Well, Baby D has yet another story to tell, or hear... We had a 5.8 Earthquake here in Bogotá today. I was sure our building was going to collapse. It was really intense, and since the place is all but falling apart anyway, it seemed we stood no chance. Around 2:00pm this afternoon, the whole building began to sway, the windows tremble and Steve quickly grabbed me to get in the doorway. We then decided, in about 5 seconds, that we couldn't stay in our already crackling, crumbling, paper-thin little shack, and that we should race down the 7 stories to get to the street. The electricity had blown and so down we flew, finding neighbors and screamers along the way. Finally, we got outside from the dark emergency staircase and found we were locked into the compound, as the doors to get out operate on electricity for security. Some security! The guard managed to pry one open, as the ground just trembled, and we stood out in the road, in the drizzle, waiting for something to happen. The whole, immense city lost power and so we joined the hundreds of people from homes and businesses filling the streets. For the first time, perhaps ever since arriving here, there was a humbling sense of solidarity among the chaos. The horns seemed to stop honking for a few minutes. People put their cellphones away as the services had all collapsed and dared to smile at the person, also without umbrella, improvising in this unexpected upheaval. The coffee shop we always go to reopened their doors, smiles on their lovely faces and offered half cups of the one pot already made, and people gathered there for warmth, reassurance and because it is a quarter of a block from any of Bogotá's deadly bricks. We wandered about the neighborhood, feeling homeless once more, but lucky that our most precious possession was so easy to take from our apartment. And that was that. After an hour, we climbed the 7 stories again and found doors slammed and a few more cracks in our walls, but all is well. The city suffered only minimal damage and first reports indicate there are no injuries. While shocked and saddened by the daily news of tornadoes and other earthly destruction throughout the world, we are ever so grateful for this unanticipated but unterrorized reminder of our vulnerability here. Truth be told, I was hoping that it was a contraction!
We just got back from the U.S. Embassy here in Bogota where I was approved for Permanent Residence! Hooray. After A LOT of hard work in getting all the 300+ pages of forms, police certificates, financial statements and so on, this is WONDERFUL news. Now Baby will have parents who can go through the same line at the airport. I can also get a job to help support our growing family now which is a relief. Look for me at a McDonald's near you!
On Saturday we had our ultrasound and appointment with Fernie. Everything was great! The ultrasound doctor went from saying things were 'normal' to 'super normal' to 'perfecto!' I asked what distinguished one from another and he just laughed. When he was measuring Baby's tummy I said to Steve, "Oh good, baby looks fat," and it turns out the doctor understood the word fat and said, no, "No tan fat." It was very funny. Anyway, it turns out Baby really isn't tan fat, weighing just under 5lbs so Fernie has ordered me to 5 days of rest. Much like Santa Clause, he seemed very jolly writing my official excuse from work to sit on my backside and watch TV. I am going to go to school tomorrow and Wednesday, since I missed today for the Embassy, but I am looking forward to resting on Thursday and Friday. It has been go, go, go for so long now and if a little r&r will add some rolls to Baby's thighs, I'll do anything!
I'm still not totally sure what a contraction is, but I think I'm starting to recognize them. My tummy sometimes gets really, really hard and I get this intense cramping. It's not so bad if I can walk it off, but if I'm sitting, like on the bus back from school or the Embassy this morning, or lying in bed, the pain can be pretty startling. I am sure it's nothing compared to what's ahead, but for now, I actually prefer being on my feet!
My friend, Jennifer is due to have her baby any day now and I'm so excited for her. I've just discovered Baby Registries too, so I'm perusing the lists of current expectant mothers and other friends who already delivered to get ideas. What a lot of stuff is out there! We can't wait to get back to Boston to set up a home for the three of us... With my entry visa stamped in and Baby getting so ridiculously strong in there, the time is almost here!
Hooray - only 40 days to go! Please, please go fast! While I know you should never wish your life away, we are wishing one here! Thank goodness May is half over. My tummy is very heavy now and it's not unusual to see a strong elbow or entire shin sticking way out into the air in front of me. It's pretty unmistakable and admittedly, when I'm sitting in certain positions and watching very closely, it sometimes shocks even me. I'm still afraid my pizza-dough dream will come true! My tummy has been really, really itchy, too. My Colombian colleagues keep yelling at me for scratching, saying I'm going to get stretch marks, but I'm counting on my Palmer's Cocoa Butter for that! I've had a few nights when I've woken up actually shouting from the terrible cramps in my legs, but they're usually better after 5 or 10 minutes of massaging and walking around. The veins haven't gotten any worse, thankfully. After weeks of hardly being able to go to the bathroom for the pressure and pain, sometimes going 8 days at a time, that problem seems to have subsided for which I am very grateful. But while that doesn't keep me up late up night, our rowdy neighbors sure do! It's party season in the city and every night of the week, Baby D. is kept entertained by Salsa and Reggaeton, if not pot fumes and raucous screaming. While walking around, I sometimes get a spastic sensation that baby is going to push out the bottom, but mostly I am content with my hands resting on my tummy and my bladder only feeling like it's being karate-kicked a few times an hour. At this point, the pounds are piling on, or so it feels, but apart from my growing thighs which I read on Ali's blog are somehow related to breast-feeding, it seems like Junior is taking most of them. I'm glad to report that Steve says my belly still sounds like Angel Falls is in there, and even happier to say that my 'bunny hole' is holding on for dear life. That's what a good innie will do for you! It's an amazing adventure, but I'll gladly let it end for the best part to begin. With our last ultrasound this Saturday, we are hoping to be able to meet this little one very, very soon. HOORAY!!
Here is a photo of my arm 1 hour after I was tortured by an unknowing U.S. Visa nurse! The bruises are much, much worse today, but I don't have a camera!
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.
