appointment without him, and I was worried at how Kaitlynn would be during the actually exam. She likes to roam around and touch things in the doctor's office. I can't just jump off the examining table and stop her. Things worked out smoothly though. The doctor was very understanding that Dan could not be there to keep an eye on Kaitlynn, and having two young girls herself she knows how curious they are.

Sami drove us to the appointment, and came up to interrupt with the receptionist for me. I almost told him not to worry about it because the lady never talks to me. However, this time she was asking questions, so it was good to have Sami there. I guess at first she did not recognize me, and realize I was the "American".

The appointment was routine. I weighed in at 65 kilos. Blood pressure was on target. We listened to the heartbeat, which was in the 140's, and got to see the sweet girl on the U/S screen. This is always a nice treat for me. It will be odd when I go back to the States, and they don't do this. While looking at the baby and making sure everything is on target and developing, we got a close up shot of her foot. It looked huge, so the doctor measured it. It was 39 mm, which is about half the size of Kaitlynn's foot when she was born.

We also went over my lab results. Last week I had my glucose test, and it came back normal. With both pregnancies there is that little fear that they will not be normal since I have such a sweet tooth, and then a big relief when they are normal. I also brought with me the results from my taxoplasma testing. This is a simple blood test that I have had twice before, but the results where a little high for her liking. So she wanted me to have it a 3rd time to see if it was just the way the lab ran the test. The numbers on the original two tests were 8 and 9 respectful. On this 3rd test it was 21. So she thought they sent it to a different lab at first; however, after checking my file she realized it was sent to the same lab. So she called them to discuss it, and they are going to run the test again on my blood and get back to her. It is frustrating because the numbers seem fine to the medical staff at the Embassy, but at the same time none of them are doctors. However, this is the same doctor who told me to not chew gum because it will give me heartburn and make me fat. It is hard to trust her opinion on things after that and after the blood vein issue. So I am just waiting out my time, and seeing where this journey takes us.

04.14.2005

Today I had my glucose testing. Boy was that a horrid experience. I was warned that they make you fast for 8 hours prior to the test. I asked Sihem, the lady in Medical who is in charge of appointments, to make my appointment for as early as possible. My appointment was at 8 o'clock this morning. So I could not eat anything after midnight, which was not a problem since I was in bed by then. The hard part was no breakfast this morning, but it was not as bad I thought it was. I remember with Kaitlynn I could not eat anything with a lot of sugar so I only had dry toast. Then I had this huge problem at Portsmouth Medical Center when I went there with me not being in the right TriCare region. They almost did not give me the test that day, but I was starving and angry and 7 ½ months pregnant. Needless to say, I eventually got my way.

This was a different experience all together. Once again there is that slight language barrier issue. To solve this we always take the Marine driver to my appointments so we know where exactly we are going, and so we have someone to translate for us. However, at times this does not always work because the driver does not go back into the examination area with me.

The lab tech took me back into the examination area, and immediately started to talk to me in French. I told him in French that I did not speak French. He motioned that he was going to take blood, and that I would have to take a drink. I was prepared for all of this. However, he took blood before I had my drink. In the states, you take your little cup of nasty orange flavored drink, wait an hour, and then have blood drawn. After he took my blood, which I knew would leave a bruise because he tied the elastic strip so tightly around my arm, he showed me out to the waiting room. Then Dan came in, and said that Sami, the driver, was in the car because they said it was going to be an hour. We waited about ten minutes, and I was starting to worry that they did not understand why I was there. I was thinking that maybe they thought I had the drink before I came, but then the lab tech came back with one of those beer mugs you get at a bar full of this clear liquid. I was expecting an orange flavored drink in a small paper cup like you get in the states. So I took one sip of this concoction, and thought I was going to vomit. It tasted like PURE sugar water. It was the nastiest thing I have ever tasted. I tried to drink it was quickly as possible, and kept having the urge to vomit. Thankfully, I held it all in, and finished the drink.

