The blog has been nice and maybe I will pick it up again if I feel like my life is interesting enough for it. Thank you so much for reading it and taking an interest in me.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Bye Bye Blog
To my loyal followers....I'm sorry. I've decided to discontinue my blog. In its place, Hunter is now on facebook. He is a modern baby and blogs are just so yesterday. Not really. Its more that writing in the blog has started to feel like a chore and 99% of our friends are on facebook and dont even read the blog so it just seems like a better place to post quick updates and photos. I know that a few of you really hate facebook and for you, I apologize. I will also be posting pictures to my picassa web album as I always have so at the very least, you can follow his progress there.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Welcome to the world, Hunter! Part 2
This is a continuation of the last post so you will want to read that one first.
I barely slept that night. I was so uncomfortable and I spent a lot of the night timing contractions which were between 5 and 15 minutes apart but still not overly painful. I was grateful to be in the city knowing that I could wait to go to the hospital until I was much further along. Well, I got up and had breakfast and after a while, Rob pulled into the hotel in a truck that the mine let him have. The mine was so great! They offered us some drivers for the day which we happily accepted and we hopped into another truck to pick my mom up from the airport. After all of my stress, by 11am I had my mother and husband with me and was feeling a lot better. My contractions had slowed down and I was thinking that we would be heading to the mine after my 2:30 appointment and that maybe all of this drama was for nothing.
We had a great lunch, which I am still thinking about, and then did some shopping until the appointment. No big deal. Rob got a day off and a chance to get to some stores that he had been wanting to go to, and I was feeling a little silly. The doctor was surprised to see my mom and we had a nice laugh about it and then I went for another pelvic exam. There had been no change in my dilation so we started discussing how to proceed. We would head home and I would go to the hospital here twice a day to have my blood pressure checked since it was kind of high that day. Before we left the office, we all crowded into one of the little rooms and he put me on the fetal monitor again. He hooked it up and had me roll onto my left side. The heartbeat slowed to 80 and the doctor had me roll back onto my back. We were all talking and discussing and the doctor very calmly said something like, "I'm not comfortable with this, I think that we should go ahead and do this now." Basically, that was it. He said he wanted us to head to the emergency room and that he wanted to do a c-section. Rob asked, "When?" and he said "Now". Oh....crap....we all kind of looked at each other. God I was glad that everyone was with me. It was amazing how calm we all were. We went to the doctor's desk where he wrote up a paper for us to give to the emergency room and off we went. Rob and my mom quickly formulated a plan that during the surgery, my mom would go check into the hotel and then return to the hospital. Rob would have to wait outside and I would go in for the c-section. Before I knew it, we were in the prep room and they were asking me questions and Rob went into admissions to fill out some forms. They put me on a gurney and wheeled me to the operating room. I'd never had surgery before and was trying to stay calm. Thankfully, I'd done that lamaze class the day before and boy did those breathing techniques come in handy as I started to realize what was happening. You have to keep in mind that my Spanish is still terrible and that I am in Honduras. Most of the doctors speak English and thankfully, the wonderful anesthesiologist spoke a bit of English, too. The whole surgery was fairly terrifying and I'd rather not relive it so I'm going to brush over it fairly quickly. I was awake but pretty numb. My doctor did the surgery with a good friend of his and they seemed to have the time of their life while I tried not to look at the reflection of their work in the light above my head. Eventually, I heard the women in the room all say "oooh" and then I heard "varon" which basically meant that its a boy! I didn't hear any crying or anything and got a bit scared. Then the pediatrician stepped up and grabbed the baby and took him to a table. Finally I heard my son screaming his little head off. It was as though I wasnt there. Finally someone looked at me and let me know that everything was good. I heard my doctor tell someone that the umbilical was wrapped around his neck and that was the problem. I started to feel better and after a while, they brought my screaming baby over to me and held him to my cheek for about a minute. I couldnt move my arms to hold him or touch him so all I could do was lay there and cry with relief. Then they took him away and the surgery continued. I was numb but it still was uncomfortable and there was a lot of work to do before it was finally over. The rest is unimportant. At about 3:30 on July 6 my doctor made the decision and by 5:45, Hunter was in the world. We are all healthy and happy. It is now Sunday night and after 3 days in the hospital, we are settled in at home. I'm still very sore and trying to get into the swing of things. My son is gorgeous and funny and we are all so happy that he is here.
I barely slept that night. I was so uncomfortable and I spent a lot of the night timing contractions which were between 5 and 15 minutes apart but still not overly painful. I was grateful to be in the city knowing that I could wait to go to the hospital until I was much further along. Well, I got up and had breakfast and after a while, Rob pulled into the hotel in a truck that the mine let him have. The mine was so great! They offered us some drivers for the day which we happily accepted and we hopped into another truck to pick my mom up from the airport. After all of my stress, by 11am I had my mother and husband with me and was feeling a lot better. My contractions had slowed down and I was thinking that we would be heading to the mine after my 2:30 appointment and that maybe all of this drama was for nothing.
We had a great lunch, which I am still thinking about, and then did some shopping until the appointment. No big deal. Rob got a day off and a chance to get to some stores that he had been wanting to go to, and I was feeling a little silly. The doctor was surprised to see my mom and we had a nice laugh about it and then I went for another pelvic exam. There had been no change in my dilation so we started discussing how to proceed. We would head home and I would go to the hospital here twice a day to have my blood pressure checked since it was kind of high that day. Before we left the office, we all crowded into one of the little rooms and he put me on the fetal monitor again. He hooked it up and had me roll onto my left side. The heartbeat slowed to 80 and the doctor had me roll back onto my back. We were all talking and discussing and the doctor very calmly said something like, "I'm not comfortable with this, I think that we should go ahead and do this now." Basically, that was it. He said he wanted us to head to the emergency room and that he wanted to do a c-section. Rob asked, "When?" and he said "Now". Oh....crap....we all kind of looked at each other. God I was glad that everyone was with me. It was amazing how calm we all were. We went to the doctor's desk where he wrote up a paper for us to give to the emergency room and off we went. Rob and my mom quickly formulated a plan that during the surgery, my mom would go check into the hotel and then return to the hospital. Rob would have to wait outside and I would go in for the c-section. Before I knew it, we were in the prep room and they were asking me questions and Rob went into admissions to fill out some forms. They put me on a gurney and wheeled me to the operating room. I'd never had surgery before and was trying to stay calm. Thankfully, I'd done that lamaze class the day before and boy did those breathing techniques come in handy as I started to realize what was happening. You have to keep in mind that my Spanish is still terrible and that I am in Honduras. Most of the doctors speak English and thankfully, the wonderful anesthesiologist spoke a bit of English, too. The whole surgery was fairly terrifying and I'd rather not relive it so I'm going to brush over it fairly quickly. I was awake but pretty numb. My doctor did the surgery with a good friend of his and they seemed to have the time of their life while I tried not to look at the reflection of their work in the light above my head. Eventually, I heard the women in the room all say "oooh" and then I heard "varon" which basically meant that its a boy! I didn't hear any crying or anything and got a bit scared. Then the pediatrician stepped up and grabbed the baby and took him to a table. Finally I heard my son screaming his little head off. It was as though I wasnt there. Finally someone looked at me and let me know that everything was good. I heard my doctor tell someone that the umbilical was wrapped around his neck and that was the problem. I started to feel better and after a while, they brought my screaming baby over to me and held him to my cheek for about a minute. I couldnt move my arms to hold him or touch him so all I could do was lay there and cry with relief. Then they took him away and the surgery continued. I was numb but it still was uncomfortable and there was a lot of work to do before it was finally over. The rest is unimportant. At about 3:30 on July 6 my doctor made the decision and by 5:45, Hunter was in the world. We are all healthy and happy. It is now Sunday night and after 3 days in the hospital, we are settled in at home. I'm still very sore and trying to get into the swing of things. My son is gorgeous and funny and we are all so happy that he is here.
Welcome to the world, Hunter! Part 1
Yep, thats right a lot has happened since my last post so here it is. Brace yourself, this will be long so I'm going to split it up into 2 posts.
On Tuesday, I headed into San Pedro. First of all, we got about halfway there and I had to have my driver pull over so that I could be car sick on the side of the road. It was actually the first time that I was sick like that the whole pregnancy. I really puked my brains out, though, and I think that maybe it kicked up my braxton hicks a bit.
I had an appointment in the morning with a lamaze coach to get some information about what to expect at the birth. The appointment was great and I got a lot of great information about the birth and breastfeeding and what I can expect at the hospital. It was something that I wasnt too excited about and I only really did it to appease my mother...well she was right, as usual. There were some interesting little hints about what was to come but they didnt mean anything at the time. We were talking about contractions and I mentioned that I was having very frequent braxton-hicks. She dismissed it that some of it was probably the baby moving. Based on my past experiences with having no clue of what is going on with my body, I believed her. No biggie. I was still feeling ok and after the appointment, ate a quick lunch and then headed to Pricesmart (like Sams) to stock up on as much good meat as possible realizing that I probably wouldnt feel like doing big shopping in the last 2 weeks of the pregnancy. I got a ton of stuff, filling up the cooler and didnt have time to get to the grocery store before my doctor appointment. I told the driver that we would go ahead and stop at the grocery store after my appointment on our way out of town and went into the doctor. He had been out of town for over a week so the place was very busy. He sent me into the directly into the little room and hooked me up on the fetal monitor while he saw a couple of other patients. I dont know if they use these in the States but they put some sensors on my belly that track his heartrate, his movements and any contractions. They also give me a button that I'm supposed to push when I feel the baby move. The machine blasts the sound of the baby's heartbeat which put me to sleep instantly. I never pushed the button and when the doctor came in 20 minutes later, I'd had about 4 contractions. No big deal, they were braxton hicks and not painful at all. After that, we went in for my first pelvic exam. He felt my cervix and told me that I was about 2 cm and as he pulled out his hand, I felt liquid leak out. He looked at me and said, "I expect that I will hear from you in the next day or 2." WHAT???? Yeah, he asked, "Is your husband here with you?" WHAT????? no, Rob is at work 2 hours away. Oh my god, oh my god. The rest of the visit was a blur. He sent me to clean myself up and we went for the ultrasound. The baby was in position. At my last ultrasound, the umbilical cord was near the baby's neck but the doctor wasnt too concerned as it didnt seem tight. We checked that again and the cord was still there but he still wasnt worried about it. I'm sure that he told me many things during that visit but in my head I was freaking out. My thoughts were something like this....I'm not ready....I need to call Rob....I need to call my mom....I need to get a hotel room and stay here in town....I'm not ready....I dont have any clothes....I dont have my toothbrush. I told the doctor that I would get a hotel room and he was very happy to hear that. He told me that he wanted to see me the next afternoon if he didnt hear from me sooner and we would decide at that point if I would go back home or stay longer in the city. No problem. I can do this. I wont cry. I went outside and told the driver the new plan and I called Rob. "You ready?" "For what?" "For the baby" "Whatever. Stop messing with me." "No really, I'm freaking out and heading to a hotel." My poor driver, who by this time must have been really worried, kept his cool. He drove me to the Hilton since I had already decided that I was going to stay in style. Well, the Hilton only had Executive suites available which was not quite in my budget. Thankfully, the driver took me to a great hotel that the mine uses. When I checked in the nice girl at the counter asked how many days I would be there and I got to explain that my doctor thinks I will be having a baby any day now. I'll tell you what...if you want good service at a hotel, make them think that you are about to have a baby. While this was going on, I also called my mom and let her know that she needed to change her plane tickets and try to get down here. She quickly changed her ticket to the next morning and let me know that she would be flying in the next morning. I then headed to the mall to kill some time and buy some clean underwear, pajamas and a toothbrush. So there I was, wandering the mall in San Pedro Sula Honduras, having contractions, by myself. After a little while I decided that if I was going to have this baby tomorrow, I would go to a restaurant and eat a meal. I went to the Applebees and ordered and appetizer and as I was eating it, I had this thought....I must be totally crazy, what the heck am I doing? I quickly headed back to the hotel to call my family and friends and try to find a little sanity and eventually I went to sleep.
