I guess I have to start listening to my Italian gynecologist. She has been none too happy with my going to the gym but I truly felt I was "taking it easy" in the gym and doing only the things recommended in my stack of pregnancy books. Until Sunday. I guess I fell prey to the "if 30 minutes of walking is good for you, 60 minutes must be even better..." mentality because I just kept walking and walking on the treadmill. I felt energetic and fine and my iPod was cranking out the tunes. And plus the doctor had barred me from doing the bike so the treadmill was my only option for a bit of cardio. After I got off the treadmill, I began having shooting pains in my pelvic region. That freaked me out but I hoped they would pass if I just rested some. As the day went on the shooting pains got neither better nor worse. They came about once or twice an hour and were not all that painful but it was freaky nonetheless.
I did not sleep at all Sunday night. I was convinced I'd done something horrible to the baby and I was in a state of panic. Cristiano was not happy with me because, well, Cristiano gets worried if I walk to the corner lately in my pregnant state. Strangely, he does not seem to have a problem with my doing laundry. Hmm... Anyway, he eats up everything the doctor tells us and was giving me the "I told you so" face so I couldn't very well ask him to take me to the emergency room (I mean, I could have but I didn't want to see crossed arms and that face sitting next to me in the ER). Cristiano's mom and dad were just finishing packing for their trip to Cape Verde but they accompanied me to the hospital while Cristiano went to work. Fortunately I was not visited in the ER but sent up to the maternity ward. It was complete chaos but the doctors were very nice. I got my first taste of "sharing a room" as I was examined in a room right in the delivery ward with a woman in labor who was hooked up to all of the monitoring machines. Honestly, in that moment I couldn't have cared less. I just wanted to know what was wrong with me and know the baby was fine (he is!).
The very nice lady gynecologist told me that she thought I had overdone it at the gym on Sunday and had gone into contractions. She told me I could walk but NOT on a treadmill ("gym machines were not built for pregnant ladies," she said) but she'd prefer me to do yoga or swim. She also suspected I had a urinary tract infection, which was adding to the pains. She ordered me to go home and sit on the couch (I'm here now!) and gave me some medicine for the UTI. It was a very big scare but I hope to get better quickly and obviously be able to get on my flight next Wednesday. She didn't foresee any problems with my traveling. I just need a follow-up visit in ten days though I will be in the U.S. with, uh, no doctor and no insurance aside from emergency insurance. I guess I'll be hitting a Planned Parenthood.
I'm halfway done with the new Harry Potter. I've seen about five movies. I'm attempting to work a bit from my couch/office. And I'm resting a lot.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Week 16: Yep, it's a boy
We had the 16-week visit today. The doctor confirmed what we were told in week 12 during the NT scan - it's a boy. We have the genital shots and everything! All is well. She is not happy with my weight gain (I've only gained two pounds so far...) and thinks I need to eat more. I tried to explain that my stomach problems have really hindered me and that I still suffer from pretty serious heartburn that prevents me from sitting down to a real meal. I have to pick a bit at a time (it's really annoying actually because eating all day has become like a second job) or otherwise I get sick and am up all night with horrible heartburn. Personally I feel I am being strategic in what I am eating and am getting enough. She gave me a medicine that should coat my stomach but she wants to see me put on more weight. I'm sure that as the pregnancy progresses, I will have no problem, though I made the mistake of pointing out that I work out about three times a week doing pregnancy-approved things, such as walking on a treadmill. I think she thinks I'm some fitness-obsessed vegan freak who doesn't want to gain weight but that's really not the case. All it takes is one big bowl of pasta for me to be doubled over in pain on the floor with Mount Vesuvius exploding in my stomach. I can have the big bowl of pasta (and some fruit, legumes and all of the other good things I'm trying to take in) but I have to eat it slowly in different sittings. Well there's the whole overview of my digestive ailments. Moving on...
