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turkishminno
Age: 27
Country:
Province/region:
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Partner: Bilgehan
Children:
Pregnant: Yes
Due date: 14 Apr ,2008
Occupation: English Teacher (ESL)
Online: More than 3 months ago
Last updated: 165 days ago.
Member since: 280 days
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We're sooo excited and waiting for our little
Turkish-American baby!!!

My husband, Bilgehan, and I live in Istanbul, Turkey. I'm originally from Maine, USA. We met when he came to the USA for a work and travel student exchange. We fell in love and couldn't be without eachother. I moved to Istanbul in 2005 and have been here ever since. We married in June of 2006. We found out in September that we're expecting our first child. We're sooo excited!


October 20, 2007
Today, I'm 14.5 weeks. :)
I think like every pregnant mom to be on here, I've been stressed about everything known to man. Is the baby Ok? What's going on? What if something isn't growing right? It's hard to have things so out of your control.
Living overseas can be even more trying as well. The food is different, and usually not what I'm craving. The language can be hard too, even though I can speak some Turkish, having these obsticles on top of everything else can make things more stressful. Luckily, I found a great doctor that speaks perfect English (she studied in Britian). One thing I LOVE about her is that she doesn't skimp on the ultrasounds. I've had around 5 ultrasounds since I found out I was pregnant. I just love to see that little baby floating around in there! In some people's comments I noticed that they haven't even had one ultrasound yet... That would drive me nuts! I feel for those who haven't been able to see their babies yet. It's nerve racking not being able to at least see your baby once! :( I think pregnancy should come with temporary x-ray vision. LOL. At least our nerves would get a break.
I'm still waiting to feel the baby move. I know it's cruisin around in there because everytime I have an ultrasound it's ALWAYS moving. By the end of the u.s. the doctor and we are in total histarics because the baby always moves around so much that she can't get the measurements or whatever she needs. It takes her twice as long with us than other people. LOL.

My 14 week bump. Finally!
Pregnancy Survey

About Me

Name?:

Mindy

Age?:

27

Height?:

5' 5"



About The Father

Name?:

Bilgehan

Age?:

24

Height?:

5'7

Are you still together?:

Yup married and happy!

About Your Pregnancy

Is this your first pregnancy?:

yes

When did you find out you were pregnant?:

August 16th, 2007

Was it planned?:

Kinda. We knew that we wanted a baby, and were letting nature take it course, but decided to wait after I took a really good job as a head teacher, which meant working full time, 6 days a week. Little did I know, that I was already pregnant when I signed the contract! Surprise!

What was your first reaction?:

Pure and total happiness.

Who was with you when you found out?:

Noone actually. I just woke up in the morning after my husband had left for work and felt pregnant. I took the test and VIOLA!

Who was the first person you told?:

Bilgehan

How did your parents react?:

OMG... they were sooo happy and surprised. They cried and laughed. It was great.

How far along are you?:

14.6 weeks

What was your first symptom?:

tiredness. I was soo tired and didn't understand why. And I didn't want to eat anything, which is NOT normal for me!

What is your due date?:

14th April, 2008

Do you know the sex of the baby?:

YESSS! I'm dying to know!

If so, what is it?:

Have you picked out names?:

We're arguing at the moment about what we want. We have to have something that works in English and Turkish.

If so, what are they?:

Leyla or maybe Taner for a boy

How much weight have you gained?:

4 pounds but I lost weight at the beginning, so really I dunno

Do you have stretch marks?:

I already have stretch marks everywhere, so I dunno. They don't bother me that much anyway.

Have you felt the baby move?:

No... I'm waiting impatiently for it.

Have you heard the heartbeat?:

Yes, lots of times.

About the birth

Will you keep the baby?:

Of course!

Home or hospital birth?:

hospital

Natural or medicated birth?:

Gimme lots of drugs

Who will be in the delivery room with you?:

No one, they aren't allowed here

Will you breastfeed?:

Yes

Do you think you'll need a c-section?:

I dunno

Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?:

Yup, I'm a crier

What's the first thing you might say to him/her?:

I have no idea... I'll probably be blubbering so much that I won't be able to say anything. LOL

Would you let someone videotape the birth?:

Good Lord no!

Are you excited about the birth, or scared?:

Scared to death, but excited to see our baby.



October 21, 2007

I think I've finally been able to locate my uterus today. It's kinda tender to the touch though. I'm wondering if that's normal. It doesn't hurt really, but it isn't comfy to push on or anything. I've had some uncomfortable pressure lately too. I think just because everything is moving and expanding. It's so hard not to stress about all these little aches and pains~!