On Tuesday, I headed into San Pedro. First of all, we got about halfway there and I had to have my driver pull over so that I could be car sick on the side of the road. It was actually the first time that I was sick like that the whole pregnancy. I really puked my brains out, though, and I think that maybe it kicked up my braxton hicks a bit.
I had an appointment in the morning with a lamaze coach to get some information about what to expect at the birth. The appointment was great and I got a lot of great information about the birth and breastfeeding and what I can expect at the hospital. It was something that I wasnt too excited about and I only really did it to appease my mother...well she was right, as usual. There were some interesting little hints about what was to come but they didnt mean anything at the time. We were talking about contractions and I mentioned that I was having very frequent braxton-hicks. She dismissed it that some of it was probably the baby moving. Based on my past experiences with having no clue of what is going on with my body, I believed her. No biggie. I was still feeling ok and after the appointment, ate a quick lunch and then headed to Pricesmart (like Sams) to stock up on as much good meat as possible realizing that I probably wouldnt feel like doing big shopping in the last 2 weeks of the pregnancy. I got a ton of stuff, filling up the cooler and didnt have time to get to the grocery store before my doctor appointment. I told the driver that we would go ahead and stop at the grocery store after my appointment on our way out of town and went into the doctor. He had been out of town for over a week so the place was very busy. He sent me into the directly into the little room and hooked me up on the fetal monitor while he saw a couple of other patients. I dont know if they use these in the States but they put some sensors on my belly that track his heartrate, his movements and any contractions. They also give me a button that I'm supposed to push when I feel the baby move. The machine blasts the sound of the baby's heartbeat which put me to sleep instantly. I never pushed the button and when the doctor came in 20 minutes later, I'd had about 4 contractions. No big deal, they were braxton hicks and not painful at all. After that, we went in for my first pelvic exam. He felt my cervix and told me that I was about 2 cm and as he pulled out his hand, I felt liquid leak out. He looked at me and said, "I expect that I will hear from you in the next day or 2." WHAT???? Yeah, he asked, "Is your husband here with you?" WHAT????? no, Rob is at work 2 hours away. Oh my god, oh my god. The rest of the visit was a blur. He sent me to clean myself up and we went for the ultrasound. The baby was in position. At my last ultrasound, the umbilical cord was near the baby's neck but the doctor wasnt too concerned as it didnt seem tight. We checked that again and the cord was still there but he still wasnt worried about it. I'm sure that he told me many things during that visit but in my head I was freaking out. My thoughts were something like this....I'm not ready....I need to call Rob....I need to call my mom....I need to get a hotel room and stay here in town....I'm not ready....I dont have any clothes....I dont have my toothbrush. I told the doctor that I would get a hotel room and he was very happy to hear that. He told me that he wanted to see me the next afternoon if he didnt hear from me sooner and we would decide at that point if I would go back home or stay longer in the city. No problem. I can do this. I wont cry. I went outside and told the driver the new plan and I called Rob. "You ready?" "For what?" "For the baby" "Whatever. Stop messing with me." "No really, I'm freaking out and heading to a hotel." My poor driver, who by this time must have been really worried, kept his cool. He drove me to the Hilton since I had already decided that I was going to stay in style. Well, the Hilton only had Executive suites available which was not quite in my budget. Thankfully, the driver took me to a great hotel that the mine uses. When I checked in the nice girl at the counter asked how many days I would be there and I got to explain that my doctor thinks I will be having a baby any day now. I'll tell you what...if you want good service at a hotel, make them think that you are about to have a baby. While this was going on, I also called my mom and let her know that she needed to change her plane tickets and try to get down here. She quickly changed her ticket to the next morning and let me know that she would be flying in the next morning. I then headed to the mall to kill some time and buy some clean underwear, pajamas and a toothbrush. So there I was, wandering the mall in San Pedro Sula Honduras, having contractions, by myself. After a little while I decided that if I was going to have this baby tomorrow, I would go to a restaurant and eat a meal. I went to the Applebees and ordered and appetizer and as I was eating it, I had this thought....I must be totally crazy, what the heck am I doing? I quickly headed back to the hotel to call my family and friends and try to find a little sanity and eventually I went to sleep.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
OMG 3 more weeks!
I feel like my title says it all. I'm not quite sure why 3 weeks sounds like an infinitely smaller time period than 1 month but it does. I had my first twinge of panic about child birth. I also had a chance to look in a full length mirror yesterday which I hadnt done in almost a month and I hadnt realized how huge I am both in my belly and my thighs and butt. Honestly, I'm mostly past the point of caring as long as I can fit my butt into clothes. The baby still hasnt dropped but I am looking forward to that since I've heard that I will be able to bend over easier and that has become really difficult. I'm puppy sitting for the next few days and last night, they stepped on my feet with dirty paws. I sat in the bathtub and tried to clean my feet and it was kind of a joke. The punchline was when I tried to dry them. And I have to apologize to my wonderful husband because in the last 2 weeks, my attitude toward pregnancy has gone from "Piece of cake" to "My back hurts, my feet hurt, I'm so tired, I cant sleep, groan, moan, complain, poor me."
Our little hotel/brewery where our baby was conceived has been sold and will be changing hands this weekend. We are pretty sad about it but a little optimistic that, at least for a while, the staff will remain the same. This weekend will be a 4th of July party there and I am actually really excited about it. Burgers, hotdogs and fireworks will hopefully feel a bit like home at our home-away-from-home-away-from-home. The next month will be full of changes for us but if anything has become normal for us, its change!
Our little hotel/brewery where our baby was conceived has been sold and will be changing hands this weekend. We are pretty sad about it but a little optimistic that, at least for a while, the staff will remain the same. This weekend will be a 4th of July party there and I am actually really excited about it. Burgers, hotdogs and fireworks will hopefully feel a bit like home at our home-away-from-home-away-from-home. The next month will be full of changes for us but if anything has become normal for us, its change!
Friday, June 17, 2011
5 weeks
How about this picture from the lake last weekend. Yep, that rainbow is ending right there at the edge. We should have gone off looking for that pot of gold but instead headed back to shore just in time for a big thunderstorm.
I cant believe that there is basically just a month left of the pregnancy. After 8 very easy months, life is getting a bit more difficult for me now. I havent been feeling great at all. The other day, I went into San Pedro for a doctor appointment and it took everything out of me. I felt really bad when I got back. It was an interesting appointment, though. The doctor asked about my braxton-hicks and I told him that I havent had any contractions yet. He seemed suprised and told me that I probably am having them. A few minutes later we headed to the other room for an ultrasound and he put his hand on my belly and said, "Hey, do you feel that? You are having a contraction right now." OOOOHHH. Well in that case, I actually have them all the time and am even having one right now. I was under the impression that they were painful but I guess they just feel tight. The other big thing for me from the appointment was that I can no longer tell what anything is on the ultrasound. It was easy when I could see the whole baby in the picture but now he is so big that we only see pieces of him. Of course, his heart is obvious because it is pumping away but other than that, the doctor says things like, "this is his femur", or "yep, still a boy" and just kind of stare at the screen blankly because it just looks like lines and blobs to me. We had a big talk about when I should head to the hospital with the labor which is a pretty big deal and pretty symbolic of the end. Other than that, I can no longer be comfortable in my bed or really anywhere else. I'm very depressed because I have always had this love affair with my bed and I especially love our bed here because the mattress is pretty soft. My mom has made her plane tickets so I'm hoping that this baby comes on time, although I'm ok with him coming a little early. The doctor says that he is about 6 lbs so as far as I am concerned, he is probably good to go whenever, although he is seeming very happy playing around in my belly.
I cant believe that there is basically just a month left of the pregnancy. After 8 very easy months, life is getting a bit more difficult for me now. I havent been feeling great at all. The other day, I went into San Pedro for a doctor appointment and it took everything out of me. I felt really bad when I got back. It was an interesting appointment, though. The doctor asked about my braxton-hicks and I told him that I havent had any contractions yet. He seemed suprised and told me that I probably am having them. A few minutes later we headed to the other room for an ultrasound and he put his hand on my belly and said, "Hey, do you feel that? You are having a contraction right now." OOOOHHH. Well in that case, I actually have them all the time and am even having one right now. I was under the impression that they were painful but I guess they just feel tight. The other big thing for me from the appointment was that I can no longer tell what anything is on the ultrasound. It was easy when I could see the whole baby in the picture but now he is so big that we only see pieces of him. Of course, his heart is obvious because it is pumping away but other than that, the doctor says things like, "this is his femur", or "yep, still a boy" and just kind of stare at the screen blankly because it just looks like lines and blobs to me. We had a big talk about when I should head to the hospital with the labor which is a pretty big deal and pretty symbolic of the end. Other than that, I can no longer be comfortable in my bed or really anywhere else. I'm very depressed because I have always had this love affair with my bed and I especially love our bed here because the mattress is pretty soft. My mom has made her plane tickets so I'm hoping that this baby comes on time, although I'm ok with him coming a little early. The doctor says that he is about 6 lbs so as far as I am concerned, he is probably good to go whenever, although he is seeming very happy playing around in my belly.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
6 more weeks!
I can't believe that he is due in 6 weeks. As ready as I am, I am feeling a bit unprepared.
Yesterday was my birthday and I cant believe that I am 35. It was nice that everyone here was very surprised that I am that old and since most everyone that I know here are quite a bit older than me, it was nice to be reminded that 35 is still pretty young.
I've been very busy for the last week or so. We spent the weekend in Tela at the beach on our last vacation with no baby. It was really nice to get away and we hadnt realized that the beach is only about 2.5 hours from here. I can tell that I am ready to be a mommy since I spent most of the time thinking about how fun it will be to take our son to the beach and let him play in the sand and the waves and chase pigeons and soccer balls with the other kids that we saw on the beach.
