Baby Story - Part 2: Labor (Graphic Level: Low)

I started to write the labor and delivery story of Baby L and I, and it started to get really long. Instead of a single novella post, I've broken it into 4 parts, each with varying levels of graphic description.

All photos on this blog entry are courtesy of Lacey Sexson Photography!

Part 1: Pre-Labor (Graphic Level:  TMI)
Part 2: Labor (Graphic Level: Low)
Part 3: Delivery (Graphic Level: Eww)
Part 4: Recovery (Graphic Level: TMI)

Part 2

Around 12:30pm on Tuesday, after 39 hours of pre-labor contractions, my water finally broke.  Once the amniotic sac ruptures, the doctor on call assesses cervical dilation, and then the nurses put an adult diaper on the mom.  Now...these aren't like Depends in the USA, these are actual DIAPERS that are adult-sized, which I found hilarious - I didn't even know they existed!  As soon as they put the diaper on me, just like a baby, I had the massive gushing water like you'd see in the movies.  So also like a baby, they had to change my diaper right away.

Doctor assessed me at 3cm, which isn't quite "Labor" but we'll call it labor.  Shortly after the assessment, I had my first post-sac-rupture contraction, and I learned what an actual painful contraction feels like.  I decided at that moment to change my birth plan and get an epidural.  I think I could have actually tolerated the pain if I weren't so exhausted from a long pre-labor. Knowing that I would eventually need the energy to push Baby L out, I decided to conserve my strength - during Part 4, Recovery, I'll talk about why I still struggle with this decision.

The nurses wheeled me up from the maternity ward to a labor suite.  It was much larger than our hospital room, super bright and airy, and had a bath tub for laboring in - I had been so excited to use that tub, but BrightPoint is such a busy hospital that really nobody gets to hang out in the labor ward in a bathtub for hours on end.  Everyone pretty much labors in the maternity ward in a regular hospital room until go-time.

Anyway, once upstairs, I had to do a CTG again to make sure the baby is not in distress before the epidural.  Once the epidural was complete, I had to be strapped to the CTG for monitoring all the way up until it's time to push.  More on why this was awful later.  I went through several painful contractions during this particular CTG, we got a final assessment that I was 4 cm dilated, and we were "officially" in labor and were good to go for the epidural.  Yay!  I still count my water breaking as my official labor start time.

The epidural was inserted without much fanfare, other than I kept asking "when is it going to get here!?!?".  G reminded me that I knew in advance when I said I didn't want one that I would have to wait awhile to get it since the anesthesiologist might be busy.  This is the problem with husbands who pay attention during birthing class. :-)  The anesthesiologist finally came, and I was pain free except for a small section of my belly on my lower right side.  I twitched a little when the needle went into my spine, so I suspect that small section was my fault...and I kind of liked having a spot on my body where I knew what was actually going on, compared to feeling nearly nothing everywhere else and having my legs go numb.

Anyway, now that we were all set up, G called Lacey, our maternity photographer, to let her know.  She came to the hospital to prepare to photograph our birth story.  I thought it would be cool to capture this moment since birthing is chaotic, and a lot of parents don't think to take pictures of various birthing things amidst all the excitement.  By the time Lacey arrived, the epidural had fully kicked in, I was 5 cm dilated, and labor was awesome!  This moment was probably the high point of the experience - my contractions were pretty strong, they were about 4-5 minutes apart, and I only felt the tiniest little bit of them!

All smiles when Lacey arrived!

So obviously of that was the high point, it goes downhill from there.  Epidurals wear off, so when I started experience cramping around the edge of my belly, I notified the anesthesiologist, and they administered more meds.  This happened every 90 minutes or so.  What I didn't fully understand was that the meds were also accumulating in my system and slowing down my labor.  I didn't feel any pain, and the muscles in my body also stopped feeling the urgency to push this baby out!  I got to around 7-8 cm and then my labor stalled for a third time in three days.  It was a looong night. Contractions were getting weaker and further apart.  Sometime after midnight, the staff consulted with my doctor, and we added Pitocin to augment the labor.

At this point several things happened.  I was extremely uncomfortable having been sitting in a birthing chair with limited ability to move for hours.  I'd also had these CTG elastics tied to my belly for hours.  They itched, they were tight, and I was mostly miserable again (but pain free!) The baby's movement came into question because her heart rate was a little too consistent on the CTG monitor. This is the same CTG monitor that kept dropping the heart rate signal and contraction signals altogether.  My epidural started wearing off, and everyone agreed that I should let it wear off so that I could have strength to push, and help move labor along.  We started measuring the location of the baby's head in my pelvis to see if it had dropped far enough for me to start pushing.  I needed Baby L's head to drop about 2 cm, and my cervix to dilate another 2 cm before the push party began.

