Maybe the baby's a girl. Or a boy. Definitely one or the other.

My monthly prenatal appointment and ultrasound got moved up to today thanks to last weekend's hospital stay.
The good news is that everything is fine. The bad news is that there's still no definitive (or as definitive as ultrasound images can be) answer to the boy vs. girl question. Now the doctor's leaning toward girl.
I realize it doesn't matter one way or the other. It's not like I'm going to buy any baby stuff until I'm back in the States anyway, and we can proceed with "discussing" both boy and girl names.
But when you want to know, you want to know. And referring to the baby as he/she and him/her is getting old.

As if I needed a reminder of the horrible diseases I can contract here

Thanks a lot, Travel+Leisure, for compiling this list. And Yahoo for promoting it.

You'd think not having an appendix would eliminate severe right-side-of-your-body pain. You'd be wrong.

I went to bed Friday night feeling normal (in my pregnant state, that means not great but not bad). I woke up a couple of hours later with horrible abdominal pain. I took Tums, Tylenol and Pepto Bismol (off limits for the pregnant, I know, but I was desperate). Then I threw up. This was all within about an hour and a half.
I finally fell asleep for a little while, then woke up. It still hurt. I got up. It hurt worse. I looked for my ob/gyn's pager number but couldn't find it. I crawled back in bed, crying.
To make an even longer story short, there was a hospital visit (and overnight stay). Despite an early diagnosis of stretched ligaments (I'm sorry, but those can't hurt anywhere near as bad), I had an ultrasound. And, lo and behold, I have kidney stones.
How long have they been there? I have no idea. How many? It's hard to tell from the ultrasound, but there are more in there. How long do I have until I'm in excruciating pain again? It's impossible to know.
Oh, and the doctor who placed my IV line and the nurse who removed it did some rather unattractive damage to my hand. But I suppose that's a rather small price to pay for being able to function somewhat normally.
Special thanks to Kevin, who is a wonderful husband and was a lot nicer about the whole thing than he could have been; Kriss, the mom of one of Laura's friends, who came to the hospital Saturday morning to get Laura and kept her all day; and Nicola, the embassy nurse who came to the hospital and demanded answers to questions we didn't know to ask.

My not-so-live inauguration report

I considered blogging live about the swearing-in, but really, how many of you read this that often? I did take notes throughout the ceremony, though. Yes, I knew you'd be appreciative. I also know you're all getting real news coverage somewhere else, so these are more like the random comments we'd make sitting around the newsroom.
So, starting around 12:20 p.m. Trinidad time (11:20 a.m. Eastern) until the Bushes took off from the Capitol grounds, here's my commentary on the NBC coverage.

(As I turned on the TV, Brian Williams was saying something about a boom in the hand and foot warmer industry in Washington, D.C.)
Were George H.W. Bush and Hillary Clinton really talking? About what?
The 7-year-old Obama, Sasha, looks so tiny. But I say this as the mother of a nearly 60-pound 7-year-old who thinks she's a teenager.
How do we refer to Mrs. Obama's mother? First old lady? First mother-in-law?
Is Laura Bush wearing a tent? Or a Mormon Tabernacle Choir uniform?
Ugh. Did Michelle Obama just kiss Al Gore? (I couldn't see his face, but later it was obvious that yes, she had.)
It just occurred to me that my new haircut looks a lot like Michelle Obama's -- and cost a lot less, I'm sure.
I've said it before, but Nancy Pelosi has to have had work done.
Why did Tom Brokaw "retire" if he was going to reappear at every big event?
Dianne Feinstein should have gone with different hair.
It doesn't look like the miniature American flag industry is doing too badly, either.
If Barack Obama is going to use his middle initial, why not just go all the way and use Hussein?
Rich Warren really needs a haircut.
If Mitt Romney had been elected president, would President Monson be giving the prayer?
Why do people cheer during prayers?
Only Aretha Franklin could pull off that hat.
How long will it be before the glasses of water on the table between Obama and Biden are icy?
Joseph Biden's right pinky finger seems too short.
They should have built some time into the schedule to allow all those heavily clothed people to stand up and sit down.
None of the male musicians is wearing a ring on either hand. Those fingerless gloves make it hard to tell about the piano player.
Why is that grumpy-looking guy sitting behind Yo Yo Ma?
John Roberts' bald spot really stands out.
Finally, there's the Hussein.
Even presidents can screw up "repeat after me" instructions.
Possible utterance by Obama to Biden: "Let's go spend a trillion dollars on the economy!"
Where did that one person on the National Mall -- near the Capitol, close to the front -- find that bright yellow winter coat?
Barack Obama does look a lot like his Saturday Night Live double -- or is it the other way around?
Cool how the sun reflects off Obama's American flag lapel pin. (At least the sun is out.)
Is that American flag flying at the Capitol tattered? I hope I imagined that.
He really should have used "such as" instead of "like" in that reference to battlefields.
Good historical references for the inauguration speech.
George H.W. Bush looks like a KGB agent in that hat.
I want a paisley scarf like that woman they just showed in New York City.
That woman behind the Obama family really shouldn't be chewing gum.
Good job of sneaking in a Kenyan village reference without naming any names.
Glad he mentioned the nonbelievers among the religious groups.
I think he just made a reference to Vladimir Putin. Or was it Hugo Chavez?
Good shot of the Tuskegee Airmen.
"With God's grace upon us" really sounds like a Republican thing to say.
Did Elizabeth Alexander have to have her poem reviewed or approved?
Ack! A dangling preposition!
There's that KGB hat again.
There was less cheering for the poem than the invocation. Perhaps people are tired. Or frozen. Or just didn't like the poem.
When was the last time you heard "social and economic destruction" mentioned in a prayer?
KGB Bush also is wearing a purple scarf.
I'm pretty sure my American Indian friends and family will get a kick out of "when the red man can get ahead, man."
Is Sasha Obama dancing around because she's cold or because she needs to use the bathroom?
Hey! I just saw Colin Powell!
How long will it take all those people to clear off the Mall?
Chuck Schumer. John Kerry. The back of John Kerry's head. For a few minutes.
John McCain got less camera time than the back of Kerry's head.
Poor Dick Cheney, not being able to chase the others in his wheelchair. Oh, wait, there he is.
Lynne Cheney's red gloves are pretty cool.
Laura Bush's dress doesn't look so bad as she leaves.
I think Michelle Obama is taller than Joseph Biden.
Somehow I can just hear Tom Brokaw thinking, "Yay! The Bushes are gone!"
And they are.