We have survived the summer and have started a new season. I'm not sure if it has a name but I would call it spring. It is cooler and we are getting rain every couple of days. Thankfully the rain is mostly in the evenings or at night although we have had a couple of good downpours during the day. The temperatures are perfect and everything is is very green and growing quickly.
I tried a new fruit last weekend called a mangosteen and highly recommend it if you ever run into them. Sweet and juicy and delicious.
Yesterday was my birthday and I cant believe that I am 35. It was nice that everyone here was very surprised that I am that old and since most everyone that I know here are quite a bit older than me, it was nice to be reminded that 35 is still pretty young.
I've been very busy for the last week or so. We spent the weekend in Tela at the beach on our last vacation with no baby. It was really nice to get away and we hadnt realized that the beach is only about 2.5 hours from here. I can tell that I am ready to be a mommy since I spent most of the time thinking about how fun it will be to take our son to the beach and let him play in the sand and the waves and chase pigeons and soccer balls with the other kids that we saw on the beach.
We have survived the summer and have started a new season. I'm not sure if it has a name but I would call it spring. It is cooler and we are getting rain every couple of days. Thankfully the rain is mostly in the evenings or at night although we have had a couple of good downpours during the day. The temperatures are perfect and everything is is very green and growing quickly.
I tried a new fruit last weekend called a mangosteen and highly recommend it if you ever run into them. Sweet and juicy and delicious.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Good morning!
We were awakened very early this morning to a big long rain storm and at around 5:15 we finally got out of bed and thankfully, went outside for a aftermath. Looks like its going to be a beautiful day.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Update 32 weeks
This is going to be sort of a round up of what has been going on in my life since my last update.
First, I am 32 weeks along, which means that, theoretically, I have only 8 weeks left until baby time. Everything is still going well but I am finally feeling like I cant do things the way that I used to. Standing up generally gets a groan, along with getting dressed and picking things up off of the ground. I've been without a full length mirror for the entire pregnancy and had the pleasure of looking at myself both with and without clothes last weekend. It was not pretty. I cant believe how huge I am! Its amazing how you spend your life looking at pregnant women, thinking that it looks pretty normal, and then it happens to you and it just looks bizarre! According to 1 website, my baby is about the size of a jicima this week....wtf? I like the picture on my blog that, I think, shows a small watermelon which seems more on track. How big is a jicima anyway? Can they come up with something more obscure? My next appointment is Monday.
In other news...lets see...last weekend I bought 6 nice size mangoes for about $1. Yep, thats right, eat your heart out! 3 were perfectly ripe and 3 more are sitting in my fridge for another day or 2. They are delicious and juicy! I also bought a pineapple which Rob and I ate in its entirety last night. One of Rob's guys gave us about 8 ripe avocados off his tree so I now have giant bowl of guacamole in the fridge AND we have 3 coconuts off the one of the trees that I see outside my window because a coconut had finally fallen and Rob could call it a "safety issue". The final fruit bonus here is that there is a lady selling the best fresh blueberries outside of the main gates every day. Apparently, this area is well known for its blueberries and we are buying them for about $3.50 for 2 lbs of perfect berries. I keep intending to freeze some but it turns out that Rob and I can eat 2 lbs of plain blueberries in less than 48 hours....even with all of the other fruit here. At the moment, I have to say that the fruit is the best part of living here!
What else? I was attacked by wasps last weekend at our friend's house and I cried! Yep, I stood and full on cried. I also bashed my head into the truck trying to escape the wasps. In hindsight, I cant stop laughing about it although at the time it was pretty painful.
Next week, we take our first vacation as a couple since moving here...and I suppose our last. We are going to head to the beach for a long weekend. Rob has not left the area since we got here and he is desperate for a vacation. We will also be celebrating my birthday. Tela, here we come! I was hoping to head to the islands but it dawned on me that it might not be a good idea to go that far from the hospital....they are about 3 hours from the hospital by car and then, what could be a rough 1 hour boat ride. Rob asked, "what would you do if you went into labor on the boat?" and I responded, "I will make them turn that boat around." And then I remembered that I am in Honduras and decided that Tela is less than 1.5 hours from my hospital and probably a better choice for a 3rd trimester vacation.
My last bit of news is that I started spanish lessons yesterday. There is a woman here that teaches all the gringos and Rob has been doing great with her. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to have some lessons too and try to focus on language that I will need in the hospital for talking to the nurses during the parto. My first relevant word? Dolor....look it up if you dont know it.
Other than that, it is still hot and humid here. I'm swimming every day and mostly trying to stay off of my feet as much as possible. I'm also warring with some tiny hormigas (ants) which have taken over. I won a major battle this morning but the war is in no way over since I am greatly outnumbered. Thankfully they dont bite and are just annoying but I've had all that I can take of them.
Thats all for now!
First, I am 32 weeks along, which means that, theoretically, I have only 8 weeks left until baby time. Everything is still going well but I am finally feeling like I cant do things the way that I used to. Standing up generally gets a groan, along with getting dressed and picking things up off of the ground. I've been without a full length mirror for the entire pregnancy and had the pleasure of looking at myself both with and without clothes last weekend. It was not pretty. I cant believe how huge I am! Its amazing how you spend your life looking at pregnant women, thinking that it looks pretty normal, and then it happens to you and it just looks bizarre! According to 1 website, my baby is about the size of a jicima this week....wtf? I like the picture on my blog that, I think, shows a small watermelon which seems more on track. How big is a jicima anyway? Can they come up with something more obscure? My next appointment is Monday.
In other news...lets see...last weekend I bought 6 nice size mangoes for about $1. Yep, thats right, eat your heart out! 3 were perfectly ripe and 3 more are sitting in my fridge for another day or 2. They are delicious and juicy! I also bought a pineapple which Rob and I ate in its entirety last night. One of Rob's guys gave us about 8 ripe avocados off his tree so I now have giant bowl of guacamole in the fridge AND we have 3 coconuts off the one of the trees that I see outside my window because a coconut had finally fallen and Rob could call it a "safety issue". The final fruit bonus here is that there is a lady selling the best fresh blueberries outside of the main gates every day. Apparently, this area is well known for its blueberries and we are buying them for about $3.50 for 2 lbs of perfect berries. I keep intending to freeze some but it turns out that Rob and I can eat 2 lbs of plain blueberries in less than 48 hours....even with all of the other fruit here. At the moment, I have to say that the fruit is the best part of living here!
What else? I was attacked by wasps last weekend at our friend's house and I cried! Yep, I stood and full on cried. I also bashed my head into the truck trying to escape the wasps. In hindsight, I cant stop laughing about it although at the time it was pretty painful.
Next week, we take our first vacation as a couple since moving here...and I suppose our last. We are going to head to the beach for a long weekend. Rob has not left the area since we got here and he is desperate for a vacation. We will also be celebrating my birthday. Tela, here we come! I was hoping to head to the islands but it dawned on me that it might not be a good idea to go that far from the hospital....they are about 3 hours from the hospital by car and then, what could be a rough 1 hour boat ride. Rob asked, "what would you do if you went into labor on the boat?" and I responded, "I will make them turn that boat around." And then I remembered that I am in Honduras and decided that Tela is less than 1.5 hours from my hospital and probably a better choice for a 3rd trimester vacation.
My last bit of news is that I started spanish lessons yesterday. There is a woman here that teaches all the gringos and Rob has been doing great with her. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to have some lessons too and try to focus on language that I will need in the hospital for talking to the nurses during the parto. My first relevant word? Dolor....look it up if you dont know it.
Other than that, it is still hot and humid here. I'm swimming every day and mostly trying to stay off of my feet as much as possible. I'm also warring with some tiny hormigas (ants) which have taken over. I won a major battle this morning but the war is in no way over since I am greatly outnumbered. Thankfully they dont bite and are just annoying but I've had all that I can take of them.
Thats all for now!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Mom!
My first (almost-a-)mother's day was really great. I headed out early and went to pick my mom up from the airport. Thankfully, her flight was ontime since I was worried that she would end up having a nightmare mother's day flight. Then we headed out for a fun day in San Pedro Sula of shopping and pizza at the highly recommended Nelly's pizza. We spent the night at the Hilton which was a real treat for me and then had day 2 of shopping, this time Pricesmart and the supermarket. Finally, came the part that my mom was really waiting for...the tour of the hospital and then the doctor's appointment. The hospital tour was a bit tricky due to a huge language barrier but we made it through and, hopefully, have a good understanding of how everything will go down. Its actually a pretty small hospital but we saw the nursery, the NICU (or UCIN as they call it in spanish) and the suite that we would rent. I was amazed at how cheap it will be....around $350 per day for the hospital stay. They did say that they would only keep me for a day, although my doctor said that I could stay for 2 days so that they can make sure that everything is ok with the baby. Then we headed to the doctor's office where he did a nice long ultrasound. As usual, his first order of business was to confirm that it is still a boy, which is a relief since he now has a full wardrobe of very boyish clothes. Then he did the 3d ultrasound. It was tough to get a good picture because the baby is laying with his face was pressing too close to the wall of the womb but we finally got this picture. He looks so cute and cozy with his little hand up next to his face. That is his thumb next to his left eye. The most important part was that everything looked perfect and all of his parts are where they should be and his little heart looked perfect.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Breakfast
As a follow up to my previous posts...here is the breakfast that I made with the flowers. Just butter, onions, flowers, tomatoes and eggs. Beautiful, delicious and very Central American.
Flor de Izote / Yucca flower
After some internet research, I've determined that the flower from my post yesterday is the Flor de Izote which comes from a certain yucca plant. I have it soaking now and will cook it up in an hour or so.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Interesting Honduran Delicacy
This morning, one of Rob's coworkers brought him a special Honduran breakfast. They soak the petals from these flowers in salt for about an hour and then cook them up with onions and eggs. We have no idea what they are called but apparently, they only bloom during the month of May (or the tail end of April). The guy gave some to Rob for us to cook up so I guess I know what we will be having for breakfast tomorrow.
My front door
I'm not sure if I will ever really get used to this view out of my front door. Check out that coconut palm?
Monday, April 25, 2011
Caving
Ok, ok, everyone is begging for updated pictures and here some are. I think I look bigger in these pictures than i really am but that is what everyone wants to see, right?
It is Semana Santa this week and Rob has been off of work. Today, we had a great date. We went to the Taulabe cave with some friends and then out for a great lunch on the lake. I'd been wanting to see the caves for a while and they were totally worth the trip.
Sorry that I've been so bad about blogging lately. I'm just not too motivated. I'll try to keep fairly regular until the baby is born...then, dont worry, I will be posting pictures.
It has rained for a little while every day for the last few days which is actually really welcome as long as we arent out and about. It had been almost a month since we had rain so its needed. The nice thing about rain here is that it is very rare for it to rain all day. It usually just rains for around an hour or so and the rest of the day is clear. The only problem is that the power goes out pretty regularly when it rains so we bought some candles today to be better prepared.
It is Semana Santa this week and Rob has been off of work. Today, we had a great date. We went to the Taulabe cave with some friends and then out for a great lunch on the lake. I'd been wanting to see the caves for a while and they were totally worth the trip.