An hour later the same man came back to take me to the examination room again. They needed more blood to compare the before and after effects of the sugar drink. It was a neat way for them to do it. I assume they do it that way to get a more accurate result.

While I was getting more blood drawn Dan gathered up all of Kaitlynn's things, and called Sami up to meet us. When I walked out they were saying good-bye to us, and I had Sami ask if they would send the results to the Embassy. I wanted to make sure that the Embassy Medical Office was going to get a copy of the results for my file, and so I could get a copy to take with me to my Tunisian OB appointment next week.

The sugar drink gave both the baby and me a sugar high. You could see her moving all over my belly throughout the morning. It was neat to see her moving so much. Only once before have I seen her move with that much force. She is an active little girl. I am constantly feeling her move, especially after I eat, but seeing her move is a whole different experience. It makes her being with us even more real.

04.14.2005

Today I had an appointment with Mari at the Embassy. It was just another routine check-up. It is exciting though because these appointments come so quickly with me seeing two different doctors. It definitely makes the pregnancy fly by.

I weighed in at 143. That is a 6-½ pound rise from my Tunisian OB appointment 2 weeks ago. I guess going on vacation, and having the mindset of "Oh, I'm on vacation" caught up with me. Mari warned me not to gain this much weight regularly between 2-week appointments. I am not too worried about it though since I am ONLY 7 pounds over my normal pregnancy weight. All of the weight I have been gaining up to this time has been all the weight I lost with morning sickness.

Again at this appointment they checked my urine, blood pressure, measured my stomach and listened to the heartbeat. I am measuring right on target. Which is a nice surprise. With Kaitlynn I always measured about 2 weeks smaller. It was always frustrating in the last trimester with her because I switched hospitals when moving in with Dawn, and on the first sheet they looked at it had my due date indicated by my last menstrual cycle, and not the revised due date from the ultrasound. My original due date was April 9th, and after the ultrasound it moved to April 21st. So there was almost 2 weeks added onto the pregnancy, and when I measured 2 weeks small they always thought it was 4 weeks small. That is a little worrisome, and then I would have to go through the whole issue of my due date with them. You would think that they would look over a chart before coming into see someone.

My urine was nice to see. During my morning sickness phase I was completely dehydrated thus making my urine look like concentrate. In the mornings I always have darker urine than in the afternoons when I have taken in lots of liquids, but now my urine is starting to really lighten up for the morning appointments too. So that is good. They were starting to worry because every time they did a urine test in the lab at the Embassy it would show protein. They actually sent it out to the D.C. lab at some point because it should not be showing protein, but everything looked fine.

The heartbeat was steady and fast. This is definitely my favorite part of any appointment. Her heart rate was in the 150's, and was a pleasure to my ears. As she gets bigger Mari gets better at finding her heart rate. In the beginning she would ask where the baby was during the U/S or during my Tunisian OB appointment as if she had not moved in days. I thought it was sort of odd, but at the same time I have to remember that Mari is not an OB and does not deal strictly with pregnancies. She has to have a wide range of knowledge to do this job, but that knowledge is not always in the greatest detail to your particular case. This is why they medically evacuate (medevac) people at times.

Mari wants me to start scheduling my appointments closer together for her since I am in my 25th week now, and we will start discussing my medevac to the states. At my next appointment we will discuss this in length, and we will start on the orders process. I already know that I get to leave in my 34th week, which is mid-June. I need to start looking into plane tickets myself to see what is available at the time I want to leave. I would rather have control over my ticket process. The best way to do that is to look up ticket information, and tell the travel agent that I want them to reserve me this certain flight. I have heard horror stories about Air France, and I know from experience about Alitalia. So I am going to try to fly the German airline, Lufthansa, into Frankfurt, and then get a connecting American airline into the states.

