I woke up this morning with a pretty bad headache. We didn't have any ibuprophen or Tylonol, only some of Golf's Excedrin, which I know I can't take unless I eat something or I feel sick. Well, it's difficult to eat early in the morning with a severe headache, but I downed some leftover ministrone soup and took a pill. I had already nursed Aidan, thank goodness, because shortly after that I had to lay back down because the pain and nausea were too much. I put a pillow over my head and just waited it out. I was so thankful that Golf was here to help take care of the baby. I don't know what mothers do when they are real sick and have to still take care of the baby. This is something I really dread in the future. I remember when I was a small child and my mother caring for me and my sisters when she still had the flu. Poor mom.
Forty minutes later I got up thinking I felt better and Golf told me Aidan was hungry again. I said that was fine because I was feeling better. The words just came out of my mouth when I suddenly knew I was going to vomit and I made it to the bathroom just in time. I was SOOOO glad that the bathroom was cleaned yesterday, for there's nothing worse than having to put your face close up to a filthy, stinking toilet. EWWWW!
I finished puking and felt a little better and took Aidan to bed with me to nurse. Fortunately it's not a big deal to nurse in bed and I could rest while he got his food. We fell asleep together for awhile too.
It's now afternoon and while I don't feel 100%, I sure feel much better. Thankfully I get migrane headaches only once or twice a year and they go away in a few hours.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Health Insurance woes
Yesterday I applied for short term health insurance. It's a pain in general anyway because the health insurance industry is a complete rip off and has many MANY problems, but especially a pain in the butt to have to deal with trying to get insurance while still living overseas. I can't talk to any agent because they all have toll free numbers and I cannot make toll free calls abroad. I need to have health coverage for my family once we arrive, just to be safe. We decided on short term insurance because we want to get Aidan on a different policy and get only catastrauphic insurance for DH and me. We hardly ever need to use a doctor's or hospital's services, so why pay for it? Just have coverage in case of severe illness or accident. Aidan's a different story though, and I'm going to see if we qualify for the Healthy Families program. While I've been teaching here in Thailand, my wages here put me in solidly middle class income. It's very good income here. In the USA though, since I get paid in Thai baht, it's considered almost poverty level. So because of my previous earnings in US dollars, our family may qualify. And here we've been able to save too! Maybe the system will work for us this time, we shall see.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
My happy boy
DH just updated Aidan's web gallery with new pictures. The first picture just makes me laugh it is so precious. I love seeing my son look so happy and growing so big on his mommy's milk. I love being a mama! :)
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Golf had his tooth pulled out
Yesterday Golf, the baby and I went to his dentist so he could get one of his wisdom teeth pulled out. We are making it a point to get all our dental work done here in Thailand since it's a fraction of the cost compared to the US. This way we also won't have to worry about purchasing dental insurance and we will go to a dental training institution for our cleanings.
My poor hubby is in a bit of pain, and quite a bit of pain last night. I felt so bad because the baby can only fall asleep with Golf and his ways of rocking him. Aidan just gets fussy with me. So here's my poor, poor man rocking the baby and he's exhausted from being in pain.
I was able to deal with Aidan all night except for the usual time he wakens after his 4 AM feeding and needs rocking to sleep again. Golf has to do that too, but it takes about a half hour and we were able to sleep in til 7 AM today. I told Golf he should have had his tooth extracted while I was still pregnant, but anyway, there's nothing we can do about it now and he recovers quickly. He did say, though, that if the dentist says I can get away with not having my wisdom teeth pulled, then don't do it. Yeah, I have to get this done too. I plan to go in for a cleaning and consultation next week, so we shall see what the dentist says. Not fun, but money saving later on! I couldn't have it done for a long time because when we were trying to conceive, I didn't know if I was pg or not, and didn't want to risk the embryo with anesthesia. Then, of course, when I was pregnant, taking anesthesia was not an option. So my only opportunity is now.