These probes measure fetal heart rate and contractions - and they are pretty uncomfortable after about an hour.

Cardiotocography (CTG) Machine which records fetal heart rate & uterine contractions.  I loved this machine the first time I heard my baby's heartbeat, but by the end of my labor, I despised it for the inaccuracy of its readings!!!

So tired, upset, uncomfortable.  G tries to encourage me.

The nurses wanted me to lay on my side to see if baby movement would improve.  I tried left side, right side, you name it, with the monitors strapped to my belly, nothing was comfortable and laying on my side only served to slow contractions further with improving baby movement.  I argued to sit up straight, but the nurses said the could get a reading on the baby because her head was too closet o my pelvis.  Every time I sat up, not only was I more comfortable, I could feel Baby L's head dropping and my contractions got stronger.  The nurses believed the baby was in distress, so they never supported my sitting up for more than 20-30 minutes at time.  I was having all kinds of anxiety about whether this delivery would end in a C-Section...which, if that was what was best for the baby, so be it, but it seemed awful to go through all this suffering to still end up with that outcome.

G catches a few Zzzz's throughout the night

The one photo I took all night - G and Lacey try to watch a show while we wait for my cervix to dilate, but I think they kept getting interrupted.  I wasn't entirely sure, since I tried to take as many naps as I could.

This back and forth went on and on for hours.  G and Lacey helped me sneak in a few moments where I leaned way forward in my chair to relieve my lower back - it was heavenly.  Finally, early in the morning, the midwife checked my cervix and it had dilated to 9 cm - moving in the right direction! - and Baby L's head was about 1 cm from where it needed to be.  We asked the midwife if I could sit up straight to allow gravity to help me, and she said, "Sure why not??".  It felt like a miracle!  The midwife and nursing staff called my doctor in from home, and we were ready to get this party started.  Almost.

My doctor was concerned that perhaps the umbilical cord was preventing the baby from descending further, so we looked at the ultrasounds - and the baby was clear of the cord.  I felt a huge sense of relief when she told me that.  Finally, around 4:45 to 5am, my cervix has dilated to 10cm.  Now are we ready??  Not quite.  The nurses started setting up my birthing chair and had me put my feet up - not in the big stirrups yet, but sort of in a squatting position.  My doctor calmly sat in a stool near my chair and instructed me to bear down with each contraction...not too hard, not like pushing, but just bear down to help Baby L's head move downwards.  Don't use up too much strength.  After a few of these, I started to feel the need to urgently push this baby out of me...and that is when the REAL excitement began!

My doc confirms umbilical cord is not wrapped around Baby L

On to Part 3: Delivery (Graphic Level: EEWWWW Gross!) -- DISCLAIMER:  Part 3 gets quite graphic in some places, and may not be 100% "medically correct" since it's told from my perspective. Just a warning, if you're squeamish, or don't like to hear about some of these things, skip to Part 4: Recovery (Graphic Level: TMI).

Baby Story - Part 1: Pre-Labor (Graphic Level: TMI)

I started to write the labor and delivery story of Baby L and I, and it started to get really long. Instead of a single novella post, I've broken it into 4 parts, each with varying levels of graphic description.

Part 1: Pre-Labor (Graphic Level:  TMI)
Part 2: Labor (Graphic Level: Low)
Part 3: Delivery (Graphic Level: Eww)
Part 4: Recovery (Graphic Level: TMI)

Part 1

Baby L's due date was official 18-Aug, so of course when the date came and went there was a measure of disappointment and anticipation for both G and me.  I had been working from our apartment rather than going into the office because by this point I wasn't sleeping well, my whole body ached, my feet were swelling...all the typical late pregnancy symptoms that make going into the office uncomfortable.  We went to see my doctor on Saturday, 19-Aug and she said everything looks fine and normal, Baby L is not too big, come back in 4 days.  When I scheduled my appointment, the hospital staff even joked with me, "is she even going to last that long?".  My response was "who knows?!?"

