Do people even have babies in Africa?

Fact: I live in Africa. Fact: I’m pregnant. The time has come to ponder and answer this vital question:

Can people even have babies in Africa?

You can imagine how relieved I am that the answer is...yes :) 

I’ve never had a baby domestically so having one abroad doesn’t actually seem as complicated as it might to a seasoned American mother, I’m sure. I relied heavily at first on locals to tell me what doctor to use and to give me tips like being careful to only seek out a doctor who wouldn’t require me to schedule a non-emergency C-section two weeks prior to my due date (extremely common here). That was good to know. 

I haven’t been in this boat very long and I’m sure there will be much more for me to learn, but in the mean time, let me give you a brief look into pregnancy and delivery conditions here in the not-so-primitive country of South Africa:

1. They have OBGYNs here, and they can be found at real hospitals. I’m sorry to tell you though that here they are called a “gynae” which is pronounced “guy-nee”...so classy. 
2. My doctor’s office is small, but has all the right equipment to do a complete ultrasound. I was able to see the little guy swimming around at about 10 weeks just like anyone back home might :) 
3. Based on what you learned from #2, it will probably come as no surprise that we will have as good a chance of learning the gender as all of our pregnant friends in the states! All we need is a cooperative baby...
4. People here can choose to give birth in a hospital with an OB (public or private hospitals, and the private ones are considered “better”) or a birthing center. Of course, no matter where you live I suppose you always have the option of a DIY delivery at home, but no thanks. 
5. The pharmacies have a variety of prenatal vitamins, only be sure to ask for “antenatal.” That’s what they call it here...antenatal :) 
6. People get morning sickness all over the world :( 
7. Most medical centers will accept medical insurance, but not initially. You pay up front for the services provided and settle things with your insurance company yourself. This would be nearly impossible for most Americans, I think, but here in South Africa...
8. HEALTHCARE IS SO CHEAP! I was shocked, I tell you, absolutely shocked! My first appointment with my OB—which included an ultrasound—cost 900R. That’s $90! Total. Not after insurance, total! Seriously, I’m not even sure we’ll be able to get any reimbursement even after the entire pregnancy and delivery are over and done, because we may not have even reached our deductible! If you want to have babies on the cheap, this is the place to do it :) 
9. Pippy will not qualify for South African citizenship because his foreign father and I are not considered permanent residents of the country. We’re more like long-term visitors, since we’re on a two-year visitor’s visa. 

Ok, that’s what I know for now. So next time you’re asked if foreigners can even have a baby in Africa, tell them yes, they totally can!

Thanks to Todd for working up these highly technical and descriptive illustrations for me on the fly ;) 

Our Itty-Bitty Big News

In case you can't tell, this was originally a movie poster for Inception but Todd, being the whiz he is, made it into a little announcement to serve our purposes (if you can, read the fine print :)

Say hello to Pippy, expected to join our family in April, 2014!

Isn't he so cute?! Ok, we don't actually know that it's a boy, but, let's face it; boys do seem to be trending right now. I know a lot (like, about 20 people) who are currently pregnant, and of those who have announced a gender, the VAST majority are awaiting the arrival of little boys. 

Perhaps you're wondering, "why 'Pippy'?" Well, we needed a placeholder until we can determine the gender, and Pippy was a name suggested to me by a friend here in South Africa. In ZA, seeds are called "pips," and since for the first several weeks the baby is roughly the size of some kind of seed my friend called it "Pippy," and it totally stuck! That's how Todd and I talk about "him" and I'm afraid I'll have a hard time switching to his real name when we're allowed to finally use it!

As anyone would expect, we are excited to be the recipients of such a sweet little blessing, and look forward to having our tiny world turned completely upside-down! We thank God for answered prayers and for always knowing what's best for us at every point in our lives. 

Stay tuned...I have an idea I just got a whole lot of brand new material :) 

Cake and Art for a 3rd Anniversary

I love our wedding anniversary and make a really big deal about celebrating, but I usually do it from an enchanted little corner of South Carolina called Hilton Head Island. It's fabulous! We never go on our actual anniversary though, because prices drop the following week for most condos. I should have thought about that when I was planning our wedding.

When we get there we walk up and down at the beach, hang out at the pool, watch movies or cable in the room, ride bikes, eat at nice restaurants, and just generally have a wonderful, relaxing, highlight-of-my-year kind of time. I don't know what I would do without this little ray of beachy sunshine that brightens an otherwise ordinary patch of September...

Oh wait; yeah I do.

As I've just discovered, my alternative to vacationing at HHI is watching 101 Dalmatians on my busted couch and eating fish sticks and pumpkin cake, which I made yesterday. And while pumpkin cake is delicious, and while I do enjoy an old Disney cartoon, somehow—and I know it's crazy—my sentimental heart is really just aching to walk up and down my favorite getaway paradise. I found myself wanting to be there so badly that I practically begged Todd to take me. The conversation(s) may have gone something like this:

"Toddy, can we please go to Hilton Head for our anniversary?"

"I'd love to take you there for our anniversary."

"So we can go?!"

"Hmm...no."

Can you believe how cold and unfeeling he is about this? Has he no soul? Well, I didn't want to embrace defeat too quickly and thought I'd attempt getting to him from another angle (uh, as a side note here, one does not "get to" Todd...he's an absolute impenetrable rock. All the time): our favorite restaurant on HHI is a place called The Kingfisher, and I know he likes it just as much as I do. Perhaps my first attempt was a bit to obviously..."me" focused. I might fare better with an appeal to his stomach.

"I want to go to Kingfisher for my anniversary."

"I don't think that's going to work."

"Oh, too expensive? Well in that case we can just go to Moe's" (another of our HHI regular stops).

"Well, after the cost of the plane tickets, the dinner price is kind of inconsequential."

That's Todd-ish for "no," in case you couldn't tell. So, there you have it. Apparently, our living in Africa is a really big deal.

So pumpkin cake and artwork it is! Here's to three wonderful years with my favorite person in the world whom I do still love, despite his refusal to buy me a plane ticket for a long weekend in South Carolina. Practicality and down-to-earth-ism, thy name is Todd ;)

Here's the pumpkin cake, made with one of my precious imported cans of pumpkin! For the recipe, visit this link.

And, here's the art. These are sketches that Todd did digitally over real images that we have of the two of us. I keep begging him to draw me a wedding picture, but this will do in the meantime ;) 

And here are two of us from Hilton Head on our first and second anniversaries respectively :)

Lastly, here is one from our Christmas card shoot last fall. As you can see from the look on our faces, we are really quite madly in love :)

Looking forward to many more years with this amazing man whom God blessed my life with 10 years ago. I love you!