The Final Countdown

As I've done a few times before, I wanted to share just a few random thoughts as we move into the home stretch!

Basketball Belly: This seems to be the consensus regarding my belly of late. Everyone exclaims how round my stomach is and how it looks like I've simply shoved a basketball up my shirt! Sometimes, that's how it feels too... well, not up my shirt, but it does sometimes feel as if I've got a basketball stuck in my belly. It's so big and tight, stretched to the max!

Feeling Pretty Good: I've been feeling surprisingly good lately. I've had quite a bit of energy, allowing us to complete all those little "nesting" projects on my checklist! I even feel pretty agile (that is, considering the above mentioned basketball-in-the-belly syndrome) and able to go about life as usual. My only complaint is the nearly constant rib pain caused by those tiny feet jabbing upwards as space in my womb gets increasingly tighter! My ribs will certainly be happy to be rid of the little intruder when the time comes!

Changing Cravings: During the second trimester I was surprised (and somewhat proud) that a majority of my cravings were for "healthy" foods like milk, yogurt, fruit, eggs and tuna. Well, recently that has all changed; I've developed a serious sweet tooth. In just the past month, I've made three cakes, a batch of brownies and a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Even at breakfast, my sweet tooth takes over! Lately the only two things that sound good for breakfast are French toast (with plenty of butter and syrup) or a chocolate protein shake with frozen strawberries and extra Hershey's syrup! Since the doctor says my weight gain is right on track, I've decided not to feel too guilty about these cravings and am thoroughly enjoying myself!

Trying to be Patient: At my appointment the other day Dr. Pitsanu said, "Well you're full term now, so the baby could come any day!" Both Paul and I have really tried not to get our hopes up for an early delivery date. However, after hearing a comment like that, it's practically impossible to keep from waking up and excitedly thinking "Could today be the day?" For some women the physical discomfort is the main motivation in impatience for delivery, but for us it's simply that we're so ready to meet our little girl and welcome her into our life! Nevertheless, we're trying to proceed with life normally, knowing that she will come when the time is right!

Speaking of timing... Have you made a due date prediction yet? If not, you'd better do it quick... time is running out!

Tags:

• pregnancy

Bet on our Baby!

OK, all you experts. We've gotten your opinions on Baby Gadgets, pregnancy cravings and the philosophical question "To diaper, or not to diaper?", now it's time to put your online personas to the ultimate test.

We want You to make the vital stat predictions on little baby Vernon.
Think it's not really a girl? Think it will be the biggest baby ever born? The smallest? Well, here's your chance to make your predictions with a chance to win... well, absolutely nothing actually. But come on, surely you participate in friendly NCAA brackets and penniless poker nights, right?

Just click the image below to make your predictions, Good Luck!

Tags:

• just~for~fun

Surprise Baby Shower

Recently someone asked me how difficult it was to decide to have our baby in Thailand. I replied that it was a "no-brainer" for us and went on to eloquently explain how having children on the field had been our plan all along. However, after several minutes, I had to go back and amend my original answer; while the initial decision to have the baby here was easy, it has not come without certain sacrifices along the way.

Months ago, after the worst of my morning sickness had passed and I was just beginning to process this whole pregnancy thing, I realized that I probably would not get to experience one of the major American rituals of pregnancy: a Baby Shower. After a good cry and a bit of a pity-party, I gave myself that "God-is-in-control-and-everything-is-going-to-be-OK" talk that has become a regular part of my life since coming to the field. After all, every decision comes with certain sacrifices that we deem to be acceptable based on the positive outcomes of the decision. For us, the opportunity to raise our child on the mission field among the Akha people is so amazing that missing out on a baby shower really is a minor sacrifice!

So, having made peace with the fact that there was no baby shower in my future, you can imagine how blindsided I was when we arrived home last Saturday evening to shouts of "Surprise!!" from the living room. I dumbly responded by saying to my friends "Oh, you're all here." Then, as I glanced over to the dining room and noticed the table brimming with pizza, salad, cookies and fruit, I continued my brilliant commentary by saying, "And you've brought food." It had already been 30 seconds and I still had no idea what was going on. Finally, someone said "It's a baby shower!" and I caught on!

It was a rare treat to have some good ol' fashioned "girl time". While we did not play the traditional silly baby shower games, we had a great time chatting about all the ins and outs of pregnancy and motherhood. Not only were the Chiang Rai ladies there, but it was a special blessing that some friends from America and one from Bangkok happened to be in town as well.

Of course, I can't forget to tell you about all the wonderful gifts we received! The Satterfield girls from America graciously brought an entire suitcase full of gifts sent from friends and family back home. So, we are now fully stocked with adorable, teeny tiny onesies... so cute! I also received a few more practical gifts, like American nursing bras and nursing pads. (Thank goodness! I've only seen one nursing bra for sale here in Thailand and let's just say it wasn't really my style!) The most special present we received, however, was a Peter Rabbit baby quilt that Paul's mother sent over. This particular quilt is especially meaningful because it was made for Paul when he was a baby by his great-grandmother who recently passed away.

