Baby boy birth story: Part 1

At 35.5 weeks pregnant, baby boy is coming.  Steve, Sadie and I were at a friend's house on Saturday night enjoying pizza and good company when I realized something was happening.  As we were walking out, my water broke.  I immediately called my doctor on his cell phone (which he gave me, and he answered!) and he told me to go to the hospital and he would let the on call docs know I was coming.  Turns out, I was correct, my amniotic sac had ruptured (classified as PPROM, which of course is a rare condition only affecting 3-4% of pregnant women, so naturally it would happen to me).  They admitted me and there was no turning back.  Baby was on his way.  Because he is a little early (still considered premature, but not by too much), they wanted to wait to deliver for 48 hours so they can help speed up lung development (which is generally the last to develop in fetuses) by injecting me with corticosteroids.  So, I have been in the hospital since Saturday night controlling contractions and hoping not to develop an infection while anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby boy. My doctor has been truly caring and wonderful as he has come to visit me every day (including coming with his two daughters at 10pm on Saturday night just to make sure I was comfortable with what has going on). 

I must admit that I am disappointed the pregnancy will not progress to a later week.  I was really looking forward to having a huge baby to take home with no complications, but alas, my body was not made for huge babies apparently, and I am hoping for a small baby to take home with no complications. I am lucky that Sadie was very small, so at least I have come experience to look back upon.

After getting over the initial shock and worry, I can now say that I am in the calm before the storm phase.  The excitement is overtaking me.  I can't wait to look into my baby's eyes and watch him breathe life.  Feel his chest breathing against mine. Stroke his cheek and kiss his nose.  Those are such fleeting moments to cherish and enjoy as much as possible while he is so little.

While I have been in the hospital, Steve has been taking care of Sadie, me, and the house.  He has been truly incredible.  I could not have asked for a better or supportive husband who takes things in stride, is incredible under pressure, and will do anything he needs to do for his family.  I am so lucky.  It is times like these when I am able to stop and take a step back and realize what a good man he is.  I cannot wait for him to see his son.

Sadie has also been incredibly strong and flexible.  I was worried about how she would react with seeing me in the hospital and being without me so much over the past few days, but she has really enjoyed dada time.  When she visits me here, she has been cuddly and loving, and when she leaves with Steve, there haven't been any tears or looks of panic.  We tell her what is next and she happily goes to her stroller and blows me kisses and is ready for the next thing.  Not sure if this will continue after the baby arrives, but for now I am breathing some sense of relief.

Our family and friends have been incredibly supportive, especially our dear expat friends who will be watching Sadie tonight so Steve and I can be together for the birth.  We will never be able to repay you for allowing us to have this experience together, but we will try :)  Thank you.

Not to mention those who are coming to visit us in the coming weeks from the US! We are SO thrilled and feel so much love and support. Thank you all!!

Part 2 of the baby boy birth story yet to happen.  Please pray for smooth and healthy outcomes...

Here are some photos of the hospital room and food in case you are interested in seeing a Santiago hospital.

More nana information (details about paying benefits)

I was completely clueless about the process of hiring (and keeping) a nana in Chile and figured so many had done it before, surely it was not complicated.  Well, as I am learning, there is much more to it than I had thought previously.  Namely, after we signed the contract two weeks ago, my nana told me I needed to start paying her health insurance and pension and pointed me to her coverage information online.  I was very confused since this was the first I had heard of it (and of course she's part time, and who has ever heard of a part time worker getting benefits - right USA?)  So, I did some digging, talked with other expats and learned that in fact she was right.  Any employer in Chile has to pay at least a portion of the health care benefits and pension each month.  Seems like a pretty good deal for the workers compared with the states!

So, if you ever need to hire a nana in Chile, use the website www.previred.cl, which is a very easy way to do this online each month.  While the website is in Spanish, it has instructional videos explaining all you need to know AND example nana contracts you can use, etc.  Thank goodness for the internet!

Nesting

Now that we have finally moved into our temporary apartment from the hotel, I feel my nesting instinct kicking in like crazy.  Sadie was born at 36 weeks, and I'm 34 weeks now, so I feel like it could be any day (although I'd love to wait....).  Yesterday was a Chilean holiday, so Steve got the day off, and we did some major improvements around the house.  First, I did about 10 loads of laundry getting the baby clothes all ready (note: Popeye detergent is similar to Dreft in the states...).  And, Steve changed a ton of light bulbs that were out as well as fixed our closets (literally all the doors were broken).  We also decluttered the whole apartment (stuffing things in their closets) and made the porch and sandbox Sadie-friendly.  I put in new drapes in Sadie's room (which is now the playroom/bedroom).  And, perhaps, most importantly, we bought a coffee maker (that's right, an American-style one since everyone here just puts powdered instant coffee in their hot water... gross).

