Being Pregnant

I can hardly believe the year is almost up. Its amazing what has changed in just a matter of months. My husband and I celebrated a year of marriage, and took three vacations that required flying, along with a closer to home vacation a few hours away. I have made the one year in Saudi milestone. We have had some trying moments along the way too. I have wanted a number of times, to just leave this place, and my husband didn’t always know what to do in those situations. He was close to putting me on a plane a few times with a one way ticket. But we made it through all that and add a growing baby (not yet born) to the mix, and its been pretty eventful!

I’m almost done brewing the little one. She is due to arrive late January. She takes up more and more space everyday as well. Not just in the womb, but also outside too, as we are now in the process of adding little baby clothes in pretty feminine patterns, and tiny stuffed animals that are just adorable are being added to our lives.

Being pregnant has been such a strange and cool experience. I think some days as of late, I want to be done. But I also, wonder if I will then miss it once its over. My husband has been such a support through it all. Taking me to appointments, going out to get me ice cream, or cheeseburgers when it’s actually his bed time. Two nights ago, he didn’t even complain or argue about his need for sleep on a work night as I lay in bed wide awake, instead he and I talked about stuff and held hands while the little one bounced around inside of me.

We have had fun moments pretending to want  items for the baby, like a Cinderella carriage bassinet.

This was  NEVER going to go in our home, but we had a good laugh over it. We didn’t necessarily laugh over the talks where my husband just wants to use a cardboard box for the baby on top of a deep freezer. We don’t even own a deep freezer, but he sees this as an opportunity to get one.  That to me is trashy and ridiculous, and our baby doesn’t need to sleep in a box! I can’t help myself, when I want to get a normal crib that I will not have to deal with issues like, rolling, falling or starting to pull oneself up. Clothing. ah such cute little clothes! Everything for a baby seems to be so darn expensive. But I have done quite a bit of looking, and have found some cheaper options here in the city we live in. They might not be the best quality, but if they are just being worn for a couple months before being grown out of, it’ll do. As for me, I’m wearing a few items of clothing out myself. I have been enjoying a life of maxi skirts, leggings, and tank tops. Going out in leggings is not something I would ever do back home in the States. I find modesty to be quite lacking while wearing leggings outside of the house, unless said wearer is also wearing a long enough top or dress over them. So, the fact that I have to wear an abaya when I go out, solves that one right there. The general public has no clue what in underneath my black dress. I have also enjoyed my maternity clothes too. I don’t dress casual everyday. I have a feeling that even after the baby arrives, the maternity jeans will still be worn for a bit. But speaking of clothes for the baby…Look at the incredible baby shower in  a box that my mother in law sent over!

So incredibly blessed to have this as a starting point for dressing our little girl. I love the colors that were picked out. And the little animal feet on the pants in the middle of the picture made my husband use the word “adorbs”. Love it!

I’ve had such a great appetite (second trimester, on…) and have put on some pounds. Some days it has made me feel quite self conscious, but I have tried not to let it get to me too much. I have had an unusual love for sweets, desserts, and candy. When my candy stash is getting low, I am looking for more. Okay, every trip to the grocery store I find something that needs to be had. Last night it was Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Those large old fashioned lolly pops are good too. Jelly Belly’s, Runts, oh, and cake. I love cake. The down side to some of this incredible appetite has been some incredible heartburn. Holy cow! I brought a thing of Tums with me from the States while I was there in the summer. I think there are two left and I have two months of pregnancy left. I had to stop relying on them since I knew I couldn’t get more here. But the Dr has given me some other prescription to take, so that has helped tremendously.

I’m still dealing with the anxiety of having a baby far from my home country. Its been okay so far. I’ve cried a few times, thinking I might be slightly insane to do this. There are still things I don’t understand about how things are done here, but the way it looks, I should be okay. I mean, women have babies all the time here. This is a baby making place! I think I will switch my Dr this next week, as I haven’t seen my original Dr in over a month due to vacation time when I go in, and the one I have been seeing has felt a bit more comfortable, as she explains things to me in more detail. I like details. I like information. Not just “everything will be fine”. I don’t imagine doing this without some pain management. It looks like laughing gas is the preferred method here.  When I asked my first Dr about drug options for birth, she mentioned that she had given two epidurals. So, yeah, no one who has done this twice, goes anywhere near my spine! Perhaps the topic will be covered again once I am closer to my due date. Between now and then, I guess a little more internet research will be done. I hate internet research on some topics, because the exposure to the terrible side of things is right there with the good and its a balance act as far as what a person can then trust. My husband would tell me to not to look up information on the subject matter, but he is not the one who is going to push our little girl out of his _______.

-a very pregnant wifeabroad, signing off for now.