Nov 9th. 3 weeks to DUE DATE!

Here I am with the rest of the pregnant women in our prenatal class.  This was the only class Paolo missed!

I am sorry that there are no more pictures this time, but Paolo has our camera in the US!

What a fun week it has been to be an American living in India! Our cook Sebastian greeted me on Wednesday morning with his wide grin, "God has helped!  The good man won!"  I am so proud of my country's decision on Tuesday, and everyone around me seems so optimistic and excited about the changes ahead for the US.  I like to think all of the horn honking I have been hearing these last few days are Indians cheering on our Obama bumper sticker, but I think the honks are just the usual chaotic traffic noises.  It comforts me to know that when we move back to DC there will be quite a different crowd in the city.  No more Texas crowds (no offense, Mom and Dad!) and cowboy boots.  Naturally I am eager to see what kind of puppy moves into the White House.

My due date (Nov 30th) is now exactly 3 weeks away.  My belly is huge, the baby room is basically ready, Paolo will be back from the US in 5 days and Topher remains blissfully unaware of the momentous changes coming.  I am still feeling well and remain active though I definitely tire more easily and rarely stay awake past 9PM these days.  With Paolo away, of course, I can go to bed whenever I wish!  Yesterday I visited the hospital where I will deliver.  The worst part about it is that the traffic getting there is a nightmare- we will certainly have to leave in plenty of time to make it there.  Otherwise the facilities are very nice and the rooms well equipped and clean (this is saying a lot since standards of cleanliness here in India are quite low). 

The last few weeks have been busy for me.  I have found it hard to have Paolo away at this point in the pregnancy but he has been wonderful about calling and has been very busy picking up baby supplies (4 suitcases now!).  Having still quite a bit of work to do has distracted me and the time Paolo has been away has gone very quickly.  Sebastian and Victoria continue to take excellent care of me- making sure I have plenty of healthy things to eat and that the house is running smoothly.  I am really so spoiled by them.  

Topher is also a fantastic distraction.  He needs constant attention from ball throwing to cuddling.  Our daily early morning walks continue to be a favorite part of the day for me.  I have even begun wearing a sweatshirt in the morning- the first long sleeves I have worn since March!!  The air is cool now in the mornings (low 60s), though not terribly refreshing due to the air pollution that descends upon the city once the heat disappears.  Oh well- nothing is every perfect, is it?  We had two memorable visits to the lake this past week.  Last Monday I threw his beloved rubber ball into the middle of the lake and it promptly sank.  I should have suspected this was going to happen as it had become very cracked and waterlogged after 5 months of lake swims.  Poor Topher swam around in circles in the middle of the lake for an hour trying to find it.  I was finally able to coax him back to shore with a bamboo stick.  He played with it half-heartedly and carried it home with his head hanging low.  Once we arrived I pulled out a brand new version of his beloved ball and all was right with the world once again.  He carried it in his mouth the entire day and even slept with it that night.  If only all of life's troubles were so easily solved.

Our second lake incident occurred two days later.  Topher ran ahead of me once we entered the park (no leash laws in India!!) while I was busy reading emails on my phone.  Suddenly I heard children's laughter and women's frantic voices.  As I raced (well, waddled, really) to the lake I came upon a large wedding group watching a ceremony take place in the water.  Early morning (it was 6 AM) ceremonies are quite common here but this was the first time I had encountered one at "our" lake.  Topher seemed not to notice everyone around him as he sat in the water next to the bride and splashed about swatting at his ball.  Needless to say the ceremony had been interrupted by this intrusion.  I was horrified and quickly lured Topher away with a biscuit I had in my pocket.  None of the wedding party seemed upset by Topher's visit and some were even giggling as I dragged Topher away- no swimming for him that day!

I will try to write again next week and include more pictures- maybe there will even be one more belly shot for those of you who can bear to see such a sight!  Paolo and I hope you are all enjoying the fall weather and that those of you in the US are looking forward to Thanksgiving.  We actually have a turkey on order from an organic farm south of Delhi, though who knows if we will be home to eat it!