Getting to this point in the pregnancy makes it all so real. I can't believe that the time to return to the states is sneaking up so quickly. On one hand I can't wait to get back to America. To get to experience things that are so "normal" to me, and to get to spend time with my family is beyond exciting. However, when I really think about it, I realize that this pregnancy will take a 3-month chunk out of my Tunisian experience. Something that is limited for me, and will likely never happen again. I am excited for it to start though because that means it will be sooner for Dawn and her family to return with me. I can't wait to share Tunisia with them. Not to mention there are certain places like southern Tunisia that we are waiting to experience with them.

Stayed tuned on this page. Sooner rather than later we have to come up with a name for this little one.

03.31.2005

I had my Tunisian OB appointment on Monday. This appointment was important because of the blood vessel issue. She sent me to the radiologist for a second U/S because on the first ultrasound the blood vessels in my stomach area did not look as developed, as they should for as far along as I was in the pregnancy. She said that the report from the radiologist looked great, and that everything is on target with the pregnancy.

I am still feeling great, and slowly gaining weight. I gained 3 kilos since my last appointment with her up to 62 kilos. I am now back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 136 pounds. Everyone is telling me how great I look for this being my second pregnancy, and how far along I am in it. So that feels nice. However, the clothes issue is starting to get annoying. My pregnancy clothes are too big no matter what size they are, and most of my regular clothes are too small. I am able to wear 3 pairs of regular jeans that are very low rise. However, if I wear them more than once without washing them they become too stretched in the waist area. So I am doing tons of laundry.

I go back to see the Tunisian OB at the end of April, and there is some lab work that I have to have done before I go. Today I had another lab test for taxoplasma done. I have had this test done twice. The results are "a little high" for the OB's liking. She is not sure if it is because of the way the lab ran the test. So she wanted my to have it done again, and sent to the same lab to be tested. When talking to Mari today about the appointment and the tests the OB wants ran, we decided to go ahead and have the blood drawn today. So that is out of the way. I also have to have my glucose testing done before going to see the Tunisian OB again. So I will do that around mid-to-late April. I have my next OB appointment at the Embassy clinic with Mari on April 14th.

Other exciting news is that I can start to look into my plane tickets to come home. Mari and Rose both said that the State Department will pay for Kaitlynn and my ticket home, but not Dan's. I thought that we were told in our spousal training in Quantico that the Marine Corps will pay for his ticket. It is definitely something that we need to look into because I was not planning on us buying his ticket. It is not that big of a deal especially since we will be making about $8,000 from Kaitlynn and me going home for the three months. I just had other plans for that money. With finding that out Rose also said that if I want to leave before 34 weeks I am allowed to do that, but the State Department will not pay for it unless Mari gives a good medical reason. That makes sense since we get paid a daily food allowance, and if we were not staying with family we would also be getting a daily housing allowance. I was talking to Rose about my concerns with having to use the Embassy Travel Office to get my tickets to go home. I don't want to fly Air Italia because they do not allow children's safety seats to be used, and at 34 weeks I will be too big and uncomfortable to be holding Kaitlynn on my lap. Rose suggested that I look up ticket information on the internet myself, and then email the Travel Office that I want these particular flights reserved. So I think that is what I am going to do.

Also, Dan finally felt the baby kick. On Monday night she was a wiggle worm, and Dan got to feel her kick 5 times in a row. The funny thing about her moving so much is that she does it after food intake, but it is not the foods such as sweets that get her moving so much. It is normally healthy foods that she moves after such as salads. That was very exciting for me. I was really becoming bummed that Dan had yet to feel her move.

Dawn, that is a great idea about ice. Never even thought of that one. That would have been something to try with Kaitlynn when her kick counts where not up. In case that happens with this baby too, I will have to remember that trick. Not to mention that in the dead of summer, I am sure the ice will feel great to me too!