See the face?
Sorry that I've been so bad about blogging lately. I'm just not too motivated. I'll try to keep fairly regular until the baby is born...then, dont worry, I will be posting pictures.
It has rained for a little while every day for the last few days which is actually really welcome as long as we arent out and about. It had been almost a month since we had rain so its needed. The nice thing about rain here is that it is very rare for it to rain all day. It usually just rains for around an hour or so and the rest of the day is clear. The only problem is that the power goes out pretty regularly when it rains so we bought some candles today to be better prepared.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cauliflower????
I just noticed that the little picture on my blog has, what looks like a cauliflower representing the baby this week. I'm sure that they could have some up with something cuter. I feel like I haven't given an update on the baby in a while. For the past couple of weeks, not only can I feel him kick but if I lay on my back, I can see my stomach move. If I lay the remote control on my belly, I can watch it flop around. This kid really hates when anything is pushing on my belly so its gotten pretty easy to get him going. I think that is probably the coolest thing so far. I'm fascinated by it. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I was really dreading another weigh-in because this time, I have no excuses for gaining too much weight since I have been doing almost all of my cooking. I know that I cook way healthier than at the mine restaurant but having a kitchen means more frequent meals and the dreaded snacking...oh and Rob's baking. I asked the doctor if we could skip the weigh in since I know that I feel big and I have resigned myself to having this stupid body that prefers to be big. I think the doctor finally realized how down I'm getting from his weight lectures and he gave me a really nice pep talk about how its normal to gain weight and after the baby is born, I can get back into shape. I've heard the talk from many people but it really meant a lot coming from him. Well, we walked over to that dreaded scale and drum roll please.......2 lbs gained! I felt great. I've even barely been working out so it shows me that eating at the restaurant for all of my meals really is terrible. They must be injecting fat into everything that they cook. I really needed that and have been feeling so much better about everything.
Lets see, what else? Today is a holiday here, so Happy Dia de los Americas. I'm hoping that the pharmacy in town is open because today I took the last of my prenatals. Next week is Semana Santa and it looks like we will be heading to Utila, the smaller island next to Roatan. We are really excited for a little vacation even though I know it is going to be a zoo. Our friend who lives there told us that it is like a full on spring break. I've never actually done a spring break so it should be interesting. The only other big thing for me is that I received an invitation for a coffee at one of the lady's house here. She is someone that I really like. I'm not sure who else was invited but I'm going to wear a dress and everything. Thats all for now.
Lets see, what else? Today is a holiday here, so Happy Dia de los Americas. I'm hoping that the pharmacy in town is open because today I took the last of my prenatals. Next week is Semana Santa and it looks like we will be heading to Utila, the smaller island next to Roatan. We are really excited for a little vacation even though I know it is going to be a zoo. Our friend who lives there told us that it is like a full on spring break. I've never actually done a spring break so it should be interesting. The only other big thing for me is that I received an invitation for a coffee at one of the lady's house here. She is someone that I really like. I'm not sure who else was invited but I'm going to wear a dress and everything. Thats all for now.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Day trip
I'm sorry that I havent been posting as much as I used to. I'm having a hard time motivating on the blog since I am settling into normal life which doesnt really seem that exciting for blogging. Last week was pretty busy for me between the apartment getting fumigated which made me then have to clean every single thing to get the poison out, to a day in San Pedro, to a day where the computer broke and I spent all morning fixing it and blah blah blah.
Yesterday, we had a big day. Rob and I took our first big day trip. Rob's work truck isnt in great shape so we arent allowed to take it too far away but recently, our friend got a 2nd vehicle and told us that we can use his old truck if we want to go somewhere. I've been wanting a rocking chair and we were told that we could get some nice chairs in a town called Comayagua. I'd been wanting to go there anyway since I'd heard it is a nice colonial town with a really nice central park and very old church. The drive was probably the most interesting part of the day.
Not too long into our drive, we had to stop for a herd of cows to cross the road. Another interesting thing was the truck full of pineapple peels...I cant imagine what they are planning to do with them.
The whole drive, we drove by people selling things on the street. What is interesting is that you will have 30 people selling the same thing in 1 stretch of road, and then 30 people selling different, but the same as each other, things in the next stretch. One area, everyone had bottles of honey for sale. Of course, we had to stop and buy a bottle that had some nice looking honey complete with the honeycomb. Further down it was this awful, gaudy pained pottery for the garden....giant white swans, pink flamingos, frogs playing the banjo...they had everything but nothing that I would actually display at my house. Further down was the hammock section where I bought a hammock chair, which is something else that I have really been wanting. Once Rob hangs it, I will have a nice place to sit outside on our patio. Finally, we got back to the rocking chairs and found a nice comfortable one that I'm sure I will spend a lot of time in come July.
Yesterday, we had a big day. Rob and I took our first big day trip. Rob's work truck isnt in great shape so we arent allowed to take it too far away but recently, our friend got a 2nd vehicle and told us that we can use his old truck if we want to go somewhere. I've been wanting a rocking chair and we were told that we could get some nice chairs in a town called Comayagua. I'd been wanting to go there anyway since I'd heard it is a nice colonial town with a really nice central park and very old church. The drive was probably the most interesting part of the day.
Not too long into our drive, we had to stop for a herd of cows to cross the road. Another interesting thing was the truck full of pineapple peels...I cant imagine what they are planning to do with them.
Another thing I noticed (please disregard the dirty windshield) is that Hondurans have no idea what the yellow line means. They are very happy to pass into oncoming traffic over that pesky yellow line. I found it very nerve racking.
Comayagua did have a very nice church but the town was so HOT. Mostly we enjoyed some Burger King and air conditioning, before heading to Siguatepeque which was on the way to Comayagua and where we actually saw them selling rocking chairs.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Summer
I'm lucky that I wont be 9 months pregnant in the Honduran summer but we are right in the thick of it right now. Yesterday was my first real day of nasty summer heat and OMG, I felt so pregnant. I spent the afternoon outside visiting a friend because our apartment gets really hot in the afternoon and its actually nicer outside since there is a breeze. Then I cooked a very time intensive dinner so I was on my feet for over an hour. Dinner was delicious and worth it but when I finally sat down to relax after dinner my feet were HUGE! I've never seen them like that before. It was so uncomfortable. I was using the new cooler that I bought for transporting groceries as foot rest and ended up opening it and sticking my giant feet into the cool water. I can honestly say now that everyone is right, it much easier to be pregnant in the winter than in the summer. I hear a lot about summer here....that April is the hottest month....that the heat lasts until June. I know that I will be praying for an early rainy season!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Homes Sweet Homes
Sorry that I haven't posted but I just got back from spending 2 weeks at my parent's house in Dallas. It was great to be home in Dallas but I am glad to be home in Honduras. I think I'm lucky to have multiple places that feel like home to me.
The last 2 weeks were really fun but I hadn't realized before just how short 14 days can be. I tried to spend time with everyone and was almost successful. The truth is that I am one of the luckiest people in the world because I have so many people who really truly love me and care about me. Not only do I have all of these people in Dallas but I had SIX visitors who had to get on planes to come just to spend some time with me. They all came during the weekends so my weekdays were spent running from lunch with so and so to dinners with family. I feel like I had a chance to really get to know my little niece and nephews who keep growing so much while I've been gone for the last almost-a-year-and-a-half. I did a ton of shopping for important stuff for our apartment like couch covers and curtains and even some small kitchen appliances. I spent a day cooking with my grandmother and sister-in-law to try to get down some wonderful family recipes.
The culmination of the visit was the shower which was amazing. I know that I tortured everyone by not registering. The big practical stuff, I know that I can get down here without having to worry about how to get it down here and the baby clothes down here just don't compare to what I can get in the states. I'm so proud of all of my friends because out of like 100 outfits and blankies and towel sets, each one is gorgeous but I didnt get a single duplicate. I am going to have the best dressed baby in Central America! I'll try to blog pics of him in all the outfits as we go through them. The whole shower was amazing though, the games were really fun, the cakes were beautiful, the food was delicious (thankfully because there was so much of it we were eating it for days), and most of all, the company was great and let me leave Dallas feeling so loved. I'm sure that the baby felt that love and even though we are a world a way, he will know that there are people in this world who love him and care about him. OK, I must be pregnant because I am getting all choked up writing this.
As a huge contrast to my 2 weeks spent in Dallas where everything is so 1st world and orderly and new and perfect, was my day yesterday trying to get home to the mine in Honduras. First of all, my parents and I awoke at 4:30am. There is nothing like having to be up that early to make you wake up 100 times during the night. Mom and I threw on our clothes and headed out to the airport. Even though the first part of my trip had perfect Dallas springtime weather, it was really cold as we walked into the airport. I was excited about the flight part of my trip because instead of taking American Airlines and paying with miles, I tried out Continental which goes through Houston and cuts about 5 hours out of the travel time. I would arrive in San Pedro at 11am, giving me time for lunch, grocery shopping and still getting back to the mine not long after Rob finished work at 3:30. HA! My flight to Houston was uneventful. I managed to doze for about 15 minutes. Everything seemed fine in Houston...I boarded the plane happily into my seat in 11F which is nice a close to the front. I settled into my seat and noticed that everyone on the plane was yawning from similar early mornings to mine. The flight was only about half full so the middle seat next to me was empty of people. We all kind of settled into our naps. Through the haze, I heard the pilot say something about finding something that they didnt like going on with the plane during the pre-flight inspection but whatever, I was tired. Probably about 30 minutes later, he came on the loudspeaker and said that we were to change planes because of this mechanical problem. Not a huge deal. We were all headed to Honduras so its not like anybody was in a hurry and we all need to get used to things happening on their own time, right? Once we got on the plane, they even told us that the $6 direct TV would be free for us for the hassle that we had so I settled into a movie and not long after it ended, I looked out the window and saw acres and acres of palm trees. It made me smile.
I got off the plane and was instantly hit with hot air from outside. As I walked through the airport I was tugging at my sweatshirt trying desperately to get it off of me while at the same time trying to beat out the passengers from another big flight for a good spot in line for immigration. I won and it all went quickly and smoothly as usual. "You are headed to El Mochito, Santa Barbara?" "Yes" "I will take your picture now" "OK" "Thats it, NEXT". It was the most an immigration official has ever said to me in Honduras! Then off to get my bags. The lady who sat next to me on the plane was complaining that she hates how they pull the bags off the belt for you in Honduras but I was relieved because I'm not supposed to be lifting and my bags were really heavy. We laughed that the conveyor belt wasnt even turned on which employs 10 guys whose jobs it is to tug all of the giant, heavy suitcases along and put them in a line on the floor. Its very typical Honduras and I was really feeling at home and laughing to myself at the gringos for whom this was obviously their first trip.
