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Movement, 18 Weeks

I think I felt the baby move today. It was so brief, I can’t be sure. There I was, working at my desk and listening to Joshua Bell play Chopin’s Nocturne, and suddenly my belly felt like a swimming pool of Jell-O with someone doing a graceful breaststroke inside. It only lasted about a minute, but it was thrilling enough that I rushed to Eric’s office to let him know. He was very excited.

Album Covers I Wish I Had Designed

Rúhíyyih Khánum’s Resting Place

No TV in Our House

Since we don’t have a TV and don’t go to video stores (the DVDs here are all Region 2), we basically rely on friends to temporarily donate movies to our cause (that’s Boredom and Laziness, if you’re wondering). It’s great, since we’re often exposed to shows we may not have watched otherwise.

We just finished Season 2 of House M.D. and are now watching Season 1 (it accidentally worked out that way). House is a show I’d heard of but never thought I’d watch, and hey! I really like it. The downside is that both Eric and I now live in fear of contracting some undiagnosable disease that will creep up unexpectedly and wreak havoc on both our lives and the doctors who are assigned to cure us -- but other than that, we love it.

Now I’m curious what other great shows are out there that we haven’t seen (aside from the obvious, like 24, since in my delicate pregnant state I can’t handle that kind of mental agony).

Overgrown Grass in ‘Akká

This doesn’t look like Israel to me. It evokes Midwest more than Middle East.

What Brought Us Here

About a year ago, something really changed in me. I remember reflecting on my life and feeling a sense of calm finality, as if I’d done just about everything I wanted to do and was ready to enter a new stage of life. I was satisfied with my education, career, travels, and marriage. I felt like it was time to invite a new challenge that would move me in a completely different direction, one that would be so enriching that I’d happily make other sacrifices to get there. Parenthood, I knew, was that obvious next stage.

Still, we hesitated. We were afraid to have children for the very same reason that we wanted them -- because we were so satisfied with our lives. Having children would disrupt everything. Would it also disrupt our happiness?

Last year, after having dinner with my sister, Mojgan, at our place, Eric and I talked to her about our fears of having children. She asked, “What are you afraid of, exactly?” Every answer I came up with was ridiculous. “I’m afraid I’m going to be a bad mother” and “I’m afraid I’m going to screw up our kids” and “diapers are disgusting” were just bad excuses, and I knew it.

Then it hit me. There was something keeping me from wanting to take that next step.

“I want to have an adventure. One last, amazing adventure! I need to be a kid one more time before I have to grow up.”

“What kind of adventure?”

“I’m not sure... A long vacation? Or living overseas, maybe?” Yeah. You see where I’m going with this.

Anyway, the more we discussed it, the more Eric realized he wanted the same thing, so you can imagine our amazement when it worked out so easily for us to move to Israel.

Of course, we didn’t move here to have children. But this experience has added a new level of preparedness that will probably make us better people, and better parents.

Yeah. I think we’re ready.

Below: Me, looking cheesy (and poppin’ out) at 17 weeks.

Theodor Herzl in 2-D

Poor thing. Guess they didn’t want to immortalize him in stone.

They Eat Popcorn Here

We had our first cinema experience -- FINALLY -- when we saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End last week. Overall, the experience was similar to any other movie-going experience in the U.S., except for:

- Assigned seating.
- Not AT ALL state-of-the-art sound or picture quality.
- Intermission.
- Israeli lady walks in during last five minutes and starts casually and LOUDLY speaking to the audience (good thing Natascha authoritatively told her to let us watch the end of the movie, to which the lady responded, “Oh,” and left).

So other than those minor details, it was a pretty ordinary experience.

How’s that for my 1000th blog entry?

Nassim and Richard’s Visit

These lovely Chicagoans leave town tomorrow.

I Shopped

After six months of not buying any clothing, shoes, accessories, or hosiery, I finally shopped last night! We found a cute maternity store at Grand Kanyon, so I bought TWO pairs of pants. Woo! Supposedly I’ll be able to wear them for the next five months. (They’re stretchy in the belly. Like Joey’s Thanksgiving Pants.)

Day at Dado

Everyone in Haifa went to Dado Beach the same day we did.

