Countdown to Mother's Day

Thank G-d, this Sunday, I will be celebrating my very first Mother's Day. It just makes me so happy thinking about it! I've been waiting for this day to come for a very, very long time. When I was single and living on the UWS, I would send my Mom, Grandmother, and two sisters cards for Mother's Day and live vicariously through my sisters when they told me how they spent the day. I told myself that, P"G, one day I would have my own children and we would celebrate Mother's Day with a nice family brunch, maybe a family movie (when they're older) and lots of thoughtful presents.

Pidgeon asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day this year as Baby Juju, who turned 5 months today, is too little to do anything herself. I told him I wanted a framed picture of either me and Baby Juju, or the three of us. That would be a lovely gift for me and, as she grows older and goes to Gan, I hope she makes something crafty at school to  bring home. My Father still has the picture frame I "sewed" with my photo in it that was my Kindergarten Father's Day present to him, hanging in his office. That was taken more than 25 years ago!! It's those thoughtful gifts that really make a difference.

Unfortunately, living in Israel, they don't celebrate Mother's Day in May. In fact, I honestly don't know when or if they even have a Mother's Day. I'd like to try to celebrate the American holiday though, especially since my American family does and I still have to get them presents/cards :)

Since Pidgeon works on Sunday, we might have to make my Mother's Day brunch a Mother's Day dinner. Either way, I'm just looking forward to spending the special day with Baby Juju and Pidgeon.

I sent my Mom a mug with Baby Juju's picture on it for Mother's Day and was thinking about my Mother-in-law. We have a pretty strained relationship, for various reasons that I might not have mentioned on the blog since they took place after Baby Juju was born. I was going to frame a picture of her son and Baby Juju as a gift, but then decided not to do anything. She's English/Israeli and it probably wouldn't even register with her. I don't think she would care either way, so I'm not going to bother.

Well, my 20 minutes are up and Baby Juju is stirring. 

Yom Tov from Baka!

The Rhythm of the Night

I would have updated the blog yesterday but I was a complete dishrag from our Wednesday at Ikea in Netanya. My Mother-in-law picked us up at 11:00 and we were off. We got there in decent time and we immediately went to work. I had the catalogue in advance, so I already knew what we needed, and we were very methodical in our shopping. No dilly-dallying around the room displays, just straight to what we were looking for. There were so many people around that I was in a bit of a daze, but between Pidgeon and my MIL, I thought I had everything under control.

And then, we got to the area with all the dressers, and my MIL saw the dresser her client wanted (she's an interior designer). After reading the label, she discovered there was only 1 left! So, she left her cart and raced downstairs to get it before anyone else claimed it. Meanwhile, I spied the dresser I had picked out for our bedroom. I sent Pidgeon over to write down the number and it turns out, there were only 3 left! So, he too, raced after his Mum to try to get us one of the remaining pieces.

Thus leaving me, stranded, with the carts and a lot of shopping left to do on that floor. I also had to special order the closet. We picked out a really nice closet, but I wanted different things inside. So, I found the man wearing the Ikea t-shirt who worked in that area, and we ordered the closet. He then printed out the receipt and told me that I needed to pay for it on that floor so they could pull all the pieces together by the time I was ready to leave. I had an hour before that closet could be ready.

With the under my belt, I continued shopping, and it was on to the computer desks. We were looking for this white, narrow cabinet with a pull down door that could hold the computer screen, large modem, printer and other items. Since the computer room is really cluttered, this was the perfect solution to our spacial issues. Yet, for some reason, I could not find it anywhere. Finally, after looking at every single piece of furniture in that section, I found it! I immediately called Pidgeon, who was with his Mum and and had gotten her the last dresser and discovered they only had our dresser left in black. So, I told him to get it since it would at least match the bed end tables, and they were going to come upstairs to meet me again. 

