Welcome, Baby Riya

By now you know that Riya was born on September 12, 2013. She was born at the gestational age of 32 weeks, which is pre-term, but not a preemie. What's the difference? Preemies are born prior to 27 weeks and would need a lot more help breathing, eating, and basic functionality versus a pre-term baby. (Babies are considered full term at 37 weeks).  What a whirlwind the past 2 weeks have been! Here is my attempt at a recap.

Two weeks ago I went in to see the doctor for numbness and swelling. I knew they were symptoms of pregnancy but I wasn't sure if my level of numbness and swelling was normal. I was ready to just sit back and wait until my 34 week appointment with the doctor but Ram insisted that I just go in to make sure everything is alright. As we waited, we made a mental note to do another hospital tour that Friday. (We did one back in June but neither of us remembered anything).

So we met with the doctor and immediately she showed concern. I was shocked. She started saying my blood pressure was high, there was protein in my urine, blah blah blah, we are going to admit you to the hospital for observation for 24 hours. Wait....WHAT?!?! Both Ram and I were stunned.  Just 2 weeks ago my doctor told me I had a low risk pregnancy, aside from gestational diabetes. Now, all of a sudden the doctor was saying things like I will try to buy you days (not weeks) before we have to deliver baby girl.

Ram saved both mine and Riya's life that day.

My health was more at risk than the baby's and the only cure was to take the placenta out.  A million thoughts began running through my mind. I started going through my "To Do List" which was grossly incomplete and I began to panic. The baby clothes needed to be washed, my hospital bag was only half packed, the car seat needed to be installed, we needed to buy diapers & wipes, and Luca. What are we going to do with Luca?!

Two very long days passed and we were discharged with high hopes that we had at least 2 more weeks, until baby was 34 weeks old, before we considered delivery again. The minute we came home, I gave Luca a big hug and immediately started working on that "To Do List." Sadly, late that night I was re-admitted to the hospital. The following morning the doctor said it was time. There was no way we could wait another day without damaging my kidney and liver. I had 10 minutes to process the information. Those were the fastest 10 minutes I've ever experienced in my life. That was the first (and last) time I cried.

I would never know what it was like to go into labor. I would never feel the excitement that my water broke. I would never experience a contraction. Some people say I'm blessed that I didn't go experience those things. But I can't help but feel cheated. Don't get me wrong, the thought of labor scared the crap out of me, but it was still something I wanted to experience. I never imagined this was how my pregnancy would end. And I never expected to go home without my baby.

At the end of the day, I can't say that I'm sad Riya graced us with her beautiful presence. From day 1 she was a fighter and was breathing on her own. By day 10 she was maintaining her own body temperature and out of the incubator. The only concern was her weight. Baby girl is tiny.

Today would have been my 34th week of pregnancy. I didn't get a chance to do my bump shot, but this is much better:)

Yep, Riya came home today!!!! We are so proud of her and I finally feel like we can do this parenthood thing for real. I cannot tell you how obsessed with her I already am. She has truly changed our lives forever (and Luca's).

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock...

A few weeks ago I began to panic. When I looked at the calendar and realized I only had 10 weeks (or less) before the arrival of baby girl, I felt wholly unprepared. I know first time moms will never be fully prepared to experience a newborn, but I still had 2 books on my ipad that I hadn't looked at. I kept telling myself, I have time to read those. Well folks, let's just say I feel like I'm cramming for a final exam.

At the very least I want to arm myself with information so that my "instincts" can kick in at the right moment. But another thought has been gnawing at me. These next 8 weeks will be the last time that it will be just Ram and I. (Luca doesn't ask for much, so he doesn't count in that department.) I feel like there are things we should be doing in these last few months to soak up some "us" time. Yet, night after night we find ourselves glued to the couch catching up on TV shows. Don't get me wrong, I know doing something mindless like watching TV will be something I miss in the near future, (and let's be honest, these days I can't really function after 9:30pm). But there is still a nagging "must do" list running through my head.