I worked from home on Sunday, 20-Aug and at this point, it was almost a little awkward.  I'd handed off most of my duties to my backfills, so the only remaining tasks I had were some low priority administrative things and knocking off some initiatives on my "like to have" list vs my "need to have list".  That evening, G had his twice weekly basketball game from 8-10pm, and I hung out on the sofa catching up on the show Suits.  Around 9:30pm, I had my first noticeable contraction - it was kind of weird, and I wasn't 100% sure it was a contraction.  It started in my lower belly and rolled up my whole abdomen until my womb felt hard as if I were doing crunches.  It didn't particularly hurt, but it was somewhat uncomfortable.  I quickly downloaded a contraction counter app to see if it was maybe a false alarm and I texted G.

Sure enough, about 30 minutes later, it happened again.  G asked if he should come home, I told him probably not - at 30 miuntes apart, we probably aren't going anywhere any time soon.  I started to feel excited and bumped around the apartment packing up things and preparing to go to the hospital in the morning.  G got home around 10:30pm, showered, and I told him he should get some sleep.  I was counting contractions around 10-15 min apart and the hospital had instructed us to come in when the contractions were consistently less than 10 min apart for longer 45 seconds each.

I couldn't sleep, I was so excited.  My contractions were getting closer and closer together for longer periods of time.  Some were just uncomfortable, some caused me to need to sit down and take a breath, some were fairly painful.  I felt like the worst was at a pain threshold of maybe a 4, although looking back, that was definitely NOT a 4.  Maybe a 3.  It's interesting how subjective the scale is since it's relative to how much pain has been experienced thus far.

I woke G up at, according to him, exactly 2:27am on Monday, 21-Aug to go to the hospital.  My contractions were between 3 and 7 minutes apart, and lasting around a minute each.  I was bursting with excited energy, he was groggily packing up his things.  We got to the hospital around 3:15am and went straight up to the assessment room.  They hooked me up to a CTG machine to monitor baby's heart rate, baby's movement, and timing for contractions for 30 minutes (I have grown to hate this machine).  The contractions began to slow down to 10-12 minutes apart, and the midwife evaluated my cervix as only maybe 1.5-2cm dilated.  Right on the edge of being sent back home, but since there were rooms available in the maternity ward, they decided to go ahead admit us.  Note, for future reference, we should have gone home.

That morning, I did 2 more rounds on the CTG machine during the wee hours, and my contractions dwindled away to maybe 30-40 minutes apart.  My doctor came to assess, still only 2 cm dilated. However, the contractions were mild to moderate, so we should probably stay.  Since we'd been up all night, we tried a few fitful naps throughout the day.  G went home to shower and grab food since the hospital doesn't have a cafeteria - the only food outlet is a Caribou Coffee stand on the ground floor.

G first tries sleeping on the cot - it's not very firm, and terrible for his back and hips

So then he tries sleeping on the sofa - it's too narrow for his shoulders.  He just can't win!

Around 10pm, we decided lights out and called it a night, and almost immediately, my contractions started increasing in frequency and intensity again.  After about 2 hours, called the nurse to tell her, and she hooked me up to the CTG machine.  This is when I started to hate this machine - it involves strapping 2 transducers to the belly using wide, tight, elastic bands.  The transducers are finicky and need to be moved a lot, and every time they need to be moved, the 30-minute timer for readings start over.  I was attached to a CTG for about 2 hours that night - the nurse kept trying to move me and move the transducers to get better readings.  I didn't know it at the time because I didn't have any symptoms, but I believe I had developed a urinary tract infection that had reached my left kidney because laying on my left side was excruciating.  The nurse kept pushing laying on the left because the bloodflow to the baby is better, so readings on baby heart rate and baby movement would be better - eventually, I started crying from the pain and G pushed the nurse off me and pulled me into a sitting position.  By this time, I think the stress killed my contractions again, and the doctor who came to assess me said I was still only at 2 cm.  I was so discouraged that when everyone left, I sobbed into G's shoulder that I just wanted to meet my baby girl!

The next day, we decided to walk laps around the maternity ward to try to get things moving.  G held my hand and walked around circles with me, opening doors and goofing around to keep my spirits up.  The nurses brought me a birthing ball to sit on and roll around.  G went home again to get more snacks and clothes.  Just before lunch, I had rolled around on the ball since contractions were more comfortable in that upright position.  I decided to take a nap, and as I climbed into bed, my water broke!  I had a contraction, felt what I thought was Baby L kicking me, but was actually the amniotic sac rupturing.  We called the nurses and G gave me a big high-five.  We were so exhausted, but also giddy!!  After 39 hours (9:30pm Sunday night to 12:30pm Tuesday afternoon), we were finally in Labor!!!

