Happeeeeee (at 26 weeks)!

I have two good bits of news to report.

1. Nate is home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, yes that deserves more than just one exclamation point! I am so happy to have my husband back with me. My one friend began her THREE WEEK TRIP to the States on the 22nd, which left a very bored Stephanie in Stuttgart alone. Stephanie was, however, smart enough to know that it was time to leave the apartment. (Sorry, no more speaking in 3rd person.)

So... I took a trip up to visit Mirjam and Frank Keppele and Christine and Werner Straub (and their children), relatives living about 1.5 hours to the north of Stuttgart. I stayed with Mirjam and Frank all day Saturday, until a little after lunch on Sunday. Then Christine picked me up and I stayed with their family through Tuesday morning. I had a lovely time with both households. Practiced my German with the Keppeles and gave my brain a break with the Straubs. Ate a lot of delicious food, slept a lot, relaxed, played board games, toured old cities, ate heaping piles of olives, got to know the families better, and best of all... I wasn't alone!

So, when Nate came back I was ready for his return, certainly, but I wasn't a crying heap of mush like I was the last time he took a business trip. It might help that I am now in the 2nd Trimester instead of the 1st, but we'll not get into that.

Oh, and yes, I did cry when he got into the train station, but we'll leave that alone as well.


2. I found out today that I am cleared for having my baby in the Birthing House located just below the Midwife Clinic that I go to right now. I am really excited. For a while I thought it wouldn't be possible to have the birth there (it's a long story, if you are interested give me a call or shoot me an email!), but I talked to my midwife today and they have cleared their schedules to let me in.

Why a birth house, you might ask? Well, a few reasons I guess. The first being that I really like my midwife and I would hate to not have her during the birth. In Germany, when you go to the hospital, you are just given whomever is there at the time. You don't get to bring your own midwife along. Next, I just don't like hospitals. Never have. I suppose I've been to them more in times of tragedy than happiness, so I'd rather have my birth in a happy place. Finally... the German problem. My German is getting better, you can ask anyone who has been following my learning path; however, the last thing I want to be worrying about during labor is how to conjugate the words for CONTRACTION or OWWWWWWWWWW or CAN SOMEONE PLEASE REMOVE MY HUSBAND FROM THE ROOM, HE IS INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!!!!! There are other reasons, like the birthing house is bright, sunny, and looks like a relaxing, quiet place to have a birth... and the midwives are professionals, you have to be certified with the government to become a midwife here in Germany. They've promised that long before anything goes wrong they would have me snugly deposited at a hospital.

I'm so relieved, and now ready to head to Spain for the weekend.

We fly out tomorrow at 7am, and will be in Barcelona and the surrounding area until 4pm on Tuesday. Me, Nate, Jeff, and Abby... a great group for what could be my last big trip before the baby comes.