A big hug to all!  Clara

October 22nd: One month to go! Diwali and cooler temps at last.

Heading out for a prenatal visit.  Note our "Bark Obama: Unleash the Change" bumper sticker!

A shot of the nursery in progress.  Crib is covered in mosquito netting- a must here in Delhi as we are in the midst of a Dengue Fever epidemic.  

More of the nursery- we are stocking up on diapers brought by friends from the US- they are available here but wildly expensive.  If you are thinking of visiting us you may get roped into bringing a supply along!  We are also going to try to use cloth diapers as much as possible.  There is already more than enough trash here in Delhi!

And, as always, the requisite Belli belly shot.  Here I am at 34 weeks-6

 more to go!  Topher thinks it makes a great pillow and Paolo is wondering if my skin can stretch any further.  I just hope each morning that I can find an outfit that fits!

At out coed baby shower last week- Kelly is trying to guess my girth....

Baby shower project- everyone made us personalized onesies! Now we have quite a supply for the warmer months ahead.

Greetings to friends and family!  I hope you are all well. For those of you in the US I can imagine life is a bit frantic with the financial turmoil, and with election day and Halloween approaching.  We are a bit removed from some of that though I do get daily calls from Democrats Abroad asking if we have sent in our ballots (yes, for me, no for Paolo since he is not a US citizen! In fact, he was barely able to get a new 4-month visa to the US!). Halloween will be celebrated in full force at the Embassy and at school so I am hoping to get my sugar infusion next week.  Maybe there will even be some imported American candies (M&Ms???) as I am not a fan of the sickeningly sweet Indian candies available here.  Topher's cat costume is cleaned and ironed. 

This coming week will be quite an eventful one here in Delhi as the biggest Hindu holiday, Diwali, is on Tuesday.  Paolo will be flying to Italy that morning (2 AM- a "normal" time for international flights from Delhi) as I prepare myself and Topher for a long day and night of constant noise and fireworks.  This will be a day when I am glad Topher's hearing has weakened as I am afraid the blasts might disturb him otherwise.  This holiday has a similar build up as Christmas does in the US with gift-giving and massive shopping frenzies in the weeks leading up to the holiday.  Traffic, normally horrible, has really been unbearable these last few weeks.  Once Diwali passes, then, of course, Halloween hits so it is really a week of revelry.

As I said, Paolo leaves this week for a few days in Italy before he heads to the US Nov 2nd for 10 days of conferences and work at his "headquarters"  I am trying not to be too jealous of his chance to be back in Washington ( I did get my own chance to be there in June after all!)  and am only "punishing" him with a short (one page!) shopping list of things I would like him to bring back with him.  Some are practical (baby supplies) and others not (peanut butter, Halloween candy), but I reserve the right to be impractical and demanding now that I am entering my 9th month of "baby baking."

Paolo and I finished a two-week course yesterday on Lamaze and baby care, Indian-style.  Some of the advice and tips were very helpful while others made us raise our eyebrows every so slightly.  A suggestion for increasing my iron levels, for instance?  Soak a raisin on a glass of milk overnight.  In the morning eat the raisin and drink the milk.  That evening soak 2 raisins in a glass of milk, 3 the next night, 4 the following, etc...  Once you get to 9 raisins, repeat the process in reverse until you return to 1 raisin.  After this 18 day cycle of raisin chewing your iron levels should be high again.  Needless to say, we skipped this idea and instead I am relying on my prenatal vitamins and occasional steaks and burgers at the American Embassy!  We did learn a great deal about labor and how Paolo can help me get through it with lots of massage techniques/alcohol (for him!).  I enjoyed the massage practice quite a bit!  We also got the chance to meet other expectant couples in the class, including two who live right here in our colony.  All three of us are due right around the same time so we are happy to have discovered each other as we will be able to rely on each other for advice, sympathy and impromptu stroller walks in the 'hood.