October 23, 2007

(15.2 weeks)

I had the worst headache of my life last night. I thought my forhead was about to burst open and my brains would leak out! I had to break down and take around 200mg of children's aspirin. I've tried so many times to find a Tylenol equivelent here in Turkey, but to no avail. :( I feel horrible taking aspirin cause I know it's not recommended. When I do I just take it, I only take a tiny bit to try and get enough relief to sleep (normal adult doses are 500mg).

I dunno about everyone else, but my appetite has yet to recover. I don't want anything to eat. My nausea has almost dissapeared, which I'm really thankful for, but I still don't want any food or drinks. Is anyone else having this problem?

My belly has popped quite a bit, but mostly it's popped below my belly button, so I look like I have a big tire around my middle. LOL. HOPEFULLY, when the baby moves up, my belly will even out.

October 26, 2007

(15.5 weeks)

So lately I've been soo tired. I sleep like 12 hours every night AND I take a nap during the day. I don't want to do anything. I have no ambition to even leave the house. Another thing is that liquids are starting to make me feel really nauseous when I drink them. No matter what it is. First it was just water (from the start) but now it's everything. Hopefully things will start to look up.

October 28, 2007

(16 weeks)

I've been feeling better for the past few days. My aversions to food are starting to let up some. My liquid problem seems to have solved itself which is a huge relief. I was worried about not getting enough to stay hydrated. I've even been able to drink water without any problems.

Sleeping however is another issue. I don't know about anyone else, but my baby belly gets so sensitive at night. It feels so full or bloated and it's not even that big! Getting comfortable has been a pain. I've seen those sleeping body pillows people get, but how the heck do you sleep with one of those and your husband. LOL. We have a queen size bed, but still. He would be on the floor within an hour. They just aren't really realistic. Oh and at night, my arms feel very frisky. I mean, I feel like I have to move them all the time to be comfortable. It's really strange. I read online that this happens to some women in their legs, but not usually in their arms. This pregnancy thing has turned into quite an experience.


My 16 week belly

November 3, 2007

(16.6 weeks)

So we went to the doctor yesterday for a check up and my always evil baby wouldn't move its leg so we could see what it was! Silly baby. Luckily, I go back in a few weeks again and we can give it another go. But thankfully, the doctor said that everything looked great. Its heart was beating and we could see all four chambers and everything. The baby measured a little bigger than we thought, so I'm sure sure if my due date has been changed or not. I'll keep you posted.

As for me, my body is doing lots of fun things. But mostly, I'm turning into a complete box. I've lost all my curves and haven't gained that much baby belly yet. And my poor baby belly isn't very graceful at the moment. It's not so much a nice round as it is kinda bumpy. Ok, I have a little chunk on my belly and now it looks like A LOT of chunk! Ahhh, I remember the days when I could just suck in my belly a little and it was nice and flat. Not so much anymore. I look like I swallowed a tire and it got stuck on my hips. LOL. I'll be glad when I look obviously pregnant and not just like someone who moved into Dunkin Donuts (which by the way, I would love to do at the moment. lol)

My sickness has pretty much gone. THANK GOD! I wasn't sure if that would ever go away. I still have some serious food aversions, including most Turkish food cause they use a lot of mushy veggies mixed together. Today I was happy cause I got to eat a burrito for the first time in a year. Mmmmm... they're hard to find here.

Anyhoo, that's my life at the moment. :)

November 10, 2007

(17.5 Weeks)

I've been feeling so much better than before. I think I've finally gotten my appetite back and beside giving me some heartburn, I can drink water again no problem. My baby belly has really started to round out, but it's still not noticable unless I wear something tight (which I never do). So to those who don't know, I just look chunky still. I think I've been feeling the baby moving for a few weeks now, but I'm not sure. When I try to stop and pay attention, the feeling goes away. Oh well. It will get stronger soon. I go for an ultrasound on Nov. 17 and hopefully then we can find out what this little baby is. :) So far, all of my testing has come back fine and low risk, which is a comfort. I think I'm getting rounder in general. Not just the belly. LOL.

November 16th, 2007

(18.5 weeks)

So I totally bought my first pair of materinity pants (see pic). They are sooo comfy. So much better than squishing my baby belly behind a belt! I'm sure the baby is much happer too. LOL. Overall, things are good now. I feel pretty good most of the time and My husband is being wonderfully supportive. We have an appointment on Sunday to see the baby and make sure all is well. Hopefully we can find out the sex then. :)


November 18th, 2007

(19 Weeks)

We went for our ultrasound today and the baby looked great. We saw the heart pumping, the stomach and even the bladder. The spine even looked great too.

And the verdict is in. The baby gave up it's secret.... It's a....

Girl!

She was in a great position and we could see right up between her legs. There's no doubt that it's a girl! :) We're so happy and excited. Now we can seriously think about what names we want. One of our favorite girls names is Laila. But the verdict is still out on that. We have 21 more weeks to prepare for her. AND WE'RE SOOO EXCITED!