On to Part 2: Labor (Graphic Level: Low)!

Reflections

The last few weeks have been super hectic as we've been getting ready for the baby, working through visa issues, and preparing for our move to Dubai.  In addition, I've been providing vacation coverage for two managers on our team, which ended up being a bit more involved than I originally expected. At the end of this past week, I handed all my extra coverage responsibilities back to their owners, AND I handed most of my normal responsibilities over to the person providing my maternity leave coverage.  All the laundry for the baby is done, the carseat is installed, the bassinet assembled, and now I just have some time to rest, wait, and reflect.

I reflect on what a wonderful husband I have.  G surprises me every day with how supportive and loving he is towards both our unborn child and me.  I knew that my ability to love would grow with the expansion of our family, what I didn't know was that my love for my husband would grow too. 

I reflect on my life before I met G. If I hadn't met G, and I was still single at 35, I planned to find a sperm donor and have a child on my own.  When my divorce was finalized, I started treatments to preserve my eggs as an insurance policy to myself for having children.  My dad is close to retirement, and we had a plan for him and my step mom to move to Houston to help me raise my child.  Having a child was important enough to me to do choose to do it alone, and while I am glad I didn't have to, I would still make the same choice.  I haven't even met my daughter yet, and I am so filled with awe and wonder of her.

I reflect on my life before my divorce.  I try to imagine pregnancy and a child with my first husband. I don't doubt that it would have been filled with love, and at the same time very different than my experience now.  We were married for over 8 years, together for a total of 13.  He was a huge part of my life.  Our marriage was incredibly tumultuous filled with brilliant highs and dark lows.  Early in our marriage, he wanted lots of children - at least 3, maybe 4 or 5. Over the next few years, he was diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression, debilitating migraines and eventually bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. We thought we could defy the statistics -- 90% of marriages involving bipolar disorder fail.  I educated myself on mental health, we tried to find support groups, and in some ways, I began to lose myself. I became the worst version of myself and I continuously felt like a failure as a wife and partner.  The harder I tried, the more hyper-aware of his needs and mood swings I became, and the further I drove us apart. Amidst all this, the timing was never right for us to start a family - first he was finishing his PhD, then he accepted a job in a different city from where I lived, then he was unemployed in a deep depression, and at some point during our mental health journey together, he no longer wanted children.  We spent countless hours in counseling, and in the end, having a family was important enough to me to walk away. After filing for divorce, I started going to church again.  We had found a church we loved when we lived together in Minnesota, and after moving to Texas we drifted away from church in the same way that we drifted away from each other. It was hard for me to go back after such a long time away, and it took a long time before I could sit through a full mass without crying.  I learned that love isn't enough;marriage requires hard work and God, and I needed my next relationship to be faith centered.

I reflect on my life before my mother passed away.  I try to imagine the advice my mom would have given me while pregnant.  My mother and my first husband never really got along, and she and I grew apart because of that.  When she died a few months after my divorce was finalized I felt robbed of time to reconnect with my mom. We had made plans for her to visit me in Houston more often, something she was never able to do.  She wanted so much to be a grandmother.  I miss her every day, and I hope to see her stubbornness and her spirit in my daughter.

And my reflections usually come back to G. I don't have words for the gratitude that I feel towards him every day and I feel so blessed that he has come into my life.  Whether he was sent to me by my mother, my guardian angel, or God himself, I couldn't have imagined a more perfect partner for me. We often speak of wishing we could have met sooner, had more time together, and yet I know in my heart we met when we needed to meet.  We each had many things to learn in our first marriages before we were ready to be with each other.  I know the church's teachings on marriage and divorce, and while I wish my twenties hadn't ended in a failed marriage, it has shaped and molded me into stronger more patient partner for G.

Baby Projects!

Well ok, only one baby project.  I bought a sewing machine a few weeks back and I needed an easy project to orient myself to my new piece of awesomeness.  Now that the baby laundry is done, the car seat is installed, the stroller is assembled and we've found a home for everything, we're just waiting for the baby to show up!  That means it's time to finally open up that beautiful Innovis F420 and start a project.

So shiny and new!!

So many options!!  Also - I wasn't sure how much I'd like the knee lift, but it turns out that I love it!!

