A Mini Album

(1) Mom and Edie after Edie's first night at home, and mom's much needed shower

(2) Dad, Edie, and the loyal hund Billy
(3) A very tiny baby
(4) Just a few hours after the birth, upon our arrival home
(4) Will at the birth house, all a glow with his daughter
(5) Jan 27. The last belly shot of this pregnancy.

D-Day: Edith Andrea Grissom has arrived

I write this post on Edie's actual due date, only little Edie is already here with us having arrived just one day early. I'll keep the description of the labor and delivery short and sweet, which is basically the opposite of what it was. But I want to keep this PG-13 and, believing my family and friends to be great people, do not want to have a hand in discouraging procreation among my inner circle.

Regular contractions started at 3:30 am on January 27th. By 8 am, I was confident that these were not going away and so I made an appointment to go to our birth house for a check-up. Will made us some pancakes, and all in all this seemed like it was going to be a real cute day. After a 45 minute cab ride through Munich rush hour, the morning after a minor blizzard (Edie is already a comedian), we got checked up: CTG confirmed contractions, but there was no dilation, so go on home. Okay, I thought; it will be nice to spend a day at home. Fast forward to 6 pm, and by now the "ooopsie - there's one" 3:30 am contractions have morphed into minor earthquakes that are really frightening my dogs. By 10 pm, we are back at the birth house, this time to stay, and I am now nearing hour 20 of it all. To say I was tired does not approach my mental or physical state at the time, but I was about to get a lot, lot, lot more tired. To wrap it up, there followed 8+ more hours of intense labor carved up into 3 to 5 minute increments, and at about 6:15 am, we had our Edie. All 6 pounds, 20 inches of her.

I owe a lot to the midwives who helped me (us) through it all, and of course to Will, who not only attended to me and his future daughter with unparalleled patience and support, but who also tended diligently to the online community by Facebook-ing away on my iPhone. And thank you to my mom, Edie's namesake, for being tireless in her loving help during this time.

I hope some of what I just wrote was in English. And if I were to be even more hopeful, I'd be optimistic that I'd formed a sentence or two above. But I am still pretty delirious. Make that very. And everyone is being so nice to me right now, it's hard to know whether anything I've said or done has made sense in the past two days. So, oogity boo and blah blah blah to you. I can't tell you how happy we are or how overwhelmed we are by all of your love.

Signing off to snuggle a baby,

Rachael

We've only just begun

Hour 12 of contractions! Baby is not imminent, but we'll get there sooner than later. The midwife sent me home for the day until I was further along, leaving me fantasizing about a day of movie marathons, snacking and knitting. Turns out not a one of those activities is terribly fun in 5 minute increments, carved up by significant pain. Nor is blogging. Gotta run; back to my iPhone contraction master app.

More news soon!

Show us what you've got, Sophie

What has four legs but only uses two, spends hours everyday learning but only gets dumber, and loves to sleep but gets no rest? That's right! A still-pregnant Rachael. Three days until the official due date, and, statistically speaking, 11 days until birth.

General updates:

I am in my third week of Deutsch classes, wherein I am ranking right in the middle of the curve. Nothing to be ashamed of there. We have learned a number of practical terms and phrases for day-to-day life. The unfortunate thing is that has made me reasonably good at asking a small number of basic threshold questions, but then leaving me wholly unprepared for the barrage of foreign-tongue that comes after it. Ja or Nein, people; that's all I'm looking for here.

Munich has decided to get very cold and very, very snowy this week. And while I have the activity level of a ceramic garden gnome, Will is spunkier than ever, having just gotten over a cold. Next week, he has Six Sigma training at GE. Watch out, world, here comes Corporate Will!

My mom is doing well. She braves the elements each morning and night to come north to our apartment, and then cleans, sews, organizes, cooks and walks the dogs all day long. I should have a baby more often!