It's times like this when I'm reminded of the beauty of God's Upside-down Kingdom. Just like Abraham with Isaac, so often God asks us to surrender something only to give it right back again. However, when the thing is returned to us, it becomes a gift far more precious than it ever was. We cease to be rightful owners and become instead humble recipients of God's goodness.

Oh Lord, thank you for this baby shower. I'm in awe of Your character as You continue to pour out Your love in extravagance. You not only meet my every need, but You satisfy the desires of my heart.

Tags:

• pregnancy
• missions
• devotional

And the answer is...

After four ultrasounds yielded no conclusions as to the sex of our baby, we had all but given up on the idea of finding out before the due date and have focused our baby clothing and accessory purchases on the neutral yellows and greens.

However, last Friday as we were in for the monthly checkup, Dr. Pitsanu pulled out the ultrasound once more, saying he wanted to measure the babies abdomen (something about determining the current weight). Since we were already paying for another ultrasound, we asked him to check one more time to see if the little one had abandoned previous shyness.

It turns out that she was not playing hide-and-seek anymore! As our doctor said: "It's a boy - maybe 1%, but 99% a girl!"

We were so excited that we wanted to come home and let you all know right away, but Lori (being the wisest of the two of us) said she wanted to make sure the grandparents knew first. So, unless you picked up the clues from this post (the first letter of each paragraph spells out "IT IS A GIRL"), or have already heard it through the grapevine, you are now included in our big news - It's a Girl!

As excited as we are, learning that it is a girl is kind of stressful. As this little life becomes more and more real to us all those names we've been talking about are now getting attached to a real baby girl, all that kicking and jumping is our baby girl. I don't know, it's just kind of crazy. Miraculous, but crazy.

Tags:

• babies
• pregnancy

A Million Butts Can't Be Wrong

Recently, many of our friends and supporters have been asking us whether the Akha use diapers. Of course this question is inevitably followed by the other pressing question on people's minds, "What will you do for diapers when the baby comes?" If you had asked me this question two years ago, I would have said "Disposables!" with out hesitation, but two years on the mission field has significantly changed my answer!

To answer the original question, the Akha, in general, do not use diapers at all. When I first arrived in the village I was somewhat disgusted at the thought of babies without diapers. However, after living in the village for several months I began to realize that I never saw the horribly messy situations that I had envisioned when I thought of a world without diapers. For some time, this was a great mystery to me. Then, one day, I saw it. Right after feeding her son, one of the young mothers in our village, stepped aside to a nearby bush, pulled down the baby's pants, held him in a bit of a squat and made a "shushing" sound. Magically, as if on cue, the baby, who was just a few months old, peed.

Over time, I continued to observe this phenomenon with awe. I even began to notice that it not only applied to "number one", but "twosies" as well. While impressed and amazed, I was also baffled. How did that mom know her baby needed to go just then? How did the baby know to hold it until mom got his pants off? When I asked the mothers these questions, they were even more baffled at my ignorance in the matter. Unfortunately, they usually couldn't come up with an answer to my questions; often saying things like "I just knew that she needed to go".

As the reality of having a child set in, I began to toy with the idea of trying to mimic this diaperless style with our own children. After all, it does seem almost cruel to put diapers on a baby in this heat; I'm certain we would be constantly battling diaper and heat rash! However, the whole concept seemed pretty "out there" to my American mind, and I doubted that I could actually pull it off.

Recently, however, I ran across a small community of westerners who have embraced a similar diaperless method, which they've cleverly dubbed "Elimination Communication" or "Natural Infant Hygiene." I began to read up and found that most of China and India (and many parts of Africa) use similar diaperless techniques! Seriously, that's a LOT of undiapered bottoms out there!!

I also found that these western mothers were able to put into words things that my Akha friends could not. This method of caring for babies is so much a part of Akha culture, that Akha moms don't need to discuss all the ins and outs of when, where and how to allow their children to pee on cue. However, for westerners this information is vital.

I know that by now many of you are feeling intrigued, but skeptical. This post is already getting quite long, so I'll try to quickly sum up how this whole diaperless thing actually works! There are three main techniques that facilitate the process:

Rhythm and Timing: This is as simple as recognizing certain times when the baby usually pees and offering an opportunity to "go" (in a toilet, bucket or bush) at that time.

Infant Signs: This involves watching the baby for subtle signs (body language) that usually precede urination or a bowel movement... often, a facial expression. This allows mom or dad to give the baby a potty opportunity whenever he/she notices those signs.

Parental Cuing: When the parent notices the baby "going", (either in the toilet or otherwise) he makes a particular sound like "pssss" or "shhhh". The baby learns to associate this sound with the release of the muscles that control urination. Then, when "potty opportunities" are given the parent can make this sound and if the baby has to go, she will!

So, there you have it folks! The Vernons are going diaperless... or at least they're going to try!

Tags:

• babies
• parenting
• Akha