03.26.2005

I had my second ultrasound yesterday. The Tunisian OB wanted me to have this second one to see if my blood vessels had grown anymore. This time I opted to have Dan stay in the waiting room with Kaitlynn. I figured that would make the appointment go easier, and it would be less stressful for me since the last appointment she wanted to mess with everything in the radiologists office.

He did the ultrasound, and said that from his perspective everything looked normal and healthy. It was great to see how she is growing. The big differences between the last U/S 4 weeks ago to this one are that her upper and lower teeth have developed under the gums, her lens have developed, and you can see her tongue now. We got to go through all of the body parts again. He also reconfirmed that they baby is a girl.

She did not like the pressure of the Doppler on her. Whenever he would have to press it harder into my stomach to get her to move, or to see something at a different angle she would let out these large kicks. It was neat to see her kicking on screen. We might have a soccer player on our hands.

After the appointment I told Dan everything, and he jokes around that the baby is hiding his wee-wee. Poor guy wants a girl so bad, but is afraid to admit it!

Now I have a follow up appointment with the Tunisian OB on Monday. I am to take my U/S report with me for her to interpret. So it will be interesting to see what she says about the report. I will keep you updated.

03.24.2005

Tonight someone finally felt the baby move!!! She is either shy beyond belief, or hates the heat that peoples hands carry. Every time someone touches my stomach she stops moving. So Dan has yet to feel her move, and I think he is over trying to feel her move. He hardly keeps his hand there when I say she is moving, and then as soon as he moves it she will kick again.

So tonight we had movie night at the Marine house, and I ate lots of popcorn. She must have likes it because she was all over the place. Michelle put her hands on my belly, and I explained how she gets "shy." Right as I finished saying she would probably not feel anything the baby did this huge kick. It was the biggest one I have felt so far. It was great to have someone else feel her move, and to enjoy it right along with me. Now I am hoping Dan will get to feel it soon.

03.22.2005

Dan still has not felt the baby move. She suddenly stops moving whenever someone places their hands on my stomach. I guess she does not like the heat. It is sad though because I really want Dan to be able to feel her. I have even tried to have Kaitlynn feel so she might start to understand that there is a baby in there. No such lock though.

I am 22 weeks today. This pregnancy is flying by. I can't believe that in less that 3 months I will be in the states again, and that I am over half way through with this pregnancy. It seems like I have blinked and the time flew away. Amazing how that works.

I am starting to show. Not too much yet. I am just now at my pre-pregnancy weight again. I lost 12 pounds from morning sickness. There is a small swell to my bell though. If I wear my normal clothes then I start to look pregnant. The thing that has started to grow the fastest is the band-size for my bras. Same thing happened with Kaitlynn though. Tonight we will take a 22 week belly shot.

03.02.2005

Last night I felt the baby move for the first time. It was very distinctive and hard. I was very excited. I went to see if Dan could feel her move too, but he has been sick. So he was already fast asleep for the night. I kept trying to play peek-a-boo with her, but she would not move after that first hard kick. I can't wait to have her move more and more often. It is getting close to my favorite part of pregnancy. I love it when I start to show, and when I can see and feel the baby moving. It is such a wonderfully feeling.

03.01.2005

I went to the Embassy clinic today for my regular prenatal visit there. I am supposed to see them once a month, and also see the Tunisian OB once a month. So essentially I am having an OB appointment every two weeks. I turned in all of my paperwork to Mari, and they are going to look over my U/S results and fax them to the Tunisian OB.

My weight was 132 lbs. So I have only gained ½ a pound since my last visit there. My blood pressure was normal. The baby measured at 19 weeks. Which is nice since with Kaitlynn’s due date getting changed with the U/S technology, I had to keep explaining that I was actually measuring on size. That got to be frustrating.

We also got to hear the heartbeat. Mari asked where the baby was when the OB and radiologist found her heartbeat, and I showed her. It still took her sometime to find it, but I think that has to do with the fact that she may not be as experienced in OB care as you would want your caregiver to be.

