Happy St. Patty's Day

Hi Everybody,

We have dreary, cloudy, rainy weather here in the Dreilandeck (the region of Germany where I live). Unfortunately, that means Verena and I won't be getting together today to go on our weekly walk as rain is expected in Freiburg also but rather will be hanging out at her place - which is great too. While the weather is very "in character" (i.e. very Irish) and sets the mood for a "typical atmosphere" it's not exactly like I would have been throwing back "Green Beer" in my present condition anyway. So no reason to be sad I'm "missing out" on one of my fav holidays. ;)

As mentioned yesterday, today is also the 3 year anniversary of my arrival to Europe. I am hoping Verena will feel up to celebrating this auspicious occasion with me over a plate of that wonderful Vietnamese from the take-out place that we had last time I visited her. If not, that's ok too. I'm sure I can talk Andy into a celebratory dinner of some sort. Afterall, he wouldn't have met me if the other occasion had never taken place - or that's my logic at least.

As promised yesterday: I have an update on the Hebamme appointment. She is a super nice lady and we spent quite a bit of time talking about my insecurities based on the two miscarriages. I wanted her to understand my history if she hopes to help me through this journey. I signed up for a Geburtsvorbereitungskurs which is a long way of saying "birthing boot camp" in German. (roughly translated of course). She also told me about the bi-monthly hospital tours they have for expecting mommas which I totally intend to take advantage of. I will also need to schedule an appointment with the Chief Doctor of the birthing unit and will have a meeting with a hospital affiliated/employed Hebamme who will attend to me during my birth. In fact, in Germany (unlike the US) it is not the ob/gyn who delivers the baby but rather the Hebamme except in cases of complications.

After the baby is born I will have 8 weeks of Hebamme help (which is really cool) and they come to your house to do it. They are like a lactation coach and trusted counselor all in one. They will also weigh the baby, check the belly-button, the flesh-tones and health of the baby to make sure all is well. The only small problem is my Hebamme is on vacation/holiday from the 28th of July until the 14th of August. Since I don't know when Bob is going to make his/her way into the world (only that the due date is currently scheduled for this time period) - I'm probably going to pick another Hebamme for the after birth portion. My hebamme recommended a couple in the new city where I will be moving to. There is also a Ruckbildungskurs I can take, which is literally translated as "build yourself back-up" course or in other words, "putting humpty-dumpty back together again". I will most likely follow this course with the after-birth Hebamme as well.

New house, new city, new baby... so many 'new' things come at us in the next few months. This is such an exciting experience - I wouldn't trade it for the world. With that said, "Onward, Ho!"

All our very best,
Mommy & Bob