Lastly, we got a Sophie the Giraffe toy for the baby. We got told by a number of people at this point that Sophie is (1) French, and (2) every baby has one. Repetition somehow made this disjointed argument incredibly convincing, and we now own a Sophie. I think this toy company has some sort of hypnotic spell over parents, but I don't have the time to do a thorough investigation so we erred on the side of caution. So far, the doll hasn't told me to do anything evil. But she hasn't exactly been useful either.

Anyhow, thanks for all of your well wishes. We are hanging in there, some of us upside down!

Grandma has arrived

My mom got into Munich last Friday. By now she's pushed through the jet lag* and is now on to making sure that my apartment rivals any of the world's top hospitals in cleanliness.

The dogs could not be happier to have her around. She gives them more treats than me, doesn't humiliate them by waddling on walks like I do of late, and generally makes the place more lively and homey. We couldn't be happier or more appreciative either; we'd given up on domestic perfection in December and then resigned ourselves to acceptance of domestic chaos about two weeks ago.

It is fun and difficult to see her adjust to life here. She's my mom, and so I want to spare her from any discomfort, awkwardness and otherwise difficulty that comes from moving alone to a new city in a foreign country. On the other hand, I know that after all of the baby and household help, she's got many adventures ahead of her during her three month stay.

Mom has gotten a head start on her adventures by renting an apartment in the heart of Munich in a neighborhood far, far hipper than where we live. So far, she's conquered her local grocery store and a take-out restaurant that serves Oriental Chicken salad. Not exactly master of her domain, but you've got to walk before you run and for being two days into German life, I'd say knowing where you can get a tasty dinner is solid progress. I decided to spice things up even more by staging an elaborate ruse on her first day here by losing my wallet, having a minor meltdown over this fact, and then having the day saved by miraculously tracking the wallet down to a drugstore I'd stopped at earlier that afternoon. She may tell you that I am merely forgetful, but that was pure showmanship, baby.

She's at her home-away-from-home right now, resting in her itty-bitty bachelorette pad. Which is a good thing, because tomorrow, she conquers the subway line transfer.

(*photo of Mom taking the Day 1 powernap with Sugar at her side for moral support)

Breakthrough: I understood!

Today, after my first German language exam, my class went out to get a late lunch together. I had to leave early, however, because my little dog Sugar was due to be picked up at the groomer - a very fancy place that we picked because they advertised in English ("Where are you going?" the instructor asked "Der Hundsalon." I replied. And then had to add "No, seriously."). Just by way of background, I'd like to mention that a grooming appointment in the U.S. lasts anywhere from three to six hours and is over whenever they call you. Here, Sugar was promised to be complete 90 minutes after her drop-off and, like clockwork, the German groomer delivered. Not before skewering me for letting Sugar get so matted, but I digress.

So then, as I waited on the subway platform carrying my toy poodle (she refused to be put down near the train), a woman approached me and asked in German whether I had just come from the hairdresser. After a stunned moment, I realized that I got the gist of what she was saying, and then she added that my dog looked very beautiful, so I said "Danke" about four times too many. I have breached the language divide, if only for a moment, and it felt great! Did I get a little creative with verb conjugation on today's exam? Perhaps. But I'm progressing where it counts.

Tomorrow afternoon, because I have a very serious and important life, I will be picking up the other dog from the same place, as they could not be scheduled together. New German best friend, if you're out there, I'll be ready and waiting by the U6 line to listen to you and just say "Danke."

Munich Finances

Will and I are working hard at coming up with a budget, so en route we have created a projected budget with guesses on what things cost to then gauge against what we actually spend. This activity has highlighted our befuddlement with the extra costs and unexpected savings that we've encountered.

First, drinking beer and herbal tea is penny-pincher's dream. Will's beer costs less than a bottle of any other potable liquid you can find. The pictured 20 pack of 1/2 liter bottles was 13 euros. With bottle deposit. While I break the bank with my new found Apfelschorle addiction (apple juice made with mineral water...mmmm....) at 1.50 euro a bottle, it turns out that my midwife can provide me with fresh bags of delightful herbal tea to help me sleep or just wet my whistle, and my medical insurance will pay for that.