So, I joined the line waiting to pay for the pre-ordered closet and this woman literally comes up behind me and cuts right in front of me. I looked right at her and she says, faux surprise, something like "oh, are you on line?" Ummm, yeah? Do you not see my big ass place holder belly jutting out in front of you? Well, I nodded and smiled, and she backed up just a little bit. Enough for me to make sure I didn't lose my place. Anyway, I ordered and paid for the closet and then went to the food court to wait for Pidgeon and my MIL.

They arrived shortly thereafter, Pidgeon pushing the huge cart with 8 big boxes on it. I had my MIL's other shopping cart and we still had to wait an hour for the closet to be ready. So, we sat down with some Ikea cuisine and indulged in salmon and string beans and I literally drank four cups of Pepsi Max. After we were a bit satisfied, we went downstairs where the real shopping began.

I picked up another cart, and the three of us just filled it in. I picked up some napkins for Yom Tov (3 packages), an egg frying pan since the one I bought in August 2006 has seen much better days, 3 black decorative pillows (25 shekel each!) for the new beds that were delivered this week, four mattress pads for the beds in the apartment, this laptop pillow so that Pidgeon can comfortably use his laptop without me yelling at him to "protect the boys!", a toilet bowl brush, this great big shaggy black rug, a garbage bag for the kitchen (which was completely broken when we tried to assemble so they're sending us a new one), a box of straws for the hospital, a pretty desk lamp, and a new laundry hamper. At this point, the carts are really packed and it's getting hard to push it through towards check out. Pidgeon is at his breaking point as we now realize we've been shopping for 5 hours! My MIL had plenty of energy though and she was just chugging along. 

Finally, we get through check out and we head over to pick up our closet and arrange for both delivery and assembly. This was the most stressful part of the entire shopping experience! I had to shuttle between both stations to set up everything up and at that point my ankles were swollen to mythical proportions and killing me! Well, after an hour dealing with those stations, I finally had it and went to sit down and relax. After six hours, we finally loaded up my MIL's tiny car and were off.

Somehow, we missed the turn onto Kvish 6 and ended up in Chadera and then, continued further North, until we were at Zichron Yaakov. If we had continued, we would have ended up in Haifa! My MIL was not pleased, but we called Pidgeon's Uncle and got on the right path back to Jerusalem. We arrived home an hour and a half after we should have and Pidgeon and I were both tired and starving. So, we quickly pulled together dinner and I spent two hours trying to rub the life back into my swollen ankles.

Needless to say, when I woke up early yesterday to deal with deliveries and workers, I was a mess! I ended up staying in bed as long as possible because I just felt so worn out. It was a good thing I did, because we went to a wedding last night that was unlike any I've ever been to in my life. I certainly needed every ounce of energy in my being to make it without passing out from exhaustion.

So, this was what Pidgeon called a Chiloni wedding. The Rabbi was Yemenite and he did the entire ceremony. There was no badeken, the bride and groom entered the Chupah area together, they walked down an aisle laced with pyrotechnics, and then stood underneath the Chupah with all of their family present. The Rabbi was a bit insulting when he said he had to say everything in case the Chattan didn't know the prayer. Also, he was the only one to do all 7 Brachot, which was very foreign. And, it wouldn't be an Israeli wedding without some politics involved and the Rabbi waxed poetic about his views on Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel. Throughout the ceremony, 90% of the guests milled around, smoking, drinking and chatting. You could barely hear that there was a religious ceremony taking place. Plus, you could count the Kippot on one hand, and those who didn't normally put one on didn't for the ceremony. I thought that was very weird, as even our non-Jewish relatives put on a Kippah during the ceremony. 