I called Rob to let him know I was finally here and he sounded relieved. "I've been waiting for hours to hear from you." "Yeah, my flight was late, it was a fiasco but no big deal" "Well, your day is not looking like its getting better. There are major strikes going on and the roads are closed. Mine personnel from San Pedro couldnt even get to the mine today and you might have to stay the night in San Pedro." I just laughed. The best part of the mine is that they take the task of taking care of all of us very seriously. I spoke to Winston, the head of security, who was also stranded in San Pedro. He told me that we would check in with each other in 4 more hours and in the mean time to go with the driver wherever I wanted in San Pedro.
My driver was great, a young guy named Ariel who told me that he works for Winston's family. Of course, I wouldnt be using a normal mine driver since they couldnt actually get into San Pedro because of the strikes. I wasnt angry about the strikes because I am sympathetic for the teachers who continue to teach even though they rarely actually receive their pay checks. I found out later that yesterday just happened to be the day that 14000 healthcare workers and many other national employees decided to join the teachers for a big, giant strike. Oh well, more shopping. I checked out baby stuff at various stores and got the curtain rods to hang the curtains that I bought in Dallas. I even spend a couple of hours at a fancy mall with international stores like Benetton. I looked at every baby outfit and smugly was assured that my baby will still be better dressed than even the rich San Pedro babies.
Finally, I ran into my driver, who was probably enjoying a day on the clock spent wandering the mall and he said that the roads would be open soon. Finally we headed for the supermarket and after an hour spent shopping for the "everything" that Rob said we needed, a busito from the mine arrived to take me home. I was pretty tired and after chatting with Marbeo (or something like that), I laid down and napped. I finally sat up as we were driving through Los Naranjos, the town where we had lived at the brewery. We were surrounded by the now-familiar towering tropical mountains. I know I got a big smile on my face because we were on the home stretch and I remember just how much I love these lush, green mountains and multicolored flowers.
Blah blah blah, we finally got home, dragged my stuff down the stairs from the parking lot to the apartment. I'm home and ready to get back into my routine. It is summer here and for the next month it is going to be hot hot hot during the day. Maybe I will go swimming today.
The last 2 weeks were really fun but I hadn't realized before just how short 14 days can be. I tried to spend time with everyone and was almost successful. The truth is that I am one of the luckiest people in the world because I have so many people who really truly love me and care about me. Not only do I have all of these people in Dallas but I had SIX visitors who had to get on planes to come just to spend some time with me. They all came during the weekends so my weekdays were spent running from lunch with so and so to dinners with family. I feel like I had a chance to really get to know my little niece and nephews who keep growing so much while I've been gone for the last almost-a-year-and-a-half. I did a ton of shopping for important stuff for our apartment like couch covers and curtains and even some small kitchen appliances. I spent a day cooking with my grandmother and sister-in-law to try to get down some wonderful family recipes.
The culmination of the visit was the shower which was amazing. I know that I tortured everyone by not registering. The big practical stuff, I know that I can get down here without having to worry about how to get it down here and the baby clothes down here just don't compare to what I can get in the states. I'm so proud of all of my friends because out of like 100 outfits and blankies and towel sets, each one is gorgeous but I didnt get a single duplicate. I am going to have the best dressed baby in Central America! I'll try to blog pics of him in all the outfits as we go through them. The whole shower was amazing though, the games were really fun, the cakes were beautiful, the food was delicious (thankfully because there was so much of it we were eating it for days), and most of all, the company was great and let me leave Dallas feeling so loved. I'm sure that the baby felt that love and even though we are a world a way, he will know that there are people in this world who love him and care about him. OK, I must be pregnant because I am getting all choked up writing this.
As a huge contrast to my 2 weeks spent in Dallas where everything is so 1st world and orderly and new and perfect, was my day yesterday trying to get home to the mine in Honduras. First of all, my parents and I awoke at 4:30am. There is nothing like having to be up that early to make you wake up 100 times during the night. Mom and I threw on our clothes and headed out to the airport. Even though the first part of my trip had perfect Dallas springtime weather, it was really cold as we walked into the airport. I was excited about the flight part of my trip because instead of taking American Airlines and paying with miles, I tried out Continental which goes through Houston and cuts about 5 hours out of the travel time. I would arrive in San Pedro at 11am, giving me time for lunch, grocery shopping and still getting back to the mine not long after Rob finished work at 3:30. HA! My flight to Houston was uneventful. I managed to doze for about 15 minutes. Everything seemed fine in Houston...I boarded the plane happily into my seat in 11F which is nice a close to the front. I settled into my seat and noticed that everyone on the plane was yawning from similar early mornings to mine. The flight was only about half full so the middle seat next to me was empty of people. We all kind of settled into our naps. Through the haze, I heard the pilot say something about finding something that they didnt like going on with the plane during the pre-flight inspection but whatever, I was tired. Probably about 30 minutes later, he came on the loudspeaker and said that we were to change planes because of this mechanical problem. Not a huge deal. We were all headed to Honduras so its not like anybody was in a hurry and we all need to get used to things happening on their own time, right? Once we got on the plane, they even told us that the $6 direct TV would be free for us for the hassle that we had so I settled into a movie and not long after it ended, I looked out the window and saw acres and acres of palm trees. It made me smile.
I got off the plane and was instantly hit with hot air from outside. As I walked through the airport I was tugging at my sweatshirt trying desperately to get it off of me while at the same time trying to beat out the passengers from another big flight for a good spot in line for immigration. I won and it all went quickly and smoothly as usual. "You are headed to El Mochito, Santa Barbara?" "Yes" "I will take your picture now" "OK" "Thats it, NEXT". It was the most an immigration official has ever said to me in Honduras! Then off to get my bags. The lady who sat next to me on the plane was complaining that she hates how they pull the bags off the belt for you in Honduras but I was relieved because I'm not supposed to be lifting and my bags were really heavy. We laughed that the conveyor belt wasnt even turned on which employs 10 guys whose jobs it is to tug all of the giant, heavy suitcases along and put them in a line on the floor. Its very typical Honduras and I was really feeling at home and laughing to myself at the gringos for whom this was obviously their first trip.
I called Rob to let him know I was finally here and he sounded relieved. "I've been waiting for hours to hear from you." "Yeah, my flight was late, it was a fiasco but no big deal" "Well, your day is not looking like its getting better. There are major strikes going on and the roads are closed. Mine personnel from San Pedro couldnt even get to the mine today and you might have to stay the night in San Pedro." I just laughed. The best part of the mine is that they take the task of taking care of all of us very seriously. I spoke to Winston, the head of security, who was also stranded in San Pedro. He told me that we would check in with each other in 4 more hours and in the mean time to go with the driver wherever I wanted in San Pedro.
My driver was great, a young guy named Ariel who told me that he works for Winston's family. Of course, I wouldnt be using a normal mine driver since they couldnt actually get into San Pedro because of the strikes. I wasnt angry about the strikes because I am sympathetic for the teachers who continue to teach even though they rarely actually receive their pay checks. I found out later that yesterday just happened to be the day that 14000 healthcare workers and many other national employees decided to join the teachers for a big, giant strike. Oh well, more shopping. I checked out baby stuff at various stores and got the curtain rods to hang the curtains that I bought in Dallas. I even spend a couple of hours at a fancy mall with international stores like Benetton. I looked at every baby outfit and smugly was assured that my baby will still be better dressed than even the rich San Pedro babies.
Finally, I ran into my driver, who was probably enjoying a day on the clock spent wandering the mall and he said that the roads would be open soon. Finally we headed for the supermarket and after an hour spent shopping for the "everything" that Rob said we needed, a busito from the mine arrived to take me home. I was pretty tired and after chatting with Marbeo (or something like that), I laid down and napped. I finally sat up as we were driving through Los Naranjos, the town where we had lived at the brewery. We were surrounded by the now-familiar towering tropical mountains. I know I got a big smile on my face because we were on the home stretch and I remember just how much I love these lush, green mountains and multicolored flowers.
Blah blah blah, we finally got home, dragged my stuff down the stairs from the parking lot to the apartment. I'm home and ready to get back into my routine. It is summer here and for the next month it is going to be hot hot hot during the day. Maybe I will go swimming today.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Home - Apartmento B-4
As promised, here is a video walk-through of our new apartment. Here is a little commentary on what you will see. It starts with our view. First the swimming pool from above. There is a big covered area preventing us from actually seeing the pool from our balcony which is fine with me. Then the mountains of which the tops are covered in clouds this morning but the view is still beautiful. Then the other 3 apartments in our block. The apartment is just 3 rooms, the livingroom/kitchen, then the master bedroom and the nursery/guest bedroom. As I watch the video, I am realizing just how bare the walls are with no artwork but we will work on that over time. I will be bringing curtains home from my trip to Dallas which will also help a lot, especially with the blankets we have over the windows of our bedroom. Its kind of small but its home and we are very happy to be here. By normal Honduran standards, this is a palace and after being practically homeless for over a year, it sure beats a hotel room.
Friday, March 11, 2011
21 week doctor's appointment
I really want to put together the video walkthrough of the apartment but first I want it to be tidy so you guys will just have to wait.
In the mean time, I will tell about the yesterday's doctor's appointment. First of all, it was a lot more fun than usual because Rob was able to come with me. First we had another depressing weigh-in, not as depressing as the last one but I'll just say that I'm very happy that I am finally in control of my food and portions and not eating every meal in a restaurant. With that out of the way, we went in for the monthly ultrasound. I think the doctor really enjoys them and I am fascinated by them.
He started by taking the measurement of the circumference of the head and torso. Somehow they use these to double check the estimated due date. I noticed that based on the torso, I am 21 weeks and 2 days but based on the head, I am 22 weeks and 2 days so I guess the baby's head is slightly large and out of proportion. Please dont make fun of him for it...I'm sure he will grow into it eventually. We saw his beautiful brain which looked just like they do on TV so he has one for the time being.
Then the doctor's phone rang for the obligatory phone call from his family...usually it is his wife but this time it was his daughter. No big deal and it always makes me kind of glad that he is a family guy, and very glad that this time the ultrasound was on my stomach and not the internal one like the first visit where I had to endure the phone call.
After getting back on track, we watched the heart beat and confirmed that all of the ventricles are looking great. Then we distinctly saw the umbilical cord which Rob and the doctor had a nice joke about its size...if you know what I mean. Eventually, we got to the real proof that this kid is a boy and the doctor printed out the proof as a souvenir for me. If you can't tell what you are looking at, this is the view of my baby from the bottom. For those not used to these things, it is a cross section so trust me, he does actually have legs. The important part is where the arrow is. Imagine that he is sitting on a photocopier and we are seeing his butt (maybe he is leaning a bit to one side) and what is that arrow pointing to???? Yep, its the proof that he is a boy. The doctor said that I should tell everyone at home to buy lots of blue stuff...he says no yellow because he is definitely not a chicken.
Then he switched to the 4d ultrasound. We counted 10 fingers and saw 2 little feet. The doctor tried so hard to get a view of the baby's face but this little guy is super shy. We were kind of peeking around the side of the kid and at first he had his hand up to the side of his face covering the view. Then he turned so that his back was to us. The doc had me roll on my side to try to get him to turn around and he just turned even more so that we got a great view of his back and the back of his head. So far he is not a performer but from what I can tell, he is a very handsome little guy and has nothing to be ashamed of.