Life isn't fair -- or, one whiney pregnant woman's discourse on swollen feet

I know I was a lot younger when I was pregnant with Laura, but ...
I'm certain my feet didn't swell until I was at least seven months pregnant. Maybe eight months. (I can't remember most details of being pregnant or having a infant or toddler, but this is one thing I do know.)
So, last Wednesday after institute -- during which I stood up for more than an hour and a half because that's just the way I teach -- when I noticed my feet were swollen, I was kind of irked. How DARE they? The next day I had the same problem, but Friday morning when I got up, they were fine.
That same morning we left for a weekend in Miami. I spent hours and hours on planes, in cars, walking around the zoo and the Dolphin Mall, went shopping and out to eat and the usual vacation-type things. No foot swelling.
We got home last night, I went to bed, and when I got up this morning, my feet were swollen again.
Obviously it's living here that's the problem. It's maddening -- and I have three more months of this.
Whine, complain.

Invasion of the tropical animal variety

These are photos I've taken over the past few weeks but never have gotten around to posting.
We have a lot of amphibians around our house. Sometimes they get inside, but usually they're on the patio where the washer and dryer are or in the swimming pool. Generally they're very small -- I'm not sure whether they're youngsters or just a small species -- but a few weeks ago Laura and I did find a quite large one in the pool.
I've talked about lizards before, and we have hundreds of little ones. But because our house backs up to a river, we also get a decent selection of not-quite-so-little ones. This one is about average, and for a few days it would come hang out in the side yard. Then it started patroling the fence.Last but not least are the birds. We hear parrots quite often, but they're usually flying over, so we don't see them unless we're outside. But there are hummingbirds and kiskadees and strange looking brown birds with big yellow eyeballs. (I guess I should find out what those really are called.)
This is a kiskadee. They're pretty but very loud and obnoxious. They're also quite common, similar to robins in most of the U.S.So, that's my animal photo essay for the day. We also have a colony of crabs in the back yard. No snakes so far, although Kevin did get to see one at work awhile back.

I guess I have no excuse to not read a Jane Austen book now

A few weeks ago on Facebook I mentioned I've never read a Jane Austen novel. (I realized this while watching Becoming Jane.) My mother-in-law isn't on Facebook, but she did send me this for Christmas (we finally received our gifts from them this week). But now the dilemma is whether to start reading it or to first read all the books I'm not planning to take with me when we move. Decisions, decisions.

When unborn babies attack -- or at least foil attempts to have their gender detected via ultrasound

I now am 20 weeks pregnant, and I've had three ultrasounds. But as my Facebook friends know, we still don't know whether the baby is a boy or a girl. He/she refused to provide a good view during my appointment yesterday. (Well, the doctor was able to see the vital organs she needed to see, which really is the point of ultrasounds. And she suspects the baby is a boy but couldn't tell for sure.)
So, Feb. 6 now is the day we'll find out. Assuming the baby cooperates. And no, I don't have to pay for all the ultrasounds.

