these days

287 days ago, Christian and I decided now was the right time to start a family. We both always knew we wanted children—it would be hard to live and work with 200 of them without loving them! When we got married, I told him I wanted him all to myself for one year, and then we could start our family, whether biologically or through adoption. It was a wonderful year of childless marriage (well, at least not with our own children), and then we were ready for the next stage.

248 days ago, God quickly answered our prayers and I became pregnant. We just didn’t know it yet.

211 days ago, I caved and took a pregnancy test. I had told myself I would not get overly hopeful and take one until I threw up, but the fact that I could come home from work at lunchtime and fall asleep before making food was a red flag that something was up. (I hate naps.) That double line was so beautiful to me. 

I wrote a note telling Christian that he was the world’s best father and taped it on the bathroom mirror, somewhere I assumed he would see almost as soon as he got home. Just to make sure, I brought him a cup of water while he was working in the office, claiming I cared about his hydration (in general, I do). When he came home, he was so nice that he wanted to sit on the couch with me and let me read to him in Dutch for an hour, which is normally such a blessing but this time made me a little anxious. When he finally used the bathroom, he walked out with this goofy smile on his face. “Really?” he whispered. I nodded. We hugged. We had a family. 

210 days ago, I took a second pregnancy test just to make sure. Still positive!

208 days ago, baby and I had our first ballet presentation in church. I had been teaching 25 6-year-olds for the past few weeks and we were finally showing everyone the dance on which they had been working. Little did I know that would be the first of many ballet presentations with a baby inside.

197 days ago, we told Christian’s parents the wonderful news. After debating how we were going to share it with the new grandparents, we found books online called “I Love You, Grandma” and “I Love You, Grandpa” in both Dutch and English. We ordered copies for each of our parents and had them sent to their houses with strict instructions not to open anything until we told them to do so.

While Skyping with Christian’s family, we finally gave them permission to open theirs. They were thrilled, though not surprised. Apparently when a one-year-married couple clearly has a secret—and a good secret at that—there are not so many options as to what it can be.

196 days ago, we Skyped with my parents and repeated the routine. My mom’s face was the best. Wide eyes, open mouth, and not a word for quite some time (which is unusual for her when we are Skyping). She did not look as thrilled when she asked if she could tell my grandma and we said no, but in time she forgave us for that.

192 days ago, after a few weeks of almost-round-the-clock nausea, I woke up feeling fine. It was my birthday and I took it as a special birthday present from God that I could happily and easily eat the wonderful dinner Christian had prepared for me.

193 days ago, I woke up feeling fine again. This time, it send me into a panic. What if something had gone wrong? I knew miscarriages were common and that one sign is simply losing any pregnancy symptoms. Christian and I went to the clinic at Noah’s Ark, but that early in a pregnancy they could not confirm anything. We immediately went into Mukono and asked for an ultrasound from a clinic there… and that was the first time we saw our baby. It was a smudge, and admittedly a different smudge than I thought when I looked at the screen, but a beautiful white smudge nonetheless, complete with a heartbeat.

181 days ago, we received our first baby presents. Immediately after we shared the news with Christian’s family, his mother had already started shopping for her first grandchild. There were pink and blue bubbles, pink and blue candies, tiny baby clothes and tiny baby shoes, but the best part was a pregnancy book—the kind we get to fill in week by week to document how the pregnancy is going. It is called the Negen Maandenboek (Nine Month Book) and we started filling it in and taking weekly belly photos as soon as we could. We are so excited to show it to our baby someday and prove that he or she was wanted and loved from the very beginning.

167 days ago, we went in for a second ultrasound just for fun. We went to Mukono again because the Ultrasound Guy (or the Scan Man) only comes to Noah’s Ark on Saturday mornings, and the whole compound knows that if someone goes to the clinic on a Saturday morning and does not have an emergency, then she must be there for an ultrasound. We were not yet ready to share the news with everyone, so we went back to the clinic where we did the first one because we wanted a nice ultrasound photo to show my family when we went on vacation the next week. 

