And Then There Were Three

We've been so lucky to have my Mom in town helping us out these last three weeks.  My recovery has been long and painful, so I'm honestly not sure what we would have done without her!  She cooked, she cleaned, she shopped, she rocked, she bathed, she swaddled.  Initially her trip was only planned for two weeks.  My Grandma hasn't been doing so well, so there was even a point during her trip when we thought she...

Ramona Rose’s Birth, Part II

I don't think I'd ever been so excited to wake up before the sun. I rose at 7am and crept around the dark apartment with Fig, fixing some mint tea and an egg, peeling a banana, thinking about what was going to happen in a few hours.  I had been told not to eat anything after 6am, which was the first of several erroneous messages I received from my doctor's "secretary."  The idea of getting up at 5:30am for...

Ramona Rose’s Birth, Part I

During my pregnancy, I kept a journal for Ramona that I wrote in each week from Week 5 when we found out I was pregnant, to Week 40.  This is what I wrote the night before she was born. Darling Dear Ramona, It's quite strange knowing in advance the day your life is going to change forever.  Right down to the hour.  I can't believe that by this time tomorrow, we will know you, hold you, kiss you....

She’s Here!

We're so excited to introduce you to our daughter! Ramona Rose arrived at 2:52pm on Wednesday, 10/10/12, weighing in at 3.51kg and 48cm long! We are so thrilled and in love! I'll be back next week with Ramona's birth story and more pictures. À...

Knocked Up Abroad: Be Quiet

On Wednesday I picked up a jar at of yogurt at the grocery store and squealed in delight.  The expiration date said 10/22. Surely by that time, 6 days past my 41-week French due date, little Bonbon will have arrived.  I will have a baby before this yogurt goes bad, I thought, smiling like a loon in the middle of Monoprix.  How exciting! The next day we went to our Midwife, Mrs. M, for our last appointment...

Delicious Cravings: Speculoos Cheesecake Bars

I haven't really had too many specific cravings during this pregnancy.  There was the time I really wanted a birthday cake, and there was also the time I really wanted a good BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, but other than that, I haven't truly craved anything too specific.  BUT.  I have definitely had a sweet tooth this whole pregnancy.  Which is pretty unlike me, I'm much more of a salt tooth person.  But lately I...

In Other News…

I know it's hard to believe, but we do have other things going on besides the Bonbon. Things like: - Grandma is recovering! Thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughts about my Grandma. If you don't know, last Tuesday my mom came home from work and found Grandma on the ground. She was moving and responsive, but couldn't remember what happened or how long she'd been down there. She was taken to the...

Knocked Up Abroad: Shake Your Bonbon

We've had a very busy week of appointments over here, so I just wanted to provide a little update of what's been going on with Bonbon. I call that picture The Cone Bump.  Little Bonbon has been spinning, spinning, spinning all over the place and moving and shaking!  She morphs my belly into the funniest shapes:  cones, lopsided, even squares.  One night she was bouncing around so much that I took a video.  I...

Knocked Up Abroad: The Go Bag

Do you guys watch Breaking Bad?  Ever since Mike stashed his secret Go Bag in the trunk of his car so that he could flee the country at a moment's notice, we've been calling our hospital bag The Go Bag.  Our Go Bag will contain our passports, but not millions of dollars, unfortunately. So since I'm entering the 38th week of pregnancy this weekend, we thought it would be an appropriate time to start getting our...

Knocked Up Abroad: La Chambre de Bonbon

We've spent the last few weekends shopping, building, and organizing Bonbon's bedroom and we're finally done!  When we first talked about the vision we had for the room, we wanted to be very minimalistic, knowing that we could be/probably would be picking up and moving during the first 6-9 months of Bonbon's life.  That definitely ruled out painting (not sure if we're allowed to anyway - the previous tenants/owner...