March - ..and then there was life!

It's not easy asking friends with kids about their experiences with doctors without giving away our secret. I googled a bit online, turns out there are some doctors who only do caesarean cut?!? Those are a no, because I like to have the option. I choose Ayşegül hanim from the private hospital. She has some good references online and apparently speaks a little English in well. But turns out Dr. Ayşegül hanim is busy the next 3 weeks so we settle with another doctor in the same hospital.

I will never forget the moment we heard the baby's heart beat for the first. So loud and strong and fast. Life! In my belly! It feels like a miracle, this tiny little being inside of me.. I got a bit teary in my eyes and I believe my own heart started racing in the same tempo of this mini one. It's an overwhelming feeling, leaving us both speechless.

Turns out I'm already 6 weeks pregnant. Since nobody knows exactly the date of conception, they start counting from the first day of your last period so the first two weeks your not pregnant but they still count. After the doctor's visit we walk out of the hospital into the bright sunlight.. and I feel like the whole world has changed in the meantime. Later in the car, B suddenly turns to me and says with a smile: 'Hello, beautiful Mama'. 'Hello sweet Baba', I answer... and with these few words we say everything.

Now that we've heard the living proof of our little baby, we want to tell our family, first of all our parents. But I wanted to do something special for my parents because they are so far away. So we bought this cute little pair of baby shoes in a tiny box and sent it with a little note saying: Congratulations Best Grandparents in the World!

Everyone is so happy. B's mom and my sister in law even started to cry happy tears and I got a call from my parents the minute the package arrived, all surprised and excited and super happy. Both sides of our family have been patiently and not so patiently waiting for this to happen for a long time. Anne (my mom in law) said her thanks to Allah for answering her prayers.

With just a few weeks into my pregnancy I feel already being extra pampered. My sisters in law called a few times to ask if I have any cravings for food that they want to make for me and B would not even let me carry a small bag. Also I got this super cool vegetable press from him that I've been wanting to get for while. So now I can finally make a lot of healthy fruit and vegetable juices, especially carrot juice which I love.

Also we finally bought a new car this month:)) We had been looking for a long time and now that we will soon need a bigger, safer car with a baby on board B found this beautiful Audi A3. We're really happy with it. That's how B found a new name for the baby, calling him/her our #A1:)

Week: 10 (mid March)

Size of the baby: 3-4 cm. The size of a grape.

Cravings: Still orange juice. And turşu.

Aversions: Chocolate!!!!!!!!!???????? And anything else too sweet. Also still not handeling strong smells of food or coffee very well.

Symptoms: I feel suddenly very nauseous from time to time. But not to the point that I have to throw up. It's not just in the morning as in 'morning sickness' but throughout the day. Have to push myself to eat... interesting discovery has been that it actually goes away then, after I ate something. Feeling a bit weak these days.

Happy moment this week: cruising around with B in our new ride with good music on:) Love this car! And we also opened the restaurant again so we have our hang out place back in town and it means the season is officially starting and the long lazy winter mood is officially over.

Thoughts: So many. Like: hope this sickness isn't going to stay during the whole pregnancy! When are we going to renovate the kitchen? This was planned for fall (after the season is over) but that sounds like pretty bad timing right now. Do vegetarian preggers need extra iron, protein, vitamins etc?

What I'm looking forward to: My friend Inge is coming to visit us next week. I'm going to surprise her with the good news. I asked her to bring lots of Easter chocolate eggs.. not sure anymore I want to eat them though. And we are going to practise my photography skills together.

Homemade turşu that a friend brought for us from Adana.

There is a Turkish saying about pregnancy symptoms:
Başım dönüyor, midem bulanıyor, canım turşu istiyor.  -> My head is spinning, my stomach is turning and I'm craving turşu.
That's how you know you're pregnant:) 

And cornichons, pickled cucumbers. Has to be Alman tipi (from Germany)

I will start documenting my pregnancy more weekly from now on because so many small and big things are happening that I have to divide them into bite size pieces to keep you all up to date.