And it comes with a snazzy cover.  It also has the option for an extended table, but I decided to wait until we move to Dubai since I won't be quilting until then anyway.

I love baby projects.  I mean honestly, what's not to love?  It's hugely satisfying to the engineer in me to cut, measure, and assemble something.  Baby projects are quick because babies are small!  Baby projects are super forgiving because babies don't care if your seams aren't perfectly straight.  Baby projects are adorable because...well, babies!  I also love to give new mom's a fun hand-made gift to go along with what might be on their baby registry.  I started going through my list of projects that I'd been saving up and found the perfect "easy" project to help me learn the ins and outs of my machine.

She won't be able to use them for a few years, but I decided to make our baby a set of fabric letters. It's a great project for squeezing in a little bit here and there - each letter takes less than 5 minutes to pin and less than 5 minutes to sew, so I can put as much or as little time into it as I have at the moment.  Perfect for a new almost-mom!  I printed the letters and I'm using a charm pack of fun floral prints, some felt to stabilize the letters, and black thread to outline the letters.  I haven't decided if I want to quilt the letters with a lighter thread, but I have plenty of time to make that decision!

Each of the letters outlined in black, then cut with pinking shears to prevent fraying

So far, I'm about a third of the way through the alphabet, and I love how the letters are turning out. I'm hoping baby shows up before I finish!

Sewing Machine and Baby Stuff!!!

This week was a pretty exciting week!  It started last Saturday with a trip to Dubai to buy a sewing machine.  In Houston, I had a Singer that my parents bought me a few years ago, and I had planned on shipping it to Dubai in November...and after finishing the cross stitch that I'd been working on for a year, I decided I wanted a sewing machine NOW (I know, crazy, like I really need sewing projects when I'm about to have a baby) and I wanted an upgrade. #impulsive.  So my amazing and wonderful husband drove me first to Ikea to pick up some inexpensive basics (scissors, thread, pins, etc) and then all the way to Dubai to help me pick out a dual-voltage sewing machine that would take care of my sewing needs for years to come, both at home and abroad.  Plus, some of the reviews I'd read about bringing USA Singer Machines abroad were that even with a voltage converter, the change in electrical frequency would slowly kill the motor in the machine...so now I'll just be spoiled when I move home with two different sewing machines for all my projects.  One for sewing and one for quilting maybe?  Who knows!

I finished this cross stitch for one of my besties (who also happens to be named Kim...so she is Kim 1 and I am Kim 2) in Houston who has a similar motif tattooed on her wrist.  Just need to press, mat, frame, and ship it to her!  Sorry Kim 1 - I probably won't get to that part until Christmastime. Xoxox!

Basically, if you want to buy a higher-end sewing machine (i.e. >$150), there are only two stores in Dubai.  Classic Quilting sells Bernina, and Craftland sells Brother, Janome, Singer, and Pfaff. Bernina's start at like $1,200, and my sewing skills aren't QUITE there yet.   I decided on a Brother Innovis F420, which unfortunately, Craftland didn't have in stock that day -- I was so bummed!  I was ready for a new project RIGHT NOW!  Luckily the Craftland girls are super nice and they offered to deliver it to me in Abu Dhabi once the machine came in.  2 days later, it was on my dining room table!  Like a good little engineer, I spent the evening reading the instruction manual.

Hello Beautiful!

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) my beautiful new sewing machine is still in the box because we learned that our baby shipment had cleared customs and would be delivered the next day!!!  Sewing projects would have to wait, because our apartment was about to look like the baby section of Target threw up all over it.  We went from having minimalist "baby stuff" tucked into a hospital bag to having everything all at once, including some pretty nifty swag!

First, the free stuff - The Amazon Registry Giftbox was awesome!!!  It had a bunch of diaper and wipe samples, a full package of wipes, a super soft swaddle blanket, breast pads, and a bottle.

In addition to the registry giftbox, Amazon gave us $100 to spend on diapers and wipes!  Since we plan on cloth diapering, we mostly purchased wipes and diaper liners, along with some cotton prefolds to use as rags.

We have said many times how thankful we are for our wonderful friends back home in the USA - and the arrival of the shipment was another reminder of their love and support.  In response to the virtual baby shower our friends threw us last month, I have taken pictures of all the goodies that showed up in our shipment, and who they are from - again THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!  We love you all and we can't wait to introduce you to Baby Linh!

