Week 38 check-up

Yesterday was a busy day for the baby! She had her doctor's appointment - these will now be once a week, since we're almost to week 39. The Embassy nurse-practitioner, Jackie, mentioned to me that she was meeting with our doctor just before our appointment, so I invited her to sit in; it's always useful for her to see how actual check-ups go, and I think she was very happy to observe. Our doctor has also worked with quite a few other Embassy families, so it's useful for the Embassy health unit to know how that works out. Anyway, Pauline continues to grow right on schedule - her head is now measuring just under 10 cm in diameter, which is enough to make me a bit nervous although the doctor says it's perfectly normal. Her abdomen and femur measurements were also perfectly normal. And although she's growing right on schedule, I haven't gained any weight in the last 2 months, which means our efforts to control the gestational diabetes through diet and exercise seem to be working very well. We then spent a good 40 minutes on the fetal monitor - she was a little too active at first, and they wanted to get a full cycle of active and asleep. The doctor says no eminent risk of going into labor... which is a relief, since we really don't want to go too early, though it does mean I have 15 more days of pregnancy.

After lunch at the hospital cafeteria (really pretty decent), Tim and I went to the midwife's office for Round 2 of acupuncture. (Round one was last week.) There are a few reasons for this: first and foremost, it relaxes me and the baby. Secondly, it's supposed to help my body get ready for labor. We're planning to induce labor, but the closer we can get to being ready at that point, the easier it should go for both the baby and me. And as we learned yesterday, some of the acupuncture points can also help encourage my body to drain some of the excess fluid I'm now schlepping around in my legs and ankles. (Not quite cankles, but they're a lot puffier than usual these days...) Our first acupuncture session was wonderful. I don't know how much it may have helped with the labor thing, but boy, it sure worked to relax me. Yesterday's session was also wonderful, though I managed to stay awake through treatment and after returning to work when it was over. Our midwife's partner is actually the one who does the treatments, so we chat in German, but it's fun (and Tim says he can understand a lot of what we're saying, which is great.) She estimates that Pauline is now around 3.6 kilos, which is about 8 pounds. Given that Tim and I were both big babies, this is no surprise.

German health care practitioners are big believers in homeopathic and herbal remedies, and our midwives are no exception. Starting a week or two ago, I've been "prescribed" raspberry leaf tea to drink - it helps stimulate contractions. Getting the pharmacy to sell it to us was a bit of a chore! but we managed to get it. Yesterday, the midwife added green oat tea to my daily regimen. It looks and smells like hay, though the tea itself tastes a bit more like green tea. This is supposed to help with drainage; we'll see how it goes.

Not Quite a Nursery

We're not setting up a nursery for Pauline here in Berlin. Though every baby magazine we've seen and every website I've browsed suggests this makes us unfit parents right out of the gate, it just doesn't make sense for us, since we'll be moving again when she's just 3 months old.

That said, Tim's done a few things to make the small bedroom where she'll spend her first few months a bit more receptive to baby. We had the twin bed that used to be in here removed to make room for Pauline's bassinet, which is all set up and ready for her (but for now, it makes a great place to store diapers and extra sheets.) Tim also spent some time last week turning her bedroom from "random place for Mommy to store stuff" into a more inviting space. The books she's received so far (from us and from others) are in her bookends. The Classic Pooh letters I just had to get for her nursery are already unpacked, though we didn't have anywhere besides our video bookcase to put them. Pauline's growing collection of golden retrievers is now perched on top of the same bookcase, including the two fuzzy ones on the left that she got for Christmas from godmother Beth. I cleared out most of the space in her dresser to make room for her clothes, which I've begun to wash.

I know it's geeky of me, but since Tim rearranged things in there, I seem to find excuses to spend time in this room. Folding clothes, sorting things... it's fun to do it when I can turn my head and see the bassinet where she'll be sleeping in just a few weeks. (Or at least, where I hope she's sleeping from time to time...)

By the way, the framed piece of art next to her bed is a Christmas present Pauline and I received from Tim this year. It's an incredible black-and-white photo Tim took at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris of a little boy, face illuminated by a stand of votive candles. All around the photo, Tim wrote out one of my favorite Bible verses, which fits perfectly with the photo:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:14-16)

I love that Pauline will get to see that every day.

Baby shower pictures

Here are a few pictures from our baby shower on Sunday:

This is most of the adults in the group in Pam and John DeVolder's living room. Clockwise from the enormous pregnant woman on the sofa: Betty, Martha, Jeff, John, Pam, Mia, Dave, Christy, and Kari.