In the mean time, I will tell about the yesterday's doctor's appointment. First of all, it was a lot more fun than usual because Rob was able to come with me. First we had another depressing weigh-in, not as depressing as the last one but I'll just say that I'm very happy that I am finally in control of my food and portions and not eating every meal in a restaurant. With that out of the way, we went in for the monthly ultrasound. I think the doctor really enjoys them and I am fascinated by them.
He started by taking the measurement of the circumference of the head and torso. Somehow they use these to double check the estimated due date. I noticed that based on the torso, I am 21 weeks and 2 days but based on the head, I am 22 weeks and 2 days so I guess the baby's head is slightly large and out of proportion. Please dont make fun of him for it...I'm sure he will grow into it eventually. We saw his beautiful brain which looked just like they do on TV so he has one for the time being.
Then the doctor's phone rang for the obligatory phone call from his family...usually it is his wife but this time it was his daughter. No big deal and it always makes me kind of glad that he is a family guy, and very glad that this time the ultrasound was on my stomach and not the internal one like the first visit where I had to endure the phone call.
After getting back on track, we watched the heart beat and confirmed that all of the ventricles are looking great. Then we distinctly saw the umbilical cord which Rob and the doctor had a nice joke about its size...if you know what I mean. Eventually, we got to the real proof that this kid is a boy and the doctor printed out the proof as a souvenir for me. If you can't tell what you are looking at, this is the view of my baby from the bottom. For those not used to these things, it is a cross section so trust me, he does actually have legs. The important part is where the arrow is. Imagine that he is sitting on a photocopier and we are seeing his butt (maybe he is leaning a bit to one side) and what is that arrow pointing to???? Yep, its the proof that he is a boy. The doctor said that I should tell everyone at home to buy lots of blue stuff...he says no yellow because he is definitely not a chicken.
Shopping!!!!!
Hi everyone. The past 2 days have been so busy and I have so much to blog about. I will do them in 3 posts, yesterday's shopping trip, the doctor's appointment, and finally another 1 about the apartment complete with video walkthrough. I'm sitting here watching the Japan earthquake coverage on CNN espanol since that is the only real news channel that I have until hopefully later today when they should come to hook up our satallite. I have to mention how grateful I am that it is not us having to deal with an earthquake since Rob's guys just expertly repaired the cracks from last years, much smaller earthquakes here in Honduras. I have a pile of stuff to clean and organize, and laundry, and 3 days of internet to catch up on even though the internet is currently only working in fits and spurts. I'm so happy to finally have stuff to do!
Here goes....Yesterday was a HUGE day. I had a doctor's appointment in San Pedro and Rob took the day off to come with me. It was actually, his first time back in the city since we got back to Honduras and his first time using the mine's busito system. One of the great perks here is that due to us being in the middle of nowhere and many people not having any cars or anything, the mine provides transportation wherever you need or want to go. You have to schedule it and sometimes have to share the truck or van with other people going other places, but it is better than driving yourself.
We were lucky enough yesterday, to have the entire van to ourself with our lovely driver, Alex. He picked us up at 9am right near our apartment and we headed out to the big city for a day of shopping to stock up on EVERYTHING for our new apartment and the doctor's appointment. Its about an hour and a half or so to get to San Pedro from here and the first part is through curvy mountain roads. I tried to sleep for as much of the ride as possible and eventually we were there.
Our first stop was El Canal, which is like a really big, Honduran dollar store. It is super cheap and we were able to buy a ton of odds and ends for the house and kitchen. It was so funny, we had both the girl who worked there and Alex following us around with baskets to carry everything that we chose. It was like being royalty. I'm not sure if that is Alex's job since the drivers are also security or if it is just more interesting than waiting in the van but it is going to take some getting used to. I suspect that this is one of those things that the latino mine employees have no problem with but the gringos tend to feel very uncomfortable with. We just tried to do as much as possible ourselves and kind of pretend like he was just our friend hanging out with us and take the opportunity to practice spanish as much as possible. On that subject, I have to say how proud I am of Rob's spanish. His grammer might suck but his vocabulary is amazing! While I spend my days speaking only to myself and a handful of other English speaking women here, Rob is fully emmersed and kicking butt. I'm confident that he will be pretty fluent in just a few months.
After Canal, we went to Burger King so that Rob could have a coveted Whopper. Alex tried to sit and wait at his own table but we bought him a whopper and made him sit with us so that we could practice our Spanish chitchat. He lives in La Guama with his wife and 2 little kids. He has only been working for the mine for 2 months, just like us. What a nice guy!
After Burger King and our little taste of the States, we got a giant taste of the States at Pricemart which is just like sam's. I got us a membership card so I now have my first official Honduran picture ID.
Then we wandered the place, filling up the basket that Alex kindly pushed around behind us. I suspect that we blew his mind at the amount of money that we spent and stuff that we bought. He has a great job but even so, I suspect that he would never be able to afford a shopping trip like that. The place is stuffed with the same stuff that you would find at home...giant TVs, appliances, and huge quantities of American brand stuff! They have huggies and pampers and car seats and everything that I will need. The meat was gorgeous, export meat. Sadly, Honduras is a huge meat producer but they ship away the good meat and only sell the crap stuff to most of the population. Luckily, Pricesmart picks up a bunch of export meat and the prices were unbelievable. We bought steak and chicken breasts and ribs and really nice ground beef (the stuff in town is ok but has no fat at all...great for some stuff and healthier but would never work for a juicy burger). We cant even buy chicken breasts in Las Vegas. Needless to say, we are fully stocked on a lot of stuff for a while which is good because I wont make it back to San Pedro for probably a month. It was an experience in excess and felt great. Rob has done so little shopping in the past year, I think he was in heaven. I went back and forth between enjoying it and freaking out about how much we were spending.
After that, we had more time so it was off to an American style supermarket for things that we need but didnt want to buy in 50lb bags like flour and sugar stuff like that. Alex still followed us as our official cart pusher. I can just imagine the conversation that he had with his wife about these spoiled rich mine employees and their shopping spree. Frankly, I'm a bit embarassed when I think about it. It is not a Honduran concept to pick up and completely move and we came here with only clothes and a few other things so we are starting from scratch. Needless to say, we are pretty stocked up and I have my work cut out for me today to try to get everything cleaned and put away. As you will see in my post about the apartment, we are pretty limited in storage so I will have to be efficient on the storage and smart about future shopping trips. I really need to get to Vegas for some produce shopping but it is a crappy, rainy day today so that probably wont happen today.
The other interesting thing is that it seems like everyone here is desperate to clean for me. Rob's department is in charge of all maintenance and the mine provides a housekeeper for all single employees that live at the camp and all of these housekeepers fall under Rob. Rob is a beloved jefe and very respected by his staff, of course, can you tell how proud I am of my husband? Well he told me this morning that his counterpart, told one of the girls to come clean our apartment. I've also had to turn away at least 3 private housekeepers who have stopped by to see if I need help AND one of Rob's guy's mother cleans here privately and wants to be our housekeeper. Honestly, this is all I have going on and I will not be happy if someone takes away my only work. Maybe the other ladies here are ok with sitting around all day but I want to keep as busy as possible while I can still move around. I think I will let someone come in to do ONLY the bathroom once or twice a week but this place is really not that big and I know for sure that I dont want these ladies touching our laundry. We have a washer and dryer and these girls have not grown up with these appliances and dont know how to use them properly. Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of being a housewife here. I'm just thankful to finally have a home to be a housewife at. I should get to my work before some sweet lady comes in and hijacks my only work.
Here goes....Yesterday was a HUGE day. I had a doctor's appointment in San Pedro and Rob took the day off to come with me. It was actually, his first time back in the city since we got back to Honduras and his first time using the mine's busito system. One of the great perks here is that due to us being in the middle of nowhere and many people not having any cars or anything, the mine provides transportation wherever you need or want to go. You have to schedule it and sometimes have to share the truck or van with other people going other places, but it is better than driving yourself.
We were lucky enough yesterday, to have the entire van to ourself with our lovely driver, Alex. He picked us up at 9am right near our apartment and we headed out to the big city for a day of shopping to stock up on EVERYTHING for our new apartment and the doctor's appointment. Its about an hour and a half or so to get to San Pedro from here and the first part is through curvy mountain roads. I tried to sleep for as much of the ride as possible and eventually we were there.
Our first stop was El Canal, which is like a really big, Honduran dollar store. It is super cheap and we were able to buy a ton of odds and ends for the house and kitchen. It was so funny, we had both the girl who worked there and Alex following us around with baskets to carry everything that we chose. It was like being royalty. I'm not sure if that is Alex's job since the drivers are also security or if it is just more interesting than waiting in the van but it is going to take some getting used to. I suspect that this is one of those things that the latino mine employees have no problem with but the gringos tend to feel very uncomfortable with. We just tried to do as much as possible ourselves and kind of pretend like he was just our friend hanging out with us and take the opportunity to practice spanish as much as possible. On that subject, I have to say how proud I am of Rob's spanish. His grammer might suck but his vocabulary is amazing! While I spend my days speaking only to myself and a handful of other English speaking women here, Rob is fully emmersed and kicking butt. I'm confident that he will be pretty fluent in just a few months.
After Canal, we went to Burger King so that Rob could have a coveted Whopper. Alex tried to sit and wait at his own table but we bought him a whopper and made him sit with us so that we could practice our Spanish chitchat. He lives in La Guama with his wife and 2 little kids. He has only been working for the mine for 2 months, just like us. What a nice guy!
After Burger King and our little taste of the States, we got a giant taste of the States at Pricemart which is just like sam's. I got us a membership card so I now have my first official Honduran picture ID.
Then we wandered the place, filling up the basket that Alex kindly pushed around behind us. I suspect that we blew his mind at the amount of money that we spent and stuff that we bought. He has a great job but even so, I suspect that he would never be able to afford a shopping trip like that. The place is stuffed with the same stuff that you would find at home...giant TVs, appliances, and huge quantities of American brand stuff! They have huggies and pampers and car seats and everything that I will need. The meat was gorgeous, export meat. Sadly, Honduras is a huge meat producer but they ship away the good meat and only sell the crap stuff to most of the population. Luckily, Pricesmart picks up a bunch of export meat and the prices were unbelievable. We bought steak and chicken breasts and ribs and really nice ground beef (the stuff in town is ok but has no fat at all...great for some stuff and healthier but would never work for a juicy burger). We cant even buy chicken breasts in Las Vegas. Needless to say, we are fully stocked on a lot of stuff for a while which is good because I wont make it back to San Pedro for probably a month. It was an experience in excess and felt great. Rob has done so little shopping in the past year, I think he was in heaven. I went back and forth between enjoying it and freaking out about how much we were spending.