I expressed my concerns about the hospitals. What she said in a somewhat diplomatic way was, "Get over it. You aren't going to a spa - you are giving birth and what's important is that technically speaking the hospitals and doctors are good." She admitted that the hospitals here lack the "human aspect" but she told me to "try not to romanticize it or you will be disappointed." Then she slammed the U.S. healthcare system and said that it was a nice system for some but offered no guarantees to others. Uh, OK. I asked about epidurals. There again, she was pretty blunt. She said that the hospitals here are "badly organized for the epidural" and there is typically only one anesthesiologist to serve a whole department (or did she mean the whole hospital?). Nine times out of ten that person is busy in the operating room or in the emergency room and can't be dragged away to give some screaming woman an epidural. She said I have to be prepared for the fact that I will most likely NOT get an epidural because there will be nobody available to administer it. Her take on it is "Anyway, the epidural saves you a couple of hours of pain max just from the time you are dilated at 5 centimeters. The body expects pain in labor and is set up to take pain, so just try to deal. Maybe do yoga or learn hypnosis beforehand..."
So there we are. The baby seems healthy and for that, we are ecstatic. Hospital and labor concerns can wait, I guess.
I expressed my concerns about the hospitals. What she said in a somewhat diplomatic way was, "Get over it. You aren't going to a spa - you are giving birth and what's important is that technically speaking the hospitals and doctors are good." She admitted that the hospitals here lack the "human aspect" but she told me to "try not to romanticize it or you will be disappointed." Then she slammed the U.S. healthcare system and said that it was a nice system for some but offered no guarantees to others. Uh, OK. I asked about epidurals. There again, she was pretty blunt. She said that the hospitals here are "badly organized for the epidural" and there is typically only one anesthesiologist to serve a whole department (or did she mean the whole hospital?). Nine times out of ten that person is busy in the operating room or in the emergency room and can't be dragged away to give some screaming woman an epidural. She said I have to be prepared for the fact that I will most likely NOT get an epidural because there will be nobody available to administer it. Her take on it is "Anyway, the epidural saves you a couple of hours of pain max just from the time you are dilated at 5 centimeters. The body expects pain in labor and is set up to take pain, so just try to deal. Maybe do yoga or learn hypnosis beforehand..."
So there we are. The baby seems healthy and for that, we are ecstatic. Hospital and labor concerns can wait, I guess.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Pain
OK, it's over 100 degrees here so the baby is either too tired to kick and bop around or it's still too early for me to feel any movements. According to the books, this week could be the week where I get those first "butterfly flutterings." So far, nothing. I don't go back to the doctor until July 24, so I have no baby updates and must continue to focus on myself as giver of life to Baby Cugini.
I have never been hospitalized here (thank God!) so though I've been here seven years, I've really been kept in the dark about what that's really like. Thus every new tidbit I find out about being hospitalized in Italy shocks and confuses me. When talking to other women who have given birth here, there's inevitably the story of the "moaning roommate," the woman who having had a C-section moans and whimpers day and night while her family members sit at the foot of the bed holding rosaries and doing the sign of the cross. When I've asked Italians "Don't they offer pain medications here?" I've been told smugly "Oh, you Americans with your 24-hour drugstores and over-the-counter medications, you are too reliant on pain medications, always so quick to self medicate." Yes, this is the country, after all, where to buy a bottle of aspirin, it requires a pharmacist in a white lab coat to sell it to me and costs five times what I'd pay in the U.S.
The other American and foreign women who have given birth here tell a more sinister tale. One American friend who had a C-section in the U.S. and a C-section here says Italian nurses are "stingy" with pain meds. She said that in the U.S. she was given pain meds right away after her surgery whereas here she had to cry and beg for hours - and by the time she got it, it took forever to kick in and she suffered for hours needlessly. For days after, she had to beg and beg for more medication. When I've asked why they don't dole out the pain medication here, I've been told everything from "It's not Catholic" (well, neither am I so get my narcotics ready!) to "The hospitals are broke and they ration the little medication they have."