Then I had to pee in a cup. For some reason, I can never pee for them when they ask. My body has never been shy in this way before. Granted I had only been up for an hour and a half, and had already peed my morning pee, but I could only give them ½ an ounce. It was very concentrated, and the results were off. For some reason they always detect protein in my urine and another thing that means you have an infection. My pap smears come back fine though. So they sent me home with another cup to urinate in, and they are going to send it off to another lab just to double check everything.

03.01.2005 5:15pm

This afternoon Mari called me to discuss my U/S results. They faxed the paperwork to the Tunisian OB to look over. (Everything was in French.) And she called back with a concern. Apparently my blood vessels in the stomach area are not as big as they should be for as far along as I am in the pregnancy. This concerns the OB because in Tunisia that is a pre-sign for possibly getting High Blood Pressure later in pregnancy. So they take precautions for this by taking an aspirin-based medicine throughout the remainder of the pregnancy. This caused two problems for me. For one, I am allergic to aspirin, and I also am not comfortable taking medications when I am pregnant. Well they needed to call the OB back to see if there was something else that could be done, and would get back to me.

They called back saying that if you are allergic to aspirin then there is nothing to do about the “problem”. However, I am to see the radiologist again at 22 weeks (the end of March) to see if the vessels are still causing a potential concern. Then I meet with the Tunisian OB to discuss the results of the U/S. Going ahead and scheduling that OB appointment has relieved some of the stress of having to make an appointment with her later on.

I am not too concerned about this. There really is nothing I could do to prevent it. I was a little thrown off balance because Mari (the Regional Medical Officer at the Embassy who is a nurse) said to me on the phone that she is not even sure this is something that would concern them in the States. If that is so, then why would I be treated for it? It also makes me wonder how much about prenatal care Mari knows. I have already had this concern since it has not been easy for her to find the heartbeat. It also is a little bit unnerving for there to potentially be a problem when we are so far away from healthcare we are used to. Not to mention being so far away from family and friends to help us through the pregnancy.

For now we are not worrying about it because it would just make the next three weeks hell. Plus adding stress like that to the baby is not good, and would just add fuel to the possible fire. So stayed tuned on this front.

02.25.2005

Today we went to see the Tunisian radiologist. Again we took the Marine driver because we did not know where his office was located, and we would have a translator with us. Good thing we took him. I am not sure we could have found the medical building on our own. Unlike yesterday’s appointment, this one was in a very new building with elevators. So there was more ease walking in the door. Again the receptionist did not speak English, and this time we really had to use the driver to translate stuff for us.

We got to the appointment an hour early. Danny and the driver came to pick Kaitlynn and me up at home. He forgot to bring the sheet with the address and phone number on it to work with him. So he gauged the time off of how long it took to get to yesterdays appointment. Not a bad idea, but we left 15 minutes earlier and my appointment was 25 minutes later. So we showed up to the appointment an hour early. So we sat playing with Kaitlynn, and she kept going into the receptionist area “talking” to her. We got into see the radiologist about 20 minutes early.

This man was thorough with the U/S. He showed us everything. The brain, the heart and four chambers, all fingers and toes, the spinal cord, all the ribs, the kidneys, the lungs, the eyes, the nose and mouth, the ears, the legs, and the feet. At the end, he confirmed that we are having another girl. She had her legs crossed, and did not want to open them. (Good girl!) So he kept jabbing her with the Doppler trying to make her move. She was resilient in keeping those legs closed. She did, however, move her body where we could see the private areas.

This appointment was frustrating because Kaitlynn kept trying to get into this man’s cabinets. I did not understand why Danny did not just hold her, but later he said he did not want to make her start a screaming fit. The times he would hold her she would mess with the blinds that were behind her. That was really frustrating because the room needs to be dark to see the U/S screen. To top that off, Danny’s company in Germany kept calling the Embassy looking for him, so the Marine on duty would patch them through to his cell phone. I thought it was rude because they called several times knowing he was at the doctor’s office with me, and so did the Marine. The one of the Marines was calling about the Happy Hour that we were having later this evening. Needless to say, I wanted to throw his cell phone out the window.

