Pregnancy = Gas

Gas, gas, gas! I've long known there is a lot of gas hanging over these 9 months, but I've sometimes wondered whether some of it could be blamed on the fact that we're at nearly 10,000 feet here. Yesterday, it was proven that the altitude has nothing to do with all this excess buzz and that I really better watch out. Around 5am, I lit our gas oven to heat up some stale bread for breakfast and got a huge blast all the way up my arm. Apparently the gas was blowing out a little more fiercely that usual. All the little hairs I used to have singed and filled our home with that lovely burnt Hare aroma. Fortunately, that was the extent of the damage. At 6, I left for school. We had a day out in the center with the 8th grade in which we visited an Omnitheater and learned all about the Antarctic, climbed to the top of the tallest building in Bogotá and enjoyed the view of the city from there, and then attended our annual school play, put on in a theater in the center of the city that could host us all and is equipped with sound and light, as our school has nothing like that. The day was a happy one. It was fun to spend all 12 hours with my students and many of them got a chance to see my tummy moving for the first time. About half of the girls in the grade formed an orderly line on the top of the Colpatria building, certainly as calm as I've ever seen them, and pressed their hands into my bump, some giggling and some creeped out by the bold movements in there. The sun was shining strong and the day was memorable for us all. After the play, we were organizing the 900 students to get on their buses to go home when we heard shots being fired. Fortunately there were no bullets being fired, but within 20 seconds, it was clear they also weren't any car engines giving out. Looking around for outstanding children, I suddenly realized that the pain in my throat and eyes was not now the cold that has been plaguing me for a week, but rather tear gas. The children's eyes were bloodshot and panic set in among the whole school within seconds. The little ones began to cry, the older students guided them to cover their mouths and noses, and the teachers tried their best to think quickly of a solution. The buses were far away and the theater was now closed, and then, as if to only make us think faster, the heavens opened. We had no choice but to run the students to the buses for refuge. The rain poured and the gas grew stronger and I tried so hard not to breathe it into our baby, though I knew I had to shout to all the children as I went. They say a working mother sometimes has to make tough choices....Finally, we were on the buses, the windows were closed and we had a good look at one another. Everyone's eyes seemed to be bleeding and the coughing and panting were horrendous. One student was rushed off in a stretcher, but thankfully everyone else was otherwise okay. The children calmed down and when I left the bus to go and see what was happening, another shot was fired and I was again reduced to stinging pain and ran to seek refuge for my baby. It took us 3 hours to get home, despite the fact that we were in the center of town. The police were stilling the riots that were just 2 blocks from our theater. We sat uncomfortably on the bus, moving an inch every 5 minutes, listening to the horns blare as Colombians are so very impatient in traffic, wondering when this day would end. I was so glad to see the kids returned safely to their parents, and so grateful to get home to my hubby. When your job is to care for 85 children who are only your responsibility, it is a magnificent relief to be hugged and held by someone who cares only for you. Today is a national holiday, thank goodness, so we've been resting and recuperating indoors, mostly. My throat is still throbbing and I feel totally shattered, but Steve's parents fly into Bogota in 2 hours time, and it will be wonderful to be with family and forget about work and the city for a couple of days. My bump is bigger and bigger every day and the pains have wrapped around my back now, up my neck and down my thighs, but it's an honor to carry this little one and protect him/her however I can. Bogota has certainly thrown a few obstacles our way and admittedly, it sometimes seems a lot to bare, but it is May now and baby is coming soon! All that matters is that our little one is well.