The second answer makes more sense. These are public hospitals where I will give birth for free. I guess the attitude is "beggars can't be choosers." Much like homeless people who line up for free rations at a soup kitchen can't ask for "some grated parmesan on that" or "a side of those delightful little gourmet croutons," as a free "customer" of the hospitals here, I can't expect many extras either. Well, here's where that analogy runs off the rails: I pay FIFTY PERCENT of my salary in taxes so I can have these fantastic public services, such as health care. I'm actually not a beggar and the nurses technically work for me. Too bad they don't see it that way...
I have never been hospitalized here (thank God!) so though I've been here seven years, I've really been kept in the dark about what that's really like. Thus every new tidbit I find out about being hospitalized in Italy shocks and confuses me. When talking to other women who have given birth here, there's inevitably the story of the "moaning roommate," the woman who having had a C-section moans and whimpers day and night while her family members sit at the foot of the bed holding rosaries and doing the sign of the cross. When I've asked Italians "Don't they offer pain medications here?" I've been told smugly "Oh, you Americans with your 24-hour drugstores and over-the-counter medications, you are too reliant on pain medications, always so quick to self medicate." Yes, this is the country, after all, where to buy a bottle of aspirin, it requires a pharmacist in a white lab coat to sell it to me and costs five times what I'd pay in the U.S.
The other American and foreign women who have given birth here tell a more sinister tale. One American friend who had a C-section in the U.S. and a C-section here says Italian nurses are "stingy" with pain meds. She said that in the U.S. she was given pain meds right away after her surgery whereas here she had to cry and beg for hours - and by the time she got it, it took forever to kick in and she suffered for hours needlessly. For days after, she had to beg and beg for more medication. When I've asked why they don't dole out the pain medication here, I've been told everything from "It's not Catholic" (well, neither am I so get my narcotics ready!) to "The hospitals are broke and they ration the little medication they have."
The second answer makes more sense. These are public hospitals where I will give birth for free. I guess the attitude is "beggars can't be choosers." Much like homeless people who line up for free rations at a soup kitchen can't ask for "some grated parmesan on that" or "a side of those delightful little gourmet croutons," as a free "customer" of the hospitals here, I can't expect many extras either. Well, here's where that analogy runs off the rails: I pay FIFTY PERCENT of my salary in taxes so I can have these fantastic public services, such as health care. I'm actually not a beggar and the nurses technically work for me. Too bad they don't see it that way...
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Week 15: Hospital visit
So we went to visit a hospital this past Saturday. Actually, the hospital that I had mentioned in a previous post that has a pretty progressive "rooming in" policy for Italy. Typically in Italy the baby is taken away from you right away and put in an incubator. You may go 12 hours without seeing your baby. This hospital, on the other hand, puts a strong emphasis on mother-child bonding and gives you the child right away. The mother and the father (the other good thing is that visitation is open to fathers from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. while in other hospitals, some fathers are only allowed in for a few hours a day) are then responsible for taking care of the baby - bathing, feeding, etc. If you get tired or don't feel up to caring for the baby, you can leave him in the nursery. So, I like the philosophy. It's very free-to-be-you-and-me but in the safety of a hospital setting. These are the advantages.
On the downside, I'm not sure they will give me an epidural. Epidurals are a fairly new development in Italy (I'm told they are not offered at all in the more religious south) though they are definitely not offered freely or encouraged. The hospital I visited has a low C-section rate and puts an emphasis on a natural birth. That's great but I want an epidural. I'm willing to take the course meant to scare me out of it, be checked out physically and sign all of the waivers. The thing is that there is no guarantee that when your time comes, they will give you the epidural even if you've done all that. This frightens and angers me but I don't think there's much I can do as no hospital in Italy is all that epidural friendly. The other thing is (and I know this is superficial but...) aesthetically, I was not wow-ed by the hospital. Compared to others I've seen, it's not that bad. No peeling paint, anyway. I had been told it was "new." OK, well my idea of what is new and an Italian's idea of what is new are two different things. New to an Italian could mean 30 years old and, in fact, this hospital could be just that. The maternity ward is quite institutional - concrete walls, ugly tile floors, a faded paint job. Put in some lockers and install some metal detectors and it could be an inner city high school.