Here are pics from the house. First, the "nursery".  Really it's just part of the master bedroom.  Keep in mind, all the furniture was left for us to use by our landlords.

 Here is the crib and adorable wooden animal mobile (the mattress can be moved to a higher setting for a newborn, which we will do).

 Here is the changing table/dresser.  I put baby boy's outerwear so we can envision him as part of our lives.  (Keep in mind it's winter here!).

 Top drawer - cleaned and folded baby clothes!! :)

 Cleaned and folded blankets/socks/hats and to the right are the baby carriers.

The rocking chair next to the dresser/changing table.  Sadie was my helper.

 Here are our beautiful working closets, thanks to my amazing mr. fix-it husband.

Now, here is Sadie's room/playroom.  It looks so much better in the daytime!

 We moved her dresser in her room and I got some dark brown curtains that make the place much warmer.  She is obsessed with her tent and kitchen...

 We also have her table/chairs and chalkboard on the other side of the room.

 Just washing dishes and balls.

And, here I am at 34 weeks!

The first day with the nana

I am very lucky that I didn't have to go through the long tedious process of finding a nana from scratch (although I will in Antofagasta as far as I know).  We are using my landlord's.  Today was her first day, and she arrived at 9 and stayed until 5:30, and she was busy the whole day.  I was quite impressed with her work ethic actually, although, it was the first day, so maybe she was trying to impress me.  However, there was quite a lot for her to do since the landlords left it in a bit of disarray.

A very important note is that she DOES NOT speak any English.  And, her Spanish is VERY Chilean (rough, fast, colloquial, etc), which made for an interesting day of conversation.

You might ask, what exactly is a nana and what does she do?  I had the same questions.  Well, it seems to me the role of a nana is very dependent on your situation.  She will cook, clean, take care of the kids, grocery shop, run errands, help you do things, etc.  Really anything (within reason) that you ask of her for the time allotted and the amount of money you discuss.  So, in my situation, I'm not exactly sure what she will do since it will differ each day.  She definitely cleans the house, and today she really did a deep clean, but she also offered to do the cooking when she is here (she comes 3 days a week).  And, I know she will help with Sadie if I need her to (especially after the baby comes).  Even today, I got home from grocery shopping, and she rushed to help unload the groceries and get things organized in the kitchen. 

What was interesting was that before I left the house to run errands we discussed the type of cleaning supplies I needed to buy.  As an aside, the landlords here made their own cleaning supplies, and didn't really have much in the way of what you would think of as cleaning supplies.  So, in true American form, I told her I'd like her to use normal cleaning stuff as I was really looking to come home to a house smelling of bleach and lysol.  She agreed and we came up with a very long list of supplies.  She was funny because she was particular about the brands on some of the things but not others (hey, she does this for a living, so I'm all in, and I don't know the difference since they are brands I don't know).

I didn't know this, but she is supposed to eat lunch at my house using whatever I have in the house.  This is completely fine with me, but I felt bad since we had no food in the house.  Therefore, when I came home with food, I expected her to eat lunch, but she never did.  I went in the cupboard to grab some chocolate that Steve had brought home last night, and my Twix bar was gone! I immediately cursed the nana, but then thought to myself, well we had no food and she cleans well, so really who cares (but of course I'm pregnant and when I need chocolate I NEED IT NOW).  I told Steve the story this evening, and he said, oh, I ate that for breakfast.  Ooops... I'm a terrible person. 

The new (temporary) home

Well after a slight panic attack (not really, I'm being dramatic) I am feeling MUCH better about our new home.  We moved here yesterday, and within the first moments of arriving, we experienced a combination of chaos, clutter, miscommunication and rain.  Of course that got everyone off to a bad start, not to mention the transition happened during Sadie's nap time, which made everything that much more difficult.  HOWEVER, as I sit here at the computer now, in a sparkling clean apartment with a toddler dreaming away and a husband working on making the home ours, I am content and relaxed. 

Instead of focusing on why I was feeling so crazed, I'm going to be positive and talk about our new home with pictures.  In my next post, I'm going to talk about my first day with my nana, so those details will not be in here.  Keep in mind some of the pics were taken before the nana came (and at night).

The first two pics are of our living room.  You can see we have a wall of windows that actually opens up into a terrace.  The terrace has a ton of space (including a sandbox!)

