update on things

sorry I havent blogged in a while.
I am super excited about everybody's predictions over on the expect.net site. I made a separate one with the family, this one for $$$. half of the "proceeds" will go to the winner, half for the baby.
In case you havent been able to see it, here's a screen shot. The game is now locked, and you cannot add your guess, but if you want, you can leave it on the comments section.



I had a very lovely christmas dinner with my friends. We did a gift exchange, and i got a Body Shop gift card, which i already used to buy an awesome Manoi Oil (it smells great and it will help condition the skin before and after the baby). You can find pictures HERE.

I am now 39 weeks, 7 days to go. But by the look of things i am starting to think things will happen on (or even after) the due date. I havent felt anything "weird" yet, and so now we just wait.

Gera is "officially" on vacation and staying with me at home since monday. It is good to have him around. It makes me feel safer, and we can go walk a bit in the evenings (although i a sooo big i get very tired very quickly). He borrowed a wii from a friend who went on vacation, so he has plenty to keep him entertained. I say "enjoy it now, because we're putting that away when the baby comes" ;)

My sister Abril is coming on Sunday!! She will be here for almost a month. I am so super happy to see her, and have her with me for all this crazyness. She is a doctor (the kind that helps people, hehe. not the Ph kind, like Gera), and although she doesn't have any babies herself she has delivered many babies and I am sure she know at least how to hold them correctly (i am scared the baby will be too fragile and I'll break her or something...). She also just finished her diploma as a Pastry chef, so i dont think i will be loosing a lot of baby weight anytime soon! :)

Also, my Mom will be coming too!!! This is a VERY big deal in my family. My mom doesnt really like to travel, doesnt like flying, has never been to europe.... and she's doing all this to meet her first grandkid! I love her. This story will be le-gendary! She'll be here in January but only for a couple of weeks.

On other news, we're done with our xmas shopping. did it all online. gotta love super saver shipping! I even opened a cafepress shop in the process, although i havent added anything to it. I plan to do something with it later (after the dust settles).

A move is in the works... i will tell you where and when next year.

We have a name but have not "released" it yet. We are waiting for her to be born, and then we'll make it public. (it took so long to decide on one, that we thought might as well wait a few more weeks, no)

I think this will be my last post before the baby. I dont know how crazy things will be... i hope not too crazy... but rest assured that whenever i have time (and/or energy) i will post the labor story and pics and all the details.

have a very merry christmas, and a super happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

guess the birthday

here's something fun to try!

try to guess when will the baby be born (date and time), weight, and lenght.

the winner will be mentioned on the blog, and will receive... at least a postcard or something
:)
enjoy

baby update

baby update!
today I had an appointment with the midwives at the hospital, and after some tummy squeezing and a sonogram it was determined that the baby has turned!! YAY! she was breeched on the last check, and we were anxiously waiting for her to turn into a head-down position. I did a few weird things over the last couple of weeks to hopefully help her move, like watching TV on all 4s, propping my hips up with pillows, using the yoga ball, and even accupunture. I am glad something worked. :-)
Now it is just a waiting game i guess. I have an appointment with my dr next week, and then probably another one a couple of weeks later, and then, hopefully i will go into labor and go directly to the hospital!
OMG!

the baby currently weighs 2.600 kg, but the dr said she'll probably be over 3kgs by the due date (big baby!)

Last weekend we bought a changing table/dresser, and have already assembled it and bolted it to the wall. The baby clothes are washed and folded, and the hospital bag is by the bed. I think we are as ready as we're going to be!

:-)

CPR certified

Last saturday we took a (very basic) CPR course at a small international school.
I signed up for it like 2 months ago, and was supposed to attend on Wednesday, but when I told Gera, this is what happened:
(i must first say that he knew about the course from the beginning)

me: "I'm going to the CPR thing today, I wont be home when you get back"
Gera: "that is today?
me: "yes"
Gera: "can i come too?"
me:" I don't know... I don't think so. Space is limited and i know they opened a SAturday course because there was a lot of demand"
Gera:"can you ask if there's room for one more today, or maybe we can we both go together on saturday?"
me: "!!!!!..... ok, i'll see what i can do. i'll try to call someone or something"

Then i go and make a round of calls and wait and call again, and finally I am told that we could have the last 2 spots on the saturday course.

On saturday we took a train (this was not in Zurich, but in a village/town nearby, like 40 minutes by train) and were trying really hard to be there on time ... but we weren't. The instructions on their site said to take bus 165 from the town's main station, and we got off the train looking for said bus. By the time we realized (by looking at the posted schedule) that the bus did not run on saturdays and that we should take number 150 instead, bus 150 rolled out and left....
Then we were stuck, because on saturdays buses don't run very often (like 2 per hour or less), especially on small towns.
So we took another bus that would leave us like 4 stops away from the school, and we figured we could walk from there.
When we got off the bus, we noticed that the walk was uphill. Not a good thing for a preggo lady. But we were running late, and we started walking. Then we realized that the first of 4 stops was not so near after all. and by the time we reached the 1st bus stop it was already 9am (the course started at 9am), so we decided to just wait for the bus (9 minutes).
We reached the school at about 9:15, and the doors were already closed. I tried calling the office, but there was no answer. Then I called the same lady who had been kind enough to accomodate my schedule changes, and she proceeded to call people who would be inside the school at the time (including the nurses teaching the course). As i was on the phone with her, we tried to get in behind a woman who had access to he building, and she was VERY rude and would not let us in, and would not go find someone to come let us in. She was plain mean!. Eventually, a teacher came to open the door for us, and we were finally inside at 9:25. The course had already started and i was extremely embarrassed to be late. But better late than never!