At least there are only two women to a room and there is a bathroom in each room. And each room has a big glass window that looks into where the babies are kept when they are being tended to by the nurses. That's a nice touch. I guess I just have my heart set on the birthing suite in a nice American hospital and I know I can't have it, so in comparison, everything pales. I'm trying to stay positive because I really have no choice but to give birth here as I have no American insurance (speaking of which, in Michael Moore's new film Sicko, he classifies Italy as number 2 in the world for health care - not sure how they did their rankings but the only good thing about this system is that it is open to everyone). Apparently this hospital has a neonatal unit but compared to American hospitals, I saw very little equipment. Even the nursery seemed bare bones as were the examining rooms, which were empty except for a desk, a chair for the doctor, a chair for the patient and a cross on the wall. Again, brought to mind a school nurse's office. Where is the equipment?
The hospital is fine and that's probably where I will give birth, but I'm just not all that enthusiastic about it. Cristiano keeps reminding me that "It's free. What do you expect for that price?" It is true that while I do have to bring my own toilet paper, maxi pads, bedding and baby essentials to the hospital, I will not pay a dime to give birth here. Thus this is why the hospitals don't go out of their way to look nice. It's not a "business" and they don't need to attract "customers."
On the downside, I'm not sure they will give me an epidural. Epidurals are a fairly new development in Italy (I'm told they are not offered at all in the more religious south) though they are definitely not offered freely or encouraged. The hospital I visited has a low C-section rate and puts an emphasis on a natural birth. That's great but I want an epidural. I'm willing to take the course meant to scare me out of it, be checked out physically and sign all of the waivers. The thing is that there is no guarantee that when your time comes, they will give you the epidural even if you've done all that. This frightens and angers me but I don't think there's much I can do as no hospital in Italy is all that epidural friendly. The other thing is (and I know this is superficial but...) aesthetically, I was not wow-ed by the hospital. Compared to others I've seen, it's not that bad. No peeling paint, anyway. I had been told it was "new." OK, well my idea of what is new and an Italian's idea of what is new are two different things. New to an Italian could mean 30 years old and, in fact, this hospital could be just that. The maternity ward is quite institutional - concrete walls, ugly tile floors, a faded paint job. Put in some lockers and install some metal detectors and it could be an inner city high school.
At least there are only two women to a room and there is a bathroom in each room. And each room has a big glass window that looks into where the babies are kept when they are being tended to by the nurses. That's a nice touch. I guess I just have my heart set on the birthing suite in a nice American hospital and I know I can't have it, so in comparison, everything pales. I'm trying to stay positive because I really have no choice but to give birth here as I have no American insurance (speaking of which, in Michael Moore's new film Sicko, he classifies Italy as number 2 in the world for health care - not sure how they did their rankings but the only good thing about this system is that it is open to everyone). Apparently this hospital has a neonatal unit but compared to American hospitals, I saw very little equipment. Even the nursery seemed bare bones as were the examining rooms, which were empty except for a desk, a chair for the doctor, a chair for the patient and a cross on the wall. Again, brought to mind a school nurse's office. Where is the equipment?
The hospital is fine and that's probably where I will give birth, but I'm just not all that enthusiastic about it. Cristiano keeps reminding me that "It's free. What do you expect for that price?" It is true that while I do have to bring my own toilet paper, maxi pads, bedding and baby essentials to the hospital, I will not pay a dime to give birth here. Thus this is why the hospitals don't go out of their way to look nice. It's not a "business" and they don't need to attract "customers."