After that, we had more time so it was off to an American style supermarket for things that we need but didnt want to buy in 50lb bags like flour and sugar stuff like that. Alex still followed us as our official cart pusher. I can just imagine the conversation that he had with his wife about these spoiled rich mine employees and their shopping spree. Frankly, I'm a bit embarassed when I think about it. It is not a Honduran concept to pick up and completely move and we came here with only clothes and a few other things so we are starting from scratch. Needless to say, we are pretty stocked up and I have my work cut out for me today to try to get everything cleaned and put away. As you will see in my post about the apartment, we are pretty limited in storage so I will have to be efficient on the storage and smart about future shopping trips. I really need to get to Vegas for some produce shopping but it is a crappy, rainy day today so that probably wont happen today.
The other interesting thing is that it seems like everyone here is desperate to clean for me. Rob's department is in charge of all maintenance and the mine provides a housekeeper for all single employees that live at the camp and all of these housekeepers fall under Rob. Rob is a beloved jefe and very respected by his staff, of course, can you tell how proud I am of my husband? Well he told me this morning that his counterpart, told one of the girls to come clean our apartment. I've also had to turn away at least 3 private housekeepers who have stopped by to see if I need help AND one of Rob's guy's mother cleans here privately and wants to be our housekeeper. Honestly, this is all I have going on and I will not be happy if someone takes away my only work. Maybe the other ladies here are ok with sitting around all day but I want to keep as busy as possible while I can still move around. I think I will let someone come in to do ONLY the bathroom once or twice a week but this place is really not that big and I know for sure that I dont want these ladies touching our laundry. We have a washer and dryer and these girls have not grown up with these appliances and dont know how to use them properly. Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of being a housewife here. I'm just thankful to finally have a home to be a housewife at. I should get to my work before some sweet lady comes in and hijacks my only work.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Feria
The feria or fair is in Las Vegas right now. Thats Las Vegas, Honduras not Nevada. I'd been wanting to go since it isnt often that something different happens. It certainly isnt the Texas State Fair but it was fun.
First of all, it was a good opportunity for some street food. Here is a picture of the food section of the fair.
We had roasted corn with lime and butter which was tasty even though the corn here is not the sweet corn that we are used to in the states. It tasted more like popcorn but was still delicious. We also had some really tasty baleadas which are probably the most Honduran food that there is. Baleadas are large flour tortillas (much different than the mexican flour tortillas that we are used to) with scrambled egg, refried beans and a little local cheese. The ones we had also had some chorizo and hot sauce. They are my favorite food here. Here is a picture of one that I stole off the internet.
Rob shot the BB gun at the little army guys and won us a bunch of stuff. Some of it will actually come in handy in our new apartment that we will be moving into tomorrow.
First of all, it was a good opportunity for some street food. Here is a picture of the food section of the fair.
We had roasted corn with lime and butter which was tasty even though the corn here is not the sweet corn that we are used to in the states. It tasted more like popcorn but was still delicious. We also had some really tasty baleadas which are probably the most Honduran food that there is. Baleadas are large flour tortillas (much different than the mexican flour tortillas that we are used to) with scrambled egg, refried beans and a little local cheese. The ones we had also had some chorizo and hot sauce. They are my favorite food here. Here is a picture of one that I stole off the internet.
Then we wandered around for a while. I'd really wanted to get a video of the ferris wheel because the one down here runs really fast. There was no way that I was getting on any of the rides.
Rob shot the BB gun at the little army guys and won us a bunch of stuff. Some of it will actually come in handy in our new apartment that we will be moving into tomorrow.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The end is near
...the end of over 14 months of hotels and other temporary housing, that is. Its good to be married to the guy in charge of housing. Rob has made a deal with his guys, if they can be done fixing up our apartment so that we can move in on Wednesday evening, he will buy them lunch from Pollolandia on Friday. Yes, you heard me, Pollolandia. I agree, it is a stupid name for a restaurant but, as far as I can tell, there is on in every town in Honduras. Can you guess what they sell????? Yep, chicken. Its good, its cheap, and everyone seems to love it.
I dont have such a problem with the hotel except the lack of a kitchen, the lack of a room to go into to get away from this person that I have shared single rooms with for over a year, a lack of any sort of distance between the bathroom and this single room AND as a bonus, they have started building car ports on all of the parking spots outside of the hotel this week. They start bright and early at 6:30am running a generator and saws.
I can't even begin to say how excited I am to move.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Magically growing belly
I had to make a quick post to say that I swear my belly grew last night. I barely slept so I'm not sure when it happened. Normally my tummy is smaller in the morning and kind of grows as I eat during the day but this morning, I got up and looked in the mirror and I swear that its bigger.
I think I have some kind of cold or allergies or pregnancy related congestion. As with most things this pregnancy, I cannot tell the difference. Its been about 2 weeks but I think that maybe its gotten worse in the last few days making me think that it is a cold or allergies. It is just my sinuses but I only get sick every few years and am feeling pretty miserable. It could be allergies since over the last couple of weeks, the weather has become hotter and drier and distinctly different.
I think I have some kind of cold or allergies or pregnancy related congestion. As with most things this pregnancy, I cannot tell the difference. Its been about 2 weeks but I think that maybe its gotten worse in the last few days making me think that it is a cold or allergies. It is just my sinuses but I only get sick every few years and am feeling pretty miserable. It could be allergies since over the last couple of weeks, the weather has become hotter and drier and distinctly different.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
20 weeks
I'm 20 weeks this week which means that I am halfway there. The biggest news is that I am feeling him kicking and moving around a lot and even Rob has felt a kick. I'm finding the whole process fascinating.
According to the internet, he is the size of a small cantaloupe this week. It just so happens that I bought 2 small locally grown cantaloupes this weekend. I ate 1 yesterday and boy was it yummy. I studied it next to my stomach and it seems a bit bigger than the baby. Maybe they are just talking about length.
For the past week or so, its been getting pretty hot here and the regular rains have let up, too. It still cools off at night which is nice but standing in the sun during the day can be brutal. Its still nothing like Dallas summer, although, I can see that if it really gets hotter than this here, we will be very happy that our apartment is next to the pool. Until then, I've discovered that the pool area is a nice place to hang out during the day. It is central so people are always walking by and there are nice tables and chairs in the shade where it is always comfortable temperature-wise.
I'm still pretty obsessed with my weight. I wont bore you with it but it is absolutely the most difficult part of this whole process for me. I've given up on the idea of being all tummy. I'm still walking on the treadmill regularly and am just trying to focus on how much I will be running on it after July to get back in shape. For the first time yesterday, on the treadmill, I could really feel the baby hanging out very very low in my stomach. I dont think that he is a fan of my workouts but I'm going to keep at it as long as I can. I can see now that I will hit a point where I will have to stop on the treadmill...maybe I can move to the bike after that.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Finally saw our apartment
Rob and I went at lunch to check out our future new apartment. Its current residents will be moving out on Monday or Tuesday and then it just needs a few days of paint and stuff and it will be ours. Its actually a lot nicer than either of us expected. It has this nice big front patio and then you walk into a living room area that is open with the kitchen towards the back. To the left is the master bedroom which is HUGE! It is at least as big as the living room area and absolutely big enough for a king size bed (which is exciting because we haven't slept on anything bigger than double beds in over a year and I hear I'm not the easiest person to share a bed with as it is), a crib and bedroom furniture. On the other side of the living room is the other bedroom which is also pretty good sized. We will have no problem keeping a bed for guests in there and wheeling the crib into our room in the event that anyone comes to visit. The 2nd bedroom will need a complete redecorating because after housing 2 little girls for the last 4 years, that room needs to be seriously un-pinked. I'm pretty excited to buy curtains and maybe even a cute border or something when I am in Dallas next month to turn that room into a little boy's nursery. They have a crib in the master bedroom and I'm not quite sure if they said it belonged to the mine or not but it is pretty easy to see what our place will look like in another few months...minus the pink and barbies. Even the bathroom is really nice and not nearly as ugly as the bathrooms in the houses here that were all built in the 60s and are either pepto pink or lime yellow.
I also want to comment on the kids here at the mine. You can tell that they are all so comfortable here and it seems like the other residents here are all just extended family. I went on a little field trip the other day with the kindergarten - 3rd graders (5 kinders, 5 1st graders and 1 lone 3rd grader....3 boys and the rest girls) to the orchid place here and a coffee farm that is also here on the property. Then last night, at dinner up at the club, one of the little girls recognized me and ran up and gave me a huge hug. Sure the kids here can be rowdy while the adults roll their eyes and discuss how if they were our kids they would get a spanking and be told to sit still and stop bothering people, but I appreciate that the kids feel like this is their home, too and all seem comfortable and happy and known by the grown-ups.
Tomorrow will be my day off from working out but when I go this weekend, I will bring my camera so that I can take another belly picture in the big mirrors. My belly is getting bigger, although I feel really good today after talking to the wife who is living in our future apartment and she couldnt believe how far along I am and how good I look. I really needed to hear that!
I also want to comment on the kids here at the mine. You can tell that they are all so comfortable here and it seems like the other residents here are all just extended family. I went on a little field trip the other day with the kindergarten - 3rd graders (5 kinders, 5 1st graders and 1 lone 3rd grader....3 boys and the rest girls) to the orchid place here and a coffee farm that is also here on the property. Then last night, at dinner up at the club, one of the little girls recognized me and ran up and gave me a huge hug. Sure the kids here can be rowdy while the adults roll their eyes and discuss how if they were our kids they would get a spanking and be told to sit still and stop bothering people, but I appreciate that the kids feel like this is their home, too and all seem comfortable and happy and known by the grown-ups.
Tomorrow will be my day off from working out but when I go this weekend, I will bring my camera so that I can take another belly picture in the big mirrors. My belly is getting bigger, although I feel really good today after talking to the wife who is living in our future apartment and she couldnt believe how far along I am and how good I look. I really needed to hear that!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Orchids
One cool thing about this part of the world are the orchids that grow absolutely everywhere. I went for a nice walk here with one of my friends and we found this cool garden area. It is done up really nice with paths and labels on a lot of the trees and a greenhouse full of carefully labeled orchids of every variety. I took a ton of photos that I'm uploading to Picassa.
Mom, I thought about you the whole time. I can't wait to show it to you when you visit. It will be a nice place for you to get some time away from us when you need a breather.
Mom, I thought about you the whole time. I can't wait to show it to you when you visit. It will be a nice place for you to get some time away from us when you need a breather.
New baby ticker
Check out my new ticker at the top of the blog. It has some info on the status of the baby and which fruit or veggie it is that week. This week he is mango!!!! Mangoss are just coming into season here, not on the million mango trees around here but they have been selling yummy ripe mangoes all over. I came home this afternoon and ate 3! I've been told that the trees around here wont ripen until around July or August so this little guy really will be a mango baby.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A few of my favorite things
I'm listening to that old song "My Favorite Things" and it got me thinking about my favorite things both from home and here.