In preparation, I drank a whole lot of water. In adherence to Ugandan culture, the ultrasound man was an hour late. And then he got to poke and prod around my bladder for awhile. It was agony, but it was worth it. This time our smudge was peanut-shaped!

163 days ago, we brought baby Norton (named years ago by Annie) to America for the first time. We spent an exciting nine-hour layover exploring New York City, managing to hit the top of the Empire State Building, Times Square, and Central Park before heading back to the airport for the last leg of our two-day journey from Uganda to Washington.

161 days ago, on the first evening of our Peterson family reunion in Oregon, my mom had the privilege (or the task?) of telling everyone about her newest grandchild. I was supposed to do it but couldn’t find a way to casually bring it up, so she saved the day. Everyone is looking forward to having young children in the family again, considering the next youngest is already 16 years old.

155 days ago, on the last day of the family reunion, Jen got out her doppler and we got to hear the heartbeat much more clearly than we had before. There are definitely benefits to having a midwife/nurse sister.

133 days ago, Norbert (the name changed because my mom couldn’t remember Norton) experienced its first Loggers’ Jubilee. Actually, so did Christian. We made sure to hit everything—coronation, lawnmower races, logging shows, bed races, parade. It was a fun-filled weekend, even with the rain shower during the parade.

132 days ago, Norbert and I ran our first race together! In that Jubilee 10k, my main goal was to make it through the whole thing without wetting my pants. (My pregnant or have-been-pregnant friends, you get it.) It was a success! And to top it off I/we placed third in my age group. That was enough to convince me to sign up for a race the following month in Uganda.

129 days ago, Christian and I were sitting on the airplane in Dubai, waiting to take off for the last part of our trip back to Uganda. After a 14-hour plane ride to Duabi and a 14-hour layover in the airport, we had been sitting on the hot, stuffy plane for two hours and were still on the ground. But that stillness was exactly what I needed because that was the first time I felt our baby move. It was strange, and different, and absolutely wonderful. I sat there in my rough, blue airplane seat with my eyes closed and a tear rolling down my cheek. Magical.

124 days ago, we were in our first church service since returning from the U.S. We came forward during testimony time and Christian thanked God for our good trip and safe travels. Then he continued: “We know every time we come back you tell us we have grown fat, and that is true. Today I thank God that I came back with a big stomach because I ate a lot of nice food, and I thank God that Auntie Katie came back with a big stomach because she is four months pregnant with our child.” This was followed by a full minute of cheering. I am not exaggerating. 

122 days ago, we had our first visit with the midwife at Noah’s Ark. After reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which is written for women in America who are going to deliver in a hospital, our checkup seemed pretty minimal, but that was okay with us. We both had some blood tests, they checked my weight and fundal height, and I took some anti-malarial pills since the normal treatment for malaria is harmful to a fetus. All in all, everything looked good and we were pleased.

121 days ago, Christian felt Norbert move for the first time. At only 18 weeks along, that was an earlier-than-expected blessing.

117 days ago, we made the announcement public by putting news of this new baby on Facebook. It was fun to have a secret for awhile, but it was also a joy to see how many people are excited about this little life.

96 days ago, Norbert and I performed in our second ballet presentation together. My belly was getting a bit more visible by then.

92 days ago, we bought plane tickets to come to the Netherlands for the delivery. If we knew everything was going to go well, we would have stayed in Uganda. However, Uganda has no NICU and it is hard to get blood if I were to lose a lot. After seeing what a big difference it made to go to Seattle for my burns a few years back, we decided to play it safe and deliver outside of Uganda, just in case. Our hope is that things will go smoothly and we will look back and say, “We should have just stayed at Noah’s Ark!”

89 days ago, Norbert and I ran in our second race: the Source of the Nile 12k in Jinja. My goal this race was to finish before my iPod died, and again we succeeded! We also came in 14th, which at 23 weeks pregnant isn’t so bad I think.