The course itself was very informative, and very "light". It was only 3 hours long (2.5 for us. ehem!), and we were following along a video and practicing on dummies. This whole CPR thing is HARD WORK! They make it seem so much easier on TV. We also learned about what to do when a baby/toddler chokes on something, and about how to use the public access defibrillator (way cool!). After the course was over, we were handed a little card and now we're CPR certified for 2 years in switzerland. (i think it is scary how little one must know to be CPR certified, hehe)

having a baby in switzerland

before having a baby in Switzerland, there are several things you need to know:
-INSURANCE for mom : Medical insurance in Switzerland is MANDATORY (and you pay for it yourself). There are different types or levels of coverage, but the BASIC level is the same for all insurance companies, so shopping around is a good idea if you are just getting the Basic coverage.The good news is that the Basic insurance covers ALL of the pregnancy-related expenses (8 visits to the doctor, 3 ultrasounds, birth, etc...). If you enter the country with a previous condition (pregnancy included) you can only be covered by the BASIC insurance (for the pregnancy part at least). If you're already in Switzerland and planning on getting pregnant it is a good idea to upgrade your insurance level if you wish to have a few extras (more dr's visits, more scans, private room, your doctor attend the birth, etc). For some companies, you need to do this a whole year in advance! My coverage is Basic, and I've been very happy with it so far. I will not get my doctor to attend the birth, but she's out on maternity leave anyways, so that was not an issue. Also, if i wanted to i could upgrade the hospital room to a private room (instead of a double) for 240 CHF per night, but i think i will just stick to what i have and hope there aren't too many births that week (there's usually 2 per room at the hospital i am going to).

-INSURANCE for Baby: Arranging for insurance coverage for your baby BEFORE she's born is not mandatory, but a very good idea. That way the baby will be covered from birth, and any medical issues that may surface will not be considered "pre-existing". You can insure your baby with a company different that yours. Usually children's insurance has a 0 CHF deductible, so you never really pay anything besides the monthly premium. In the spirit of preparedness, we have already arranged for the baby's insurance (like 3 months ago).

-BIRTH: Even though i haven't had a baby in the US or MX (or any other country for that matter), i am pretty sure the birthing experience here is very different. First, the entire birth is handled by midwives, and a doctor only shows up at the end (maybe) or if there are complications (this might be similar to the US). You give birth in a birthing room, and there are all kinds of "toys" in there you can use to make labor less painful (and more enjoyable? don't think so). The bed can change into all these different positions, there's a ball, a maya stool, chairs, ropes hanging from the ceiling, and in most hospitals at least a couple of rooms have a birthing pool. They're VERY open to all kinds of different birthing positions (they actually discourage the "usual" laying on your back with legs on stirrups). They also have a stereo and you can bring your favorite music. The midwives highly encourage a Natural birth, they try to sell it, push it, and convince you it is the best thing ever! They will offer you accupunture, aromatherapy, massage, and all different kinds of "natural" remedies before using what they call "school medicine" (does this mean there's no school for accupunture?). Of course, in the end it is supposed to be YOUR birthing experience, so if you want an epidural you can get it (fingers crossed!).

-HOSPITAL: With the basic insurance I could only choose a hospital in my Canton (canton=state). Fortunately, there were several choices within the canton of Zurich. After asking my doctor we narrowed it down to the University hospital and the city hospital. I should mention here that the insurance also covers "Birthing Centers" and home births but we did not even consider those (I guess coming form a family of doctors and nurses we feel more comfortable with a hospital birth). Hospitals usually have a tour/information session once a month where they talk about the birthing process and how things are handled in their hospital. We went to a couple of those, even though they were in german. In the end we went with the TriemliSpital (the City Hospital), which is VERY near our house (like 3 bus stops away=4-5 minutes), they're smaller than the Unispital, and i've heard good things about them.

-EXTRAS: There's a lot of support available for mommies and babies around here. It all starts in the hospital, where you can stay up to 5 days for a vaginal birth and up to 7 days for a c-section. During that time, a lactation consultant teaches you about breast feeding, and also they teach you how to care for the baby (bathing, diapers, etc) among other things. Once you go home you get to have a midwife come visit you a few times. She will answer any questions, check stitches, weigh the baby, check on the breast feeding process, etc. The Basic insurance covers 10 of these visits, but the days you stay at the hospital are subtracted from that (so if you stay 3 days at the hospital, you get 7 midwife visits). It is up to you to choose and arrange for the home midwife. Then there's a "Mother Center" in your area that will contact you after the birth (the hospital sends them your info). There you can go once a week also for questions, check ups and just advice in general.

-COURSES: There are a bunch of courses available for new parents. They include the typical "birthing" course, but also some interesting ones, like baby massage, baby wearing, infant care, breastfeeding, and water birthing among others. Unfortunately only a few of the courses are offered in English. We already attended a birthing course at the University hospital. It was a looong weekend course (from 9-4 on Sat, and from 9-3 on sunday, with a 1 hr lunch break). It was very informative and useful. Mostly it helped with making us more relaxed, positive, and confident about the whole process. The courses are not cheap! but the basic insurance covers about 1/4 of the bill.

-PAPERWORK/NATIONALITY: A baby born in switzerland does not a Swiss citizen make. For a baby to be swiss, one (or both) of the parents needs to be swiss. In our case, the baby will be Mexican. There are several documents you need to bring to the hospital in order to get the Birth Certificate, and there are several requirements to those documents. The "silliest" one is that all the papers you bring should not be older that 6 months. That means that you need to get a whole "new" set of birth certificates for the parents and also a current marriage certificate from your home country less than 6 months before you give birth. Why do they have this requirement? beats me!. In our case, we will also need to have such documents translated, since they are not in English, German, French or Italian. The translation can only be done by a "certified" person and they also need to be notarized. This will cost a bundle (I estimate about 1000 CHF!). We already have the "current" not-more-than-six-months-old documents. Next on my to-do list is to get them translated. After the birth we will get the gift certificate and the hospital will forward the baby's info the the "immigration police". They will then contact us to get the baby's residence permit in order. ALSO, once we have the birth certificate, we will need to register the baby in the Mexican consulate. That is a whole other story! It involves more paperwork and traveling to Bern with two witnesses. Only AFTER we have registered the baby as Mexican can we get the baby a Passport. That involves (you guesses it) more paperwork. In all, we estimate that if we do everything right, one thing after the other, the baby will be "legal" and free to travel by 3-4 months. (i guess if we want to travel to the US, we will also need to apply for a US visa... can you say "more paperwork"?).

ok.
that was long.
i hope you found it interesting.
until next time.

jazibe is...

... reading "The Vaccine Book" by Robert W. Sears and "Infant Massage" by Vimala McClure

... having lunch with friends on friday.

... attending a CPR course with Gera on saturday.

... picking up some baby furniture on Sunday.

... stocking up on "easy meals" (like jars of spaguetti sauce and canned items)

... getting together with other preggos for coffee on wednesdays.