Next, there is a tax on everything you enjoy. A television tax. A radio tax. A computer tax. And dog taxes.

But if you have the nerve and a touch of an evil streak, you can make that all up by never paying to ride the subway, ordering a houseful of IKEA furniture and then hijacking the delivery truck, and selling cloth diapers. The subway system here is based on 99% honor code with a 1% of having your ticket randomly checked. There are no turnstiles or the like. I've been riding an average of 3 trains a day for about 2 months and have never been checked. As for IKEA, we discovered that when you order online, you just tell them what you want, pay nothing and in fact give no payment information whatsoever, and then they will show up at any time during a specified week with your items, at which time you are supposed to pay. And then yesterday I emailed a cloth diaper service saying that I'd like to use their company, and today they showed up with hundreds of diapers, a bin, and many other starter accessories, asking only that I come by the store this weekend to sign a contract and that I pay the deposit whenever I get an invoice in the mail.

And of course, the food. You'll pay 7 euros (roughly $10) for a fist-full of pine nuts. Yet you can get a jar of mustard for 39 cents.

This Excel spreadsheet is going to be wild.

Medical Update

I know that lots of family reads this blog - including two about-to-be first time Great Grandmas! So I wanted to give a quick update on how baby and I are at this late date. Due date is January 30, as you may know. We had our 38 week scan and a CTG yesterday, and baby was healthy and active with a couple spells of the hiccups. The doctor thought that baby was a tiny bit on the small side, but provided I don't deliver for another week, s/he will catch right up. My levels are good and I feel well, all things considered.

As far as prep goes, baby is packed for the big birthday, new snowsuit included! I still need to pack myself. And this weekend, Will and I are hunkering down to do some organizing/cleaning/cooking in preparation for a chore hiatus. Even the poodles have to make sacrifices: they'll both be groomed this up coming week.

This kiddo has been a trooper so far, accompanying me on an intra-and-inter continental move, a 10-day silent meditation retreat, 3 weeks of sleeping on the floor, and now intensive language classes two train rides away during our last month attached! We're feeling positive that we've got more good times to come.

Love to all, Rachael, Will and Baby

School Is in Session

Today is Day 3 of my 4 week intensive language class. I thought it was going to start last week, but it turns out that was 100% a figment of my imagination. The group is very international, comprised of representatives from Estonia, Serbia, India, Taiwan, Ireland, Croatia and the good ol' USA. While international, I cannot say that it is very sophisticated (Exhibit A: the "Guten Tag Rap" from our educational audio cd). The instructor is a hopelessly adorable 26 year old German lass who manages to keep her energy up in spite of all of the forehead slapping and terrible accents. Yesterday was a banner day for me. We worked on numbers, and I had to admit that I didn't know my own phone number and then I confidently told the class that I was 29 years old. But I'm 28, you see, which I realized 5 minutes later and for some reason felt compelled to correct aloud. They say a woman's IQ actually drops at the end and just after pregnancy - to buoy later, of course - so let's go with that for the reason behind my performance. But I am trying! And Will reviews my coursebook every night to keep up. Competitive man. I'm not sure if fate will keep me in the class till it's natural conclusion, but I'm glad to be in it now. Ich bin ein Muenchenerin!

Happy Birthday, Will

Who would've guessed that I'd be sitting here today in Munich, sharing my life with the 18 year old hippie electrical engineer with all that hair in his eyes who I met in 1999 at a University of Michigan bus stop. Today, this dad-to-be doesn't have so much hair in his eyes, still listens to a lot of Grateful Dead, and is spending his 29th birthday with his slow-moving wife by going to see Avatar in 3D. If you have a moment, don't forget to pass on a birthday greeting his way.