What to do in a city where it punishes you for being outdoors and offers nothing but eating, drinking & shopping? Now that the nesting phase is over, I need a new project. The expat activity groups don't start up again for another few weeks, so I'm starting to get really restless. (Why does school start so late here?!) I thing a Mahjong fix is in order...

One thing's for sure, I really miss traveling. I got so used to the jet setting lifestyle that I feel like I have an addiction- every few months I'm dying to explore something new. Of course we are already thinking about our first trip with baby in tow.  Should it be somewhere beachy and chill like the Maldives? Or should we just go for some adventure in Australia/New Zealand while the baby can't walk and talk? Decisions, decisions.

Pin-teresting Eats

I've been really busy in the kitchen the past few days y'all.  We haven't been good about keeping up with our weekly cooking dinner together deal since we moved to Dubai, so in an attempt to revive that, I suggested we make Paella on Saturday night. Ram was thrilled! Even though we just checked out Rosa Mexicana a few days before, we can never have our fill of Spanish/Mexican food.

Surprisingly the ingredients for the recipe looked very simple and doable. So as we I Ram cracked open a bottle of wine, we got started and chopped up all the veggies (thank god for the slap chop!).  I chickened out and bought frozen shrimp and mussels. I really was not in the mood to clean those bad boys. I don't think the dish suffered as a result either, so I'm okay with it:)

And here's the final product:

It was light and yummy, I would definitely make this again!

On Monday, I decided to experiment with fruit leather. Ram and I love fruit roll ups but they are loaded with sugar and crap and besides, they are not sold here. In an effort to find a healthier way to enjoy this treat, I found these 2 pins, one for Blackberry Mint and Strawberry. I love that you can control the sugar content in these recipes and you can even cut them out in any shape you like, which I'll be doing down the road for baby girl:) The best part is you can mix together any fruit combination you like.

Removed the seeds for both mixes

Before going into the oven. They both smelled really good.

I didn't add any sugar to the strawberry one and I only added about a tablespoon of honey to the blackberry one. I also didn't do the full 3lbs of each fruit, because I wanted to test it out first. I also read  that heating up the fruit on the stove before putting it in the oven will give it a shiny finish, so I experimented and only heated up the strawberry. Unfortunately, the oven process takes hours and the average was 4-6 hours. I have a gas oven, and I know from past experience that usually means to cut the cooking time in half. Unfortunately, by the 1 hour and 45 min mark, I was already too late. Both dishes were too dried out to even roll and crumbled at my touch:/

Exhibit A

I was SO disappointed but I plan to try again.

Tuesday night I decided to attempt Gumbo. Ram loves Cajun food and the only Cajun dish I have mastered is jambalaya. So I decided to surprise him and add a new dish to my repertoire (plus I had left over shrimp to use!). The ingredients are very similar to jambalaya with the addition of okra. Seemed easy enough. And it turned out great!

Slap Chop to the rescue once again!

A Room for Our Princess

We finally got our furniture delivered for the nursery yesterday. I've been so impatient the past few weeks waiting to get her room set up. I even made some artwork for her room to calm my nerves. We still have the small things that we left behind in the US that our parents will bring when they come (i.e. books, toys & picture frames) but I really like how the room's shaping up:

This is the view from the shared bathroom with the other guest bedroom

My artwork doesn't look half bad, eh?

This door leads to the hallway and the master bedroom is right across

  

To the right of the bed is a closet

And this will be her play area downstairs. It unintentionally turned out to be pink and blue again. It was so hard to find neutral colors here. But once it fills up with toys and animals, it won't be so obvious:

Surprisingly, Luca has not attempted to jump onto the swing. He's been very good the past few days while I've been setting up. Actually, he's showed no interest in baby stuff at all. He didn't even bother to come into the room once while I was organizing, which is weird because he likes to be in the same room as me at all times. Maybe he knows that he will have limited access to her room later on, so he's practicing now. He's such a good boy:)

When Ram saw the nursery yesterday, I think it struck a cord.  It definitely solidified the fact that this baby is coming sooner vs later. It's about time he caught up to me! I cannot believe I'm in my third trimester now. 12 weeks and counting!