My poor hubby is in a bit of pain, and quite a bit of pain last night. I felt so bad because the baby can only fall asleep with Golf and his ways of rocking him. Aidan just gets fussy with me. So here's my poor, poor man rocking the baby and he's exhausted from being in pain.
I was able to deal with Aidan all night except for the usual time he wakens after his 4 AM feeding and needs rocking to sleep again. Golf has to do that too, but it takes about a half hour and we were able to sleep in til 7 AM today. I told Golf he should have had his tooth extracted while I was still pregnant, but anyway, there's nothing we can do about it now and he recovers quickly. He did say, though, that if the dentist says I can get away with not having my wisdom teeth pulled, then don't do it. Yeah, I have to get this done too. I plan to go in for a cleaning and consultation next week, so we shall see what the dentist says. Not fun, but money saving later on! I couldn't have it done for a long time because when we were trying to conceive, I didn't know if I was pg or not, and didn't want to risk the embryo with anesthesia. Then, of course, when I was pregnant, taking anesthesia was not an option. So my only opportunity is now.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Why do you work so hard?
I love this columnist, Mark Morford, that posts at SFGate online and this article he wrote on July 8th was really fantastic. Read it here: Why Do You Work So Hard? Is it maybe time to quit your safe job and follow your path and infuriate the establishment?
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Breakfast today
Well yesterday I started a new MO for losing weight -- simply drinking alot more water. Lately I've been snacking too much in the afternoon and this is a primary reason for not losing any weight since Aidan was born. That and being sedentary all day in the apartment will not lead to weight loss! So instead of grabbing some snack, I'm grabbing a glass of water and see how that goes. I'm also going to forgo the afternoon cup of coffee I like to drink, mostly because I'm craving sweet stuff.
Then Golf goes this morning to get X Donuts (pba-tong-go in Thai) which is a Chinese treat. It's a savory X-shaped dough deep friend and enjoyed with a cup of coffee. Many people like to eat it with some sweetened condensed milk drizzled on it too, which is delicious. Here is a picture of the last three!
The vendors make it only in the early mornings, and Aidan got us up by 7 AM so Golf wanted to buy some. I said OK, since it's not conveniently available in the USA and I'm trying to eat things here that are not readily available in the States since our days here are numbered. Well, even though these are very fattening, I'm not going to just give in the rest of the day. I'm still going to drink my water.
It's also been cool and cloudy/rainy the last few days and I got in a good power walk yesterday and I hope to do so again today. I save my yoga workouts for days that are too hot to go out. Or if it's pouring rain.
Today Golf goes to get Aidan's Thai passport. Woo hoo!
Then Golf goes this morning to get X Donuts (pba-tong-go in Thai) which is a Chinese treat. It's a savory X-shaped dough deep friend and enjoyed with a cup of coffee. Many people like to eat it with some sweetened condensed milk drizzled on it too, which is delicious. Here is a picture of the last three!
The vendors make it only in the early mornings, and Aidan got us up by 7 AM so Golf wanted to buy some. I said OK, since it's not conveniently available in the USA and I'm trying to eat things here that are not readily available in the States since our days here are numbered. Well, even though these are very fattening, I'm not going to just give in the rest of the day. I'm still going to drink my water.
It's also been cool and cloudy/rainy the last few days and I got in a good power walk yesterday and I hope to do so again today. I save my yoga workouts for days that are too hot to go out. Or if it's pouring rain.
Today Golf goes to get Aidan's Thai passport. Woo hoo!
Aidan's new Smile!
Aidan's got the cutest little smile now! He's not quite laughing yet, just squealing and cooing, but I'm sure a laugh is coming soon. :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Finally!
Yesterday I got to do my yoga, but only with the help of my DH, who watched a squalling baby while I tried to get my body back. Boy, those sun salutations get the sweat going and when I finished I felt almost like I overdid it. WHEW! Well, lugging around an extra thirty pounds of fat takes extra effort! I was sweating like crazy...
