answering the questions

Since making it official (a.k.a. by announcing on FB) that we're bringing a little Fondren into this world, we've had a lot of congratulations and excitement come our way. We are thrilled! Along with all the excitement has come some concern, understandably... we do live in Africa. So I wanted to answer some questions and concerns to let you all know how me & baby F are being cared for :) Some things are still left to be answered, but here's what's going on now.

First, I have a husband that takes good care of me. The 2 times I had bad morning sickness, he was up getting me sprite and bread. He's also been very understanding in my exhaustion & food aversions & the smelliness of our new home. Along with everything he's adjusting to here, he has a hormonal wife at his side and he's doing amazing :)

Second, healthcare. The country we're in has a lot of ex-pat workers, including an American OBGYN. So never fear, we are in good care. We love our doctor. He's been here longer than we have and has helped in answering so many questions, not only regarding pregnancy, but also being here. He takes as much time with us as we need and has my & the baby's health as his highest concern. We even have his personal cell phone number for emergencies, which we haven't had to use yet, but we have used it for general questions.

Third, vitamins. Got'em. No worries here. We have this taken care of. Luckily, I brought some vitamins & supplements with us and we were able to get folic acid here. I'm getting all of it that is needed. And the food here is much less processed. After giving the veggies a good cleaning and running the water through a filter, I'm staying healthy & hydrated.

Lastly, delivery. While we have a great doctor here, we will not be delivering here. He's great and knows what he is doing, but the facilities aren't the best. We have some options for where and some stipulations regarding getting back into the country. We are currently working through all of this and will let you know as we know more. We do know that I will leave the country about a month before my due date (which is March 18th) and stay wherever the baby will be born. Trey will come about a week before the due date. And if I am progressing faster, he will get there sooner. We're blessed to be with a company that has done this many times before. They know what needs to happen to have us in the same place at the right time.

There are many other things that run through my head... scary emergency situations that I'm not sure how they would be handled. When my mind starts to race with those, I simply remind myself that the good Lord is in control of the situation. He knew we were going to have a baby before we did. And He knew we'd be living in Africa when it would happen, so I have to trust that He will take care of us.

6 week ultrasound

a box (or padded envelope) filled with love

Since I posted a picture on FB of the package we received, we got a lot of interest and questions about sending something our way. We would LOVE to get anything from America - letters, cards, pictures. It's just something that shows us we're not forgotten about. It's extremely encouraging to open something sent to us knowing that the time was taken to write it or pack it. So, I've complied a list of this we like that are either difficult or expensive to get here. When I look at the list I made, I feel needy. Seriously, we do not expect the packages to be full of the things on this list. I like options and I know other people do too, so I racked my brain and came up with plenty of options. If you like food and want us to enjoy our food, then send food. If you like to clean and want our house to smell good, then send household items. If you like entertainment, then send things that will make us laugh or cry.

If you would like to send something, please contact me for our address. Simply send an email, post on FB, or leave a comment. And if you have any questions, please let me know. If there is something you'd like to send, but not sure if it would make it, just ask. We have many resources here that we can check with about what will make it through customs and what won't.

yes.. I know..

I'm not as good at posting on here as we were in Canada. There are a lot of different factors... one being the internet. It's not always a good enough connection to open blogger. And two, power... sometimes we want to use our computer for other things, since power can be hit or miss & we want to keep it charge (speaking of, going on about 55 hours without power, but no worries, the generator charged up the computer). And three, we found out 2 weeks after being here that we're having a baby! Waiting to make it "public" has made me more silent on the blog front. Now that everything is out in the open, the computer is charged, and the internet is decent (however, I may have just jinxed myself), I'm attempting to update you on our life.

Next week we will start month 4 in our new home. There is still so much to adjust to here. Before coming here I had never heard the Islamic Call to Prayer, and now I hear it 5 times a day (including 4:30 am). It's starting to blend in as background noise. Also, I could only speak and greet people in one language (not including the little bit of Spanish I know and the French I learned in high school). Now, if  I want, I can greet in English and Hausa, and greeting everyone here is very important. I've learned how many hours of power you need to keep your food frozen, and how quickly the food can go bad. I've learned that ants like anything they can eat - water, sugar, nutella, lays potato chips, etc. Anything they can get their hands on, they will. I've learned to sleep without a fan. I always slept with a fan on in America, but here, if the power's out, no fan. You get used to it. I've learned to cook a lot more. I am not good at it still (and currently have an oven that doesn't have a temperature gage so that has made things very interesting), but I'm learning and we're not starving!

Along with all of the cultural changes of moving to a completely different country, I've also dealt with pregnancy changes! Anyone I asked about pregnancy before always said their sense of smell was heightened. Let me just say, you've never known your sense of smell to be heightened until you've lived in a smelly place. I've had to be careful with what foods I ate, afraid of getting sick from it. I also have had to always carry snacks on me, which is difficult to do since there aren't many snack items around or any fast food restaurants. I've dealt with cravings... seriously, I craved any American restaurant food (Chili's especially). Pretty much anything we can't get, I craved. The good news is I haven't had to wear dress pants or jeans that don't fit - just my elastic skirts, even though I still fit perfectly in my jeans.

These past 3 months have been such an adventure and learning experience for us. We've grown in so many ways. And by any means, it has not been easy living here, but I will say it is getting easier. The things that seemed like such a nuisance in the beginning have now become a way of life. We are trying new things and learning a little more every day.

I was planning to leave you with some pictures, however, I in fact did jinx myself and am just hoping I can get this to actually post :) Welcome to our life in Africa.