And then, the groom smashed the glass, the pyrotechnics went off again and the DJ played "This is the Rhythm of the Night." That's when I started laughing my ass off because, of all music to select after such a momentus life event such as marriage, they chose this song? The guests didn't even hang around to greet the Chattan and Kallah -everyone made a bee line for the exist to get downstairs to the dinner you would have thought the place was on fire. Well, we joined the herd and of course, didn't see a table for us. So, I let the Israelis in our party wrangle and we managed to secure the table right next to the kitchen door. It wasn't the best location on earth, but it was good for my needs as I couldn't really do much dancing anyway. We were joined by a set of Grandparents babysitting for one of the "bridesmaids" and her little sister. They were all pretty miserable about the situation, and I was lucky enough that the bridesmaid sat next to me. I was ok until she started waving around both sets of knifes. 

Since the wedding started pretty late, we had to leave before the main was served in order for me to do my shot. The dancing looked like a lot of fun though, not your usual "simcha" dancing but a lot of mixed, heavy on the drum and bass, dancing. The bass was so loud that the baby was freaking out inside of me. I don't think the baby liked it too much so I spent a lot of time trying to rub my belly to try to give the baby some comfort. It didn't really work.

Right before we were getting ready to leave, they called the Chatan and Kallah to the dance floor for their romantic dance. Oh, and did I mention that they had a camera on a crane over the dance floor that was both recording for the video and projecting what was going on onto 8 TV sets behind the DJ's? That was fascinating to me, it was like being in some 80's music video. 

So, they play some cheesy Canadian pop song that the bride and groom dance to and then the fireworks again. Now, I was ok with the pyrotechnics when we were outside, but the indoor ones made me VERY nervous. And, sitting at a table full of architectural engineers and builders who are well aware of building violation codes, it was no surprise to me that what was going on was illegal. Anyway, just as I stood to leave, the confetti shot out of canisters around the bride and groom and covered the dance floor. Everyone "oohed" and "aahed"  - I thought it was the end of some pagent.

But, I was so enthralled by the entire experience, I got home in such a great mood. I had a really fun time and am looking forward to our next "Israeli" wedding. Since it's 2 days before my due date - P"G - I'm hoping I hold out. Fortunately, my MIL is my doula and will also be at the wedding, so if I go into labor or my water breaks, I'll have plenty of people there to help me through it!

Well, today is going to be a pretty relaxing day. We have a birthday BBQ for my MIL this afternoon and then I have to come home and finish cooking for Shabbos. Fortunately, I made the chicken and kugel yesterday, so all I have to do is grill the steaks, make the brisket and some ratatouille. 

Shabbat Shalom from Baka!

Hummus, Lafah and Contractions

From 4:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m. this morning, I got freakishly closer to Mommyhood. To explain, I have to go back to Tuesday night's childbirth education class. As you know, we're taking a class with Joani THE anglo doula expert of Jerusalem. She came highly recommended as both a doula and educator, so we shelled out the 600 shekel and joined her Monday evening class. What usually happens in this class is that she lectures, we ask questions, she pauses to answer her cell phone in case someone is in labor, we nosh and we learn. We are in the class with 8 other expectant couples - most are due in November - with one due at the end of October and another one at the end of December. The group is very nice, it's informal, and our husbands are certainly getting an education.

This week's class was condensed by 2 hours because Joani had a birth, so she did a bit more lecturing and we did more listening and less asking of questions. What I really found interesting was the parts about contractions. She went around the room and asked each of us if we're experiencing Braxton-Hicks (the contractions that don't indicate you're in labor but just prime your uterus for the real thing). I was pretty sure I hadn't had any of these based on what people were describing and then Pidgeon told her that sometimes my stomach is hard in some places and soft in others and so she said that was Braxton-Hicks. I don't think we explained the sensation well to her because what he's really feeling is where the baby is lying. Basically, if it's hard, that's the baby and if it's soft, the baby ain't there. So, I just figured I'm one of those ladies who is either 

1) not in tune with her body and doesn't know when I'm having contractions or 

2) just haven't had any Braxton-Hicks contractions

And then Joani told us about this great test for determining if you're really in labor or if you're having false labor. She said, once I feel the contractions, to drink some alcohol. If, after a few hours, the contractions stop then it was false labor and I basically just got a nice buzz going during the contraction. If, however, it stops for a bit and then starts up again, I'm really in labor and it's show time. 