That baby did not take any naps yesterday nor the day before and it sometimes gets us worried. We are trying many different methods to try to get him to sleep. Fortunately right now he's taking a nap. We'll ask the pediatrician at his doctor's appointment tomorrow.
Another bummer: The shipping company we want to use to take alot of our stuff back is costing us more than double what I estimated. Oh well, we have no choice and it's a one time thing...
That baby did not take any naps yesterday nor the day before and it sometimes gets us worried. We are trying many different methods to try to get him to sleep. Fortunately right now he's taking a nap. We'll ask the pediatrician at his doctor's appointment tomorrow.
Another bummer: The shipping company we want to use to take alot of our stuff back is costing us more than double what I estimated. Oh well, we have no choice and it's a one time thing...
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Unable to exercise again
My exercise time was sabotaged again yesterday. This time it was due to a downpour. If it's not a fussy or hungry baby that needs to be nursed, then it's the weather. I can only go out at 5 pm or later because of the heat. And Golf has to stay home with the baby while I go out and try and lose some weight. SIGH. Maybe today I can try again.
I saw on another blog a link to PostSecret -- where you mail in an artfully made post card of a secret you have. You remain anonymous. The artwork is really neat and it's addictive to read people's secrets.
I saw on another blog a link to PostSecret -- where you mail in an artfully made post card of a secret you have. You remain anonymous. The artwork is really neat and it's addictive to read people's secrets.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Thai Passport
Today's the day we go to get Aidan's Thai passport. It's so cool that our little boy is gonna get two passports! It will only take them three days though, instead of three weeks and of course, a fraction of the cost.
Speaking of costs, the Thai baht is almost at 43 per dollar. Very good value for those coming to visit Thailand, but not good for those of us living here who must convert to dollars. We've lost a lot of money due to the devaluation.
Speaking of costs, the Thai baht is almost at 43 per dollar. Very good value for those coming to visit Thailand, but not good for those of us living here who must convert to dollars. We've lost a lot of money due to the devaluation.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Differences in baby care
I have a book published in the States called What to Expect the First Year, and the dos and don'ts in it sometimes are different from what I've observed here in Thailand with regard to baby care.
1. Don't immerse your newborn in a full bath before the umbilical cord stump falls off. In Thailand, we watched as the nurses at the hospital bathed Aidan in a full tub of water. We then followed the same instructions at home. We then treated the stump site with betadine and there was never any problem at all.
2. Never use pillows in a crib. Thais use pillows all the time. Not for the head, but for back support and a round bolster pillow to put between the legs. Our baby uses these pillows just fine.
3. Always keep the baby on his back when sleeping. Aidan's hardly ever slept on his back. He prefers side lying, and from how much pillows are used in this country, I think most Thais put their babies to sleep on their sides too. I personally think it's safer -- if the baby spits up, he won't choke on it, it will seep out the side of his mouth instead.
4. Baby needs bathing only once a week before he starts to crawl. In Thailand, a hot, humid country, parents bathe their babies once a day. We do with Aidan too, for the most part. Sometimes we skip one day. We're also in an AC room for the most part anyway...
That's all that I can think of for now.. I'm sure there will be more as Aidan gets older. But the book makes it sound like if you don't follow their guidelines to the letter you're putting your baby in danger, which is preposterous.
1. Don't immerse your newborn in a full bath before the umbilical cord stump falls off. In Thailand, we watched as the nurses at the hospital bathed Aidan in a full tub of water. We then followed the same instructions at home. We then treated the stump site with betadine and there was never any problem at all.
2. Never use pillows in a crib. Thais use pillows all the time. Not for the head, but for back support and a round bolster pillow to put between the legs. Our baby uses these pillows just fine.
3. Always keep the baby on his back when sleeping. Aidan's hardly ever slept on his back. He prefers side lying, and from how much pillows are used in this country, I think most Thais put their babies to sleep on their sides too. I personally think it's safer -- if the baby spits up, he won't choke on it, it will seep out the side of his mouth instead.
