31 weeks pregnant...

I never thought I would post a picture of my baby belly, but why the heck not?  Junayd took this last week when I was 31 weeks pregnant. I told him not to get my face in the pic....I think it was probably because I was sweaty and hot, which I always am these days. Being pregnant is like being a human furnace, especially when you live in a country that is hot to warm most days. With the monsoon it has been so humid. Today finally, the humidity broke and it has actually been cool (or what Junayd calls freezing). The temp was probably around 22-23c today with no sun. Glorious for me!! I have less than 8 weeks left in my pregnancy, but with any luck, I'll go into labour early like I did with Yasmine and pop this sucker out in 5 weeks or so.  I am so grateful and blessed for being able to carry a life inside me, but I just want my body back, along with it, my energy, patience and the ability to see my feet. Two kids and my family will be complete. 

Is that what they call it???

My Mother-in-law said something really strange, but funny (in my opinion) to me today, and it's just something like this that makes living here so news worthy.  Here is a back story before I share with you a text message between my MIL and I.
I am having a baby in October, yes old news. But I am pretty much alone, obviously, I don't have my mom to come here like all my other expat friends (yes I'm extremely envious and emotional about the whole thing). I am happy that my husband has taken 3 weeks off for around that time and my mother-in-law has suggested she'd take "some" time off to help. Great!

Anyway, my mother-in-law is not feeling well, she has a fever and a cold. I messaged her this morning asking how she was feeling and if she took a day off from work at the College (she's a professor there).

This was her reply..word for word. I want to see if you spot what I am thinking of...
"the fever's still there. Feeling rundown. Haven't been able to go (to College). Was saving these leaves for your confinement."

I'll give you a second.......


OK....CONFINEMENT???? What the hell?!

I know what she means, she means after the baby, I am supposed to stay confined to the house for 40 days while my body recovers. I have just never ever heard it called that before, and I know she means well, but it just made me feel like I would be jailed after I have this baby. TOO FUNNY!

Hate to break it to her, but after about a week or so I will most likely be out and about. I won't be running a marathon, but I certainly won't be confined to my house. After Yasmine was born I was taking short walks after a week, plus being cooped up is the last thing I want.
I didn't know the days after having my baby had an actual name...now I know ;)

I just love the difference in culture, it really keeps me on my toes here, and gives me things to write about in my blog. HA!

This is almost embarrassing...

It's just been so long since I last posted, I think almost 7 months, and I know it's not for a lack of content. As there is always something interesting going on in my life, or just living in India. I think maybe I have just been un-inspired.

I've decided I'm not going to re-cap the last 6 months, because that would be boring and pointless, and I think from this point forward I am going to just move forward.

The biggest news, that most people know, but not all who are strangers who read this, and I know there are a few, is that I am pregnant again and almost 31 weeks pregnant. We're having this baby mid-October and once again the sex will be a surprise! It's almost a bit of a deja-vu moment for me, and a little emotional because I am only 2 weeks off the timeline of my first pregnancy, and 2 years ago on August 20th, my birthday, I found out my mom had terminal cancer, and I had to fly home at 34 weeks pregnant to see my mom before she died.

So, this time around, I am trying to enjoy this pregnancy without the weight of something so tragic happening in my life, and I want this time to focus on me and our baby.

Giving birth in India, in no way scares me, and I have a GREAT dr. whom I am very happy with. She did her MD in the UK and worked in Michigan for a few years and now she is the head of the gynecology department at a good neonatal hospital. The best part is, I have had 3 friends JUST give birth at this same hospital, 2 of them in May and one of them 3 weeks ago. Two of them had the same dr. as me and all had healthy, natural births. Plus there have been a number of friends who have given birth there in the last year or two.

Anyway, so moving forward, I hope to write a few times a week so I can keep people informed back home, and also I think it's a good avenue for stress relief and just sharing my life in India, because yes there will be lots of interesting stories to come out of living here.

But life is good...I'm happy and fulfilled and now just awaiting for the birth of our second baby so that my family will be complete and I can close that chapter in my life (being pregnant). I'm ready to lose the baby weight, move forward raising happy healthy children and focusing on what comes next.

So stay tuned..I promise there won't be a 6 month gap this time.