Weekend Fun

With Ramadan coming to an end, Ram was notified earlier in the week that he would either have Thursday or Sunday off. The thought of a 3-day weekend got us very excited. Immediately Ram looked into hotel and air far to Muscat, Oman. It's a short flight and is on our list of places to see in the Middle East. As I looked into boarding for Luca, Ram and I both started to feel bad about leaving our little booger so soon.  Turned out all the kennels were booked anyway, so it was a no-go.

Then we decided to look into day trips. There are 2 Emirates within 1-2 hours driving distance from us, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. Abu Dhabi is known to be much more conservative than Dubai and with a holy month coming to an end, I wasn't sure it was a good idea. So I looked into Yas Island, an area 20 minutes from Abu Dhabi that's a popular concert and restaurant area. Sadly, nothing was going on this weekend worth the drive.

Fujairah looked promising when I saw it actually had some historical sites to see. One being a castle, now downgraded to a fort. The fort sat on the edge of the Emirate with views of the gulf. Aside from that there was a mosque we could check out but that's about it. Ram didn't think it was worth driving 2 1/2 hours for those 2 sites only to have to turn back around a few hours later. That coupled with the unforgiving heat, I agreed. It was probably not a good idea to be outdoors in the middle of the day.

So with my hopes of a mini-vacay shattered, we decided to make the most of it and enjoy a stay-cation. And it wasn't until Wednesday that Ram found out he would have both Thursday AND Sunday off. That's one very frustrating thing about the local holidays here, nothing is determined in advance.

We spent our four day stay-cation relaxing and eating our fav foods:) I managed to find chicken wings, velveta, and rotel at a specialty store and decided we would have a taste of home on Thursday. The queso turned out as good as velveta can get, but I'm not sure it was worth the $7 I had to pay for it!

Friday I started my day with a massage and then we headed to our fav cafe for lunch. Later than day we started watching season 1 of Homeland and finished it by Saturday. We are annoyed that I-Tunes doesn't have Season 2 available yet. But we've got Season 1 of Game of Thrones to distract us in the meantime.

Saturday we had a bump shoot at the mall, which I'm very excited about. (I get to see the proofs next week). Afterwards we went to IKEA to hunt for a bookcase and nightstand for the baby's room. We ended up only finding a nightstand and decided to use our "old" bookcase in the interim. At night we had a date night and checked out a new mexican restaurant called Fuego. We were immediately enticed by their fajitas and chimichangas and found them to be decent. We are impatiently waiting for Rosa Mexicana to open here and hope that it tastes just like Ram remembers it from NYC:)

Sunday we spent the day relaxing and began work on the nightstand. It's coming together nicely:) The stay-cation ended with a yummy home cooked meal from my hubby. These days I will take any form of pampering:)

And now back to reality! The rest of the nursery furniture we ordered from Pottery Barn arrives tomorrow and I cannot wait to finally to set up baby girl's room!

Ramadan in Dubai

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and is one of the most important months for Muslims as it is believed this is the month that the Qu'ran was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. Muslims fast from dawn until sunset throughout the entire month and refrain from consuming anything during that time. Nothing is allowed to touch the lips during the fasting period. That includes water and cigarettes. I've fasted before, but no water? No bueno.

Even though the Muslim population is smaller than the non-Muslims, the entire city changes and adapts. Restaurants and food courts are closed and only a few will offer take away only during the day. Most places also refrain from serving alcohol for the entire month (we got our liquor license just in time!). The few restaurants that stay open or even offer take away service are screened off or blacked out from public view. Your car and office space are considered public spaces, so no consumption can take place there. Many corporations provide a blackout out room where their non-fasting employees can enjoy lunch guilt-free. Heavy fines are awarded for those who violate the rules. Luckily, Ram and I missed half of Ramadan while we were visiting Houston. But since we've been back, it's definitely been an adjustment. I can't grab that water bottle to go while I'm running errands. I can't enjoy my snack while perusing through the store. Being pregnant during Ramadan hasn't been easy.

