Prego Time

Baby #1: Portland. Baby #2: Pasadena. Baby #3: Pyeongtaek. What? Yes.
If you're not a relative or a friend of mine through Facebook, it's time you knew. Baby Numero Three is well on his or **her** way. He or **she** is due in early May.

I've always known that I wanted three kids. I grew up with one sister and wished we had more siblings. It just sounds like fun. The more the merrier, I always say. But let's not get carried away. Four kids is another story and I think too much for this mama, especially at this point in my life. I'm no spring chicken. So three it is! I feel very blessed and lucky that it's turned out this way. I often think of people who can't or don't have kids for whatever reason (and really want them) so I'm very grateful that I get the opportunity to do this in my life. One child is already such a precious gift and now I get that times three. I don't take it for granted. It ain't easy, but there is nothing I would rather be doing...except maybe doing it in a castle in Switzerland or something.

I've taken a lot longer to announce this one to my friends. With my first two, I couldn't wait to immediately tell everyone I knew. But then earlier this year I had a miscarriage at nine weeks. After everything I've experienced in my life I should know better than to put anything in the That Won't Ever Happen To Me file. But that's what I did. It was pretty shocking because my first two pregnancies were so "easy" and uncomplicated. I found out from my doctor that 1 in between 3 or 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Some women don't even know they're pregnant and so may not be aware that's its happening. I didn't realize it was so common. This time I was scared and I kept thinking it would happen again. Once I got past nine weeks I felt a little better but still not able to completely rest easy about it.

I am one of the lucky few who doesn't get morning sickness. No nausea, no never. Well, I felt gross one day but that may be because I ate a large donut for breakfast. Don't hate me! *More on donuts below.
What I do get is very, very tired. Right around noon after I've picked up Toby from preschool and am making lunch for the boys, I hit a wall. A big, hard wall. If I don't lay down soon it's highly likely that I'll face-plant in the peanut-butter&banana sandwich I'm making for the kiddies. Jonah still takes naps (mostly) and Tobin, my former marathon-napper, is forced into "quiet play time" which he would be doing anyway except it starts much earlier because mama has to crash on the couch for a solid 45. Even well into my second trimester, when the nausea and, in my case, fatigue are supposed to taper off, I still feel so dog-tired. By 3:00 I'm wishing it was bedtime for the boys so I could vegetate on the couch with a movie, a couple of burritos and a hot chocolate chaser and be in bed by six. I have an exam I'm supposed to be studying for but that isn't really happening right now. And I'm always out of breath. The process of getting the boys in socks, shoes, coats, hats and out the door makes me feel like I just sprinted around the block. But all of that is waaaaay better than feeling like throwing up all the time, so I'll deal with it.

What I'm really craving, since the three of you reading this are just dying to know, was at first banana-peanut butter-almond milk-cocoa powder shakes. Now its mainly Mexican food. O cruel world!!! I'm from San Diego, like an hour from Mexico, with authentic restaurants on every corner...except now I live in Korea. Its not there for me when I need it the most! I don't even really care if its authentic. Just a burrito with rice and beans and guacamole and salsa fresca! GAHHHH!! Rico's, Fidel's, Las Olas, any of the various 'bertos taco shacks...why are you so far away? The best substitution I can get here in a pinch is a frozen Amy's Bean and Cheese Burrito with a blob of greek yogurt and doused in half a bottle of Cholula. Anything I can dump Cholula on sounds good to me...which brings me back to all the Mexican food not here for me to dump it on.

I can't seem to get enough Cholula in my diet.