Not that I'll have any time for vacations this year, but the NYT has ideas

Tomorrow's New York Times Travel section has a feature on 44 places to go in 2009. Why 44? Maybe because they fit well in the Web graphic.
I've been to a few of the 44:
Washington, D.C.
Las Vegas (although I've only driven through and not done anything touristy)
Vienna
Chicago
Dallas
Rome
And will have real opportunities to visit some of the others in the next three years:
Berlin
Maremma, Italy
Aegean Sea
Castles in Britain
Cologne
Deauville, France
Metz, France
One place on the list I've never been to but always have wanted to go is the Florida Keys. (OK, Zambia sounds nice, too, but chances are slim.) We're actually leaving Friday for a trip to Miami, but I don't think the Keys will be happening this time around -- especially with the "one-armed child."

Of broken arms and developing countries' emergency rooms

Well, Laura made it seven years, 10 months and four days before needing an emergency room visit.
There was an incident on the monkey bars at school today, and I got a call from the nurse. We assumed her highness was being overly dramatic, but I called Kevin, who decided to come home (which was good considering he had our only car at the embassy).
So, we fetched Laura from school and went to West Shore, one of the private hospitals that caters to the foreigners who live in our area. After an inital consulation, X-rays were taken. They showed a break high in the humerus, near her shoulder.
I should mention that this was her left arm. And she's left handed.
An orthapaedic consulation yielded no cast but instructions to wear the sling the school nurse had provided (which is supposed to keep the arm at a 90-degree angle). Supposedly it will be OK to stop wearing the sling after two weeks, although she'll have to have another set of X-rays in a month.
All told, the hospital was relatively clean and the service was decent. And the visit cost us about $1,000 TT (about $167 U.S.).
Now let's hope they knew what they were talking about.

Making cheaper ground beef healthier

Maybe everyone else already is doing this and I'm just behind the times, but Marty Meitus, the Rocky Mountain News' food editor, has a piece in today's paper on rinsing and/or blotting ground beef to reduce the fat content. It makes perfect sense, and although I'm sure it's more difficult than it sounds, I'm thinking I might try it.
Here are the instructions. And here are some recipes that sound good but mostly call for ingredients not sold in Third World countries. Not that that affects most of you ...

Does Jimmy Carter have an attitude problem?

All the photos I've seen of today's White House lunch with the living U.S. presidents show a rather obvious gap between Jimmy Carter and the rest of the group. Does he think he's too good for them? Is he afraid they have cooties or something? That lightning is going to strike? That they'll think he has old man smell?
The possibilities are endless, I suppose.

The final countdown

I found out yesterday Laura and I can leave as early as April 15 for me to have the baby, which is due May 30. What I didn't realize at the time was that it was exactly 100 days away. So as of today I can say I likely only have double-digit days left in Trinidad.
There are good and bad things about that, of course. One bad one is Laura having to leave school early. I do feel badly about that -- but not badly enough that I'd be willing to have a baby here.

Playing catch-up with (my version of) book reviews

I've fallen behind with my book reports, which is kind of sad because I haven't really read that much the past few months. Part of this is because I'd pick up a book and start reading, but then I'd decide I didn't like it.
But there are a few things I have managed to finish.

The only recent read I seriously recommend is Miracles on the Water by Tom Nagorski. It's about children who were being evacuated from Britain to Canada early in World War II. Their ship was sunk by a German U-boat, and the book chronicles the actual attack -- including memories of some of the Germans involved -- as well as the aftermath. I'm not giving anything away by mentioning not many people survive, but it's a good, well-written book.

The Marchesa: A Novel by Simonetta Agnello Harvey also is well-written, but the subject matter -- the lives of 19th-century Sicilian aristocrats -- is of limited interest. It's very chick-lit without being too romance-novel-ly, but it's historical fiction that focuses more on the fiction than the history. There are some discussions of the rise of the Mafia on Sicily, though.



The final two books have been sitting on our shelves for years, but I just got around to them recently.

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears looks at a man's untimely death from three different points of view. There aren't many significant characters but quite a few intertwined story lines, but it's not hard to follow. It's an interesting study in how people can see the same event in completely different ways, but it's a bit long and was tedious at times.



Angela's Ashes was the book of the moment a few years ago, but I never read it then (although I knew a lot about it from conversations with friends who had). I picked it up at the beginning of Christmas break -- when I probably should have been getting ahead on institute lessons -- and found it interesting but depressing. It does have a way of making a person thankful for their relatively well-off existence, though.

In 2009, I resolve to ...

complain less and accomplish more.
The accomplishing more shouldn't be hard considering I'll be having a baby -- after moving back to the U.S. while 8.5 months pregnant.
Complaining less might be more difficult for the same reasons.