Will try to catch up

I know I know... it's been a long time.  A lot has happened, including the birth of Leonidas Aernin, since I last blogged.  I will try to catch up this week as much as I can!

My new favorite city.... sorry Wurzburg

Well, MY favorite German city has been Wurzburg for so many reasons, however, today it lost it's title rank.  Rick decided that we should go to this little town a little further south than Wurzburg called Rothenberg.  I thought he was crazy but, he's Rick... so I went along with it.  Besides I really didn't care where we went as long as we got out of the house and into the nice sunshine, so off we went.  It was easy to find... right off the autobahn.... As soon as we walked through the old city wall it was as if we walked onto a street straight from Disney.  All the buildings were together in "bold" colors with brightly colored shutters attached to the stucco walls.  The narrow cobblestone streets that made the car tires rumble as they passed (we wouldn't dare take even the RAV down these streets in fear it may get stuck).  Little shops line both sides of the streets filled with authentic German wares.  Just the feeling of quiet old world charm fills the air.  It wasn't too busy, nor was it too quiet.  It was just right.


We stopped in many shops on our way to the crime and punishment museum.  We picked up a few things... some we may keep until Christmas.  Then we explored the many medieval torture devices found in the museum before we headed back (we would've stayed longer but everyone closes up shop at around 1800).  The kids and I ate our first Doner's.  Aeris loved hers, Elliot not so much.  It's a burrito of sorts with seasoned meat, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a sauce wrapped in a tortilla.  I thought it was pretty good.  Then we headed home.  I can't wait to visit again.

Differences between American and German OB care

Okay, I was warned that things were "different" here, and I heard horror story after horror story about having a baby in Germany.  If this was my first I wouldn't have been so scared because I would know no other kind of care other than what I received here, but I have had 2 children in the States.  I don't have much of a choice so I have to deal with what I will receive.  Well I've visited my German Dr. twice so far and have nothing to complain about.  The care is different, but no worse or better.  The Dr and most of the nurses speak very clear English and are very friendly.  Dr. Staudlbaur has a very firm and confident handshake and has a sense of humor even when I make jokes in English.  So the language barrier is not as big of a deal as I thought it would be.  So now onto the "typical" appointment... I arrive they give me a cup, no difference there.  I hand over my Mutterpass (Mother Pass) which is a book that I carry around everywhere that is essentially my pregnancy medical records so if I'm somewhere away from my Dr. I have all of the pertinent information with me.  It's something the Dr's in the States might want to consider.  Then I wait in a waiting room filled with German magazines... at least I can look at the pictures ;) I'm then weighed, blood pressure measured, and my iron level tested... again no difference (except the weight is in kg not pounds). **When I got home I converted the kg to pounds so I could check, but I knew I had lost some weight just by looking at the kg... I dropped more than 1 kg in the 4 weeks** Then I'm done with the nurse.  The Dr comes in... looks over my Mutterpass, asks if I have any concerns then I hop on the bed for my ultrasound where he measures 3 things:  the baby's head, abdomen, and the umbilical cord.  The look on the Dr's face when he measured the head was... well... interesting... his eyes got real wide and he said "this is a big baby".  He measured the abdomen, and it was right in line with the head "big baby" he then told me that the baby is measuring the average size of a baby at 34 weeks 5 days, when I'm only 32 weeks 3 days.  The baby weighs 5 pounds already!! Then he switched to a 3D ultrasound I wasn't expecting that... sorry, but seeing the baby in 3d is SOOOOO cool.  The baby was hiding behind his little hands which made it difficult to get a good look at his face, but you could still see his little chubby cheeks.  I didn't think I would care so much about the 3D ultrasound, but I was seriously impressed.
BIG, but cool difference, ultrasounds at EVERY appointment.  The Dr didn't listen for the heartbeat with the doppler thingy like they do in the States, but he saw the heart on the ultrasound... that's just as good right.  I thought I was done, however the nurse escorted me into another room where she gave me a sexy spandex belt to wear and bring to all my appointments.  Then she hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor that monitored the baby's heart rate and contractions for a half hour.  I thought to myself, "so that's why he didn't use the doppler."  I laid on my left side and rested while I listened to the thub thub thub of the baby's heartbeat.  Very thorough I think.  I don't think laying on a bed for a half hour  would go over well for the fast paced life of an American.  I didn't mind though.  I felt more at ease that everything was well with the little booger inside me, much more at ease than hearing the heartbeat for 2 seconds like I would've in the States.  So again care here is "different" but no better and no worse.  The big question is how significant will the differences be when they start doing internal exams, and even bigger when the baby is actually delivered.  We will see, but so far I'm feeling much more comfortable about it.

Another trip to Wurzburg...