Pretty much everything I crave is impossible to get. I want Chipotle. Nope. I want In-and-Out Burger. No can do. I want the Whole Foods salad bar. Sorry, sister. I want a sandwich. A SANDWICH!!! Is this too much to ask?! Yes. Yes, it is. Sandwiches haven't caught on here. There is no such thing as a deli or at least not the kind of sandwiches I'm talking about with really good bread and 3-inches-worth of stuffings. I have to make it all myself which isn't the same. I want someone else to make it for me so I can just walk in and grab it. Nope. Only sit-down restaurants here. There are a few Mexican places but they're in Seoul, which is over an hour away. I was liking Korean food just fine, even craving a few things. That all went away once Numero Three came into being. I will eat some kimchi if we happen to be out somewhere but none of it ever sounds appealing to me. Speaking of kimchi, our sweet and hilarious little neighbor, Ms. Kim, is very thoughtful, but a few weeks ago she brought the biggest heaping pile of fresh kimchi that no one family could or should ever possibly need. Marc was excited because, like the Koreans, he eats it with everything. It wouldn't be so bad except that every time I open the fridge, the STANK smacks me in the face like so many cold dead fish. Koreans usually have separate refrigerators to store this stuff! Sadly, not us. I also have a hard time walking around the outdoor markets because of all the said kimchi and actual cold, dead fish!

Aren't pregnant women supposed to have glowing skin, or at least better-than-their-usual-skin skin? Not I. For several months, even before Numero Three, my usually manageable eczema has raged out of control. I pretty much look like a constantly-molting reptile/lobster. My skin is so dry that it adds extra creases under my eyes making me look 10 years older than I am. My face and neck are red, blotchy and peeling. It's quite a sight. People are probably thinking, "Can someone please tell this woman to exfoliate??" But I'm telling you, no amount of sloughing and thick cream can control the dry flakiness around my eyes - and everything I use burns. I know a lot of people here have issues with their skin because of the tap water, but I can't not get water on my face! I do have to shower. So I don't know if its the water, something in my diet, something in the air, or just a wacky combo of hormones. I had a similar issue last year but it went away when the seasons changed. This is definitely lingering. So, no "glow" for me. It's more like a red, blistered reptilian glare.

Look away. I'm hideous.

Some people may want to know if we're going to find out the gender of Numero Three. Of course I want to know, but I think we're going to keep it a surprise until the end. Here's why: I would really like to have a girl. I never cared about having a girl before. I always wanted boys, which I got. I'm not a super girly-girl into all the pink and frills and huge headbands. But now I feel like it would be so nice to have a more balanced dynamic in our family. There are just too many balls ricocheting off the walls here. Plus, Toby really wants a sister. He has mentioned this to me several times before he even knew about Numero Three. He says stuff like, "I want to have a sister so we can give her a Princess Party." He really likes girls and is fascinated with all their "things" - dresses, hair accessories...all the stuff I don't really care about. And he would be such a sweet brother to a little sister. Another reason is that I always wished I had a brother, especially an older one. I'm lucky enough to have a sister, but to this day it bothers me that I have no idea what my brother would look like and be like. It would be so interesting to see what a girl child/sister would look like and be like and I'd love for my boys to get to have that in their lives. But, kids are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Soooooo...if we find out early that its another boy I might be the teensiest bit disappointed which isn't fair to the poor baby. If we wait until the actual birth, I won't think twice about it - I'll be thrilled no matter what. The other thing is, I'm fresh out of boy names. I've looked and nothing is standing out to me. Boy or girl, I'm hoping for health, wellness and an uneventful pregnancy and birth - I guess what every mom hopes for. Think pink, but if it's blue that's wonderful, too.

*Back to the donuts, as promised.

If traveling to Korea to visit us was not on your to-do list, come for THIS....
 

Soft, chewy, crispy, hot and filled with melted cinnamon and sugar.

I consider myself a connoisseur of fried dough. An epicure, if you will. So you can trust me when I say that this cinnamon donut-pancake-thingy is hand's down the best fried dough I have ever had. I know what I'm talking about. So at least I have this going for me here. A little agjima at the outdoor market on the 3s and 8s of the month makes them in the cold season with her bare hands! Somehow she's not affected by the scalding, spitting oil that the pancakes are frying in. And they only cost about 65 cents! It's worth a trip here just to try these!