... taking a picture of the growing belly at least once a week.

... watching a lot of TV online (amazing race, top model, House, Heroes, Terminator, among others)

... inspired by Abril's "easy" post.

baby shower in zurich

last saturday I had my second baby shower, organized by my mexican friends. We had a great time, and they did a great job organizing, decorating, cooking, everything! The games were super fun too! It was weird to see how big people think my belly is! (i mean, it IS big, but some of those strings were super long!). We also tried some baby food, and i just couldn't guess right. The presents were super thoughtful and cute. Thanks to everyone! (gracias amigas!!)

you can find the pictures here.

PS. Gera went with me to help me carry the cake (which i had to trouble convincing my friends to let me make, hehe), but quickly left after the photos (maybe he was afraid we would make him stay and play some games or something)

the 100 dollar bill story

when my dad came to visit, he needed to exchange some money. I took him to my bank (UBS) because since i have an account there they won't charge a fee for the transaction. He had exchanged pesos at the El Paso Airport, and now he needed swiss francs. At the cashiers window, i gave the cashier the money and showed my UBS debit card and the cashier proceeded to check the bills individually. One by one. looking at them on both sides, checking them against the light. I thought "swiss are careful about money". And suddenly he found a "flaw" in one of the $100 bills. The top edge was like 1 or 2 millimeters bigger than in the rest of the bills. He said "i need to check this, i think it might be fake". My dad and I went "!!!!!". He asked where we got the bill, and my dad said he'd gotten it at the airport, and luckily he had the transaction slip. The cashier spoke to several people in the bank (supervisors and managers i assume), and photocopied the bill, and the transaction receipt from El Paso Airport. He gave us a "report" and told us that the bill needed to be sent to Bern to be inspected. "If it turns out to be a fake, sorry but we cannot give you the money back. We will let you know by mail".
Again, my dad and i went "!!!!". Then we just laughed.
It took them about 2 weeks to finally send me a notice that the money had been deposited in my account. My dad was gone by then... i guess they had to be very thorough. (i did not get any further explanation)
swiss and their money...

baby gifts

Abril has knitted the baby a couple of super cute things.

Gera's mom found this little angel (angels are her "thing"... she collects them). When you squeeze her tummy, she says a prayer in spanish. The prayer is the one we learned as kids in school: "Angel de la Guarda, dulce compañia, no me desampares ni de noche ni de dia" (Guardian Angel, sweet company, don't leave my side day or night).


And Gera bought this little octupus for the baby. I says different colors in english, spanish and french. This sure is going to be a multilingual baby!



we've also gotten a few more special gifts from other people, but since i haven't taken a picture, i will post them later.
Thanks!

Oh! and this saturday my friends are hosting a baby shower for me! I am so excited!

accupunture

Last sunday during the birthing course i got my first accupunture session ever!

The instructor of the course was a midwife, lactation consultant and accupunture specialist. I still have to tell you about how birthing works here in Switzerland, but for now I'll just say they are very "natural" and very open to "alternative" medicine.

I mentioned to her that the baby hasn't turned and maybe I looked a bit desperate because she asked if I would like to volunteer to do an accupunture demo. I immediately said yes! I wasn't afraid of the needles or the pain (which did not hurt AT ALL!); I was actually more embarrassed to show my un-pedicured feet and non-moisturized legs to the class... :) but for a free accupunture session, hey! no problem! (besides, i am pretty sure all the other preggos in there dont take so much care of their feet... "if you cant see it, its not there!" hehe)

She looked at my tongue and took my pulse and diagnosed something about water retention. Then she inserted needles in my ankles and near my knees, about four on each leg. Then a few more on my lower back. I was expecting to feel the baby suddenly moving a lot or some other sign that it was working, but no. The baby did move  a bit, but i don't think she turned... The midwife said that a procedure called moxibustion is more effective (they put heat on your little toes, right on the edge of the nail). I have my next dr's appointment on the 20th, and i'll know by then if we need to do more accupunture or moxi or what. For now, i am more aware of my posture and spend a few minutes a day on all fours while watching TV (it is supposed to give the baby more room to turn).

I have pics of the accupunture, but not on my computer yet. I'll post them later.

birth course teaser

Yesterday and today we took part in a birthing course. It was fun and informative, and I will tell you more about it later (tomorrow maybe), I just had to post something so i wouldnt mess up the NaBloPoMo so early on (like someone else i know... you know who you are).

'til tomorrow!

snow, snow

The first nablopomo post will be about the weather.

It just snowed here in Zurich last wednesday. In october. Snow. Here. It was odd, and a record snow in some parts of switzerland. Needless to say, we hadn't seen snow this early in the last two years we've been here, so we were a bit surprised. 

And we were also surprised that it "stuck". The snow did not just melt, but lasted a few days. Even today, I still saw some on the streets. I was a bit apprehensive about going out with the cold weather and the snow, I was afraid to slip and fall, and also the "grayness" of the landscape was a bit depressing, so i did not go out for a few days. But i got cabin fever (and also ran out of milk) so i had to venture out, but luckily by then most of the snow as gone, and the streets and sidewalks were cleared.

happy halloween!!

halloween 2006, Indiana

just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.

We wont be doing anything special (oh, how i miss the bloomington halloween parties...)

Maybe i'll dress up the belly... hhhmmmm. now i'm thinking...

i will post it here if i do.

and...

November starts tomorrow, so you know what that means... NaBloPoMo!!