Betty and Martha are flipping through the pregnancy scrapbook I've been keeping for Speck. I haven't put it in a book yet, but have been working on the pages as we go.

Meanwhile, Thorsten, Paul, Thomas, and Pawel are exploring the playroom. It was so much fun to have the kids around for the shower!

Baby shower!

We had our very first baby shower last weekend. Friends of ours here in Berlin got together for a lovely event - at our request, it was a mixed affair, not only for the ladies, since Speck is Tim's baby, too! Many of those who came have small kids, who seemed to enjoy the play date with one another. Having them included also felt very appropriate - a sort of sneak-peek of life with munchkins. Tim took a few pictures, which we'll post. Pauline got some more clothes, a few other baby essentials, and - best of all - the breast pump I'd registered for. OK, maybe it's more for me than it is for her, but it'll allow me to continue breastfeeding her when I go back to work. And even if we had settled on a different arrangement - both of us working, me staying home and Tim working, whatever - I think I'd still want to pump once Pauline and I have figured out how to nurse, so Tim can also be involved in feeding her. I can't imagine what it'll be like to breastfeed, but I know how much I enjoyed giving bottles to my niece Allie when she was younger - there's this incredible feeling as the baby stares up at you that I just love. I wouldn't want Tim to miss out on that bonding experience.

We've also been doing a few more things to get ready. We installed Pauline's car seat - it's an infant carrier that fits into a base and onto a stroller. I love these because if the baby falls asleep in the car (we're hoping she does, taking after Minka's example), you can lift her out when you get wherever you're going, without unstrapping her. You can then plunk her on the stroller, without unstrapping her. We wanted to put it in the car early so Minka (our dog) can get used to the concept of sharing the back seat with this contraption. She seems to be adapting fairly well, though it's an adjustment for her. Wait until that car seat has an occupant!

Tim rearranged things in Pauline's room to make a bit more space, and generally get the room ready for the baby. We're not setting up a nursery for her here, but we did need to have a little more room in there, and it looks a lot more welcoming now. I also spent some time last weekend rearranging things in the dresser in that room, getting her clothes ready to be washed for the first time (clipping tags, etc.), and so on. Now I just need to move some of my piles of scrapbook materials out of the way...

Speaking of clothes, we got a very special box in the mail today. There's a craft store in Armenia that specializes in machine-knit, hand-finished clothing. It's part of an assistance program (training and employing women) that's been around since I was in Yerevan. This little shop used to be one of the only places to get baby gifts; when friends at the Embassy would have showers, all the guests would clean out the baby-sized items in the shop! Anyway, it's still in business, and my friend Adela, who is now posted there, was kind enough to go shopping on my behalf. (She and her husband also included a few other items as gifts from them.) And the box they sent came today! I am so, so happy to have some of these beautiful clothes for Pauline.

Warm-up exercises, take one

We had a rather eventful evening yesterday! Out of the blue, I went from normal Braxton-Hicks contractions (becoming more and more common, especially after exercise or when the baby's doing her evening calisthenics) to something more like false labor. It felt something like a Charley Horse all over my belly and back. Tim started timing the waves while we frantically checked through the pregnancy books (this would be why we have them!) to see their notes on false vs. real labor. It was over after about an hour, but such a strange experience! We couldn't get to sleep after that... then as usual, I couldn't stay asleep after about 5:30, when the discomfort in my back and hips gets to be so painful I have to get out of bed. Our cats were thrilled to have me join them on the couch in the living room, but didn't quite understand that I wanted to sleep for a few more hours, so took turns trying to wake me up. Seriously, I know it isn't the same thing, but I really do believe that pets are wonderful practice for parenthood.

Here's hoping tonight is a bit less dramatic; I am entirely wiped out and really ready for some rest!

Doctor's Appointment - Week 36

Almost forgot: we had our check-up yesterday. Dr. Büscher was very happy with my blood sugar readings, and said we can step down to checking after meals a few times a week, instead of 6 times daily. (Whew!) Speck looked fine (though sleeping) on her ultrasound; she was kind enough to put on a show when we were strapped up for fetal monitoring, though, so they got a good idea of the range of her heartrate. There's something inherently hilarious about her active periods, when she moves enough to make my tummy move. A lot. As in, you can see it from across a room. It looks like I have a litter of puppies in there or something, not just one baby.

Anyway, her growth is still right on target. Her head is engaging; between that and the whole loosening of my pelvic ligaments, sleep has become a lot less comfortable for me lately. No risk of going into labor in the next week or two, so we'll go back in 2 weeks. We have a midwife appointment in the meantime, which will include acupuncture to stimulate the onset of labor. I'm intrigued by the concept.

