Prince or Princess, Pink or Blue, Daddy doesn't care, but I do.

I am going to write this post with full acknowledgement that it may offend my little nugget in the future, if that little nugget is a boy.  With that being said, I want a little girl more then anything, the reasons are stupid, but I will tell you them anyway. First and foremost, I want to invest all my new mom energy into a little girl, I myself am obviously a girl and would love nothing more then to have a little mini me.  Secondly, being a girl, I feel like I know how to raise a girl better then I would be able to raise a boy.  Thirdly (Is that a word?), I like tutus.

Now it would make more sense to have a boy first, but I am not one for practicality, I will however go over the pros, just in case nugget's birth certificate says Jad Dufda Rawagah (yep, we are talking names now, and that is the boys name and I don't care if you don't like it, no his middle name will not be Dufda, I just promised to omit the hubs name from my blog).  The first reason why a boy would be great: In Dufda's culture, the parents assume the name Father of First Born, or Abu Jad.  Dufda has already expressed his want to not be Abu Something super girly.  Dufda is pro-boy all the way, so at least one of us will be happy come gender reveal day.  Second, I think having a big brother is great, I had one, but I also had a big sister, so I don't know how it shaped my being.  And lastly, everyone tells me boys are easier, which I can totally see.  I think my parents would have traded me for a boy most days.

Anyway, now that I have aired out my preferences, let's get to sexing this baby, and by that I mean using the most basic, old school wives tales that there are to have some fun and hopefully does not get me seeing blue.

Chinese Gender Chart

This was the first way I came across to determine the gender.

As you can see, the month of conception and age determine this predictor.  Here is the confusing part, they do this western versus eastern age.  With western dating, I am 26, the baby was conceived in June, they say I am having a BOY.  If I would go off of eastern age, I would be consider 27, because I am in 27th year, and the baby would be a GIRL, well this nugget is Jordanian, so we like the eastern way of aging me, but only until I am 30.

Carrying High, Carrying Low

I think that it's a little to early for this one, my bump is just starting to show.  We will probably know the sex before I am able to determine how I am carrying.

 

Peeing into baking soda
So the wives tale goes that if you pee on baking soda and it fizzes like pop, you are having a boy, if it does nothing, you are having a girl.  So I did this and nothing happened!  That would say GIRL.

Heartbeat

It is said that the fetal heart rate can determine the sex of the baby.  If the heart rate is 140 or above you are having a girl, and if the heart rate is below 140, you are having a BOY.  Well this one comes out GIRL, the heart rate is 158bpm.  The medical community says that this theory has some backing, but not until the baby is actually born.  They know that girl's heart rates increase considerably higher than boys during labor.  Forget that though, this works in my favor, so I like this one.

Dufda's Weight Gain

 I think he has lost weight, but that is mainly due to me being lazy and not wanting to go to the gym with him.  As for actual weight gain, I would say none at all.  This would mean we are having a BOY, on that note I am going to feed him some cheese burgers.

Is my face round and Full?

I do not think my face has changed at all, so this would say I am having a BOY.

Do you have acne?

I feel like I have gotten the biggest and most painful pimples while pregnant.  Not to mention my face is covered in little pimples, and new ones are forming every day.  This would say that I am having a GIRL!

Tie your wedding ring to a string

If your wedding ring goes back and forth, you are said to have a boy.  If you ring goes in a circle, you are said to have a girl.  Well mine definitely went back and forth, so this would mean I am having a BOY.

What are you craving?

If you are craving sweets you are said to have a girl, if it's sour and salty then it would be a boy.  I hate dessert, but have gotten it everywhere we go.  I also have eat salt and vinegar on everything.  So it looks like this one would say I am having a BOY and a GIRL!

What do I think I am having?

The mother's intuition is correct 71% of the time.  I think it is a BOY.  Even by the end of this post, I get more and more o.k with that.  I know this isn't a comparison, and everyone will be saying to themselves "Dogs and kids aren't the same", but my favorite dog is a boy, and I like having him as my little buddy, so maybe I will grow to love having nugget be a boy.  If any of you know me, I change my mind a lot and don't let things bother me for along time, so if there is no girl, I will get use to soccer balls and dirt.

So the outcome is 6 votes boy and 5 votes girl, about 50/50 : ).

 

Preggie Pops Giveaway!