Although from what i read lately, it is not just november, but any month. I will keep it to november anyways. lets see how well i do.

trips, stories & belly

@ chateau Chillon, in Lake Geneva

you can find photos HERE

This last weekend my dad went back to Mexico after his 3-week European vacation. We both had a great time during his visit, and I even managed to convince him to take a couple of “unplanned” day trips, one to Milan and one to Freiburg, Germany. Since I had already been there before (and kept all the brochures and plans and notes), it was easy to just sorta jump on the train, plus I just thought it would be good to add a couple of more countries to his list.
Together we went to Lausanne, Chateau de Chillon and Bern in the same day!! OMG! It was a great trip, and very well planned (if I say so myself). In Lausanne (2 hour train ride from Zurich) we only went to the cathedral, supposedly the most important gothic building in Switzerland. There’s much more to see in Lausanne (a city on lake Geneva), like the Olympic museum and some other stuff, but on a tight schedule the cathedral is priority. Then we took a train (40 mins) to a Chateau de Chillon, a castle on the lake. It is super old, and super well preserved. We each got an audio guide and did the tour in about 2 hours or less. Then we took the train back to Lausanne and then a train to Bern (which is on the way back to Zurich). In Bern we did just a basic stroll through the medieval part of the city (old town), and by the end of it we were BOTH dragging our feet and ready to go. We were back in Zurich by 8pm, after a long day.
Another trip we took together was to Luzern and Mt. Titlis. Luzern is 1 hour away on train, and from there you take another (mountain) train to Engelberg, and from there 3 cable cars to the top of Mt Titlis. It was great that my dad got to see snow and a close up view of the Alps, and the weather was awesome too (thanks to my handy dandy planning skills). I did not even attempt stepping on the snow and remained the entire time on the terrace area, I was too afraid to slip and fall, and since I had been there before, I wasn’t really missing it. In Luzern we went to the Transport museum, and did the usual stroll through the old part of town.

@ Mount Titlis

@ Luzern, feeding the swans

@ Luzern, Transport Museun

To take all these trips, my dad got a Swiss Saver Pass, with 3 days of unlimited travel in Switzerland within a month. The pass also included a museum pass, with free entry to hundreds of museums in Switzerland, AND it also work as a public transport pass. I highly recommend it.
On his own, my dad went first Bayeux, a town in Normandy, France. He was there for a 2-day tour of two of the beaches were D-Day was staged. He is a war history enthusiast, and he also likes planes and all that stuff, so that was really fun for him. He also took a quick trip to London and Paris on his last week, when Gera was already back home with me. My mom was not too happy that he was taking all these trips, and “making” me go with him on some… “you’re supposed to be there to take care of her while Gera is gone, not to make her tired and leave her for an entire day…” hehe. You know moms…
I have a couple of funny anecdotes that happened to us, like the “tale of the forgotten backpack” and “the 100 dollar bill”, but I will tell you about those later.

@ lake Zurich, with Dad

Gera got back from the US on October 14, and he made it home safely, even while carrying two loaded suitcases to the limit. Literally! They weighed exactly 50 lbs each! And he had a full carry-on, and he even stuffed the pockets on his jacket with some stuff that would not fit anywhere else. Too funny! A big thank you to the people who sent presents!

Gera in Reno

IT’S A GIRL!! I guess everybody already knew, since I got no emails or messages regarding the subject, hehe.
The belly keeps growing, and the Mommy too! I feel as soon as I hit month 7, my feet got swollen and my back started aching. Even so, I consider myself lucky to have gone so long without many complaints (and hopefully that will be all).
I had an appointment with the doctor on Thursday morning, and all looks well. We’re just keeping an eye out waiting for the baby to “turn” (get into the head-down position). I am also trying to arrange to get some nice professional photos taken, so I’ll keep you posted on that.

several updates!

at a Mexican Independence party.

Sorry I haven’t blogged in so long, I have been busy… making a baby!
So here’s a list of random stuff that have been happening on our side of the world:

Baby:
I just had another appointment with my doctor and everything looks good. The baby is kicking now with full force and you can see my belly jumping, moving and contorting, kinda like in the movie “Alien”. The belly is oh so huge, and still growing. It started a perpetual growth spur between week 24 and 25 and there’s no end in sight… well, there is: December 24th, remember? Anyways, we now the sex of the baby. Actually, we’ve known the sex since week 13 (I am now week 27… almost 7 months to those of you doing the math). Do you want to know? Leave a comment and I will make sure I send you a personalized email (what a clever way to get people commenting, no?).

We’ve also decided on a hospital to have the baby, and my dr. is sending all my files there so they have my records. For next time, I’ll give you a quick rundown of how things work when having a baby in Switzerland. There’s some interesting stuff to share.



2-year anniversary
I probably wont have time to post this on the actual anniversary, because I will be busy with my dad, who will be visiting for a couple of weeks (more on that below) so here it is now: On October 5th is the second year anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland (I say “my” because gera arrived a month before me). So much has happened since then… The plan was to stay here for a couple of years and then move on to somewhere else… now with the baby on the way we’ll just have to adjust our timeline a bit and stay a bit longer. But be certain that we will be moving next year. Where? Well, I’ll just say the planets are aligning and plans are being made. More on that when we know more.

As for the progress/changes during the last year… there hasn’t been many milestones. Since we stopped going to german classes last year the language hasn’t improved a great deal, BUT I do feel I understand a lot more, and I have been known to order and ask questions at the store in german, so it really cant be all that bad, can it? We’re thinking we should start lessons again somewhere, maybe even just with a CD course.

I have made many more Spanish-speaking friends too! (at this rate, I will forget even my English). There’s now a group of seven of us that get together regularly for lunch or dinner. I love having people that understand where you come from and that are going to the same expat experience as you. I also made friends with a girl from Venezuela, who is also pregnant (1 week behind me). We have so much in common it is scary. She is also a graphic designer, and she used to live in the US (St. Louis), we’re the same age, and got married the same year (among other things). It is also super great to have a pregnant friend, I am so lucky! ( I am sure you will read more about her).


gera and shopping:
Gera is on his way to the US as I type this… (right now!). He’s going to a conference in Nevada, then to Dallas to visit family, and finally to Indiana for other work-related visit. He will be gone for a bit more than a couple of weeks, and I was pretty sad to see him go this morning. BUT I keep trying to look at the bright side and think that my dad arrives tomorrow (see below, again). Anyways, we have been online shopping like crazy and while in Dallas, Gera is going to pick up a few* things we ordered. (*few meaning a stroller, stroller bag, video camera, some books, some clothes, and some other stuff). We also ordered a bunch of other stuff to be delivered to El Paso and my dad will be bringing that. He even had to pack a extra suitcase and get some “space saver” bags just to get stuff to fit (thank you dad!). Getting all this stuff will make it feel like christmas in October!