Michael and Taban, Barbecuers Extraordinaire

Those Canadians sure know how to barbecue.

FAQs, 16 Weeks

Here’s the scoop you’ve been asking for. You ask, I deliver! DELIVER! Haha.

- I’m 16 (out of 40) weeks pregnant. My estimated due date is November 28.

- It’s too early to tell if it's a boy or a girl, but we may know in a few weeks.

- Our current plan is to have the baby in Israel.

- We knew there was a chance we could get pregnant while living overseas, but this happened sooner than we expected.

- The baby will have U.S. citizenship.

- It will be the first grandchild on both sides of the family.

Tel Aviv Drive-By

Last week, Bob, Lucas, and I visited a photography studio in Tel Aviv. I took a poobillion pictures on the drive down -- of people, buildings, storefronts -- but since we were in motion, most of them were either blurry or cut off. Too bad.

The second-to-last picture is of Philippe Starck’s residential project, Yoo Tel Aviv. I really like the chunky horizontal lines, which look strong, but because they’re staggered, they also look playful. Nice.

I’ve Put Down the Shield

Some women can’t wait to have children. It seems they’ve waited their entire lives to coo and coddle those tiny things. Positive pregnancy test one day, call every listed number in the White Pages the next day.

Then there’s the baby stuff. Baby bottles, baby booties, baby quilt, baby crib, baby sweater, baby scrapbook, baby BABY, baby BABY. They can’t wait to be mama, can’t wait to show the world how proud a mama they will be, and they’ll start by putting the baby stuff on the baby shelves near the baby closet in the baby room. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

So, I guess I don’t need to tell you that I’m not exactly one of those women. Despite my lifelong assumption that I would (eventually) have children, Motherhood was always a distant, abstract concept, and as long as it was far, far in the distance, it was a pleasant -- not a frightening -- thought.

Once I got married, the idea of having children became more and more real, thus more and more frightening. In essence, Motherhood had been creeping toward me my whole life, but its pace accelerated on my wedding day, and I hid from it as long as possible.

In March, as soon as I suspected I was pregnant, I told Eric. We nervously laughed about it. It took us three weeks to finally buy a home pregnancy test.

When our home pregnancy test was positive, we weren’t really surprised, but we still sort of looked at each other in disbelief. Then I just laughed. Yes, Eric chuckled and shook his head, and I nearly rolled on the floor laughing. The moment was nothing like the emotional, teary-eyed ones you see on TV.

Of course, the pregnancy had to be confirmed by an obstetrician. When the doctor showed us a little beating heart on an ultrasound, we were still in disbelief. And for weeks following, even though I was exhausted, nauseated, and undoubtedly pregnant, I wondered if maybe the doctor, the ultrasound, and the home pregnancy test had all made a mistake.

About a month ago, I finally told a few friends about my “condition.” I also confided in Amelia, who is a young mother herself, about my feelings of denial. She wasn’t surprised. But, she said, two things would probably change my mind. First, I’d actually see the tiny thing -- a full body, not just a beating heart -- on the next ultrasound, which would be so charming. Second, I’d receive my first baby gift from her -- her own daughter’s first pair of socks. These socks are so tiny that they look like they could only hold a quarter. Amelia said that every time I look at those socks, I’ll look forward to meeting the tiny thing who will be able to wear them.

Her advice was sweet. It prompted me to warn Eric that I might cry at our next ultrasound. But in reality, once I saw that tiny thing moving around in there -- rubbing its face, playing with the cord -- again I couldn’t stop laughing. It was so funny that I just put my head back on the examining table, laughed, and laughed.

So Amelia was right about the ultrasound, and she was right about the socks (they really are adorable). In the past couple of weeks I’ve finally accepted that the exhaustion, nausea, baby on the ultrasound, and obstetrician’s professional diagnosis are not just a coincidence, and that we are, in fact, pregnant.

I may never be one of those mothers who excitedly decorates her baby’s room in a Winnie the Pooh motif, with a Tigger mobile on a Pooh crib with a Piglet blanket (I’m still trying to figure out if the baby can sleep on the couch), but I definitely feel myself softening.