4. Baby needs bathing only once a week before he starts to crawl. In Thailand, a hot, humid country, parents bathe their babies once a day. We do with Aidan too, for the most part. Sometimes we skip one day. We're also in an AC room for the most part anyway...
That's all that I can think of for now.. I'm sure there will be more as Aidan gets older. But the book makes it sound like if you don't follow their guidelines to the letter you're putting your baby in danger, which is preposterous.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
It's official!
Aidan's now a dual citizen -- Thai and American. We just got back from the Embassy and we will pick up his passport and registration of birth abroad in three weeks. Then we have three more weeks to twiddle our thumbs (not really, we have things to do and Aidan needs to grow more) then we are going to come home on August 26th. Golf and I already have our tickets, and Aidan's infant seat is paid for and reserved, they just can't issue his ticket til he has his passport, so we'll do that in three weeks too. Yippee!
Next week, we'll get his Thai passport.
Next week, we'll get his Thai passport.
Babies and sleep (or lack thereof)
We're up early, ready to go to town for our appointment at 8:30. We're leaving at 6:30 to allow for the rush hour traffic. The plan was to get up at 5 AM, one hour to get ready and half an hour to nurse. Didn't work out that way. I went to bed last night at 9 PM and took the baby with me. He nursed til like 9:40, since I dozed off. Golf came to bed shortly afterward, at 10 PM to get some good rest since we had an early day. Aidan wouldn't have it. He woke up promptly at 10 PM and it took us til after 11 to finally get him settled down again, and that was only because it was time to nurse again.
I thought OK, he can get up at 5, I can nurse til 5:30. Nope he was up at 4. So basically I got just over four hours of sleep and Golf got less than 4. I hope he gets some nappy time today so we can catch up. I have to pump today and also go to school to prepare for tomorrow's lesson, so it's still a busy day upon return too. Ugh. Thank god I teach only once a week.
For the sleeping problem: He went to sleep at 4 PM yesterday because I couldn't get him to take his nap earlier. Then he woke up at 6:30 to nurse and then at 7 he went back to sleep. So by 9 he's not ready to sleep more since he'd been out since 4. So now we're going to try to keep him awake after 4 PM. If he doesn't take a nap, like yesterday, then 6 PM will be the cut off time. He needs to know the difference between night time sleep and daytime naps. I hope that strategy works better.
I thought OK, he can get up at 5, I can nurse til 5:30. Nope he was up at 4. So basically I got just over four hours of sleep and Golf got less than 4. I hope he gets some nappy time today so we can catch up. I have to pump today and also go to school to prepare for tomorrow's lesson, so it's still a busy day upon return too. Ugh. Thank god I teach only once a week.
For the sleeping problem: He went to sleep at 4 PM yesterday because I couldn't get him to take his nap earlier. Then he woke up at 6:30 to nurse and then at 7 he went back to sleep. So by 9 he's not ready to sleep more since he'd been out since 4. So now we're going to try to keep him awake after 4 PM. If he doesn't take a nap, like yesterday, then 6 PM will be the cut off time. He needs to know the difference between night time sleep and daytime naps. I hope that strategy works better.
How American am I?
| You Are 37% American |
 But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over. On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead... And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch! |
Aidan's passport photo
He has his grumpy froggy look in this picture, and it's gonna have to stay with him for the next 5 years in his passport! LOL! He's so cute though too! :) This is a photo of a photo, which is why it's kinda grainy.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Tomorrow's a big day
I haven't posted for a couple of days only because nothing worth writing about has happened. Well, yesterday I went to the school to get some DVDs that a colleague is loaning me: CSI 5th season. Thanks Michelle! And we also took Aidan's passport photos. Oh my goodness, they are so funny/cute looking and if I get a chance, I will take a digital photo of it and post it here because he has his scowling frog look and since he's looking down a little bit, it makes his head look HUGE.