Topher remains, as always, a source of laughter and love here in the house.  He is beloved by all of the guards now in our colony and we get greetings from all as we pass on our morning outing.  Now that the temps are cool in the morning ("only" 67 at 6AM today!) Topher has his spring back in his step and pulls hard the entire 20 minute walk to get to the lake.  It is funny to see how Indians react to this change in weather.  I finally put on a long sleeved shirt for these walks, but the guards are wrapped from head to toe in blankets and sit in front of trash fires to ward off the "deep chill."  This morning a man was jogging around the lake wearing a full ski parka!  Topher still avoids the mid-day 90 degree heat by planting himself under a fan for a long nap but comes alive once again by 6 when the cool evening breezes return.  Other than his hearing loss he shows no sign of aging (he will be 8 in February) and has been remarkably healthy even through the intense heat.  Ironically, it took bringing him here to India, land of parasites and "Delhi belly," to find a cure for the digestive troubles he had been plagued with since puppyhood.  Not a single incident since he stepped off the flight from DC in January!

Happy Halloween to all, and may all your Election Day dreams come true.  We obviously are rallying for Sarah Palin- the more Tina Fey impressions we can get, the better...who cares what horror she would inflict on the country!  Next month may prove to be an exciting time here in the Belli household (due date Nov 30th) so I will try to keep you updated more often as the big day approaches.  In the meantime, enjoy yourselves and write to me if you have not in a while- you know who you are!    A big hug, Clara

October 4th: Will the Heat Ever End??

 Here I am in our garden.  I had just returned from an ultrasound where the doctor estimated our baby to be about 4.5 pounds already!  He said, "Oh, I love seeing such fat babies."  Since I was nearly 9.5 pounds myself at birth it looks like I might be having an equally giant baby myself!

This is a neighborhood friend- the daughter of another WB family here in our colony.  She and her brother often come over to romp with Topher and to play Monopoly with me.

Would this "truck" pass your state's inspection? We passed this mangled contraption on the road this morning.  Only in India!

The heat continues without an end in sight- no fun when you are wearing a fur coat or "baking" a baby in your belly, so both Topher and I are sneaking naps in the air-conditioned bedroom whenever possible.  October has arrived with great revelry as this is the month of holidays and festivals here in India.  Gandhi Day was celebrated on the 2nd and Diwali, the Festival of Lights, will be rung in with bursts of fireworks on the 27th.  In between there are many other feasts and celebrations.  Tourists have also begun to arrive in Delhi once again now that the weather is (supposedly) more pleasant.  We have had quite a few house guests ourselves though now with the nursery in place we are reduced to only one guest room.  Topher enjoys the visitors, especially our last one who brought a beef bone from the US.  He was in heaven!

Paolo is travelling again- this time in Sri Lanka for 10 days.  He will return on Friday, October 10th.  This coming week marks the first anniversary of our wedding (October 7th) so we will have some celebrating to do this weekend when he returns! He will be in town for two weeks before heading to Italy and the US. For our DC friends and family, I hope you get a chance to see him when he is in town Nov 2-12th.

As for me, all is going well though I do spend an inordinate amount of time checking the Weather Channel website hoping to see numbers lower than 97 for daily highs.  As you read above I seem to be "baking" a rather large baby boy, which I suppose is not too surprising considering the size of his parents.  This makes me a tiny bit anxious about the actual birth but for now I continue to feel great and have developed only a slight waddle when I walk.   I am enjoying the prenatal yoga and Italian classes and am also busy with school and three volunteer projects.  The nursery is coming along and I am currently on the hunt for  a diaper pail- yet another elusive baby product here in India.  At least we get our trash collected everyday, so maybe this will not be such a necessary item.  Mom and Dad are proving to be excellent grandparents-to-be, busily shopping at Costco and everywhere else I send them in search of baby must haves and then filling out endless customs forms to get the boxes to me.  I am so grateful for their enthusiasm and patience and cannot wait for their visit here this winter to meet their first grandchild!  

I promise another posting soon- if and when the temperature falls below 90 there will be a celebratory posting and picture of me in my "cool weather" maternity clothing!  A hug to all of you, Clara