Everyday at sunset however, the landscape completely changes. Restaurants open their doors for Iftar (breaking fast) and stay open till 2am daily. Iftars in Dubai are quite glamorous. Many hotels will build special air conditioned tents that can hold up to 900 people and offer an arabic style buffet for their guests to gorge on until the wee hours of the night, along with entertainment and shisha. This is one from the Atlantis Hotel and Resort:

SOURCE

We figured we might as well partake in this tradition and see what its all about since Ramadan is coming to an end this weekend. We were deciding between a tent at the Atlantis Hotel and a restaurant at the Burj Al Arab. Since we've been to Atlantis in general before, we figured we should take advantage and finally see the elusive the Burj Al Arab (world's only self-proclaimed 7-star hotel). The hotel does not allow anyone to enter without a restaurant or bar reservation, so it's nearly impossible to just go "see" it.  So when we saw they had availability, we jumped at the chance.

You have to cross a bridge to get to the hotel as it sits right on the ocean. The views outside were spectacular: 

However, that sentiment was left at the front door. The food and service were excellent, but the decor inside was very disappointing. It was uncharacteristically gaudy in the lobby and restaurant and when we went to Skybar, it was like we turned back time to the 80's:

Almost every establishment has some sort of water feature. This hotel was no exception

The ceiling

Nice ocean view from our dinner table

Part of the buffet

Skybar (NOTE: if you do not dine at the hotel, you have to spend a minimum of $60-75/pp at the bar, which is easy since each drink costs on average about $30)

Panoramic view of the city from Skybar 

I got SO excited when I saw this pink Ferrari! 

I'm glad we got to check this hotel off our list. I'm sure the actual rooms are gorgeous, but I don't really care to go back. I kind of wish we had gone to the tent at the Atlantis because it looked gorgeous, but oh well, there's always next year!

Bump Watch Week 26

One month ago, at 22 weeks, I felt like I was blowing up:

In hindsight, I cannot believe that I thought that was "big." Here I am now at the end of 26 weeks, a few pounds heavier and 2 stretch marks later:

Baby girl is the size of an eggplant and weighs around 2 lbs. My stomach is supposed to look more like a soccer ball at this stage in the pregnancy, but it doesn't quite look like that to me. I'm definitely carrying wide, which I hear is common when you are having a girl. I'm also feeling more pregnant these days.  I can no longer use my ab muscles to lift me up and I find myself breathless after climbing a flight of stairs with Luca in tow. Pretty soon I will have to stop picking up Luca and carrying him like a baby:/

The good news is I finally got an appointment with the highly reputable Dr. Elsa! We met her earlier this week and she is by far the best doctor we've seen. She was so knowledgeable (and complimentary), which put us at ease right away. She works out of the hospital, so it will give us extra practice on driving there. (One of these days we'll get there without taking a wrong turn!)

The bad news is I recently found out I have gestational diabetes (GD). I was pretty upset to hear the news because I have no symptoms at all. Apparently Indian women have an increased risk. Regardless, it's a big deal in terms of the health of the baby, so I've got to monitor my levels from now on. I'm just praying that baby girl is healthy and she comes before November (I want her to be a Libra like daddy).

This news coupled with a few other factors have been throwing me off balance lately. I look in the mirror and I can hardly recognize myself. My hair is dyed black (promised Ram I would go au naturale when I became prego); I have a row of pimples that have taken permanent residence on my forehead (thank god for bangs); I have splotchy un-even skin on my face (thank god for make-up); and I have 2 large stretch marks despite lathering up with oil daily (stupid expensive oils are good for nothing). It's easy to sulk and get depressed over all of these things. But I just keep reminding myself that these "issues" are temporary and should be worn as a badge of honor.

At the end of the day, I really do love being pregnant and am in awe that I have the ability to create life. Being pregnant seems to agree with me: never have I been so even-tempered in my life! And this seems like a popular year to have a baby. Lots of celeb babies were born and a new heir for the Prince William and Princess Kate, 2013 rocks! Now we just need to find a way to send baby girl to school out wherever Prince George goes so he can fall in love with her!