 Here is the dining room, attached to the main room.  Not sure how I feel about the table cloth...

This is our first dinner in our new home (because of the rain I wasn't able to go grocery shopping since I only have a stroller to lug groceries in, so Steve picked up some empanadas on the way home as well as some yummy desserts).  We haven't eaten dinner at a table in normal voices since December (for those of you who remember our Houston town home, you will remember why).

 The kitchen.  It may look small, but this is the largest Chilean kitchen I have seen.  That is saying more than you know.  The logia starts by the windows to the left, and the nana room is also to the left after the logia.  What's so interesting about the Chilean style kitchen is that it is closed off to separate the nana from the family. This sounds weird, but this is how it is here...

 The playroom! A whole chalkboard wall, table and chairs, and...

 Little kitchen and circus tent. Sadie is loving her new toys.

This is the master bedroom.  You can see it's huge (there is a whole section to the right that I didn't take a picture of.  I guess it could be used for a nursery, but it is just a small room full of windows that we have all our empty suitcases in).  The crib is to the left and the changing table/rocker is to the right.  Guess we are getting ready for baby boy!

I also wanted to mention that you can see in the picture we have a space heater.  However, the house is heated, and it's interesting because the way the heat is distributed is through the floor.  There isn't an HVAC system or anything - the heat comes from under the floor.  So every now and then when you walk barefoot you will notice certain spots on the floor that are nice and warm.

Note: Not pictured, the logia (laundry area), the nana room (yes, we have a nana room, which is a separate bedroom and bathroom right by the kitchen literally architecturally designed in every large apartment for a live-in nana), the bathrooms, and the guest bedroom since that is where Sadie is currently sleeping, although she will be moving to the playroom soon.  Also, not pictured is our goldfish that we inherited, and Sadie is obsessed!  She loves to lead me over to the bowl to feed him and watch him swim.

Good bye hotel!

We have lived in a hotel for the past two months, almost to the day.  That's hard to believe since in all honesty, it has flown by.  I truly don't remember how I felt when I walked into this room for the first time (probably since I was sleep deprived and jet lagged and still trying to digest all the advice the taxi driver gave us in Spanish).  What I do know, is that it's actually kind of bittersweet.  We have gotten into a routine, and you can't beat the location.  Also, a maid comes and cleans the whole room including making the bed and doing the dishes) every day.  It's almost like it's back to the real world - the vacation is over in a way.  I guess we are becoming locals.

Tomorrow we move into an apartment.  Currently we are located near the Tobalaba metro stop, a 5 minute walk to Steve's office, and a 2 minute walk to our favorite park (Plaza Peru).  Now we will be closer to the Alcantara metro stop (it's really just a 10 minute walk from where we are now), and a 15 minute walk to Steve's office.  All very close and convenient, but still a slight change of scenery (and new parks!).

I will take pictures of our new furnished place when we are more settled and post them.  For now, I want to reflect on a few important things I learned living in a hotel for 8 weeks.

(1) Even though going out to eat with a toddler is difficult, having a hot breakfast fully prepared for us in the morning in the restaurant downstairs every day has been amazing.  The staff knows Sadie and I, and they immediately bring over the high chair and help when we arrive (since Steve goes to bfast earlier before work).  So, thank you, Hotel Plaza el Bosque staff.
(2) I am so glad the staff speaks English.  It has been a comfort when I just don't feel like trying.
(3) Leaving your dishes in the sink and walking out the door only to return to a completely clean kitchen (and bathroom and bedroom) is heaven.
(4) We really don't need a lot of stuff (although some of my shirts are getting too small!).  I've been quite surprised that even though we have about 9 suitcases for the three of us, we really don't need much.  I don't miss any of our stuff.  Makes me feel silly for trucking it across the world on a boat.
(5) High five to past Alissa for packing your breast pump and your second camera for the baby monitor.  Who would have thought we would decide to stay in Santiago for the birth of the baby, which meant we have NO baby stuff?  Thank goodness for intuition (and fear of my precious expensive American gadgets getting "lost").
(6) Having a king size bed is weird.  I don't even know where Steve is sometimes.
(7) Lucky number seven - this is from Steve (who still hasn't read my blog by the way) - it would be nice to not have to eat dinner every night in bed, so maybe we should have gotten some TV trays. LOL.

On that note, have a wonderful evening everyone!  I'm going to eat Cinnabon :)
  

Mexican!