When I first found out I was pregnant, there was some time between when my morning sickness started, and when I was scheduled to go see the midwife.  Due to this lag, I need some natural help to get through the day.  After lots of searching, and plenty of blog posts saying that Jolly Ranchers were the way to go (they didn't do it for me), I came across Preggie Pops and they were a life saver.  Preggie Pop is an all natural pop or drop that takes the edge off of that nausea.  There are no drugs in Preggie Pops, so they are completely safe to use while pregnant.  On top of there great ability to make you feel better instantly, they taste awesome.  I still use these in combination with my Zofran to take less medicine.  I love Preggie Pops so much that My Jordanian Nugget has teamed with Three Lollies to giveaway some free Preggie Pops!  All you have to do is enter below.  The contest will continue until September 6, 2012. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome to the Infamous Second Trimester!

Ever since we found out we were having a baby, everyone told me that the second trimester is much easier and you feel much better.  This is being wrote at 13 weeks and 3 days, which most agree, is the beginning of your second trimester.  I still have the urge to vomit if I don't take my medicine, so time will tell if I actually do feel better.  

So since we are starting this wonderful and joyous time of the second trimester, I would like to reflect on the past 13 weeks and 3 days that have not been all that wonderful and joyous.  

Where are we going to have our baby?

Before I even got pregnant, or tried to get pregnant, I was very interested in where people were having their babies and why.  Most people have them in a hospital and if you ask why, they will typically respond with, "Well that is where you are suppose to have a baby, right?"  That answer wasn't good enough for me because when I started to do my research, it seemed like the hospital was the my last choice to give birth.  I am in no way trying to get in argument over where is the best place to have your baby, I think that is a very personal choice.  After watching a ton of documentaries and reading lots of books on natural birth/home birth, I determined that this was the path that I would like to take.  Little did I know, it is so hard to have your baby out of the hospital.  The state of Pennsylvania has created several laws restricting the practice of midwifery.  Not to mention, everyone has an opinion, which most of them go like this, "I had this friend who needed an emergency c-section because they induced her labor and then she wasn't progressing, what are you going to do then?" 

On that note, I had started searching for a home birth midwife before I was pregnant, so I already had some contacts.  I set up an appointment as soon as I got the positive test.  Home birth was for sure what I wanted, but I wasn't thrilled with one available midwife in Pittsburgh that would be doing mine.  The kicker came when I was informed that my house would not hold a birthing tub, and I would probably fall through to the basement.  So scratch home birth and move on to birth center.  This pleased more of my family, little do they know that this birth center is just a glorified home (well I guess they will know now).  We are set though, and are birthing at The Midwife Center on Penn Ave right on the strip.  I LOVE THEM!  I still get my earthy, older women in Birkenstocks that has birthed a billion babies, it is just a more structured type of care.  Anyway we are super happy!  Follow my story if you are interested in the care from the midwives, I know I found very little information out there.

Will this morning sickness ever end?

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was husband-less, well I had a husband, my Dufda, he was just 6000 miles away listening to me cry over Skype about how unfair this was that I was all alone and I had no help (mind you, I purchased his ticket to return home from Jordan one month after me, knowing that there was a possibility that I would come home with more then just some hummus and olive oil).  This time would have been ideal to be craving junk food, and not really care to eat much of anything that wasn't a potato.  Well instead, I wasn't sick at all until week 6, I was actually on cloud nine and I would make all these fabulous salads and well balanced meals.  I even wrote everything down to make sure I was getting all the correct nutrients (haha, what a newby).  Dufda missed this time, he loves to eat so I am sure he would have loved all this food. Cue 6 weeks and 0 days,  I was sitting in work eating frozen grapes ( Thanks Kimmy!), I turned to my co-worker and said, "Today is going to be the day I start to puke.", it was, and it was awful.  From that day forward I have been in a constant battle with saltines, Zofran, Reglan, and the ugly pink toilet.  Morning sickness is exhausting, I never knew if I was tired because I was pregnant, or if I was tired because vomiting so much is basically like doing a ton of sit-ups.  I even had "morning sickness" that occurred in the middle of the night!  If this happens to you, Unisom is a lifesaver.   I was told a million times that it is going to get better.  I really hope this is the case, I hate taking all this medicine while pregnant! 

Where's my Bump!  I want a Bump!