The question is no longer whether or not I’m pregnant; it’s

What else do I have to look forward to?

Nancy’s Mad Hosting Skillz

I want to learn to throw a dinner party like Nancy does. She always cooks delicious food, invites marvelous people, and sets the coziest mood.

FYI: The first photo is Eric scanning the horizon for any sort of transportation on Shabbat (always a challenge), and the rest of the photos are what happened after we succeeded.

Philip Johnson Glass House, Finally

If you love design and are in or near Connecticut, you can finally get a tour of the Philip Johnson Glass House.

It’s frustrating to be so disconnected from the design community in Israel. Who are the architects, interior designers, furniture designers, and fashion designers? Where are they? What are they creating? Until I have these answers, it’ll be hard to feel like I’m part of this place.

Midnight at Greg Café in Nahariyya

With Nancy, Joey, Eric, and Tiffany.

It’s crucial to mention that even though I’m pregnant, I managed to stay up all night; Nancy dropped us off at our apartment at 6:00 am. Yay, me.

Tiffany, Suzanne, Amia, and Husayn’s Visit

Since this isn’t a very flattering photo of any of us, I’ll skip to the part where I tell you it was great to see these Chicagoans on this side of the globe.

Nauseated vs. Nauseous

According to this link from Angela, Common Errors in English, I’ve been saying it all wrong:

“Many people say, when sick to their stomachs, that they feel ‘nauseous’ (pronounced ‘NOSH-uss’ or ‘NOZH-uss’), but traditionalists insist that this word should be used to describe something that makes you want to throw up: something nauseating. They hear you as saying that you make people want to vomit, and it tempers their sympathy for your plight. Better to say you are ‘nauseated,’ or simply that you feel like throwing up.”

Outside Al-Jezzar Mosque

As far as I know, this 18th century mosque is the third largest mosque in Israel.

I Need to Shop

You know you need to shop when, for two nights in a row, you’ve dreamed about new clothes. Seriously, this may be the longest stretch in my adult life that I haven’t bought something new. Not even new hosiery! Everyone needs hosiery.

Fortunately I see a light at the end of the shopping hiatus tunnel. My clothes are starting to feel uncomfortably snug, so that warrants a trip to the mall, right?

And speaking of shopping, I find it very disconcerting that no one has commented on my fabulous Laundry by Shelli Segal handbag. Are people blind? Surely no one thinks there are more important things to discuss.

House of ‘Abdu’lláh-Páshá

Seen from a distance, and then from the courtyard. I just love the colors of the Mediterranean.

7 Random Facts about Me

It seems my cousin, Catherine, has tagged me.

The rules: each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves, and then tags 7 people to do the same.

1. I’m obsessive-compulsive in so many ways that it would be too humiliating to mention them here.

2. Suede shoes are so appealing. Out of the 15 pairs of shoes I own, 6 pairs are suede. (That’s 40%, if you’re wondering.)

3. I’m slightly repulsed by eating meat on the bone, or in any other form that might resemble its original state. The more meat doesn’t look like it came from an animal, the more I’ll enjoy it.

4. Every woman has a different opinion about which men’s sport is sexiest. Women might drool over swimmers, soccer players, or quarterbacks. Me, I find joggers sexy.

5. I am scared of any living thing with more than 2 legs.

6. Washing dishes is mostly enjoyable, since it gives me time to think and sing. However, washing pots and pans is mostly annoying, so I always leave them for last.

7. I like telling people that I forced Eric to buy this $1000 ring for me (see below). I actually bought it at Kohl’s for $8.99.

I would be interested to read 7 random facts about:
Abby Alissa George Patrick Sholeh Sonia Tim

Fresh Juice Guy

Crazy Falafel Place in ‘Akká

The last photo is of my new friend, Nica. She’s from Canada, and I like her.

You Really Like Me

Wow, my last post elicited more comments than Wil Wheaton’s blog!

Eric and I have been reading through all of your comments and are really touched by your excitement. In fact, your excitement has increased our own! It’s true -- a week ago we were still in denial about the pregnancy, jokingly referring to it as my “condition.” Now, though, I feel slightly giddy, and we have you to thank for that.

WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

And you’re all going to be honorary aunties and uncles.