From Alaina, an adorable elephant baby towel, a beautiful ring-sling carrier, and a travel bassinet!  The towel is so soft and sweet, the ring sling will get tons of use, and the bassinet will be awesome for our trip to Vietnam in January! Extra thanks to Alaina for planning our virtual baby shower!!!

From Kathleen - Our Baby's First Year record book so we can document all her milestones!  It also goes with the general astronaut and outer space theme that we'll be using for Linh's nursery in Dubai.

From Bette - this super practical collapsible bathtub (a must in our limited-space apartment!) plus a swim diaper.  We met some other new parents at the pool here in Abu Dhabi, and they had their little in the pool starting at 6-weeks...we think we will try to do the same!!!

From Brad - a pile of Gerber Onesies (in various sizes!) and some super soft muslin swaddles.  Linh will not have to worry about being too hot or too cold because she'll have lots of layering options! Plus I think there will be some sewing projects for those lovely little blank canvas onesies...

From Gay - a pair of luxuriously soft sleep sacks and some very absorbent-looking drool bibs.  Linh will be drooling in style!!

From Fugy - a set of Burt's Bees Onesies.  I just love the fun little bumble bee patters on these!  Gabe made a joke about Burt's Bees totally selling out since these are clearly not made of beeswax, but who cares, they're so cute!

From Abbie - one of our most practical gifts, all of the Kiinde supplies I'll need for breastfeeding for when I go back to work.  I'm not especially looking forward to trying to juggle work and pumping, but I am excited to use the Kiinde system!

From Amity - a soft stretchy nursing cover/infinity scarf, adorable little socks, and breast pumping accessories to help mama keep baby full!

From Brenda - Also super practical diaper genie with liner refills!  Whether we're using disposables or cloth, this will be great for containing those smelly blow-outs!

From my college roommate and bestie Jennie, a pile of newborn diapers and swaddlers to keep Linh snug and dry in her first days at home (will also be helpful as we figure out cloth diapering!)

From Kim 1 - I told her she went a little overboard :-)  Linh will be super stylish, thanks to Aunt Kimmie!!!

From Mery - Not just space-themed onesies, swaddle pods, and burp cloths, but tons and tons of great advice for how to navigate our workplace policies for maternity leave while living overseas!!!

From Kathy R - This super stylish diaper backpack so that G, aka Mr. Mom can be the hip and cool baby-toting dad!  It has a gazillion pockets and we love it!!!  Both G and I have different shoulder injuries, so a backpack is also a way more practical solution than single-shoulder diaper bags.

From Kathy K - An airplane carseat bag!  I didn't even know that these existed, and I'm so glad they do!  It will protect Linh's carseat when we travel, and this baby girl is going to be a world-traveller so it will get lots of use!

From Mom (soon to be Gran) - a super cute handmade dress & bloomers (top) and beautiful airy gown (bottom).  We can't wait to dress Linh up in these!

Also from Mom and Dad  - This gorgeous co-sleeper, so Linh can sleep close to me at night and still be safely in her own space.  Also doubles as a pack and play once she's too big for the bassinet portion!

From our wonderful neighbors on Brinkman St - Lisa, Martin, Courtney, JC, Ana, Neil, Alison & the girls, Lou, and Brian, our Chicco Keyfit Carseat!  It is now fully installed and ready to keep our new little one safe.  We love how easily the base snapped into the car, and how easily the seat snaps into the base!

Also from our sweet neighbor Courtney, adorable little clothes and sweet little books!

From Jamie - a funny book (that Linh will probably only hear in her first few months!), a cute lovey blanket, and a good reminder of where Linh's baba mamma comes from!

From Auntie Danielle and Uncle Jonny - Icelandic slippers....which I'm not sure when baby will wear in the dessert, but they are very cute. :-)

Also from Auntie Danielle and Uncle Jonny - Safety First!  Our awesome Baby Jogger City Mini GT.  The canopy is off since it has the car-seat adapter in, and the stroller is super easy to fold up and stow away.

Seriously friends and family, our cup overfloweth.  I know there are more gifts friends have told me were sent, my father is bringing some of them next month, and some of them are going into our shipment in September (or as G's sister Sarah says..."offerings to the Goddess, Linh!") - We truly cannot thank you enough, we have so much gratitude for all of you from the bottom of ours hearts And OMG tiny baby things are so freakin' cute!!!