January 10th, 2008

(26.5 Weeks)

OMG it's been forever since I updated this. What a slacker I am! LOL. Anyway, things are going great with the pregnancy. I really can't complain too much. I've been able to really feel our little girl cruisin around in there for weeks now. She really kicks and wiggles too. Not just sliding around anymore. My husband has been able to feel her quite a bit which is both great and weird for him. It's our first, you know, so he's never felt a baby moving around like that before. It's kinda like those alien movies. LOL. I've read some comments and blogs by you other mommies and understand about feeling alittle blue. I've been feeling alittle blue lately too. I have no reason to at all. I have a wonderful husband and life here with little stress and I think about all these women who are trying so hard to have babies and can't. I should feel really great. I dunno. Maybe it's just hormones. I'm prone to depression, I just hope that it doesn't REALLY hit me when the baby comes.

Oh, and we think we have a name for her... Meryem (Mary-em) Adile (Ad-i-lay) Yartasi. I found the name Meryem and when I told my husband about it he lit up saying he was thinking about that name too. It was so cute that the name just had something special to it after that. :)

Photobucket

January 24, 2008

(28.4 Weeks)

So I've learned a very valuable lesson... when you want to see the labor and delivery section of a Turkish hospital, just hold out until it's time for you to go yourself... let me explain...

I had a doctors appointment today for a check-up (the baby is doing great. She weighs around 3 pounds already! Oh, and on MY weigh in I've discovered that I've gained 19 pounds so far. yuck). So at the end of my appointment I asked the doctor if Bilgehan and I could go and see the labor and birthing area so we know where it is and what it's like. She was like, "Oh sure! I don't have any more patients now so I can go with you." I thought, oh well that's nice of her. So we go down to the labor and delivery area and it's this very secure place in the hospital. Only the doctors have access to it (which I really liked). We walked through the secure door and she tells Bilgehan he has to wait there in the waiting area, then I realize that men can't go in, and hands me some shoe covers to put on my shoes. So, leaving Bilgehan behind, I follow her into the next room and am immediately greeted by the sound of a woman in full labor. I thought, oh my God. I dunno if I'm ready for this yet! Little did I know that the experience would get more tramatic....

So, in the first part of the labor area there was a row of beds petitioned off for women who were in the first part of their labor. That was no big deal. I was like Ok, this isn't so bad. I can have women relatives and friends come while I'm laboring before delivery (which means that B can't come in. Something he's actually relieved about. lol) So, all this time I'm still hearing the woman in delivery. We walk down towards two doors and she says, "this is where you will deliver. We are very lucky today because there is a birth going on now. Do you want to see it?" I looked at her like she was nuts! I said, "Oh, no that's Ok." BUT before I knew it she had swung open the door and stepped into the room with the woman! So I followed her and there was this poor woman in the middle of hard labor all spread eagle in the stirrups! The doctor with her looked up at us and smiled and waved. All I could think of was, Oh, I don't know if I'm ready for this, as the poor woman moaned and yelled about all the pain she was in. AND THEN to top it off, the doctor pulls out this seven inch needle and sticks it God knows where in the poor woman. I'm sure we could have stayed longer, but I slowly backed out like someone would back away from a crouching tiger, totally terrified. My doctor then continues with the tour just as bubbly as ever.

After we finished with the all-inclusive tour I told Bilgehan about seeing the woman and how scared I am now about delivery. Having a c-section is sounding more and more appealing right about now!

I've seen videos and whatever of women giving birth on TV and the net, but I've never seen anyone LIVE. Let me tell you, if you don't already know, it's a totally different beast all together! I suppose that I would have been less shocked if I had been prepared for it, but on a simple tour of the labor and delivery I never expected that I would actually SEE someone delivering! Needless to say, I'm totally tramatized and terrified about what's to come! All I wanted was to see where I would labor and deliver, boy did I get the grand tour.

February 12, 2008

(31 weeks)

Things are going great. Meryem is moving around like a little trooper in there. She weighs over four pounds now and it feels like it! LOL. I don't know how much more my poor belly can stretch. It feels like it's at its limit, but there's still a month and a half left! Other than aches and pains, I feel great. So far things look good for me to have a natural birth, since Meryem is already head down. I dunno, after my tramatic tour, if I'm quite ready for the birth yet, but she has to come one way or another right?

Photobucket





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Photos
Hubby and I with the 23 week belly (2007, 12, 20) In My hometown (2007, 10, 20) Turkish Family (2007, 10, 20) Babys hand at 12 weeks (2007, 11, 11) My mom and I (2007, 10, 20) 23  week belly :) (2007, 12, 20) Istanbul (2007, 10, 20) Baby at 17 weeks but not a very good pic :( (2007, 11, 11)

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