January in Germany

January in Germany (and Switzerland) has been very chilly. Nothing compared to weather in the US, but when you have to walk everywhere and constantly wait for trains, any below freezing temperature is unpleasant. WE also have had a covering of snow on the ground! Just a thin, often slushy layer, but at least it feels AND looks like winter.

The bad news is that I have a sore throat. A VERY sore throat. But otherwise no symptoms. Hopefully it will resolve itself. I am staying in for the rest of today and tomorrow to speed up the healing process. My schedule - which isn´t even that crazy - is enough to keep me on the edge of exhaustion most of the time - so I am evaluating what to do about it. I think after the jet lag is completely gone and I get into more of a rhythm it might be better. On the other hand I have a being inside me stealing my energy stores, so it may get worse.

I went to the doctor yesterday (canceled the appt. for the week before due to severe jet lag / exhaustion). Friday afternoons are for napping! But it was exciting because for the first time I was hooked up to the heart/contraction monitor. One sensor measures the hardness of your stomach and the other attempts to measure the baby´s heart rate. The baby was not cooperating and was more interested in kicking at the sensor, so it was hard to find its heart rate, but it was still really exciting to hear it every now and then.

Other big baby news is that now the doctor says it looks like a boy - but wait - that´s the umbilical cord, so who knows. Very noncommittal doctor. Jan says that he thinks he saw a "sack" but basically we have no idea what gender the baby is. I guess we will find out soon enough - but the suspense is killing me! I think it is prob. worse to want to know and then constantly not be told, then to just wait until the birth to find out.

I will now see the doctor in three weeks and then every other week after that. We are going into the home stretch!

I have developed a huge belly (Mostly due to the delicious American food I ate over Christmas. That´s what I get for feeling like I could eat whatever I wanted for ten days.) and am somewhat in disbelief that it could possibly get any bigger. The doctor basically said, eat more fruits and vegetables, but being in Germany and not in the land of foods I crave but I cannot get most of the time I will not be eating so much. (especially if I stop sneaking Starbucks chai lattes and espresso brownies)