I'll start with things from home I love and miss:
- My family and friends
- Bagels! (I cant wait to come home in march and eat bagels...my doctor thinks I've put on weight now, wait until he sees what 3 bagels a day can do to me)
- Flavored coffee creamer (which I do have here but only because I brought a stash of it)
- A kitchen (which I will have soon enough)
- My boat (which we will be selling but I wish I had it here since we are even closer to a beautiful lake)
- My car-I miss hopping in my car to go wherever I want
- Super Target
Things that I love that I have here in my new home:
- My husband
- The adventure of it all
- The fresh fruit here cannot be beat!
- The scenery
- The weather
- My new friends
- Being a stay at home wife (especially with daily maid & laundry service and no kitchen..I will enjoy this while it lasts)
- My computer & internet, my wii, TV with cable (somethings are the same everywhere)
I'll start with things from home I love and miss:
- My family and friends
- Bagels! (I cant wait to come home in march and eat bagels...my doctor thinks I've put on weight now, wait until he sees what 3 bagels a day can do to me)
- Flavored coffee creamer (which I do have here but only because I brought a stash of it)
- A kitchen (which I will have soon enough)
- My boat (which we will be selling but I wish I had it here since we are even closer to a beautiful lake)
- My car-I miss hopping in my car to go wherever I want
- Super Target
Things that I love that I have here in my new home:
- My husband
- The adventure of it all
- The fresh fruit here cannot be beat!
- The scenery
- The weather
- My new friends
- Being a stay at home wife (especially with daily maid & laundry service and no kitchen..I will enjoy this while it lasts)
- My computer & internet, my wii, TV with cable (somethings are the same everywhere)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Whew, busy weekend
I'm really surprised at how busy I feel here. Not stressed out busy but I'm having no problems staying occupied.
The biggest thing that has been going on is that one of my very very good friends here is heading back to England. She has been here in Honduras for 4 years and we worked and lived together at the brewery. I doubt she will ever read this but I feel very lucky to have had her as a mentor on the ins and outs of living in this area of Honduras. It seems to me like the gringas here at the mine are sort of prisoners here, afraid to get out to the nearby towns using the buses and mototaxis. I haven't quite figured out why. My British buddy taught me exactly how to handle myself. I am well aware that I stand out here when I am off of the mine property. There are very few gringas in the area, let alone, those of us that are young-ish and doing our shopping just like any other local and I get a lot of attention for it. People take one look at me and know that I speak English and are quick to come up to me to practice what little English they know. I also get my share of kissing noises from random men. As far as I'm concerned, its not scary and is just a part of my new life. I'm sure the kissing noises will stop very shortly as it becomes more obvious that I'm pregnant. As far as practicing English, I'm happy to help and have a little conversation until I get to the end of their English knowledge...it generally doesnt take long. "Hi, how are you." "I'm great, how are you? Where did you learn English?"...most of the time, this is where I get the blank look. Or sometimes we can continue until we get to the place where I mention that my husband works at the mine. "Oh, your husband. Have a nice day". The kissing noises are even easier to deal with..I either ignore it and keep walking or if I am feeling bold, I smile and wave. These guys are not as outgoing as they want you to think..at that point, the laugh and blush and giggle with their friends and look away and get generally embarrassed and I continue on. I've had a great teacher and she taught me how to have fun and where to find the best deals. I've learned how to be comfortable as a spectacle so that I can be independent here. I'm sad that she is leaving but happy to have a chance to show the ropes to her replacement and even to some of the other women here.
My other big event is that I went to the doctor on Saturday. It was my first opportunity to use the transportation provided by the mine to get to San Pedro, the nearest big city where my doctor is. My driver was great and a really nice guy. It kind of sucks that it takes 1 1/2 hours to get to my appointment for 30 minutes with the doctor but that is life and once we are in our apartment, it will be a good opportunity for some big city grocery shopping. I now know why I have been feeling so fat...it turns out that I have really let myself go. I knew that I was and he confirmed it with his scale. I've been making bad food decisions at the restaurants and am going to make a huge effort to cut out the fried food as much as I can. So pretty much 90% of the menu is fried or something in a creamy sauce so I need to figure out what is good in the other 10%. I also need to curb my snacking as much as possible or at least I will try to snack as much as possible on fruit. Luckily, I live in a place with wonderful fruit. As an aside, I am so excited about the fruits that are in season here right now. Yesterday I bought, mangos, mora (like a rasberry), strawberries and some yummy green apples (imported from the states). I got a ton of it all for just a few dollars and everything but the apples are local and fresh. Yum.
Back to the doctor....after the bad news of finding out that I have put on too much weight, he took me for my ultrasound. I'm not sure if every woman gets an ultrasound every visit but I do. I think that my doctor does them himself because the ultrasound tech doesnt speak English and it is a good chance for him to play with the equipment. What ever it is, I am fascinated with the technology. We saw again that the baby is a boy. Everything looks like it is forming well and I even saw his brain...thankfully he has one, and his little stomach, and his little heart beating away. I saw little hands and feet and he is so active! Then my doctor pulled out the 4D ultrasound machine. To be honest, that was pretty freaky and the little guy is still so little and without any fat that he looks like of like a mutant. He printed out a picture so here he is, guys! I had to take a picture of the picture with my camera so its not the best but it is definitely human!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
17 weeks
Here I am 17 weeks. Its a lot harder to blog when I am just living "normal" life and not traveling to a different place every day. At least I can count weeks to make sure that I post at least once a week.
After last week's avocado size comparison I was going to start a new tradition of eating that food on that week to celebrate but this week my baby is a turnip. Not only have I never eaten a turnip but I dont really know what they look like, what they are called in spanish or if they even have them here. I read somewhere else that 17 weeks is a sweet potato and I know that I can't find those here.
We are also done with our puppy sitting and back in our hotel room so its either foods from the restaurant or fresh fruits that I buy in town since we are without a kitchen again. I suspect that it will be a month or so before we are able to move into our apartment. There is a whole chain of moving that needs to happen before we can move and the first people havent moved out of their house yet to free it up for the people who are living in our apartment. It was nice to live in the big house while we were puppy sitting and I suspect that the puppies were good practice for parenthood but I am a little relieved to not have to deal with them. This hotel room is the closest thing that we have to a home right now and I'm happy to be back with all of my clothes so that I can mix up my wardrobe again. On that note, I tried to put on a pair of capris that were big on me all last year and although I was able to get them on, they were too tight to actually go out in public in. I'm still really depressed about my size. I know I'm not that huge and honestly, people around here keep saying how good I look for 17 weeks but I know that my butt has gotten bigger. I'm really ready for my tummy to get big enough to really look pregnant and maybe distract myself from my size. In the mean time, I'm back at the bottom of the hill so its a lot stairs every day for me.
What else? My new concern is about what we will do for meat once we get moved into the apartment. The only meat that we can buy here or in the nearby town that is any good is the ground beef or whole chicken. That means that we will have to really stock up when we go to the city (San Pedro) regularly. It will give cooking a whole new challenge since Rob doesnt really like dark meat chicken but he believes that without meat, its not a meal.
I have doctor's appointment on Saturday morning and Rob will have to work so he wont be able to attend. The mine provides transportation and this will be my first opportunity to use it. It will be much easier than taking the bus and taxis and a good chance for me to see how it all works. I hope that the doctor will do another ultrasound...he has done 1 for every visit. Besides my size, I dont really feel anything and I dont really know if I've felt the baby move at this point so its always nice to get a visual to assure me that everything is ok.
More later..
After last week's avocado size comparison I was going to start a new tradition of eating that food on that week to celebrate but this week my baby is a turnip. Not only have I never eaten a turnip but I dont really know what they look like, what they are called in spanish or if they even have them here. I read somewhere else that 17 weeks is a sweet potato and I know that I can't find those here.
We are also done with our puppy sitting and back in our hotel room so its either foods from the restaurant or fresh fruits that I buy in town since we are without a kitchen again. I suspect that it will be a month or so before we are able to move into our apartment. There is a whole chain of moving that needs to happen before we can move and the first people havent moved out of their house yet to free it up for the people who are living in our apartment. It was nice to live in the big house while we were puppy sitting and I suspect that the puppies were good practice for parenthood but I am a little relieved to not have to deal with them. This hotel room is the closest thing that we have to a home right now and I'm happy to be back with all of my clothes so that I can mix up my wardrobe again. On that note, I tried to put on a pair of capris that were big on me all last year and although I was able to get them on, they were too tight to actually go out in public in. I'm still really depressed about my size. I know I'm not that huge and honestly, people around here keep saying how good I look for 17 weeks but I know that my butt has gotten bigger. I'm really ready for my tummy to get big enough to really look pregnant and maybe distract myself from my size. In the mean time, I'm back at the bottom of the hill so its a lot stairs every day for me.
What else? My new concern is about what we will do for meat once we get moved into the apartment. The only meat that we can buy here or in the nearby town that is any good is the ground beef or whole chicken. That means that we will have to really stock up when we go to the city (San Pedro) regularly. It will give cooking a whole new challenge since Rob doesnt really like dark meat chicken but he believes that without meat, its not a meal.
I have doctor's appointment on Saturday morning and Rob will have to work so he wont be able to attend. The mine provides transportation and this will be my first opportunity to use it. It will be much easier than taking the bus and taxis and a good chance for me to see how it all works. I hope that the doctor will do another ultrasound...he has done 1 for every visit. Besides my size, I dont really feel anything and I dont really know if I've felt the baby move at this point so its always nice to get a visual to assure me that everything is ok.
More later..
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
16 weeks
This week I'm 16 weeks pregnant. My baby is the size of an avocado....yum. I'm not sure if they mean one of those small mexican avocados or what. I'm pretty sure its not one of those Nicaraguan avocados that are the size of a newborn baby. Either way, I think I will have one with my lunch...not a baby...an avocado.
Here ya go. Pictures of my growing stomach.
First the before picture. This is me a year ago taken at Semuc Champay, one of the most beautiful, peaceful places in the world. This is how I want to remember my body. This is probably me at my thinnest and healthiest. Notice my non-existent stomach.
Here ya go. Pictures of my growing stomach.
First the before picture. This is me a year ago taken at Semuc Champay, one of the most beautiful, peaceful places in the world. This is how I want to remember my body. This is probably me at my thinnest and healthiest. Notice my non-existent stomach.
Here I am this morning on an empty stomach. In the evening, after a whole day of eating, it is even bigger.
Last weekend, I went to visit my friends at the hotel where we stayed before coming here to the mine. Various girls from the kitchen commented on my new figure. The consensus was that they dont see a change in my stomach (which is still flat by Honduran standards) but that my but has gotten very fat...yes gorda is the word that they used. I was actually pretty depressed after the visit but they all thought it was hilarious.
I'm still wearing my normal clothes...well not the clothes that I wore prepregnancy but the clothes that I brought back from my very fattening visit to Dallas. I think they are clothes from a few years ago, before I lost all that weight in 2009. I put on a pair of shorts from my trip last year and although I can still wear them, I used to be able to pull them down without unbuttoning them and now I cannot. My bras are a distant memory also, I live in sportsbras now because they are so stretchy and comfy and by live I mean that I even sleep in them.
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