Okay... so by now we've gotten the hang of getting our train tickets and reading the train schedule.  We've also mastered walking to the train station and taking a cab, but we haven't tried driving and parking.  It can't be that difficult right?  I SAW where the girls in my SNAPS class parked and I watched them use the parking meter (but not very closely), so it won't be bad, right?  WRONG.  The instructions are in German.  We know a little to get us by, but not enough to read the instructions.  Well, I figured out how to have the screen read in English, but my only options were standard user or resident user.  Ummm... I live in Germany does that mean I'm a resident user or does it mean I want to park overnight?  EEEKKK.  Okay, okay... at least it's in English.  I'll pick standard user. Now what? Hmmm. Uhhhh. I feel like an idiot.  I'm glad no one else is waiting to use the machine.  Oh, here's the slot to put a credit card in/pull it out quickly... let's try that... okay maybe we don't take it out quickly like every other place.  We'll try that again.  Put the card in/wait... oh, there we go... now which button to choose:  the one with the house?  no. the one with the flags? no.  okay last chance... the black one? hmmm... the numbers are changing!... okay figured it out YAY!  pull the card out... now where's my ticket? Ummmm... Let's try this again at least we know which buttons to push right?  Okay card in, flag button for English, other button for amount.... hey, there's a green button here.  Should I push it to see what happens?  What could go wrong?  Cross your fingers...  "Transaction Complete. Please remove your card and take your ticket"  YAY! we have a parking ticket!!! It only took us 15 minutes to figure it out!!  It's a good thing the train to Wurzburg runs about every 30 minutes.

How we found out our family was growing...