Dad’s visit:
Perfectly timed for gera’s absence, my dad will be coming to visit for a few weeks. I am soo very happy yo see him, and very excited for him, since this is his first time coming to Europe! He’ll be here for about a week straight, and I have some plans to propose for his stay during that time, which include day trips to Laussane, Bern, Basel, Luzern, Milan; and just walking around Zurich. I hope I am not a big party pooper and can make it through the sightseeing without getting too tired. He’s also got plans for some short visits to London, Paris and Bayeux. Gera took our camera with him, so I will have to make sure I get lots of photos with my dad’s camera (and don’t forget to download them to my computer before he leaves…)

Celphones:
We have finally gotten ourselves cel phones! We’d never had one, and had survived without a mobile phone pretty well for all these years. Now with the preggo belly it was super important to be able to reach each other in case of emergencies, so we just got a pre-paid basic plan, and actually don’t plan to use them much at all: only for emergencies. Yeah, right! I can see myself calling him from the store to ask “what kind of bread do you want?” … not really an emergency. But we’ll try to be good and keep the calls to a minimum.

I will probably be MIA for a few weeks, but be patient because I am sure I will have a ton to share when I get blogging again.

Meet the baby (sonogram)

As promised, here it is!
I hope you like it.

Click on the picture for a closer look

(Sorry for the poor quality... it has something to do with the file size and youtube... i think... i hope i can make it better and repost)

And finally, here's the belly @ 22 weeks (the same day as the sonogram). It looks much bigger in person (and when fully exposed!). i am taking pictures every week, so a "progression" movie is on the works.

Updates on the baby

So finally on july 28 I declared that the baby was “officially” moving! I mean, it has been moving for a while, in one of the sonograms you could even see the baby jumping with hiccups! But I hadn’t felt anything... until now. It was amazing! It still is! And I can feel it more and more everyday! I am so excited!
The belly keeps growing, of course. Like I said, next post will be sonograms for sure! And I’ll even throw in a belly profile pic in there for your viewing pleasure.

I have been asked about names, so here’s the scoop on that. There’s a well-guarded list (think Harry potter and the Sorcerer’s stone) that we’ve been updating (adding and crossing names for the last 4 months) and it is now down to 14 names (but we’re still modifying…). The name will remain “secret” until … well, I don’t know until when, but it is for now (so shhhhh!). I will tell you the following story, though. One day a couple of years ago my sister Abril and I discovered that we both had the same name in mind if we ever had a baby girl. There are no grandkids on my side of the family, and two boys on Gera’s side, so a baby girl would be the queen of the grandkids! We agreed that whoever had a baby girl first could keep the name. Some of you already know what the name is, but for those of you who don’t, care to take a guess? (Leave a comment). Don’t worry, I will eventually tell you, you might even get to vote!

freiburg

find more photos here: Flickr Album

We just got back from a quick trip to Freiburg, Germany. My (Mexican) friend Rocio used to live there, and her husband’s family still has an apartment there. She invited us to go with her and stay at her place for the weekend (gracias Rocio).

Freiburg is a small city, very lively and friendly and eco and multicultural (all of it due mostly to the university). We left on Friday night (aug 8) and although we could have saved a bit of money and gone with a “carpool-carsharing” system that is very popular around here, we opted to travel by train. It just made me feel safer than going on a car with a driver i don’t know, and who drives god know how fast, and… what if I get nauseus? Or I have to go the toilette?… so we ended up getting direct train tickets from Zurich to Freiburg, which in the end were not direct, as there was some problem with the train and we still had to change trains in Basel. But we made it in under 2 hours still.

We arrived Friday night and walked around a bit. Rocio showed us around the neighborhood and told is stories about her life as a student there). The next day we woke up early and headed for the Cathedral. There’s a market on the cathedral square every day, except Sundays, so this was our only chance to go. The market was lively, and with lots of local produce and flowers! Not to mention food… mmm. We had some wurst (susages) and spätzle (some traditional german pasta). Then, after going in the cathedral, we headed for a walk of the old town. There are little channels filled with water from the river that run on the streets of the old town called bächle They have been there since medieval times, supposedly to keep the city cool, as a water source for the animals and as a way to put out fires. Now they are mostly to keep the city cool, for kids to play in, for tourists to soak their feet in, and for the occasional foot-in-the-water accident (it is said that if you accidentally fall into a Bächle you will marry a local).

As usual, we walked a lot. This is what you do when you travel: you get on the train, sit for an hour or two, get to your destination and walk for hours! Walk around town, around a lake, around a forest, around a garden… Then you get back on the train and go home. We took it slow this time, since the pace was dictated by my belly and my aching feet. We visited a couple of museums, and a couple of churches (also typical day-trip itinerary). Then we met with Rocio for dinner at a beer garden/brewery. Afterwards we walked some more! (to see the spots we missed and that only a local could show us). Then we spent a bit of time at the Winekost, the wine tasting mini-fest on the cathedral square. After that, we were ready to go to bed, around midnight.

On Sunday we walked to the Schlossberg, a little mountain on the edge of town, where you can get an awesome view of the city and actually experience the back forest beauty. It was a long walk, with lots of stairs and hills. We had to stop several times for me to rest and catch my breath, but we eventually made it (45 minutes, some hills and almost 300 steps to get to the tower PLUS a more steps to get to the top of the 30 m high platform).

The view was amazing an the walk was quite an appetite building workout, so from there we headed to a kebab place, highly recommended by Rocio. Turns out the kebabs were closed, and although we waited for 30 minutes for them to open, we were just too hungry and ended up having lunch down the street. Gera and I were glad we did, because we got to try “Flammkuchen”, a pizza-like dish traditional in the area. It is like a very thin-crust pizza, with a cream sause (instead of tomato) and varied toppings, the classic being bacon and onions. Very tasty!

From there we headed to Titisee, a very picturesque (and touristy) lake, with lots of cuckoo clocks chops, lost of people and a nice place to swim (but we didn’t). After laying down for about 30 mins and walking a bit around the lake for a while, it was time to go back to freiburg, where we would meet with Rocio again for dinner and then head back to Zurich. This time we did experience the famous kebabs, which were good, but I guess our expectations were high after so much build up.

Later we said goodbye to Rocio and Freiburg, and after patching up some postcards with stamps trying to make sure they made it to their destination, we boarded our train back to Zurich. (we initially placed a .45 euro stamp on the postcards, and they needed 1 euro, so we bought several other smaller stamps to cover the missing postage, and ended up covering parts of the text in the postcard and some having about 40 cents too much postage).