I came down with an awful cold Sunday night, and so have been home nursing it with tea and bed rest. I'm back to work today, but taking it easy per the doctor's instructions. Other than some Tylenol for the general achiness, there's not much else I can do. This is no fun!

Family roots

We've been so busy since our last post, it's hard to know where to begin. Our big news, though, was our trip out to Western Germany. We had a few things to take care of out there, including some work-related meetings for me, so we combined them into one week-long visit. Here's how it went:

Sunday we dropped Minka off at Puppy Camp (aka with our friend Regina) because one of the hotels we'd booked didn't allow us to bring her with us. Regina loves Minka; Minka is so happy to see Regina that she doesn't even look back at us when we leave. We've been very spoiled by having such a friendly and eager dog-sitter in Berlin. We then drove straight to Ahaus, which is near the Dutch border. Despite some inclement weather, we made the drive in about 5 1/2 hours including stops - not bad. We checked into the very charming family-run hotel Tim had booked for us, took a nice stroll around the town, and enjoyed dinner in the hotel's restaurant.

Monday we had to get to work. We had been sent the e-mail address of a genealogist in Eggerode, a small hamlet right outside Schöppingen, and had made arrangements to meet with him Monday afternoon. So in the morning, we went to Schöppingen, the town from which Tim's Klitz ancestors emigrated to the US, to begin some research. The clerk at the town hall recognized our name at once, and pulled some files she'd set aside for Tim in response to an earlier query, which included the emigration paperwork that his ancestors filed back in 1869. She also helped us dig through census records to find which farmsteads the Klitzes lived on, and gave us a great map of the area so we could see exactly where those sites were. We stopped off to get photos at a few of them on our way to lunch, then came back to Eggerode for our afternoon meeting. What a treat! The genealogist, Matthias, turned up with two older villagers, both of whom are active in the town's historical society and one of whom is the descendant of the Klitzes' landlords. We explained why we were there, and they took us out to the site where the Klitzes farmed. Here's a picture:

It was taken by the final member of our party, the town journalist, who wrote a piece about our visit for the local paper. We were then invited by Mr. Schulze Sievert, the landowners' descendant, to his farm, where we walked through the grounds (including several buildings that have been there since Tim's ancestors' time) and enjoyed a nice chat with these very kind folks. It was an incredible experience.

Tuesday morning we had an appointment with the priest in Schöppingen, Father Böcker. He was very friendly and happy to give us access to the photocopied church books, including marriage, baptism, and death records. We found some very helpful information on the Klitz ancestors, though wish we could have spent more time with the records. We also discussed with him the second big item on the trip agenda: would he be willing to baptize Pauline in the Schöppingen church? We brought a few records of our own, which satisfied him that we're really married and that at least one of us is Catholic. So on April 26, Pauline will become the first Klitz in generations to be baptized in St. Brictius Church.

We continued on to Paderborn, where we spent the night in another charming hotel. It's the archdiocese seat for the towns that Tim's Kaup ancestors hailed from (Kaup being Tim's paternal grandmother's family). We spent a good chunk of time on Wednesday in the archdiocese archives, where we found lots of information. We then drove to Cologne, where we would spend the night and where I had meetings scheduled Thursday morning.

Thursday was the start of Karneval in Cologne. Imagine Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Now spread it out over 5 days, and that's Cologne during Karneval. It was terrific fun to see this pageant unfolding all over the streets. Tim got a few pictures of the revelers as he explored the city on foot; I was in meetings most of the day, but we went out again when I got back at night. It's one of those things I'm glad we didn't miss during our time in Germany.

Friday we walked around the city a bit, including a visit to the magnificant cathedral, then started our drive home. It took over 8 hours, due mainly to traffic, during which poor Tim had to deal with a very cranky wife - who would have thought that our deluxe business-class hotel in Cologne would have a bed much less comfortable than the ones we'd enjoyed in the hotels we booked for ourselves? Hard mattress + 8 1/2 months pregnant = cranky and sore. Despite the stack of extra pillows I ordered for our second night.

We had a wonderful surprise over the weekend: Tim's dad Chuck got an e-mail from a distant Klitz cousin in Germany, someone he and Tim had corresponded with years ago in the process of doing their research, but with whom they'd lost touch. She saw the article and the photo in the local paper, and wrote to Chuck. She also asked if she could join us for the baptism. It should be quite an interesting affair!