Today Golf has to go into town to get our marriage certificate translated into English because tomorrow's the big day. We're all going to the US Embassy to register Aidan as a US citizen born abroad, to get his social security card and to get his passport. We have to be there at 8:30 AM and the last few days have been pouring rain, so much so that many streets have flooded and traffic is at a standstill. Couple that with morning rush hour and we will have a LOOONG commute.
I had thought about pumping a feeding for this appointment, but then thought, what the heck, I am going to be with the baby, I should just NIP (nurse in public). I should only pump when I'm not going to be physically there with him, such as the days when I'm teaching. So I will nurse him in the long taxi ride to the Embassy, and any other time he feels like he wants to eat. Hopefully not during our appointment though!
So sometime tomorrow, if I have time, I will write an entry here and say how it went. Because tomorrow too, I have to go into school during the afternoon to prepare for Saturday's teaching. Fortunately, last week I used only half the material I prepared, so I have to prepare very little and won't be gone long.
Today Golf has to go into town to get our marriage certificate translated into English because tomorrow's the big day. We're all going to the US Embassy to register Aidan as a US citizen born abroad, to get his social security card and to get his passport. We have to be there at 8:30 AM and the last few days have been pouring rain, so much so that many streets have flooded and traffic is at a standstill. Couple that with morning rush hour and we will have a LOOONG commute.
I had thought about pumping a feeding for this appointment, but then thought, what the heck, I am going to be with the baby, I should just NIP (nurse in public). I should only pump when I'm not going to be physically there with him, such as the days when I'm teaching. So I will nurse him in the long taxi ride to the Embassy, and any other time he feels like he wants to eat. Hopefully not during our appointment though!
So sometime tomorrow, if I have time, I will write an entry here and say how it went. Because tomorrow too, I have to go into school during the afternoon to prepare for Saturday's teaching. Fortunately, last week I used only half the material I prepared, so I have to prepare very little and won't be gone long.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
A month and three weeks
Golf got his visa yesterday! WE'RE COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!! I'm absolutely ecstatic about it. We even had some wine yesterday to celebrate. Woo hoo! So our plan is to return by about August 30th. We plan to purchase our airline tickets this week and this means we only have a month and three weeks left. There's so much to do, but I couldn't be happier about it.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Some six week photos
If you go to my Snapfish photo album, you can see some recent pictures of Aidan at six weeks old. :)
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Saturday teaching
I had agreed with the school to teach for three hours every Saturday a class of G1 students who have trouble in English. It gives me almost enough money to pay the rent for the next couple months we are here. So I had prepared for 10 students. Then when I arrived this morning, about six G2 students arrived per the arrangements I had made with another teacher there but had forgotten. I didn't know how many students she was sending me anyway... so I hadn't prepared for that many kids.
In short, it was a madhouse. I have 16 kids to babysit once a week -- practically nothing got taught because I'm the only one there with no help. I'm not good with this age group anyway -- I do far better with 3rd or 4th graders. Kids ran everywhere and it was terribly noisy. Well, until they get to know me it will be awkward like that and I have 3 to 5 more Saturdays to teach before leaving Thailand. It was good to be able to converse with my colleagues on Thursdays and Fridays anyway. I had to do lots of pumping for Aidan because when he's still this young, life happens between feedings. :)
In short, it was a madhouse. I have 16 kids to babysit once a week -- practically nothing got taught because I'm the only one there with no help. I'm not good with this age group anyway -- I do far better with 3rd or 4th graders. Kids ran everywhere and it was terribly noisy. Well, until they get to know me it will be awkward like that and I have 3 to 5 more Saturdays to teach before leaving Thailand. It was good to be able to converse with my colleagues on Thursdays and Fridays anyway. I had to do lots of pumping for Aidan because when he's still this young, life happens between feedings. :)
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