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Week 14: Making progress
Notice how the "widget baby" on the right gets bigger as the due date comes closer? It's kind of freaky, right? Especially because that's what is actually happening! Anyone who has talked to me lately (basically anyone within a 10,000-mile radius of me) knows what a hard time I've had finding a hospital I like here. I like the idea of public health care in theory. Actually, I like the idea of public health care and think it works in a lot of countries. But it doesn't work here very well and the hospitals are the best representation of that. They are, uh, butt ugly to say the least. Think Soviet-era with paint crumbling off the walls. And you are packed in like sardines. No birthing suites, no private rooms. Often there is no bathroom in your room (a room full of from three to six women) and you have to pad down the hall in all your glory with your little toiletry kit when you want to go to the bathroom. Did I mention you typically are in labor in a room with a bunch of other women, some of whom have already given birth and are being visited by their families? Their families who may be celebrating and eating lasagna and cake while you are in agonizing labor? So the doctor comes in to check how dilated you are and there's a party going in the bed next to you where everyone gets a full-frontal view of your labor progress. This is if you are lucky to get a bed. If there are no beds, you agonize in the corridor. On a gurney if they haven't run out (happened to Cristiano's mom in the hospital - she recently waited ten hours for carpal tunnel surgery while alternately standing or sitting on a chair outside the OR. She then had to "hop up" on the operating table as if it were a simple visit to her local dentist). If they are out of gurneys, you are in labor in a wheel chair. Yep, it happened to my upstairs neighbor. She then "slept" in the corridor for the first night. Another friend also was forced to "sleep" in the corridor and had her purse and all her belongings stolen...
Don't even get me started on how hard it is to get an epidural here. They've convinced Italian women that epidurals are very, very dangerous and so Italian women are frightened of them. Or they tell you that (we are in a Catholic country here, after all) your suffering now will reap you rewards in heaven. I'm sorry but that's barbaric and a bunch of patriarchal crap dreamt up by male church officials and male politicians who want to keep costs down in the hospitals so they can pocket the money for more time on the Italian riviera with their silicone-enhanced (obviously in Switzerland, not here) 22-year-old girlfriends. We pay 50 percent of our salaries in taxes and women have to give birth in depressing corridors here and bring their own sheets, maxi pads, pee cups and Band-Aids to the hospital with them? That doesn't sit right with me. Look for my Michael-Moore style exposé on this. I'm seriously considering writing a book and am taking copious notes on this whole experience.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a warm and fuzzy blog about the baby. Where was I? Oh, I think I actually found a hospital I like. It's brand new and is between our house, Monza and the villa where we had our wedding reception (for those of you who came to the wedding). I can't get a private room but there are only two women to a room and the baby is kept in a room on the other side of a glass partition so the mother can decide to do "rooming in" or if she's tired, leave the baby in the "glass room" for a nurse to attend to. The hospital has a low C-section rate (Italy's rate is 38% - the highest in Europe) and advocates a natural delivery though they will give you an epidural - after you've taken the class where they try to scare you out of it. Anyone who knows how, um, adamant I can be even when I'm not in labor can only imagine how I will get when my water has broken and I'm writhing in pain. Some hospitals promise an epidural and then when you ask for it, they make up some reason why you can't have it. Make no mistake about it: I...WILL...GET...MY...EPIDURAL. It just figures that I'd have to go almost to Switzerland to get some decent health care around here.
Sorry that that was a little on the controversial side but, you know me. I can't hold my tongue. I'll be in the U.S. in less than a month. Can't wait to see you all!