I know I promised baby and belly pics, but since my next appointment is next week, I’ll just wait ‘til after it so I can have one more sonogram to add to the post. Unitl next time, don’t forget to comment!

swiss national day

Swiss national day fireworks


(or is it national swiss day??) Whatever the term, it means “Gera’s off work day, all the shops are closed day, fireworks day”
Last Friday (aug 1st) was a holiday in Switzerland. There’s a parade in the morning, they sell fireworks at the store and at night, people go crazy lighting them. So in essence, its like the swiss 4th of July. We heard the best fireworks were at the lake, but that it was crowded and kids play with their “fire toys” disregarding their safety (and other’s), so we opted for another spot: the terrace overlooking the city at the University. We were not the only ones who thought that would make a nice spot, because there were a few people there before sunset, and a small crowd had gathered by the time we left. Nonetheless, it was quiet (as quiet as you can get with fireworks), not too crowded and safe. We got some nice shots of St. Peterskirche with fireworks on the side. From there you could see most of the city very well, but the view of the lake was obstructed by some trees, so even though we got to see some of the “nicer” fireworks, most were the kind lit by people on their rooftops.

On the preggo front, we just bought a stroller! It was a big purchase for us, since we had been researching, debating, comparing, and changing our minds for the last couple of months. We will not be getting a car seat, since we don’t have a car (it sounds like an easy decision, right? Well, we thought long and hard about that one too!) We went with a three-wheel stroller that is supposed to be good for urban living. We bought it online to have it delivered to Dallas. Gera will stop by on his way back from Reno and will bring the stroller with him. Now the question is… do you need to travel with a baby to check a stroller at no extra charge? Or will we have to check it as another piece of luggage and pay the extra $25? We don’t know yet, but we will find out.

I have to say (at the risk of sounding like a total drunk) that I thought being alcohol free for 9 months would be harder. It’s not too bad! The first few months I didn’t even feel like having a beer, or smelling one. Now, maybe I could enjoy one on a hot Sunday afternoon, but that is what Alkoholfrei bier is for! It is not too bad (I like light beers anyways) but Gera said it tasted like yellow water. Now I think I could use some sangria..mmm (is there alcohol-free wine?)

For our anniversary (on July 29th) we went really low-key. Gera got me flowers, and I made a nice dinner at home, and for desert: cheesecake! It looked way better that it tasted.

Did you notice the cool pregnancy counter at the top?

Preggo beer

Anniversary cheesecake (looks better that it tasted)

Anniversary flowers (still blooming!)

Happy Anniversary!

8 years of happiness!

Here's a collection of photos of the weddings in my family. My parents have been married about 5 times, all of them to each other!!! (no, they didnt get divorced, they married once with a judge, then at the church, then through the Catholic, then renewed vows at their 25th anniversary, and... i think i am missing one....) By those same lines, I have married Gera twice!
BTW, all the weddings happened in July (my parent's july 14, Abril/Roberto's July 25, ours July 29).

July 29th, 2000

our "first" wedding, at Gera's house, with a judge. With my sisters Abril & Baba

our first dance 

removing the garter, very funny!

Abril and Roberto, July 25th, 2003

My parents' first church wedding. Lots of family in the pic, my mom is carrying me, and dressed in Blue in the foreground are Baba and Abril.

My parents' first wedding with a judge.(July 14th, 1971)

My parents' 25th wedding anniversary. (1997... date added after abrils comment... sorry sis, blame it on my preggo mind!) 

Their 1st wedding. (1971)

The progress so far

I am getting bigger by the hour! Or at least that’s how it feels :)
I love my new belly, and I cant wait to start feeling the baby move inside (I am at 18 weeks, and the books say between 17 and 20, so any time now).

I’ve had 4 sonograms so far (2 here at 8 and 16 weeks, and 2 in Juarez at 12 and 14 weeks), and everything looks good and healthy. I was actually pretty impressed with the last sonogram at my doctor’s office. I was twisting my neck trying to see the monitor in front of her, and then she said “move up a bit, so you can see” and she points across the room to the wall in front of me. The whole screen was projected on the wall!! Nice, huh? I got to see my baby as big as a wall, I hope the kid doesn’t come out as big, hehe. She also makes lots of printouts, which is nice.

I have been feeling surprisingly good! My first trimester wasn’t so bad either. I had a bit of morning sickness in the evenings (around 5 or 6pm), and I did feel very tired most of the time, but that was it! No puking or anything, so I consider myself lucky. I did fall asleep countless times watching TV, I just couldn’t help it! Now I feel great! I eat very little but VERY often and I have gained a couple of kilos, which is within range. Also, I think I am starting to walk funny, hehe.

I did some major maternity clothes shopping while I was in Minneapolis, and I think I am all set on that area, although a girl can always use more clothes. I even bought a winter coat that will (hopefully) fit my big winter belly!

I haven’t had weird cravings… I don’t Think… I did eat A LOT of sushi while I was in Juarez (no raw fish though). We went to the buffet every Sunday, and I would eat between 30 and 35 pcs (of rolls). But I have always craved sushi, and I have always eaten that much, so I cant really blame that on the baby. I ate a lot of Taco Bell in Minneapolis, and also craved burgers from Hardee’s.

I will put together some sonogram pics and vids for next post, so check back!

1st Baby Shower

FIND MORE BABY SHOWER PHOTOS HERE
After breaking the news to the family, it was decided (by moms and sisters) that a baby shower was in order. “Isn’t it too early?” was my initial response (I was barely past my 12th week). “well, maybe, but better early than never!” was the consensus. And so the wheels started moving and the planning started. Gera’s mom had already decided on a place and time: breakfast on the Saturday before I was to leave, so that would give them 2 weeks to plan and invite people. Then Abril and I started working our magic and created a bird theme baby shower (inspired by Martha, of course!).

It all started with the cupcake idea and then went on from there: bird houses for the center pieces, bird invitations (which I designed and printed, of course), nests with eggs (Jordan almonds) as party favors, and a whole bunch of other little bird-theme details. We had a long guest list, since it included my friends and my sister’s friends, as well as my mom’s and mom-in-law’s friends. I think we handed out about 50 invites total, and we had about 40 guests… not too bad I’d say.

