100th Post Announcement

It's milestone time for this little blog of mine.  This is officially the 100th post!  Can you believe it? I have had a lot of fun sharing our adventures abroad with all of you.  A huge thank you for reading!

And speaking of sharing, Todd and I are pumped to announce (publicly, finally) that we are bringing back a little something extra with us when we move home to the US at the end of March. Hint: it's not a pair of these...

Rather, it's a little baby that's been growing in my belly for the last 14 weeks!!!

We couldn't be more excited for the 15th of July (or somewhere around there hopefully) for the arrival of Baby Riksen!  What a blessing it is to be given the chance to start a family of our own.

I thought an FAQ might be a fun way to share some of the details.

Are you going to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy?
The jury's out on this one.  We can find out at our 20 week appointment (about 6 weeks from now), but we're still not sure what we want!  Right now, I'd say we're leaning toward waiting. But who knows, the suspense just might be killing me too much and we may decide to find out.  Stay tuned!

Do you have names picked out?
Nope.  We think it would be awesome to find a Dutch name we love since the bean was conceived here, but that's easier said than done. There are lots of Dutch names I like, but asking Americans to correctly pronounce them is another story.  We're constantly thinking and talking about it, so I am confident our baby will have a name.

How have you been feeling?
Good...for the last 3 weeks.  From about week 6 through 11 I wasn't feeling so great.  It was just some good old fashioned morning sickness (that went on all day) coupled with fatigue.  But, hey, I made it through and now it doesn't seem like it was so bad.   And it all stopped pretty much right before our big trip, for which I'm so thankful.

Are you showing yet?
A teeny, tiny bit.  Although myself and Todd are probably the only ones who can see it.  When I'm wearing normal, non-Spandex clothing, it's hard to tell.  But there is something popping out there, and I'm really excited to keep on growing!

What's your medical care been like in the Netherlands?
Easy.  After meeting with a general practitioner, I was referred to a midwife practice.  I've met with her twice, each time receiving an ultrasound.  I had an ultrasound at 8 and then 11 weeks, and it was amazing.  I wish I had a personal machine so that I could just stare at my baby every day.  I also had blood work done at another facility, but things have been really relaxed, which I appreciate.  It will be interesting to transfer doctors over halfway through, but we'll make it work.

Was that a beer you were drinking in your last blog post?
Psych! Nope, any alcoholic beverages shown in my hand since the beginning of November belonged to my dear husband.  We were hoping they'd serve as a ruse to keep you savviest of blog readers from thinking something was up.

Are you having any crazy cravings?
I wouldn't call them crazy, since I haven't craved anything really weird, but Todd would be happy to tell you that I have gotten emotional over food.  Basically, I crave what's not available to me here, which is a terrible way to go. Goldfish, Wheat Thins, Cheerios, and Chipotle all pretty much sound like the best thing ever, but I don't have access to any of these! Luckily, oranges and grapefruits are readily available and I've been eating a ton of those.

How do you think Jack will do?
We've been telling Jack that her life is going to change this summer, but we're not sure it's really getting through yet.   To be honest, I don't know how she'll react.   We're getting lots of advice from friends with dogs who've recently had babies, so we're hoping some of those techniques will do the trick. I just can't imagine she'd be bad since she's such a sweetheart with us, but time will tell!

So there's a few responses to questions I hear a lot.  I know there is lots more to tell, but there are always other blog posts for more details.  I hope you enjoyed this special 100th post!