A Humble Offering

Billy, our larger dog - a "Schnoodle" as it were - recently landed the final death blows upon his friend, Crazy Eyes Skunk. Crazy Eyes was a stuffed dog toy that has persisted in our family for about a year now, which is pretty amazing considering that the only thing that stuffed dog toys are used for is tug-of-war, fake neck-breaking head-whipping, and de-stuffing. Billy prefers the latter of these activities, but Crazy Eyes had crazy-strong seams and so it resisted his evisceration scheme for some time. After the skunk met its end, Billy did a funny thing with it, leaving it seemingly as an offering in the nursery inside of the baby's bathtub. He hasn't touched it now in days. The nursery was just used as storage when we first moved in, and we kept the door shut because we didn't bother to heat it. Lately, we've kept its door open and the radiator on and it is now fairly organized in there, filled with clean baby clothes and blankets, changing table and books. The dogs definitely sense that it is a peculiar place and they enter it very hesitantly, making a slow, gentle tour of sniffing its contents at least once a day. And I like to think that Billy, in his simple canine way, has just given his stamp of approval on its future inhabitant. On a related note, that baby bathtub is going to need to be resanitized.....

Loving the German Holiday Schedule

Happy Epiphany Day! At least that is the reason Wikipedia gives for Will having today off of work. It is a Catholic holiday, and though we're not Catholic, we are happy to celebrate in solidarity with those who are. The only caveat is that, apparently, children carol for cash on Epiphany. Singing, begging children. Not cool. What's a good Epiphany tip, anyways? I'm still wildly insecure about what to give bathroom attendants here. Yet I don't want to go broke trying to appease off-key German youths.

Assuming we survive the little tykes, this will go down as a very nice first Epiphany Day for us. We slept in, drank homemade lattes, and got more work done on the house. Will painted the nursery last week, and today we organized the furniture in there. It's far from done, but should baby make an early appearance, it won't have to sleep on a pile of broken down moving boxes. Though I would suggest it wait until the bassinet mattress from ebay arrives...

Wishing you all many epiphanies this fine January 6!

Will's Corner: Midway Through

Can you spot the poodle mix in these photos? The first one was taken the day we moved in, the second tonight. Since I started vacation last Wednesday, all of our things have been delivered and unpacked, we have purchased and built furniture, painted a wall (behind me), and installed a light fixture (just 4 more to go, woot!). The light fixture installation is especially fun, since I get to drill holes in the ceiling and fantasize about creating a treacherous environment for our upstairs neighbors' stomping. Gruesome fantasies aside, in the third picture of this series my tools will hopefully be put away and we will have a new couch! But unless the fireworks cause him to lose it and take off for good, the poodle mix will still be there.

Prosit Neujahr! (Happy New Year!)

We hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve and is now enjoying a day off. Ours was fun, though safety was an issue. We went to S & J's apartment in Haidhausen - which is a happening little neighborhood in southeast Munich. S & J are parents of a very sweet 9 week old - named Will, incidentally - so between two new parents and a 9 mo. pregnant lady, you just knew things were going to get w-i-l-d wild. After we ate dinner off the coffee table, we spent awhile oohing and aahing at Will while he kicked and punched on his activity mat (Little Will, that is; Big Will just sucked his thumb and pouted about being asked to get out of the bouncie seat). Then, on to a life-and-death stakes game of Skip Bo! I tease, but I had a very good time. Once the new year was upon us, Munich went up in smoke. For real. Germans are generally orderly and whatnot, but New Year's Eve is an exception. The country turns into a giant "How Not to Play with Fire Works" show. And undoubtedly the ERs convert into Finger-Reattachment Centers for the night. Between fireworks very nearly coming through S & J's windows and the soundtrack of ambulance sirens, the husbands took to the street to join in on the festivities. Their heart was in the right place, but (fortunately for our unborn child) they had not exhibited the fearless constitution of the Germans in their firework purchases. So their particular display was quite tame. They still had to survive the rocket fire coming from every direction on the very narrow street where they were positioned, of course. And I'm very happy to say that they not only survived, but came back only marred by ash on their faces. Thus we begin 2010, grateful for new friends and with all of our digits in tact!