I must admit I was pretty excited about having a shower… the cake, the presents… hehe. We all worked really hard to put it all together, and I enjoyed the planning as well as the execution. I did the center pieces because I couldn’t wait for my mom (the florist) to get off work… it was just a big temptation to have all the flowers and materials there and not do it. I love how they turned out! Abril did the cupcakes, of course (she’s the pastry chef to-be). Although she (we) encountered “mild” problems with the frosting and the heat, after a second batch of not-so-melty frosting they were done at about 2am. We also did the cake stand for the cupcakes, and even though we ended up putting it together after a few guests had arrived, it looked terrific and made the cupcakes stand out! We got a lot of compliments on the décor, invites, cakes, etc… I was really happy!

The invites requested “lluvia de dolares” (dollar shower/rain), which is a common theme for bridal and baby showers. That way you get to buy whatever you want (since registering is not that common in mexico yet). But I also registered at Target and Babys’R’us at El Paso. I got 2 gifts from the registry, and the rest were half money envelopes and half baby stuff (mostly clothes). There was no time to open the presents at the shower, so I took them home unopened and then waited like 7 hours for Gera’s mom to come to dinner so she could be there when I opened them. Oh… my fingers were itching…. I did peek at one…. don’t tell her, hehe. It was also nice to do it like that because the dads (grandpas-to-be) were there and could be included in the baby festivities. Gera had already returned to Zurich by then so he wasn’t there for the shower, but he was there for most of the preparation, and he contributed ideas and we went together to register. It was great to see him buying baby stuff!

Back in Zurich!

OMG!
Where to begin?
I have been on an extended vacation since may 21, and so much has happened….
I will start with the biggest news of all: (since the cat has now left the bag and the beans are all over the floor…)

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

Yes, you read correctly. This is not a drill. (or a joke like last time).
It is the real deal!
After almost 8 years of marriage, we finally decided it was time, and although it was a bit sooner than expected, we are pregnant and glowing with happiness!
The baby is now 15 weeks old (so if you’re counting, I am almost 4 months pregnant), and it is due on … get this… December 24th!!! Talk about a Christmas present!

The timing worked out great with the trip, since we were able to tell our families in person (we had bought the tickets way before we were even pregnant!). It was a big secret, and only Abril and Roberto knew (we told them on week 8, after the first sonogram). We HAD to tell someone, and they were bound to figure it out as soon as I got to Minneapolis and turned down a beer… (or as soon as they saw my big fat belly, which I’ve been proudly displaying since week 9!)

We told the family in Mexico a day after our arrival, during a nice father’s day family dinner and needless to say, they are all CRAZY about the news, but most of all my mom (this is the first grandchild on my side of the family!). Gera’s mom was super excited also and she had started planning a baby shower within 24 hours after breaking the news. Then it was decided (by moms and sisters) that it was uncertain when and if they’d see me again before the birth (more on that later), so they all got together and organized a big baby shower for June 28th.

I have tons more to tell you: about the trip, the baby, the baby shower, the future… but this is such big news that I will leave you wanting more. So check the blog often, I have plenty of material to keep you entertained for a while.

Don’t forget to write or leave a message. I’d love to have a collection of messages to add to the baby book (yes, I already have one!)

ps... i found my ring the same day a posted last time... it was under the couch. :)

before my trip

(gera and eurocup tickets)

So this will probably be my last Zurich post for a while, since I am going to Minneapolis on Wednesday and then to Mexico, and wont be back in Zurich for 6 weeks! (can you say “va-ca-tion”?)
I have some stuff to tell you about before I leave, so here it is:

Remember the EURO cup tickets? Gera signed up for the raffle to purchase them, and he got a pair of tickets to a game in Zurich on June 9th (france-romania). This was last year, btw. So this year we find out the tickets are re-selling at high prices, which makes us start thinking about maybe not going and just taking the money. AND THEN we find out that we wont even be here for the match anyways (Gera goes to Denver to a conference, more on that later), soooo … I sold the tickets on ebay for a nice sum. (yay for us!). Too bad we wont be here for the EUROcup festivities (some trams are all festive and “football-y”), but on the other hand its good we wont be here for the chaos. We already received the tickets and are currently on their way to France.

I am super excited that I will be reuniting with my grad school friends in Minneapolis. Somehow most of us will be in the area so we plan to get together and have a good time (like old times!). (sorry Kate you wont get to be there )

Gera and I went to a FIFA youth stars soccer tournament. It is held here every year and it was free! It was even within walking distance from our house, so we enjoyed a couple of fast-paced games (they only lasted 40 mins) and who knows, maybe we got to see a future soccer superstar.

On a sad note, I am currently desperately searching for my wedding ring… I don’t know where I left it… I’ve looked in all the usual places. I’ll keep you posted. (on the other hand, it took me almost 8 years to misplace it, as opposed to Gera who lost his less than a week after our wedding).

Well, I am going back to packing. See you soon (some of you) and keep in touch!


(abril sent Gera a knitted poop for his birthday, it was hilarious!)

constance & Gera's Birthday

photos HERE

Last weekend was Gera's birthday, and to celebrate we went to the city of Konstanz in Germany (almost on the border with Switzerland). We have been wanting to go there for a while because we knew it would make a nice day trip, so this was the perfect occasion.

I must start by saying that this was probably the worst trip we've had in all our time of Europe sightseeing. It started badly and only went downhill from there. Dont get me wrong, Konstanz was a very nice place, and the Island of Mainau nearby was very pretty too, and we couldn't have asked for better weather... but... it was just a bad trip.

(9am) It all started when we arrived to the tram station only to see our tram leaving... ok. we'll just wait for the next one.
10 minutes later we're leaving on the "new" tram, when Gera asks "did you pack our passports?"..... "no".
We get off the tram at the next stop and WALK home to get the passports (and our stash of Euros, which we had also forgotten). By now we missed the direct train we wanted to catch, but we could make another one that left 30 minutes later but it was not direct. (9:37) Since we still had to buy the tickets, we BARELY made it to the train... (on hindsight it could have been worse).

We finally arrived to Konstanz (11am) and started walking. Kosntanz is the type of town where there isn't much else to do but walk, so we walked for a couple of hours, until we were tired and hungry. We stopped to eat at a restaurant we found on our way (which turned out to be very good, so there again, things could have been worse).

So with our bellies full and our bladders empty, we headed north towards the island of Mainau (a green paradise). According to the guide I had printed, you could walk there. so we walked and walked. And since we had crossed a bridge at one point, we thought we were ALREADY on the Island.... but something was off, and the map of the island did not make sense... weird. But we kept walking along the shore line and came across a couple of bathing areas. Nice. Kept walking. At one point we came to the conclusion we were NOT on Mainau yet, and somehow we were lost.