Well, I basically told Pidgeon I'm going to spend my nine month drunk cause I'm going to take a shot of scotch each time I get a contraction to see if it's real or not. (Note, Joani recommends using white wine and not scotch. But, since I'm allergic to red wine and just can't stand the taste of white, she said scotch was ok. As long as the alcohol content is above a certain percentage, I can go for it. Obviously, depending on the percentage, I have to figure out how much to drink).

So, I was pretty happy when we walked out of the class Monday night because I had my new how-to-deal-with-labor game plan. 

Fast forward to last night. Pidgeon and I were both busy all day yesterday with work. I had a press release I had to get to a client and Pidgeon was working on his final project. The only thing on our schedule was to go to Chasdei Shmuel and put a 35% down payment on the baby stuff we ordered. Pidgeon, in the interim, had a dentist appointment and so when he got back in the late afternoon, we quickly ate some lunch, I got dressed and we drove to the Charedi neighborhood. We removed some items from the list at the suggestion of both of our parents (they keep saying people will buy us presents, but I don't have such good friends here who are willing to shell out 900 shekel on a baby swing) and then I used my American Express for the deposit.

A number of years ago, when my older sister and my older cousins were all getting married, my Zaydie (ZT"L) told my Mom and Aunts that he wanted to pay for his future Great Grandchildren's cribs as a baby present. At the time, I was no where near getting married, and I think my little brother was in his pre-pubescent stage. But, Zaydie dolled out the cash for each of his 9 Grandchildren and gave them to his daughters to put away in the bank. At the same time, he also gave money for each of us to buy Sterling silverware as a wedding present, and that too was put away for those of us not ready to walk down the aisle. I knew this money was in my bank account and I've been careful all these years not to spend it. So, when we walked into Chasdei Shmuel and put the 35% down payment on all the baby items we purchased, it made me happy to know that my Zaydie was the one who bought the crib. And, P"G, every time I look at the crib it will be a reminder that Zaydie is still a big part of my life even though he's no longer physically here with us.

As you can imagine, I was a bit emotional after Chasdei Shmuel, so I asked Pidgeon if he wanted to go out to eat for dinner. He was thrilled and I was thrilled cause it meant that I didn't have to cook another meal. We went to Emek and found a great parking spot and then went to a restaurant we've been to MANY, many times in the past year.

We sat down and I didn't really need to look at the menu, I pretty much knew what I wanted to eat. I ordered a hummus with chopped meat as an appetizer, while Pidgeon had the stuffed eggplant to start. Then, I had the fried chicken pieces, a side of french fries and steamed vegetables while Pidgeon enjoyed a skewer of steak, a skewer or chicken, okra in tomato sauce and steamed vegetables. I chased my meal down with a Fanta and Pidgeon had Diet Grapefruit juice.

All foods we've eaten before. At this restaurant. Many, many, many times.

We finished dinner at 7:00 p.m., got back to the apartment full and satisfied and slightly exhausted. I poured myself a cup of orange juice and took my pre-natal vitamin and my iron pill. We then logged in, downloaded the first two episodes of the second season of Gossip Girl and had a chill night. At 11:00 p.m., I did my Clexane Shot and we were both asleep by 1:00 a.m.

I woke up at 3:45 a.m. in a cold sweat, thinking I needed to throw up. Its been a while since I've felt that way and I thought maybe something else was going on. But no, I definitely needed to vomit. I quickly removed my bite plate and put it away in the case, moved the shower rug in front of the toilet, and just let things go. Since Pidgeon normally sleeps like the dead, I didn't shut the door to the bathroom cause I didn't think he'd hear anything. I was wrong. He jumped up in bed about 5 minutes into me being sick and was very alarmed. He wanted to call his Mom and ask her what to do. Then he wanted to call Terem (24 hour emergency care clinic in Jerusalem) or the hospital. I told him to call my brother-in-law, the Pediatrician, who was for sure awake at 9:00 p.m. in Cleveland. He picked up the phone and called my brother-in-law, who basically said Why the heck are you calling me? Call her OBGYN! and I was not happy with that response. So, in between heaves, I took the phone and told him that I thought it was just bad food poisoning. He said, just to be on the safe side, I really should talk to an OBGYN since I'm B"H already in my 29th week.

