Knocked Up Abroad: Tips for the Pregnant Traveler

Even though I'm a pretty experienced traveler, I was a little nervous about the journey back to the U.S.  It's a really long trip, about 17-18 hours door to door with 3 flights, 2 layovers, and I was doing most of it alone while 22 weeks pregnant.  Even though I was all, "I can handle this!"  Secretly I was thinking, "this is going to be long and boring with heavy things I have to carry myself."  I coincided my...

Knocked Up Abroad: Halfway There!

This past Saturday, I hit the 20 week mark, which means that we are officially halfway to meeting the Bonbon! I feel very grateful and lucky to report that the first half of this pregnancy has been pretty uneventful and I'm feeling very good.  I have the usual aches and pains that everyone has:  I had a few bad tension headaches early in the second trimester (thankfully gone now), my hips are sore in the...

Knocked Up Abroad: It’s a ….!

From the beginning of this pregnancy, I had a very strong feeling that this little person inside of me was growing to be a girl. I just sort of knew it.  Everyone kind of assumed that I really wanted a girl and that's why I had this feeling, but the real honest truth is, I didn't have a preference.  A girl would be great because even though she wouldn't be the first grandchild on either side of our family, she'd...

Knocked Up Abroad: U.S. vs. France

Hi everyone!  We're fresh from our Sardinian getaway and I'm feeling great.  A relaxing beach vacation was a great way to spend a few days and I can't wait to tell you guys all about this island paradise that is only an hour flight away.  But first, I'm excited to share my next post with you all about being pregnant in France.  So far in my prenatal care experience, I've noticed a few things that I'm pretty sure...

Knocked Up Abroad: The Beginning

First of all, THANK YOU all so much for your kind comments, posts, emails, texts, and tweets!  Seriously, we had the best day on Monday just basking in all the love and well wishes we received after our announcement - we are so lucky! Since discovering our big news, there has been a lot I've wanted to share about going through this experience in France.  Many friends and family members have already asked us...

One Year in France

It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since we said good-bye to San Francisco and started our long journey across the country and back to the Midwest.  It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago today, after a very frustrating trip, we arrived in Montpellier, exhausted and scared without a place to stay.  Relatively speaking, a year is not that long, but in other ways our life before France seems...