For 8 weeks I have lived without Mexican food.  This may not seem like a big deal to most, but for those of you who know me, I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD.  I generally eat it 3 times a week between cooking it myself and going out to eat.  I LOVE it.  So, to say I haven't had it the entire time I have been in Chile is a big deal for me! And, contrary to some people's beliefs, Chile is NOT Mexico, and the cuisine is very different.  I have heard there are Mexican restaurants in Santiago, but haven't gone to one yet.  

Last night, I decided to try to recreate a simple Mexican classic like quesadillas and chips and salsa.  Luckily, the Jumbo does sell tortilla chips (only 2 kinds - and one was Doritos, which is suspect).  I found one type of tortilla, which was pretty good (no HEB though...), and of course salsa (made in Texas!).  Even found some shredded cheese that wasn't mozzarella or something weird... (what I did not picture were the precooked chicken I put in as well as the cilantro (which they sell here!) and black beans.  What they don't have is LIMES.  At least not when I went.

The quesadillas were a very big success!

Nuts4Nuts

I finally did it.  I went to the Nuts4Nuts guy.  And let me tell you, it was PHENOMENAL.  Nuts4Nuts you say? What is that? Well, it is a food cart that is outside the Costenera Center (which I pass by EVERY day, sometimes multiple times a day), that I've been eying since we arrived.  The smell alone must attract customers for miles.  It is a small cart with a man cooking sweet glaze in a big metal bowl and tossing peanuts and almonds around in it.  Then he bags them in these little white bags and sells them for about 75 cents a bag.  You open the bag to taste the warm, delicious, sweet, salty, nuttiness.  If you visit Santiago, this is a snack must.

This is the truck (well one like it).  I didn't take this picture, but they are all around Santiago. And, by the way, peanuts = mani, not cacahuates, which I learned in school.  I will add to our vocab list!

By the time I got to the hotel to take a picture, they were almost gone.

Parque Bicentenario

Today was a very beautiful day - sunny, clear - we even took our coats off! So, we ventured to a new park that everyone raves about.  It didn't disappoint.  Parque Bicentenario is about a 15 minute walk from our hotel and is enormous.  It's located in the Vitacura neighborhood of Santiago, which is a very nice, modern, upscale area.

And, Hogs, a hot dog food truck where we ate lunch in the park.

Next, I have some videos of Sadie feeding ducks, flamingos and her swinging on a big girl swing for the first time.

 

 

Artequin

We stumbled upon this museum on accident, and I'm so glad we did.  It is right by the train museum I mentioned in the last post.  We were quite intrigued by the unique building, and even though we had no idea what it was, we walked over.  Basically it's a hands on art museum for kids.  It's not really a children's museum per se, but kind of similar (Santiago does have a children's museum, but we haven't been to it yet).  The building itself was apparently constructed in Paris and shipped to Santiago many years ago.  It's a huge steel and glass structure that is all open concept.  It's all interactive art aimed at kids.  Hopefully the pictures will help explain.

The outside of Artequin

The adorable little cafe outside of Artequin.  It was about as big as a walk-in closet.

Sadie in scream.

Estamos pintando (that's how you say coloring) with the Mona Lisa looking at us from a distance.

The ceiling.  There was what looked like a superhero of some kind hanging from the top.

Sadie is at the coloring table, but you can see across from her there is an exhibit that has giant rubber bands that you can stretch across pegs to make different shapes.  Then, to the right you can see a bunch of mirrors in the black space.  They are actually rear view mirrors that you can go inside and play with and reflect different colored lights, etc with.

More of the building (this was taken from the inside looking out toward the front).

Second floor.

el Parque Quinta Normal y el Museo Ferroviario

El Parque Quinta Normal is a huge park near the center of Santiago.  It houses many playgrounds, lakes (with paddle boats), fountains, sport courts, and museums.  While it was a chilly day, it was sunny, so we took advantage and found ourselves outside enjoying the park.

el Museo Ferroviario was one recommended to me by one of my mom's groups for kids on the weekends.  It is a train museum, although it's all outdoors.  Basically a bunch of locomotives and train cars from the early to mid 1900s that were used in Chile that have been refurbished.  The pictures are from the one you can actually walk under, which was really interesting to see the bottom of a train (how often do you see that?).  Steve is super into trains (mechanical engineer, come on), so he absolutely loved it.  We also were able to walk through one that was made in 1910 and used to transport the president of Chile as well as the higher ups in the Catholic Church of Chile.  It was gorgeous on the inside - very fancy and had private bathrooms in the bedrooms with flushing toilets and showers, etc.

 The entrance to the train museum.

The train you could walk underneath.

Under the huge locomotive.

Steve and his train partner.