Don't even get me started on how hard it is to get an epidural here. They've convinced Italian women that epidurals are very, very dangerous and so Italian women are frightened of them. Or they tell you that (we are in a Catholic country here, after all) your suffering now will reap you rewards in heaven. I'm sorry but that's barbaric and a bunch of patriarchal crap dreamt up by male church officials and male politicians who want to keep costs down in the hospitals so they can pocket the money for more time on the Italian riviera with their silicone-enhanced (obviously in Switzerland, not here) 22-year-old girlfriends. We pay 50 percent of our salaries in taxes and women have to give birth in depressing corridors here and bring their own sheets, maxi pads, pee cups and Band-Aids to the hospital with them? That doesn't sit right with me. Look for my Michael-Moore style exposé on this. I'm seriously considering writing a book and am taking copious notes on this whole experience.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a warm and fuzzy blog about the baby. Where was I? Oh, I think I actually found a hospital I like. It's brand new and is between our house, Monza and the villa where we had our wedding reception (for those of you who came to the wedding). I can't get a private room but there are only two women to a room and the baby is kept in a room on the other side of a glass partition so the mother can decide to do "rooming in" or if she's tired, leave the baby in the "glass room" for a nurse to attend to. The hospital has a low C-section rate (Italy's rate is 38% - the highest in Europe) and advocates a natural delivery though they will give you an epidural - after you've taken the class where they try to scare you out of it. Anyone who knows how, um, adamant I can be even when I'm not in labor can only imagine how I will get when my water has broken and I'm writhing in pain. Some hospitals promise an epidural and then when you ask for it, they make up some reason why you can't have it. Make no mistake about it: I...WILL...GET...MY...EPIDURAL. It just figures that I'd have to go almost to Switzerland to get some decent health care around here.
Sorry that that was a little on the controversial side but, you know me. I can't hold my tongue. I'll be in the U.S. in less than a month. Can't wait to see you all!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Week 13: Welcome/Benvenuti
Welcome to what will be the place for all information on Baby Cugini.
Baby Cugini is not a very inspired name, you say...
Yes, we know. Bimbo Cugini ("bimbo" - pronounced "beeeeembo" is the word for "baby" in Italian) did not sound that much better. As soon as we have confirmed the baby's sex and come up with a name, Cristiano is going to set up a domain for him so that he has his very own domain at birth. Newborns love having their own domains!
And why Cugini, you ask?
As the baby will be born in Italy, there will be no choice as to what last name he takes. No mother's maiden name. No hyphens. No being called just by his first name. No Prince-style symbol or Baby-Formerly-Known-As. When push comes to shove (and all pushing and shoving will be done by the MOTHER, need we add, without a birthing suite and perhaps even without an epidural, which is not widely available in Italy...), he has to take the father's last name. Yes, we could go to the trouble of legally changing his name in the U.S. and then coming back with the new name but in a country full of this much red tape and bureacracy, do we really want to complicate the kid's life by giving him a hyphenated or "foreign" name? ("Sorry, we'd accept your child at our preschool but his application can't be processed because he has a hyphenated name.") So, let's just stick with Cugini and give the kid a break.
Why are you referring to Baby Cugini as a "he"?
At this point Baby Cugini is being referred to as a "he" because at the in-depth 12-week scan, the doctor told us he was "95 percent a boy" - or "a girl with genitals that are too far forward." Until we are told otherwise, we are referring to Baby Cugini in the masculine. We've been told that 12-week scans can be wrong so we are not getting the sky blue paint out yet for the nursery...
Are you having a shower? Are you registering?
Both my cousin Gina and my mother have graciously offered to host a shower for me when I will be in Dayton over the weekend of August 11. Mom won out on doing the hosting because as they say in Italian "La mamma è sempre la mamma" ("Mother is always mother"). I will be providing details as they become available. I was on the fence about doing a registry because I always fear it makes people feel "obligated" to buy something. But if I learned anything during wedding planning, it's that people get annoyed (dare I say belligerent?) when there is no registry. People actually like giving gifts even when told it's not necessary. Who knew?