It was Saturday (9/18/10) evening.  Rick was in the field until Sunday afternoon.  The kids were playing nicely together in Elliot's room. I was bored so I was searching the internet for anything that would catch my interest.  Then I remembered that First Response has a widgit that calculates the date in which you can take and early response pregnancy test based on your LMP and average days in your cycle.  So I went to the site and found out that I had already passed the date and could take the test at any time.  Well, my bladder was full.  Why not now?  So off I went to the bathroom to pull out my monthly supply of pregnancy tests (I've kept them on hand since Rick and I had been trying to concieve a baby for almost a year).  I knew taking the test at night is not perfect timing, but the website said my early date had already come and gone so everything should be just fine, right?  What bad could happen?  I would only see one line, like every other month and we would try again.  I thought to myself "here goes nothing" as I peed on the stick.  I didn't wait long before I looked in the result window (only enough time to wipe and flush), and all I saw was the very distinct bright pink line that shows up on EVERY test.  The one that when alone means "sorry, you're not pregnant. Try again next time." I didn't wait for another line to show up because I had been down this path so many times and was not up for the tension it causes.  So I slipped the stick back in the pink wrapper, put it in the trash can, gave myself my usual pep talk, and went on with my nightly business.  I wasn't pregnant, or at least I thought I wasn't pregnant...
Sunday (9/19/10) morning rolled around, and the sun was shining, the air was crisp, and I had a really good night's sleep (no snoring to wake me).  I got up had my usual coffee turned on my favorite kind of music (the kind that drives Rick nuts) and began cleaning the house.  I had completely forgotten about the pee stick sitting in the trash can in my bathroom.  I was in a good mood and determined to have the house clean for Rick when he came home from the field.  The kids had a friend spend the night so they were occupied with playing with him and legos.  As I began cleaning the master bedroom and bathroom I couldn't help but notice the pink wrapper sticking out of the trash can.  It seemed as though it was just teasing me.  Taunting me. As if it was saying "Come on Kara you know you want to look just one more time. You didn't get a real good look last night.  Just one more little peek won't hurt.  Come on, you know you want to."  I reluctantly picked up the wrapper and carefully pulled the stick out just far enough so that I could see the results window... Wait, is that what I think it is?  Could it be?  It looked as though there was a very faint hint of a line in the result window that I had not seen for nearly 10 years.  I took it to the window to get a better look, my knees already shaking, my face pale, and tears welling in my eyes.  The sun's light did not deny the very faint hint of the line.  Beginning to think that I was crazy and just seeing things because I had wanted it so bad and I was in such a good mood, I quickly pulled out another test.  I had a full bladder from all of the coffee I drank (again, not ideal timing, but I needed to know if I was crazy or not).  I peed on the stick.  Again the usual bright pink line showed up almost instantly and I began thinking to myself "this is really going to F%$# with my head."  I waited an additional 160 long excruciating seconds (almost as long as the box recommends).  It felt like an eternity, but I knew I had to wait. It was a good thing that I was sitting when the time was up because the very faint hint of a pink line began to show up.  It wasn't messing with my head after all, but now what?  My whole body had gone numb, and I had a hard time holding back tears.  I wanted to scream "I'm pregnant" to the whole world at the top of my lungs, but Rick was still in the field and he had no idea.  I could barely contain myself.  I walked around like a numb zombie because I couldn't believe what I had just seen.  Proof that I'm pregnant.  Now how do I tell Rick?
 Now that I had the proof I needed, I had to find a cute way to surprise Rick.  I didn't want the kids to know until after Rick had found out, so that would prove to be the most difficult task of the day. I thought and thought about how I would tell him.  I took the kids to the store on the pretense that I was buying a baby gift for a co-worker.  They had no idea that I was really buying a baby gift for their new sibling.  I was still numb from finding out, and I only heard what I wanted to hear.  It was if I was floating on a cloud and nothing could bother me.  We went to the commissary and parked in the "expectant mother or mother with infant" parking spot.  I told the kids "we're pretending I'm pregnant today."  The kids were cool with that.  As we shopped I had to be really careful not to let the news out of the bag.  It was a really good thing that I really do have a co-worker who is pregnant.  Aeris did such an amazing job picking things out.  She found a sleeper that came with a monkey bib and monkey slippers.  Then we found a shirt/pant set that had a monkey on the butt.  I call my babies my monkeys all the time so what better outfit for little monkey.  I also bought a baby blanket (to make into a baby and dress with the new clothes), and some newborn (tiny) onesis.  As we were shopping my brain kept thinking about how I was going to surprise Rick.  Would I just hand him this "baby" I was going to make?  Would I just tell him?  Would I just show him the pregnancy tests and let him figure it out?  I decided that I would make him a card and decorate a onesi for the baby. So when we got home I made a card for Rick.  On the outside it said "Do you know the significance of two pink lines?   I do..." and on the inside I listed all the common symptoms of pregnancy.  Then I made a onesis for the baby that said "The Newest Edition to the McDonald Family    1 2 3 4 5" on the front and on the back it said "1.  Daddy Rick, 2. Mommy Kara 3.  Big Sis Aeris, 4.  Big Bro Elliot, And Me makes 5."  I had to make them secretly because my crafty daughter would've wanted to get her hands on it and make one too if she knew what I was doing, but then the cat would be out of the bag.  I got everything ready for Rick and then went to work on cleaning the house.  He had called earlier and said that he would be home around 1300, so I wouldn't have to wait long for his arrival. That was great for me because I was nearly bursting at the seams with excitement.  My emotions got so bad that I had to tell someone, so I sat down and wrote a letter to Rick's gram out in Nevada, and told her all about it.  I felt a little better, but not enough so I called a friend (who is also pregnant), but it went right to voicemail, so I hung up.  Well, 1300 rolled around no Rick... 1400... 1500...1600 now I'm really going crazy... 1700... where is he?... 1800 arrggghhh, I can't handle it... 1820 YEAH he's here.  He comes in the house in a really bad mood because his field problem was tough and he had gotten into trouble.  He wanted to tell me about it, but I can't hardly wait to tell him the good news. I drag him into our bedroom and lock the door (I still don't want the kids to find out) and give him a card.  He says "is it bad?  Did I do something wrong?  What did I do now?"  He plops on our bed and opens the card with his disgusting field hands.  Looks at the front of the card... looks at me and asks "really?" over and over again.  All I can say is yes, really.  I showed him the other things I prepared for him.  His bad mood dissapates almost instantly.  He's a happy man that desperately needs a good shower.  Now when and how do we tell the kids? ...
After Rick looked at the sticks that I peed on and squinted to see the very faint hint of a pink line we both asked ourselves, "when should we tell the kids?"  We both agreed that we should wait until I was a little further along, but shortly after, I'm talking seconds later, we changed our minds.  It was important for them to know.  I was just nervous if they could handle it if I lost the baby.  Rick and I were so excited about it that both of us could hardly contain ourselves.  So Rick pulled Aeris into our bedroom and sat her down on our bed.  I let him do the talking because he needed to share the good news himself (I know how good it feels to get good news out).  Her initial reaction was a little scary because she was very afraid that she would no longer be daddy's little girl.  That made me really nervous.  I thought we were only going to tell her for right now so I went to the kitchen to finish up dinner.  Meanwhile Rick told Elliot.  I don't know what his reaction was because I wasn't there.  he must have been really happy because he came running out and gave me a great big hug.
At dinner Rick reminded me in a playful way that I was eating for two now so I needed to eat well.  conversation was around what is growing inside my belly.  In the middle of a bite of the roast beef I made Elliot had an "ah ha" moment.  He blurted, "that's why mom parked in the pregnancy parking spot today!"  I explained to Aeris that what we bought at the store was not all for my friend at work and some of it was for her new baby brother or sister.  She said,"That's why you spent more money, and liked all the monkey stuff!"  She got a little teary eyed because she realized that she had picked out the first things for her new sibling.  I call my kids monkey one and monkey two, sometimes I even call them monkey butts.  So what was picked out for the baby was very appropriate.
Later that evening Rick called his Dad to give him the news, and I called my parents.  They were happy, but my parents held reservations because I'm not very far along at all.  They didn't want to jinx it.  It was a very good night.

Kara's first time using a blog...

I'm not exactly sure how this works, so be patient with me.  I remember following a blog of a friend when she adopted a child and I thought it would be a great way to share our families adventures with all of our friends and family (don't worry I'll still send post cards).  I hope to have Aeris and Elliot share as well.  It would be interesting to see Europe through the eyes of a child.  Beyond our adventure here in Europe we are also embarking on an adventure into parenthood again.  Though we've raised 2 children already (partly at least) this one will be a whole new adventure for us.   I will share what I can about the differences between birthing in the states and birthing here in Germany as well as pictures and developments of little "Mufasa" as he grows up (since it will take a while before many of you will meet him).