I never thought I’d say (x2)…

Me to Mister: Little C* (one of my two favorite little boys here) got bit by a monkey yesterday!

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Mister: You’re going to have to find a ride home after work on Friday.

Me: How come?

Mister: I’ve got lunch with the president**.

 

Speaking of Mister and work related things, guess who just found out he made tenure? Woohoo!!

 

*Don’t worry, I got his moms permission to share this (Hi Big C!!), so this is not a violation of HIPAA or anything.

**Of the whole country!!

28 weeks

(someone desperately needs a haircut!)

Today I am 28 weeks for what appears to be the second week in a row because at some point in the last few weeks I lost track of how far along I was. I actually had to call my NP to verify because I had no idea, and it turns out I was a week ahead of myself. So crazy to think I only have three months until my life is changed FOREVER.

I am pretty much obsessed with my baby belly. I’m one of those people who carry all their extra weight in their belly, and have always hid behind baggy t-shirts and sweaters. I’m taking advantage of this opportunity to wear copious amounts of normally unflattering stripes and fitted shirts. One of my favorite things to do is watch my belly twitch and roll. Little miss has apparently enrolled in fetal gymnastics and does somersaults and kicks pretty much constantly. I’m always trying to show Mister, but it seems she’s got a bit of performance anxiety, because whenever he’s watching she is totally still. Often times she’ll start moving around the second he looks away, and stop as soon as he looks. It’s funny.

Earlier this week I had to do the much dreaded glucose tolerance test. My NP doesn’t believe in the traditional method of drinking a huge bottle of nasty sugary beverage, so she just had me eat a super sugary breakfast.

I made myself caramelized baked french toast, coffee cake and topped it off with a can of orange soda (just in case the food didn’t have enough sugar). I can think of several people who would love to HAVE to eat such a decadent breakfast, but I’m not one of them. This is how I felt by the end of my meal:

So so sick. I think if I ever have to do that glucose test again, I will gladly drink that nasty stuff.

I am flying back to the states in two weeks and I am beyond sad. In fact, I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it. You see, I don’t ever go more than a few hours without seeing Mister (we do live and work in the same places after all), so the thought of going 5 months give or take (minus his paternity leave) without hanging out with my favorite person on the planet is kind of breaking my heart. Of course we’ll have phone calls, emails and skype, but it will still be hard. How in the world did people deal with long-term separations before these things were invented?!

(not even close to) nesting

Oh man, preparing for a baby is freaking overwhelming, and I’m not talking about the my life is about to turn upside down part, just the buying crap part. People at work keep asking if we’re registered somewhere and I just have to laugh. It’s one thing to walk into Target or Babies R Us and compare items, but it’s quite another when your best option is Amazon and there are literally hundreds of every possible thing you can think of (and even more things you didn’t think of). Wouldn’t it be nice if there was just one of everything you need, and all you had to decide was whether you wanted the basic, standard or deluxe package? Mister and I think so. It sure would save us lots of time, money, energy, and a few gray hairs. Other than diapers, a crib, car seat, a stroller and some onesies, I seriously have no clue what I really need.

While we’re in Utah (probably until the little babe is 3 – 6 months old) I will depending on the good will of family, friends and the DI (Utah’s Goodwill) to stock my nursery with the basics, but I still have a nursery in Conakry to put together. I don’t really need to go all out, given the fact that we’re so very transient, but I think I should at least do something. At the very least, I need to pick a color palate so my mom can make a baby quilt. While I know I don’t want pink or purple, I’m kind of clueless. I was thinking maybe yellow or coral or tangerine or something? I don’t know. Other than the fact that maybe it would be nice if it at least didn’t look horrible in the same room as this print:

My Roots Lie Here world map

It’s more brown than it appears in this photo, but I love it. I think I’m going to put hearts on Utah (where I’m from and where the baby will be born), Texas (where Mister’s from), and Guinea (where I will have carried the babe for 9ish months and where she’ll spend a good portion of her first year). The hearts are red, but I think I want to find some in whatever girly-ish color I decide to decorate with. So now what to do with the rest of the room (and everything else for that matter)?? Ugh, just thinking about all of this makes me want to take a nap.

If you’d like to pipe in with any suggestions or recommendations of things that I for sure need or don’t need for that matter please do! I need all the help I can get!!

settling back in

After our awesome three day whirlwind tour of London in November, I cried practically the entire flight home. Maybe when the pilot announced our initial descent into Conakry, probably when the wheels touched down, definitely as I walked to VIP lounge (the airport here is crazy-pants, so we have expeditors who get our passports stamped and fight for our luggage while we wait), and for sure as we drove through the streets from the airport to our home. I don’t know if it was pregnancy hormones, the taste of civilization we had, a combination of the two, or something completely different that made me so miserable to be back.

I was fully expecting a repeat performance when we came back from leave, but SURPRISE, no tears. In fact I was so happy to be back. Happy not to be spending money every second, happy to get to sleep in my own bed again, happy to see all of my friends, happy to go to work, happy to eat French butter. Life was good. It was all smiles as we drove to work the next morning. We played the game “how much bigger are the potholes on our route” (answer: SO much bigger). Waving at the patrons of Gold's Gym Conakry just outside our gate, I said to Mister, ‘I’m so happy to be back!’ Famous last words. Not two days later as I walked into the kitchen to make dinner (delicious Kraft thick n creamy macaroni and cheese, the only thing in the house), the fuse to the stove and the refrigerator blew (and only the fuse to the stove and the fridge*), and just like that, the honeymoon was over. Now I’m not saying we’re breaking up, Conakry and I, but in between the moments of euphoria, we’re just two people who tolerate each other because we have to.

 

*Remember that football sized rat Mister found in our yard that one time? Apparently we don’t need to worry about running into that sucker anymore. When the guys were trying to figure out what was wrong with the generator, they found it dead on a circuit switch. The circuit switch that controls my stove and fridge. Awesome.