68 days ago, Christian’s family and homefront committee (our missionary support group in the Netherlands) did a bib/diaper/baby-towel-and-other-things-we-need drive at their church and raised enough money to pay for most of our basic baby supplies. We are so blessed!

43 days ago, Oma Janneke and Opa Aat came to visit us in Uganda and got to see my ever-growing stomach and feel Norbert move. Good thing we have such an active baby!

21 days ago, Norbert and I performed in our last ballet presentation in the Noah’s Ark school Christmas Carols. We did one very simple dance with 20 4-year-olds, and then had to fill in for one of the teenagers in another dance. The aunties told me later that I scared them when I had to jump up on a chair onstage for some of the moves, but it all went well. Seeing a very pregnant ballet dancer was a new experience for everyone there.

9 days ago, we had our last day of work before leaving Uganda. I spent half the day organizing puzzles for the library and was not at all sad to be finished with that. We wanted to reserve our last few days at home for preparing the house and packing.

8 days ago, we spent the day in Kampala for two important reasons:  One, we picked up Christian’s new work permit, allowing us to stay in Uganda another three years (woohoo!). Two, we bought a crib! From the side of the road. It’s not quite up to Schinnell standards, but we think it’s beautiful, and we have already tested it with a five-year-old to make sure it will work for Norbert for quite a while.

7 days ago, we spent the whole day clearing things out of the not-so-spare room to make space for baby stuff. We managed to reassemble the crib all by ourselves, find out-of-the-house places for too many work supplies we had been keeping at home, and organize all the toys the other children use when they visit. After that, we felt much better about leaving soon and knowing we are coming back with a new family member.

6 days ago, we took advantage of our last few days in African weather and did a maternity photo shoot. For fun, we brought down four-year-old Janet, who kissed my belly about 80 times in that hour.

5 days ago, we went to our last Noah’s Ark church service before leaving. At the end of the service they called Christian and I forward to pray over us, our journey, the delivery and the baby. The children came and laid hands on us—nine-year-old Levi came forward and confidently smacked his hand right in the middle of my forehead. It was all done in love.

4 days ago, we woke up in our Uganda house for the last time with just the two of us. It is still hard to believe that everything is going to change so much. However, I remember thinking the same thing before getting married and I haven’t regretted that for one moment. We said too many and yet not enough good-byes as we left Noah’s Ark for what we hope will not be more than three months, and ended the day by boarding the plane. 

3 days ago, we arrived in the Netherlands to a family who has done even more to prepare for this baby than we have. While trying to stay awake after a night in the airplane, we unpacked our suitcases in “our” new apartment, took the bikes out for a test ride (fortunately being pregnant does not make that any more difficult), and to celebrate being in the western world I of course ate a salad.

2 days ago, we had our first appointment with the Dutch midwife. The ultrasound showed that Norbert is already in a good position for birth and should not shift before then. We discussed what still needs to be done in order to get things ready for a home birth, and as long as no complications arise in the next month, it should all go as planned. But of course you never know with things like this.

Today I am sitting on the couch, watching this little life move around in my abdomen and thinking about how I am going to miss feeling those movements so distinctly. At the same time, I am so excited to see its arms and legs and head and actually hold those tiny fingers and look into those eyes. And to know whether we have a son or a daughter! We still have a month more, but for now I am going to cherish this time of having our baby all to myself.

13 days until our next appointment with the midwife. 

16 days until we need to raise our bed and finish final preparations for a home birth. 

30 days until Norbert’s due date.

37 days until our second anniversary. Will we be parents by then? 

Where have the days gone? It feels like a lifetime ago that I was sitting on the couch waiting for Christian to read that note, yet at the same time I feel like this pregnancy has gone so fast I can’t believe it is almost over. These days have been blessed, and exciting, and nerve-racking, and stressful, and joyful, and sometimes uncomfortable, but I thank God for every single one of these days that our child has been alive and well. We will see you soon, little one!