12-week update

So I am eleven weeks today. Not quite twelve weeks but due to some confusion in my dates, I had my first OB appt. this past week. It should have been my second, and it should have been at 12 weeks. But, oh well. It is what it is.

I am going to be seeing a nurse practitioner during the next five months of my pregnancy. Major E. is her name. She is actually my neighbor and is a wonderful person. I am very thankful for her agreeing to my care. As I have mentioned, there is no American OB on Base. There is a Turkish doctor who works a few weeks on Base. She seems very nice, but I feel more comfortable with Major E. Turkish medicine is different. They do things differently. They communicate differently.

Overall everything looks great. I am still battling morning sickness and just started battling indigestion but all of these are par for the course. When I heard the heartbeat (170's), I immediately forgot about everything else.

I wanted to update you on some things we learned during and decided before and after this appointment:

• We have made a final decision that I will storknest in Germany near Ramstein AF Base. JB conferred with all doctors associated with my pregnancy and the birth of Elijah. He also consulted with numerous colleagues here. In the end, while the complications and near loss of Elijah are nearly impossible to replicate, it is suggested that I put myself in an environment that we feel most comfortable facing possible complications once again. Going to the States is not feasible. I must be at an AF Base and JB will not get much time off. We therefore feel that being as close to Turkey is the best course of action for our family. That means Germany.
• I will have to fly the rotator (military flight) out of Turkey and into Ramstein. This means that they will want me to try to schedule that at 34 weeks. Rotators get cancelled and if I waited until 36 weeks and the flight was cancelled, I would be unable to fly after that point (is not allowed medically.) I would then have to drive (the equivalent of driving from South Florida to Minnesota) or stay in Turkey. I therefore will be leaving here sometime around June 3, 2011.
• The boys will go with me to Germany. The complication is that I will be flying on "orders." They will not. So technically there may not be room for them to fly while I will be given a seat for sure. We will have to have alternate plans for the boys if they must come over later with JB on a different flight.
• I will most likely have the c-section scheduled for sometime around July 15th.
• I will not be able to return to Turkey until the new baby has a passport. This can take 10-14 days after delivery. This means that, yes, I will be in Germany approximately 8 weeks.
• John has been told he will get one week off during this time. The reason is that this is July -- the time that veteran docs are PCS'ing (permanent change of station) out of here (i.e. Nick and Andrea) and new docs are coming in. Nick has volunteered to stay a month longer if it will permit John to get more time off. We will see if this works out. Docs are given a week of paternity leave but often have trouble actually using it. John is also hopeful that during our 8 weeks apart, he will get to take many long weekends to come and see us (another reason that we want to stay close.)
• We do hope to have someone with me at all times in Germany. (Veronica R. and possibly family from the USA.)
• I will be staying in a 2 bedroom efficiency apartment with the boys.

So that's all I can think of at the moment. This is obviously not ideal. I do not look forward to spending 8 weeks away from my home in Turkey and my husband and supportive friends and church. But this is the way it needs to be, and I am looking at the positives. We will be closer to the USA which means family can come visit (we hope) and the weather in Germany will be much more pleasant than it will be in Turkey during that time. We will also have the opportunity to do some fun things in and around Germany during this time. In addition, there is a Chili's and Macaroni Grill on Ramstein. Can I get an AMEN!?!?!?

I will keep you all posted as our adventure continues. Oh, and as of today, we DO plan to find out what we are having in about 8 weeks. We reserve the right to change our mind, but we currently believe we will find out but just not tell anyone. Ha ha. Just kidding.