The Waiting Game

I am now in my second week of maternity leave and it feels like a waiting game.  Just waiting for this little girl to decide to make her arrival into the world.  Last week I planned all the things I really wanted to get done and was just hoping she would give me at least one week of maternity leave to accomplish these things.  I got a haircut, went to the dentist and even had lunch with some new friends….all that stuff I had been putting off until I had more free time.  And luckily I got through that week and was quite productive.  Besides catching up on appointments I’m trying to get as much as I can prepared for Christmas as well.  My parents arrive on December 10 and will be here for the holidays to celebrate with us, which we are so looking forward to.  And since I have no idea how our life will be after Baby Ross comes, I’m trying to get as much done and purchased as possible. I’ve slowly marked things off my to-do list and now I feel like I’m just waiting.  This little girl could really come any day now so I hate to plan anything else.  

The tree is up at Galeries Lafayette

I’m feeling great, or as good as can be expected.  I’m getting up every 2-3 hours at night and I definitely get tired more easily after a few hours walking around.  And this bump seems to get in the way….bending over to put on my shoes or even just dry off after the shower is all sorts of work now.  But really overall, I can’t complain.  I go to the hospital now once a week so they can monitor the baby’s heartrate and check on me.  And everything looks good with the baby (although she is still on the small end of the normal range).  I’ll be 40 weeks on Sunday, which I have determined to be my US due date (November 24).  My French due date is December 3.  I think I’ve finally figured out the system here as the due date confused me for some time.  The French go off of a 41 week system while the US uses a 40 week system.  So if I make it to December 3 with still no baby, it’s highly likely I will be induced that day.  Let’s hope this little one makes her appearance though before that happens!

Maternity leave has been great so far.  I’ve definitely enjoyed the free time and the chance to be out in Paris in the middle of the day in the middle of the week.  It feels like a whole new world!  But it’s also a strange feeling.  Because I’m not on vacation and I’m not working of course so really my only purpose is to wait for this baby to come.  And I of course get tired after walking around for 2-3 hours so I try to remind myself that I can’t do all the things I would normally love to do if I had all this time in the city.  

It’s crazy to think that pregnancy will be coming to an end soon.  It’s been quite the adventure doing this here in Paris and we’ll follow up with another post after the baby comes to sum up this experience.  Overall I feel that I’ve been really lucky with my pregnancy and how easy it has been and can only hope that extends into labor and delivery and then to an easy baby.  Am I asking too much?  :)  

One last tidbit to leave you with before I finish.  All of the wine bottles here in France have a picture of a pregnant lady with a line through her basically saying that you shouldn’t drink while pregnant.  Well ever since I got pregnant Nate has been wanting me to re-create this picture.  And now that I’m probably the biggest that I’m going to get, here goes.

Until next time….when we will be a family of 3!!!  Eek!  

One Last European Rendezvous with Stacey & Alex

As you may recall, Stacey and Alex are our friends from Basel.  They moved to Basel from SF about the same time that Nate and I moved to Zurich and over the past 2+ years we’ve traveled with them to numerous European destinations.  Some highlights have been Oktoberfest in Munich, Dublin, Istanbul, Zermatt, Normandy and so many more!  Anyways, the time has come for Stacey and Alex to move back to SF in just a few weeks and before leaving they were able to fit in one last weekend with us, this time here in Paris.  We were thrilled to see them one more time!  And on top of it, Stacey is also pregnant and due in early January.  So we could compare notes as well.

They arrived last Saturday in time for us to take them to our favorite little noodle shop, Happy Nouilles, for lunch.  We spent the afternoon walking around Paris...had to visit a few Parisian baby shops over in the 17th so they could take something home for their little girl.  We then ended up at Place de la Concorde, walked through the Jardin de Tuileries and over to Rue Montorgueil for a brief rest and a drink.  They had been to Paris once before for a long weekend so they saw most of the iconic sights at that time.  We had a lovely dinner near our neighborhood that evening and on Sunday, brunch with their friends DA and Kelly.  After that we were off to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur to show them an area they had never seen before.  We got lucky with the weather as it was just beautiful with sun and blue skies.  And before we knew it, it was time for us to head back to our apartment and for them to head back home.

Stacey and Alex will forever be our European travel partners and will hold a huge part in our European adventure memories.  See you back in SF someday!!