We had to wait for the report for the Tunisian OB, and for the pictures. I was disappointed on that front. The pictures are not like the pictures you get in the states. They are all printed out on his printer via the computer, and very grainy. Plus we did not get any to keep for the baby book. In most of them the quality was so grainy you could not tell what they were of. I think that they were of the major organs for the OB to look out, and not supposed to be the nice profile pictures we get for personal enjoyment in the States. So that was a letdown.

Belly pic added.

02.24.2005

We went to see the Tunisian OB/GYN today. It was a very interesting experience. We had the Marine driver take us to the appointment because we had no idea where it was, and he could translate when we got to the office. The doctor herself is supposed to speak English for her to be approved by TriCare; however, any office employees don’t fall under that rule.

Good thing we decided to take the driver because the office was not in a building that I would have thought was an office building. It was a large apartment building that was converted into offices. It reminded me of the ghettos of New York. To top it off there was an entrance on each side of the building. So the driver had to keep calling the doctor’s office to find out exactly where she was located. Then there were not elevators and we were going to apartment #11. There were only two offices on each floor so I thought we were hiking it at least 5 flights. Thankfully she was on the second floor. The receptionist did not speak English, so the driver translated for us.

We had a short wait that was a little bit of a pain because Kaitlynn wanted to get down and go everywhere. Normally this would not bother me. I know it is an age thing. However, I am never sure if it is bothering people here because we don’t speak the same language.

Finally, we went into see the doctor. She asked all of the preliminary questions about family background and previous pregnancy. During this there were some times when we did not understand each other even though she spoke English. Apparently the Europeaners, Americans, and Tunisian all gauge pregnancy lengths differently, and she was trying to explain this to me while figuring out where I was in my pregnancy. We also had to figure out how much Kaitlynn weighed when born in the metric system. So that was an interesting feat. I can never remember the metric system. It would definitely be a good thing to learn when living overseas.

After all of this warm up stuff, I had to have a cervical exam. Apparently here they check to make sure your cervix is nice and closed every time you go in for a prenatal appointment. No big deal since I am not modest. I did not even realize that they don’t give you a sheet to over up with. It was brought to my attention after the appointment. That right there shows how modest I am. Then we check my weight (59 kilos) and my blood pressure, which was normal. Then we got to hear the heartbeat.

The heartbeat is my favorite part of the visits. I love to hear the strong whoom-whoom-whoom of the baby. At this OB/GYN she checks the heartbeat with an ultrasound (U/S) machine. This was an added bonus to the visit. We got to see that baby. Which was amazing. I did not think that I would be as excited to see an U/S of this baby as I was with Kaitlynn, but I was wrong. I was equally, if not more excited. The baby looked good and the heartbeat was strong. The doctor also gave us some unexpected news – she thinks the baby is a girl!!!

Tomorrow we are going to a local Tunisian radiologist, and will find out for sure. However, the OB was pretty confident, and I could not see a little wee-wee when we were looking down there. Danny was teasing her that she was wrong, and that the baby was really a girl. You could tell by the look on his face that he was just as excited as I was.

02.19.2005

COMING SOON to the Mangrum family in Africa -- little Mangrum #2!!!!!

So I have been sick since early December, and have not had the energy or desire to communicate with anyone. Danny calls me a hermit, and I admit that is exactly what I needed. I have just laid on my couch all day long, and vomited when necessary. So I apologize tenfold for being such a hermit to you.

About the pregnancy - I am due on Danny and my birthday. (July 26th) How funny is that?! Right now I am a little over 17 weeks. We were shocked by this pregnancy, but at the same time not so much because there was a particular day that we were not using any protection. Danny was more shocked then I was. It took a little while for him to warm up, and get over the initial shock. Now we are both really excited.