We walked some more trying to get to a bus station, or a ferry port. We eventually got to a ferry port, where they had a map and there we realized how much we'd walked and how more we still had to go. We boarded a ferry (after buying a one-way ticket) thinking it would take us to Mainau (or to Konstanz where we could catch a ferry to Mainau). We just wanted to stop walking... Turns out the ferry took us across the lake to another town... so we quickly got off the boat, bought another ticket and got back on. Then we ended up again in the same place. Then we took a bus and after changing buses once, we were finally in Mainau. (5pm) Only 3 hours after setting out on foot).

Mainau was a very nice place, but after going through so much just to get there, it was nothing more than a glorified city garden. We were charged 1/2 price for the entrance because it was so late (another good thing). Once there, the map we had made perfect sense! We saw some plants, tulips, fountains and butterflies. It was all very pretty but we were so very tired... and then we were looking for an ice cream place and found none... Another thing that happened here was that Gera lost his return train ticket (he had it in his pocket, and then he didnt). Finally we left Mainau and took a bus back to Konstanz's main station, but since we werent sure the bus went all the way to the city center, we got off at a point were we recognized the area and could walk. Then we saw the bus keep going in the same direction as us... oh well...

So we ended up doing some more walking, but that gave us a chance to find an ice cream place. (7:40pm) We got to the train station and after Gera bought another ticket we found out that the last direct train to Zurich had left like 45 minutes ago. There were no more trains to Zurich for the day (!!), only as far as Wintherthur (about 20+ minutes away). (8:00pm) Oh well... by now we just laughed at all the misfortunes... We arrived in Wintherthur and the direct train to Zurich was delayed!! OMG! will it not stop?! so we took a "regional" train that stops at every single town... so it took forever to get to zurich....
We arrived home at around 10pm. We were tired and hungry, but as I write this i i am grateful that we had good weather, good food and good sights, because things could have been a lot worse!


(the red line is what we walked, the green is the bus we took, the blue is the ferry)

On Gera's Birthday we just stayed home, resting and eating. I made him pancakes for breakfast, and a very yummy General Tso's chicken for dinner. And of course, the 3-milk cake he requested, that was the best!

no news...

more photos HERE
There hasn't been much going on around here. After the excitement of buying our tickets to go to the US, there's been a lull in activities... but here's what we've been up to:
Gera's IU advisor + wife (Gary + Susan) came to town and we got to hang out with them. We went to dinner to a very cool restaurant with an awesome view, and the next day I did some tourist-guide action with Susan. It was great to see them again (we hadn't seen them since Sicily last Febreuary), but it was a quick visit, and it was over before we could say Luxemburgerli (traditional merengue treats from Srpüngli, a local chocolate/pastry shop).
I've also been meeting with my friends and making new ones. I met Rocio a few weeks ago, and we quickly hit it off. She is also from Mexico, and also from the North (like me). We went to her house for birthday cake and had a great time.
The Spring festival known as Sechselauten was last weekend. I've written about it before (where they burn a paper snowman to predict the summer season). Unfortunately it was raining that day, so we skipped it and just watched it on TV. It took fo-re-ver for the snowman to explode... maybe because it was wet?
Gera's birthday is next sunday, so I will have lots of pictures to share with you then. I think he wants to go out for drinks saturday night, and just have cake and relax on sunday. Whatever we end up doing, I will document to share with you.

I am going to Minneapolis!!

(Holding a package abril sent me for my birthday. Thanks sis!)

It is set, I have plans, I have tickets! I am going to Minneapolis in May!
Abril lives there, so I will be spending lots of time with her, when she’s not at school, cooking away… but we’re starting to make plans of all the things we’ll do together, like the good ol’ Bloomington times! Gera has a conference in Denver, but after that, he’ll also fly to Minneapolis and we’ll all be there together. I cant wait. Even though my trip is only 6 weeks away I have not taken out the suitcase (like last time). I am waiting for the weather in Zurich to get better, so I can take all my summer clothes out too (right now its rainy and cold).
Gera’s birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I have been experimenting with a recipe for his birthday cake, he wants “tres leches”. This 3-milk cake is a regular white cake cooked with extra eggs to make it harder, and then soaked in a mixture of 3 milks: sweetened condensed, evaporated, and whipping cream, all topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries (or shredded chocolate). It is YUMMY!. The first try was quite good, but the cake part was a bit too hard, but I think the secret is on the milk mixture and as long as that is good it all tastes great!

happy birthday to me!

see more pics HERE

i just celebrated my birthday and it was great!
A friend of mine hosted a baby shower for a german friend of hers, and I helped a bit ('cause i love doing crafty party planning things!). Then we went out for drinks to a nice cozy bar in old-town zurich.
Thank you everybody for your birthday wishes. (and generous presents)

Abril made this video for me. Love you sis!

Fussen Germany

Fussen Germany
Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein castles.

find photos HERE

Last weekend we took an impromptu trip to Germany (gotta love living in Europe!). We went to a town called Fussen (4.5 hrs by train), to visit the (very famous) nearby castles of Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein. Prince Ludwig II (prince of Bavaria) had a “thing” for castles, and he built a few. Then he was later declared crazy, and a day or two later was found dead (along with his psychiatrist, go figure). Neuschwanstein caslte was never finished, but it was opened to the public only a few months after he died (can you say “ka-ching!”?). It is grand and majestic, and was the inspiration for the Cinderella castle at Disney World! The other (less grand) castle of Hohenschwangau was a sort of summer residence, and that is where the prince grew up and lived.
The day we arrived was snowy and rainy, and we almost regretted going. But the second day was great and sunny, and everything looked so much prettier with all the fresh snow, we were happy we made the trip.
We took a trail up to a bridge where (according to the guidebooks) you could get a very nice view of the castle. Everythingwas white and beautiful, it looked like Narnia. We had to ignore a few warning signs and closed paths to get to the bridge. Because of all the snow the day before, some paths were closed, but people were just going through (under the fence), and so did we!. It was totally worth it!

henna

i did some henna on myself.

a blast from the past

heres a video from a year ago in April. We went to Mt. Titlis to see the Swiss Alps up close, and we had fun with a bit of snow tubbing.