Your first trimester normally includes sharing the news with everyone.  You tell people you are pregnant, then they look right where your baby bump will be, some will even say, "You don't look pregnant."  Well I was not born yesterday, but I don't think it is normal for you to go from zero to whale in eight weeks.  Those same people will see you again in 4 weeks and still expect that you are going to have a huge bump.  Another thing I noticed is that everyone who knows your pregnant, will always look at your bump-less stomach region as soon they see you.  Listen people, I am looking for my bump too, but the pregnancy bible (What to Expect When Your Expecting, of course) says that there will be no visible bump until week 16-20.  Dufda, along with my dad seem to feel that the bump makes you pregnant, right now I am only kinda pregnant, but with the bump you are full blown OMG YOU'RE HAVING A BABY pregnant.  

Nonetheless, we take picture every week to capture the growing bump.  Dufda and I have a photo obsession that will make this nugget the most well documented child in history, don't believe me?  Check out how many picture we take just going to the zoo by ourselves, imagine throwing in a real live nugget!  

I have decided I  will never get upset when someone says, "I don't see the bump".  This from my cousin who's wife just had a baby, and is very well aware of the typical bump growth (yeah, that's you Mike).   This is my time to enjoy still fitting into about 25% of wardrobe, because although none of you can see the bump, my size 2 jeans know it is there, I know wahhh, I'm no longer a size 2, I won't wait for you to cry me a river.

The Belly Book

When I found out that I was pregnant I knew that I wanted to keep track of every moment.  The Belly Book was one of the ways I choose to do this.  The Belly Book is a nine-month journal to document your growing belly, doctor's appointments, cravings, feelings and much more. 

The author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, separated the book into trimesters, then into weeks from there. 

What I liked about that style of the journal is that it has both free space to write what you wish, and pages that prompt you to write about what is most likely happening to you at that moment in your pregnancy.   The journal also gives you plenty of room at the end of each trimester to write a reflection, we use this to write letters to Nugget, one from me and one from Dufda.

I paired this with a pregnancy calendar, that I will review later on, to keep track of everything that I am feeling and doing.  Along with areas to journal, The Belly Book also provides places to add pictures of your belly each week, ultrasounds, and then at the end, your little nugget.

There are some downfalls to this journal:  The book starts at week one of pregnancy and there is no real week one.  I just used this space to journal what I was doing at that time for memories.  It is also geared towards someone having a hospital birth.  Since I am using a birth center, some of the prompts do not apply to me.  I just crossed them out and added my own.  Buy your own copy here http://www.amazon.com/The-Belly-Book-Nine-Month-Journal/dp/0307336182/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1346074218&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=the+bump+book

Week 13

How far along? 13 Weeks
How big is Baby? Peach

Total weight gain? According to the midwife's scale, 7lbs, I will ignore that number for this week though.
Maternity clothes? I think I may need to go buy a new bump picture outfit.
Best moment this week? The midwife finally got Zofran approved for the next 3 months, so I can be normal, it has given me so much more energy.
Miss anything? Not crying over every little thing
Food cravings:  I really wanted Popsicle and donuts this week.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Eggs : (
Have you started to show yet?: Family has said that I look to big to be 13 weeks, Dufda is obsessed with my little bump.
Gender:  One more month and we will know!
Belly button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off?  Off, not because they don't fit, just because my skin is very sensitive
Happy or Moody most of the time?  About to be really happy because I think with the medicine I should stop getting sick, but in general, super moody and have embarrasses Dufda several times by crying in public.
Looking forward to: Looking pregnant and not just fat and bloated and finally being in the second trimester!
NEW! Dufda Quote of the week: " If we eat nuggets, will the Nugget get sad, I didn't eat plums last week because that is how big Nugget was."

This week we had our second midwife appointment, the first with an actual midwife (the first appointment was with a nurse practitioner).  She was very nice!  The appointment was super quick, she took my blood pressure (which was good), and listened to the baby's heartbeat (158bpm).  I explained how sick I was, and she couldn't believe that they would only issue me 12 pills.  I was then given another prescription for Zofran, and the pharmacy filled it!  I finally get relief, and me and the ugly pink bowl no longer have to meet several times a day, yes my toilet is pink.  

My emotions have been all over the place this week.  Donuts and Popsicle make everything better, thought.  I have also been having crazy pregnancy dreams.  In the last one, we ended up in the emergency room for some reason and found out we are having twins, which I still insist there are two babies in there.  

Introducing the White Lion aka Dolce

 

Second trimester here I come!! 

Week 12

How far along? 12 weeks
How big is Baby? Plum

Total weight gain: 4 lbs

Maternity clothes: Ordered some more maternity clothes.

