Happy Labor Day!

In honor of this special holiday I leave you with this...

Hmmmm... Oops wrong kind of Labor!

Here we go:

Enjoy your day off fellow Americans! I will be toiling the day away at work! (Don't feel too bad, we had our Labor day (called May Day) in, you guessed it, May)

Cheers,

Expat Bud

I'm Out!

In an effort to boost morral and because we couldn't contain ourselves anymore we outed ourselves to all of our family and friends! Since there was no way we could make our announcement in person I composed an email and attached the picture below:

It was a hit! The outpouring of love we received was amazing. Everyone is just thrilled for us. I may still feel like crap but at least I'm feelin' the love!

Also, today marks 8 weeks! Forging on to week 9 now...

Hanging in There

I'm trying to take it one day at a time... and each day for the past two weeks has been the same. Here's a little peek into my life as of late:

• Wake up at 7:30 pm and drink a small glass of water - then rush to the bathroom when the urge to vomit comes.
• Get back in bed for cuddles from Mr. Expat Bud after vomit session and cry to him about not making it through another day.
• Get up and fill my empty stomach with toast.
• Shower and get ready as slowly as possible - doing the bare minimum (I feel bad for people that have to look at me these days!)
• 8:55 I'm off to work (only a 5 minute walk away) but not before lots of hugs from Mr. Expat Bud (usually there is more crying here).
• While I'm at work I try very hard to keep my breakfast and snacks down and drink water. Sometimes I win, sometimes the m/s does. I usually cry because I miss my family at home.
• 12:30 I walk home for small lunch and a nap (the nap is the best part of my day)
• Back to work by 2 and the countdown begins until I get to go home at 5:30. More crying here.
• Around 3:30 I pray to the porcelain god in the work bathroom. Cry some more.
• At 5:30 I head home and back to bed until Mr. Expat comes home to make dinner, then I move to the couch. Sometimes there is another visit to the toilet in this time.
• After dinner is when I feel semi-okay for the first time in the day (though sometimes I don't get to that point) and Mr. Expat and I will watch a movie before I hit the sheets.

So this is my existence lately. I am really trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if someone tells me that "this will pass soon" again, I will vomit on them.

7 weeks

Just a quick post to say today is the official 7 week mark. I am so happy the little Expat Bud is sticking like he/she should be :-)

Morning sickness is getting the best of me though... I am posting from work right now and then heading home to rest and hopefully feel better as I haven't kept anything down today.

I apologize for the rather lame and boring post but I just don't have the energy to be cool and exciting like the other buds! I do have some fun stuff to share, and hopefully I'll be up to posting it soon.

Morning Sickness is not for Sissies

Starting last week at about 5 Weeks and 6 days pregnant I started experiencing the beginnings of morning sickness and nausea that Lasts. All. Day. Before I got pregnant I would think to myself, "Ohhh morning sickness, it can't be that bad, what are these girls complaining about - they should be thrilled - they're growing a baby!" I must say I was very sadly mistaken, (not about the latter part - I'm still thrilled!) morning sickness is the devil. I think it's definitely worst in the morning when there's nothing in my stomach, but I honestly haven't felt good since last Tuesday at any point in the day.

Today I hit the wonderful milestone of throwing up in the bathroom at work. I have no idea if anyone heard me but if this keeps going on the office is sure to catch on soon and I really didn't want to break the news until my ultrasound at 11 weeks. Readers, do you have any advice on this?

Luckily Mr. Expat Bud has been amazing at picking up the slack. He's been cooking, cleaning and trying to make me a comfy as possible.

Here's hoping this "healthy glow" passes quickly!

Cheers,

Expat Bud

Knocked Up Abroad

Disclaimer: This post was written on August 11th. I am now 6 weeks 1 day pregnant and will follow up soon!

Today I am 4 weeks and 5 days pregnant (based on my ovulation date) and I go in to my general doctor for confirmation of my pregnancy. I am still in a state of shock that everything has happened so quickly! Allow me to introduce myself and fill you in on my conception story…

My husband and I (who I will refer to as Mr. Expat Bud) got married on the rainiest day of the year in 2008, September 13. Since that day our life has been a whirlwind in the best way possible! Two weeks after we recited our vows we made a big move across the Atlantic to Dublin, Ireland.

Dublin, Ireland - City Centre

Mr. Expat Bud has dreams of completing his PhD in Irish History and what better place to do so than where it all happened? Fast forward several months and we’re still in Dublin, loving life. I was fortunate to get a job in my field (marketing) and Mr. Expat Bud has about 8 months (conveniently!) left of his program. We decided about 6 months ago that I would get my Mirena IUD removed in May and begin trying for Baby Expat Bud! I didn’t get my first visit from AF for about 5 or 6 weeks (which seemed like forever!) But after I did I had a nice, short, 27 day cycle – not pregnant yet, though! The following month (July) I decided to chart, and used OPKs and Pre-seed. Something must have worked because after returning from a weekend away in Cork I got a very faint line on a Target brand HPT (I was 10 DPO)! Mr. Expat Bud and I tried to remain calm as the line was indeed very faint and I’ve read some bad reviews on Target brand tests showing false positives. The next morning we got the confirmation we needed in the form of a digital Clearblue Easy test. Time to celebrate!!

Since then we’ve been marking the days off the calendar, waiting patiently to get out of “the danger zone” first tri. There are days I am so incredibly ecstatic and day-dreamy about the little one growing inside me, and there are days I freak myself out with statistics and horror stories; though I try to snap myself out of the latter mindset as soon as I find myself going there.

I am looking so forward to sharing my journey with all of you. It will no doubt be an interesting ride. It’s one thing being pregnant for the first time, but a whole ‘nother story when I’m going through the ordeal in a foreign country!

Cheers!

Expat Bud

P.S. For those that don't know what an expat is (I didn't before I became one!), here is the definition, courtesy of Wikipedia:

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country, fatherland).