I know nothing about babies so actually it will probably help me out to do a registry and cover the basics. Or even just hear from other mothers about what I will need (I was recently told I absolutely have to have a Boppy and that this Boppy product is not available in Italy). So, yes, there will be a registry but I can already tell that this child will be inundated with love and things (did I mention he'll have his own domain name at birth?) so I will also be providing a link to a cause that is near and dear to our hearts, which is giving aid to the children of Darfur. Baby Cugini can live without a Boppy. The children of Darfur can't live without food and water. If you feel so inclined, please help these children. Again, all links to come later.
Will you be providing belly shots?
No. Never. Absolutely not. Sorry to disappoint but that's just not my thing. I'm already at the point where when I see a camera, I run. I know other people do it and they insist I will regret it later, but I can't bring myself to. I will however try to put up some shots of the ultrasound scans and perhaps even the video that we have of Baby Cugini doing his thing in the mother's womb. He's already got a lot of personality. Really!
Baby Cugini is not a very inspired name, you say...
Yes, we know. Bimbo Cugini ("bimbo" - pronounced "beeeeembo" is the word for "baby" in Italian) did not sound that much better. As soon as we have confirmed the baby's sex and come up with a name, Cristiano is going to set up a domain for him so that he has his very own domain at birth. Newborns love having their own domains!
And why Cugini, you ask?
As the baby will be born in Italy, there will be no choice as to what last name he takes. No mother's maiden name. No hyphens. No being called just by his first name. No Prince-style symbol or Baby-Formerly-Known-As. When push comes to shove (and all pushing and shoving will be done by the MOTHER, need we add, without a birthing suite and perhaps even without an epidural, which is not widely available in Italy...), he has to take the father's last name. Yes, we could go to the trouble of legally changing his name in the U.S. and then coming back with the new name but in a country full of this much red tape and bureacracy, do we really want to complicate the kid's life by giving him a hyphenated or "foreign" name? ("Sorry, we'd accept your child at our preschool but his application can't be processed because he has a hyphenated name.") So, let's just stick with Cugini and give the kid a break.
Why are you referring to Baby Cugini as a "he"?
At this point Baby Cugini is being referred to as a "he" because at the in-depth 12-week scan, the doctor told us he was "95 percent a boy" - or "a girl with genitals that are too far forward." Until we are told otherwise, we are referring to Baby Cugini in the masculine. We've been told that 12-week scans can be wrong so we are not getting the sky blue paint out yet for the nursery...
Are you having a shower? Are you registering?
Both my cousin Gina and my mother have graciously offered to host a shower for me when I will be in Dayton over the weekend of August 11. Mom won out on doing the hosting because as they say in Italian "La mamma è sempre la mamma" ("Mother is always mother"). I will be providing details as they become available. I was on the fence about doing a registry because I always fear it makes people feel "obligated" to buy something. But if I learned anything during wedding planning, it's that people get annoyed (dare I say belligerent?) when there is no registry. People actually like giving gifts even when told it's not necessary. Who knew?
I know nothing about babies so actually it will probably help me out to do a registry and cover the basics. Or even just hear from other mothers about what I will need (I was recently told I absolutely have to have a Boppy and that this Boppy product is not available in Italy). So, yes, there will be a registry but I can already tell that this child will be inundated with love and things (did I mention he'll have his own domain name at birth?) so I will also be providing a link to a cause that is near and dear to our hearts, which is giving aid to the children of Darfur. Baby Cugini can live without a Boppy. The children of Darfur can't live without food and water. If you feel so inclined, please help these children. Again, all links to come later.
Will you be providing belly shots?
No. Never. Absolutely not. Sorry to disappoint but that's just not my thing. I'm already at the point where when I see a camera, I run. I know other people do it and they insist I will regret it later, but I can't bring myself to. I will however try to put up some shots of the ultrasound scans and perhaps even the video that we have of Baby Cugini doing his thing in the mother's womb. He's already got a lot of personality. Really!
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