Well, I hung up unhappy with his advice (I just wanted to puke everything up and then get back to bed, I wasn't thinking about anything else being wrong) but we called Terem and they told us to call the Maccabi (my health care provider) nurse. She gave Pidgeon all these directions about drinking water and boiling water and putting ice into it, etc. It didn't really sound so helpful especially since any water I was drinking in between puking, I ended up puking. So, Pidgeon again wanted to call and wake his Mom, but I asked him to hold off for a bit longer. I then told him to call the Dr. on call at Wolfson Medical Center. Since we're both members of the Medical Center, I didn't feel too bad about making that call. Fortunately, the Dr. got back to us right away, and Pidgeon talked as I wretched in the background. His advice was very good. He said not to drink anything if I was just throwing it up. He said to monitor my vomiting and if it continued past a certain hour, I should come into the morning clinic to assess the situation (i.e. if I needed an IV fluid drip). It was now 4:30 a.m. and I wasn't letting up at all. My throat at this point is absolutely burning, my esophagus on fire from all this disgusting stomach acid and vomit, and I was really wiped. 

And that's when I had my first contraction. It was 5:00 a.m. at this point, and the contraction was not pleasant. At first, I didn't realize it was even a contraction. But then, about 3 minutes later, I had another one. Now I was ready for Pidgeon to call his Mom. He woke her up and she was very alert and had some great advice. She asked if I had Pramin in the house - which I had since I needed it during my 1st three months of puking. She told Pidgeon to call the Dr.'s at Shaarei Zedek, explain my situation, tell them I was having contractions, and ask if I could take a Pramin to help stop the vomiting. Pidgeon somehow managed to get a nurse at Shaarei Zedek on the phone, she gave him the go-ahead with the Pramin, I took a pill and slipped into bed. 

The Pramin worked and my vomiting finally stopped! But, the contractions didn't, and I had 3 more in the span of 15 minutes. Pidgeon wanted to call his Mom again and bring me into the hospital, but I told him to just give me a few minutes to relax and to see if it would just stop on its own. Obviously, at this point, the alcohol test was out but boy did I want a shot! We both dozed off and, when I woke up a few hours later, was thrilled that the contractions were done.

My dreams, on the other hand, were super disturbing. I dreamt that the baby had salmon DNA and that my friends were trying to eat it. I was running, and running to stop them from eating our baby and just kept screaming that our baby wasn't a salmon but was a baby. It was so weird, I blame the vomiting and whatever poison was in my system for the messed up dreams. You can imagine how happy I was to wake up out of that dream this morning!

So, now I'm in bed. Our Ikea trip was cancelled for today, but Pidgeon and his Mom went to an interior design trade show in Tel Aviv. I think it was good for him to get out of the house, he would have just gone stir crazy staring at me in bed. I was feeling a bit better when I woke up this morning, and was even able to keep a cup of tea down. Pidgeon's Mom suggested I put in some sugar, even though I really try to avoid sugar in general, and I complied. She then told me I have to figure out a way to get some salt into my system today. I might just make myself some powdered soup mix, which isn't the healthiest but is loaded with sodium. Other than that, I'm just taking it easy.

It was a big scare for me, though. And, even though the Dr. at the Medical Center said "At 29 weeks, you can deliver a robust baby", I'm just not ready for this one to come out yet! I think this baby still needs 11 more weeks to do what babies do in the last few weeks of pregnancy. 

Well, I'm pretty tired, so I'm off to take a nap. 

Yom Tov from Baka!