Best moment this week:  Heard the baby's heart beat of the home Doppler, we are using the Sonoline B Doppler.  It is very simple to use, review to come soon!

Miss Anything? Using the bathroom only to go to the bathroom.

Food Cravings: Having a hard time with food in general

Anything make you queasy or sick: Everything

Have you started to show yet: Yes, Dufda and my mother have both commented

Gender: No idea

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off?  Off, most of the time

Happy or Moody most of the time?  I feel like I have some more energy, but still pretty down

Looking forward to: The second trimester!

 

Coco crashing the bump photo session:



Week 11

How far along? 11 Weeks
How Big is Baby? Lime

Total weight gain/loss: 4lbs

Maternity clothes? Nothing really fits, but I haven't turned to maternity clothes completely

Stretch marks? Nope.
Best moment this week: We made our first baby purchase this week!  We got a jogging stroller, travel system, swing, high chair, pack n'play, bouncer, exercise mats, and a couple of other things.

Miss Anything? My coffee

Movement: Nope

Food cravings: Salt and Vinegar Chips

Anything making you queasy or sick: My dinner has been making me sick
Have you started to show yet: I think I have, but no one else can tell

Gender: No Idea
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off?  On most of the time, but they are starting to bug me
Happy or Moody most of the time: I am starting to feel better
Looking forward to: Morning sickness being over!

Week 10

We told the world this week!  Well, by the world, I mean Facebook.   Still exciting!  

How far along? 10 Weeks
How Big is Baby?  Prune

Total weight gain/loss: 2lbs

Maternity clothes? Bought one pair of maternity jeans, I don't think I will ever go back to regular pants

Stretch marks? Nope.
Best moment this week: Had our first midwife appointment, and was given Zofran!!

Miss Anything? Still my energy

Movement: Nope

Food cravings: Anything Starchy

Anything making you queasy or sick: Fruits, and all I really want to eat is a plum
Have you started to show yet: I think I have, but no one else can tell

Gender: No Idea, but we made an appointment to find out September 29th!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Dufda still says I am not happy, but I am so sick, so I am trying to be
Looking forward to: Morning sickness being over!



Week 9

How far along? 9 weeks

How big is Baby? Green Olive

Total weight gain? about 2 lbs

Maternity Clothes? Not needed yet

Best Moment this week:  There were not really any : (

Miss Anything? My energy

Food cravings: Potatoes

Anything make you queasy or sick: Almost everything.

Have you started to show yet: Just bloat

Gender: No Idea

Belly Button In or Out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Angry and sad most of the time

Looking forward to: Our first midwife appointment!!

Dufda also brought the baby's first stuff animal back from Jordan.  It is of course a camel!

And The Nugget Starts to Grow...

Week 5

I found out I was pregnant on June 24, 2012, I was about 4wk6d.  I had no symptoms at all, but now that I reflect back, the crying episode in the airport when the security took my hand sanitzer, was most likely related to pregnancy.  This week I called the home birth midwife to set up an appointment.  We would like to have a very natural birth, preferably at home.  This scares that crap out of Dufda, but he will get over it.

Week 6

 I still have about 3 weeks before Dufda gets home, and it is getting pretty lonely.  Specially because this is the first week that I started to feel nauseous.  Threw up at work on Monday and it was very embarrassing.  We had our appointment with the Midwife and we just didn't hit it off right away.  I then decided to call the Midwife center and set up a tour with them.  We also told my parents this week.  Their reaction: "Who's pregnant?"  Yeah, not exactly what I was looking for, but they came around and our happy now.

Week 7

Pregnancy is getting harder and harder.  I am throwing up constantly, and all I want to eat is Saltines.  My nose won't stop running either, and I hear this may not stop till I give birth.

Week 8

Dufda comes home this week!  I don't know if he is prepared for dealing with a pregnant wife, but we will see. 
Picking Dufda up in the airport was very emotional.  I have missed him terribly and have become very accustom to living with him.  I was waiting at the bottom of the escalator in baggage pick up, trying to hold myself together.  He came down, and I had barely recognized him, he had lost so much weight!  All I wanted to do was hug him and kiss him, but we had to get in the car and drive home. 

Now to watch the bump grow..



Made in Jordan

Since this is a blog about us making our little Jordanian family, you are probably wondering, "Did it happen?!"  After three of these...