XOXOXOXOXOX

Kim & Gabe

Home Hunting Dubai Part 1

It's been a few weeks since I last posted on the blog, mostly because this last semester of pregnancy has been kicking my butt. Since I've been spending most of my weekends napping and elevating my feet to minimize the swelling, life in Abu Dhabi has been pretty uneventful!  However, since we're planning to move in November, my company arranged for a half-day "orientation" with a local relocation consultant to let us look at some neighborhoods in our price range and start narrowing our home search a little early.  Based on our budget and our location criteria, our consultant suggested the areas shown on the map - Marina, The Lakes, Emirates Hills, and Jumeirah Park.  The consultant had also suggested some additional areas with popular apartment communities, and one townhouse community well below our budget, but I'll get to that later.

So the primary question is apartment vs villa (aka traditional "house")?  Personally, being the city girl, I prefer an apartment.  Most of the apartment complexes in Dubai have everything you would need, particularly with a newborn babe, right in the complex - groceries, pharmacy, even medical clinics, and all just a few steps away without getting into a car.  G, my beloved Texan who loves his wide open spaces, prefers a villa where he can crank up his music as loud as he wants and have a pile of potted plants in the backyard.  We both agree that wherever we live, it needs to be relatively close to my offices.  Yes, offices.  I have a main office shown on the map below, and due to the nature of my project portfolio, I have project work in three other locations on top of my main office, shown in big red dots.  As you can see, fortunately, all of the offices are in the same general area.

Like rational nerds, G and I decided to lay out some criteria for what we'd be willing to accept in compromise.  We agreed that if we live in an apartment, it has to have a kick-ass view - so that narrowed down the apartment options tremendously - we are left with the Dubai Marina Towers (known by the locals as Emaar 6) and Jumeirah Beach (JBR for short).   Those two apartment complexes are near the nicest public beach in Dubai, have mini-community areas with pools, have on-site gyms, are near the public rail system, and have beautiful views of the ocean.

Next criteria:  Must have at least 4 bedrooms, or 3 bedrooms + study.  Rationale is that we have our room, the baby's room, a guest room, and an office for him to work and play music.  This pretty much eliminates Emirates Hills.  The villas there were lovely, but too far out of our price range and non-negotiable.  Also eliminated the townhouse option that I talked about earlier since it was only 3 bedrooms without a study - and our housing allowance is use it or lose it, so there really isn't any point in leasing a home way under budget.  The name of the game is maximize, right?!?

Emirates Hills has the nicest bathrooms, but is about 15% above our housing allowance :-(

These townhouses are located close to work but were too small, hard to get to, and well below our budget, so we eliminated right away.  The shared fitness center was really run down with a lot broken equipment.

 G was not a fan of this townhouse kitchen either - the spaces for appliances was small, and even though the kitchen was large, not much cupboard space

Last criteria: Must have nice community areas.  This eliminated Jumeirah Park at the bottom of the map.  There were some very lovely villas there, and we probably could have actually afforded a 5-bedroom home, but the community offerings were much less desirable.  Whereas The Lakes has local community pools as well as a Fitness First gym (with a LAP POOL!!!) onsite, Jumeirah Park didn't really have a community feel as much as a "lost in suburbia" feel.  We've eliminated this option for now - it can serve as a backup in the event that the market explodes and we just can't find something in our top 3 locations.

This is the lap pool at the Fitness First gym located at The Lakes.  The gym membership fees are extra, but totally worth it because of this gorgeous pool. 

So now that we've narrowed it down to two areas - apartment near the beach at JBR or Emaar 6, or a villa at The Lakes.  Each has their pros and cons that we'll be weighing when we start searching "for real" in October.  All of the properties that we'll be looking at are owned by individual property owners, so each is a one-on-one negotiation with the owner (through their agent, of course).

JBR, for example, is a bit more affordable than Emaar 6, so that leaves negotiating room for extras like appliances, and maybe some minor upgrades or repairs.  Several of the apartments JBR is also notoriously bad for traffic - so we'll have to try to drive around that area during rush hour so I can have a feel for what that's like going to and from work every day.  A big perk at JBR for G is that the kitchens in a lot of the unit have a externally vented hood, rather than a vent hood that blows back into the apartment (like what we have now), along with gas hookup for range tops.  Since he likes to fry foods, an externally vented hood is a big boon in keeping food smells in the apartment to a minimum and cooking with gas is always so much nicer than electricity.  We didn't actually get to see any JBR apartments during our orientation, so we will definitely be looking at some during our actual house hunt!