We have decided to find out the sex with this baby. I really don't want to find out again. I LOVED the surprise of it with Kaitlynn. It was amazing when I gave birth to her, and they announced that she was in fact a girl. However, baby items especially clothing are so expensive here. A complete outfit cost about $80 or more. So finding out the sex, especially if we are having a boy, will save a ton of money. If we are having a boy I will have my sister hit the winter clearance to stack up on clothing for that time frame, and I will save a fortune.

We have not even thought about names so far. For a boy I really like - Phillip Daniel and William Daniel. However, one of Danny's uncles on his mom's side is named Phillip and we have friends who are having a baby next month, and they are naming him William after his father. For a girl we have gotten nowhere. We are thinking about sticking with an M name for middle names since my initials and Kaitlynn's initials both end in MM. We are not dead set on that though. Just an idea we are fiddling with. Got any suggestions??

About healthcare, I will jointly see a Tunisian OB/GYN and the medical staff at the Embassy. It has been a little odd to receive healthcare here so far because it has not been as structured as I am used to. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the medical officer here has had a terminally ill parent back in the States who just pasted away last week. So she had to take emergency leave twice to the states, which took up about 2 months all together. So my appointments kept getting canceled. Today I just had my second appointment. With waiting so long for an appointment I was getting bed vibes that something was going to be wrong with the baby. I really just wanted to hear the heartbeat, and have my fears eased. Of course because I wanted to hear the heartbeat so badly today when we finally got to listen to it the baby would not stay still, and we kept losing the heartbeat. So the appointment was not as satisfying as I wanted it to be. Thankfully I am supposed to have an appointment and ultrasound next week, and the week after that I will have another appointment.

I have the option, which I am taking, of going back to the states to have the baby. I have to leave when I am 34 weeks along (around the middle of June), and stay in the States until the baby is 6 weeks old (if delivered on time around the second week of September). I am going to stay with my sister again. Danny will get to take approximately 16 days around when the baby is due to come to the States for the delivery. If he does not get there in time, then Dawn will be my coach again. And, of course, we will be filming this birth too.

I am excited to get to come home for the birth. Excited to see family again and possibly friends. It will be odd to be there for 3 months, and not have my own car. I am excited about the foods I will get to eat. I can't wait to have a fresh fruit salad especially bananas and pineapple and fast food. They have no fast food here. Not even a McDonalds!! They have both fruits, but the bananas are imported so they are past the perfect stage that I like them at, and the pineapples are about 8 USD.

I am also excited because they are going to pay me money to go back to the States in addition to paying for all of our airfare. So going to back to the States will get clench us getting out of credit card debt, pay for everything for the baby, and I will still be able to put a chunk of the money towards our car loan.

We hope all is well with each of you, and we can't wait to finally be able to catch up.

NOTE FROM DAWN: As much as we love all of Ryan and Danny's friends and family, anyone who wants to visit while they are here is officially invited to stay at a hotel. In the past two years, we've had a constant string of house guests, and have decided that with a 2 year old, a 1 year old and either an infant or a pregnant lady in the house, trying to entertain additional people is madness. The Stiller Bed and Breakfast is officially closed. :)

11.30.2004 (back entry)

Today I got nauseas while brushing my teeth. The only other time that I this has happened was when I was pregnant with Kaitlynn. So I had two home pregnancy tests, and decided to take one. Well I did not want Danny to know unless I was absolutely sure, so I snuck away and took it. IMMEDIATELY two dark pink lines appear. Since it was so sudden. I decided that after Danny went to work that night I would take the other test I had. Well that one was also positive, and just as sudden. So I decided that there had to be something wrong with the tests. Maybe they were expired. Nope. Still good for a year and a half. Maybe moving them half way across the world with different temperatures messed them up. Tomorrow when Kaitlynn has the second part of her flu shot I will inquire about getting a pregnancy test done at the Embassy clinic.