Of course it did! Apparently I come from a long line of fertile women, but we got our Made in Jordan baby.  And that is just how we announced our news to the world:

I found out I was pregnant while Dufda was still in Jordan.  I had just arrived home and needed to go grocery shopping.  When I got to the store, pregnancy test were buy one get one free.  I was up at the register still trying to decide if I really need the free one, I went with no.  I got home around 8pm and took the test.   I was pretty positive it would be negative because they always say take it first thing in the morning.  Well, the stick did not even dry before that very strong positive came up.  I, of course, still did not believe this, so I took another...positive as well. 

So I am sitting in the bathroom thinking about what I should do next.  When you are TTC, all you think about is making that baby, you never really think about what to do after that is complete.  I wanted to tell Dufda so bad, but the time difference is 7 hours, so he was definitely asleep.  I tried to call, send pictures, leave video messages, the whole nine yards, with no response.  So I did the next best thing, I told Lauren.  I wanted to tell her while she was walking her dog, but I figured that she would drop her phone from excitement, so I waited till she could sit down.  She was very excited!

The next day I was able to talk to Dufda.  He was thrilled, but he says he already knew I was pregnant.  He told his family that day as well, and they were all equally excited.  It was so hard not being able to hug my husband when we got the biggest and most exciting news of our lives. 

I'm Pregnant, now what...

My Jordanian Honeymoon

Dufda and I got married in October, then again in Decemeber.  In all of that confusion and haste we were unable to take a honeymoon.  We knew that we wanted to go to Jordan though.  Dufda hadn't seen his family in years, and I, now being their daughter in law, still had not met them.  So that was the plan, we were going to have a Jordanian honeymoon! 

June 8th, 2012 was take off.  There was much planning involved:  How am I going to fit clothes for 15 days in three suitcases (I didn't wear half those clothes), How am I going to learn to Arabic in one week (here's a hint: I didn't), and How are we going to survive a 13 hour lay over in JFK (we almost didn't).  This was also the month that we were going to join the crowds of newlyweds trying to conceive, which is this process learned it is just TTC.

We arrived in Jordan the night of the 9th.  The time change was rough, but we were greeted by a huge meal prepared for my Dufda's mom, my MIL.  This seemed to be the theme everywhere we went, no matter the hour, there was food, and of course tea......lots of tea.  We stayed in Dufda's childhood home.  Flashback to when I first met Dufda, I thought he would have lived in something like this:

Well I was so wrong, try this:

Anyway, we are staying at his parents lovely home and we are TTC, cue Jordanian Excursion.  We took a trip around all the sites in Jordan.  Our stops included, the Aljoun Castle, Jerash, Amman, Petra, Aqaba, Dead Sea, and Mount Nebo.  Here are some of the highlights:

Floating in the Dead Sea

On our way to Aqaba

Jerash

And finally, I found a camel to ride.









We met, We fell in Love, We got Married

Hi Everyone!  This is the story, or as I call it the fairy tale, of how I met the man of my dreams and our journey to make a little Jordanian family.  I'm Samantha and I will be your narrator, my husband, who we will just refer to as Dufda, will be the co-star.  So this is how the story goes:
I was working in a Athens, Ohio, a small town in southwestern Ohio where Ohio University is located.  Dufda was attending Ohio University to get his Master's Degree, he's a smarty pants!  What make this story so fantastic is: I am from Pittsburgh, Pa, Dufda is from Irbid, Jordan (Yes, like Jordan the country), and we met in the wonderful little town of Athens, Ohio.
So we met, we fall in love, then we get engaged!



The Ring!!



Then two days later, much to my parents surprise, we got married!  We had an Islamic ceremony in Columbus, Ohio.  If you have never been to one of these, this is kind of the jist: WARNING: I do not intend to poke fun at Dufda's culture

So this is how it went for most of the time, notice I am not present (I wouldn't understand anything they were saying anyway, even if I was present)

This is me signing our marriage contract (in a seperate room), also mainly in Arabic.

Yay! We are married, atleast I think that is what I just agreed to.

This is not everyone's fairy tale wedding.  Mine kind of looked more like this:

 

Don't fret, I did get a cake, Thanks Aunt Michelle!

 This was actually only wedding 1 of 2, the other one was planned in 30 days (a whole other blog in itself) and occured on December 3, 2011.  Aren't we just a perfect couple:

Dufda and I during our first look photos

Skip ahead 6 months to the honeymoon