Emaar 6 has lovely community amenities - the "6" is because the property is 6 towers, and each tower has its own pool and children's playground.  In addition, there is a main community LAP POOL, along with 2 fitness centers -- one for ladies, and one for coeds.  The traffic to Emaar 6 is much easier than to JBR since it is on the "edge" of the Dubai Marina.  Emaar 6 is also a bit dated for Dubai standards, so the actual apartments themselves in the base case are not as nice, unless the individual property owner invested in upgrades.  The biggest perk for Emaar 6, however, is that the cost of air conditioning is included in the lease, which can add up to a huge savings in this part of the world!

Can't beat this view of the Marina!

G does not love this kitchen. But he doesn't HATE it!

In terms of space, The Lakes edges out both Emaar 6 and JBR, because it comprises of detached properties and townhouses.  The floorplans are roomier - in addition to 3 bedrooms plus a study, each of the properties have both a living room a formal dining room, and two additional "family" areas which could be converted into playroom for the kiddo or second offices.  The downside is that every time G wants to go to the grocery store, he'll have to pack up the baby into the carseat and load up either the baby carrier or the stroller.

Typical freestanding villa at The Lakes - covered parking.
The townhouse layouts have a garage, so might actually be a better fit for us.

After narrowing the housing hunt down to house vs apartment and some locations, the next question is furnished vs unfurnished?  The "furnished" housing allowance is about 25% higher than the unfurnished allowance, however it would me we would forego any company assistance with utilities. It's really meant for leasing a "serviced apartment" like what we have now, where utilities are already included.  We looked at a few furnished properties, and decided to go with unfurnished.  We have some furniture that we'll ship here from Houston, and we'll also buy furniture to supplement.  Since the properties are individually owned, the furnishings are so personal to the landlord it is very hit-and-miss whether they will match our tastes.  I took a few photos of a furnished home that gave us a laugh.  The furnishings were very very high end, and really much too...fancy...for G and I.  I'd be a afraid of our baby spitting up over all of it. :-)

Yes, that is leopard print wallpaper.  Covering the ENTIRE room.

Living room #1

And Living room #2 - what you can't tell is that Living Room #1 and #2 are literally right next to each other.  How many sofas does one family need??

So that was our House Hunters Dubai Part 1!!  House Hunters Dubai Part 2 to come in September/October after baby is born.

Free Stuff!!!

Who doesn't love free stuff?  By chance, I discovered these free boxes for all pregnant moms in the UAE from Marhababy.  It's not exactly a Finnish baby box, but it is nice to have a little freebie package.  Every mom can have a pregnancy box and a baby box, so that's two opportunities for freebies!

For something similar (and better!) in the USA or Canada, check out The Baby Box Co.  There are tons of active programs, and I only regret not taking advantage to get my free box during the the 2 trips I took back to the USA this year!

I didn't think to get a shot of the cute little Marhababy box that was delivered to our apartment today, but these are the goodies inside!

The diapers will definitely come in handy.  The single wet wipe cracks me up - what baby was ever cleaned off with a single wipe?  The baby food, lotion, and body wash will all go into my hospital bag - I figure some pureed fruit will come in handy if labor runs long.  The hospital told me I could eat light foods during labor like fruits and broths.  And last, the sippy cup will surely be handy once the baby reaches that age.

Anyway, we're looking forward to our second box once the baby is born!

Incidentally, we bought out remaining "urgent needs" from our registry today and we have to send a huge hug of gratitude to all our friends and family who have showered us with gifts from afar.  From our amazing triathlon group friends who held an actual virtual baby shower on our behalf, to our tight-knit group of neighbors who grouped together to buy a large gift off our registry...from friends whom I've known for ages, to friends I've recently reconnected with, many many many thanks.  Plus a huge thanks to all of our friends across the country who have sent gifts of love, kind words, and prayers, we thank all of you!

An extra special thanks to our families who have supported us at home while we are abroad (particularly Gabe's mom and dad who have a giant pile of cardboard boxes to inventory and sort through for us!  We can't thank you enough!).  As I mentioned on Facebook, thanks to the generosity of our friends, Amazon gave us a free $100 credit to spend on disposable diapers and wipes!  How cool is that?  We expect it all to ship from Houston in mid-July and arrive in Abu Dhabi the first week of August.   Anything that doesn't quite make it into the mid-July shipment will be included in our big household goods shipment in September for our move from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and should arrive in Dubai in November.  We can't wait to put all of it to good use with our pending bundle of joy!!!