The calm before the storm

Cyclone Rene, which they say is going to be Hurricane Rene by the time it hits us, is on its way! I've stocked up on tinned food and water, but I've still got to check the portable radio works, fill up buckets with water and bring in all the bikes, chairs, snorkel gear etc from outside. Tomorrow I'll see about duck taping the windows (apparently!) and charging the mobile phones. It is very difficult to predict how many tins we'll go through in a week (last Hurricane, power was off for 9 days) considering we'll have a lot of defrosted meat to cook quickly, including a ham and two pork tenderloins plus lots of random sausages and mince meals. I don't think I'm overreacting, but my husband and the people in the queue behind me at KS Mart think I am!
My big question at the moment is do I bother to prepare for a double lesson tomorrow afternoon, or will school be cancelled by then? And another burning question concerns the Chief Meterologist on the local radio. How can the forecast for the next three days tell you the high and low temperatures, the chance for isolated thunderstorms, and not mention the 60mph winds gusting through?
Taine celebrated the 100th day of school today. Everyone in the class had to take 100 somethings: macaroni, stickers ... Taine came home with odd bags of popcorn and crackers, a lot of candy and something else that's got mushed. Tomorrow is going to be the Elegant Valentines Party, where the boys are going to escort the girls and they're all going to learn how to use knives, forks and napkins. We'll see how long the best clothes last.
Will keep you updated eventually. Watch for us on the news.

New Year, New Adventure

Hi all

Well, we were away for three weeks and now it seems like we hardly had a holiday. It's been straight back into things here although Taine piked on the first day of school. Matt's got FDIC here doing their audit and the phone went three times last night with various systems crashing, so he'll be looking forward to the weekend.

Our adventure last weekend was going to Palagi Beach with the Indrebo-Jonnasson family. It was a 20 minute walk round the cliff, wading through knee deep water to get to this fantastic beach. There was a channel for snorkelling, a cliff for jumping and coconut palms for shade. We've been in awe at how the Norwegians have only been here for six months but have done everything/gone everywhere that the rest of us talk about doing but never quite get round to it, and they made us rock climb like mountain goats, swing across churning chasms, and so on. I kept thinking about whether we could do it with the Fallens when they come (now you're committed!) but then I realised I'd be six months pregnant by that stage and probably in no mood for clambering or reef walking.

And to round off a lovely day, we were met back at the village by not one, but two locals to tell us off for venturing into a marine reserve. We asked where the signs were and were told they'd been washed away in the tsunami - fair enough. So no repeat visits after all.

After casually dropping in the pregnancy news (due July 11), now I can vent about my experiences with the medical system here. It started in November with a suspected miscarriage. I went to the Emergency department at the hospital where a friend had rung a friend who'd rung a friend who was the doctor on duty to look out for me, so all started well. After 4 hours in a cubicle, I got admitted overnight into the Maternity ward - miscarriage, sharing a room with someone about to pop ... not the ideal combination. Now, I found out last week this 24 hour adventure cost $850 US, so keep that in mind when I didn't even get a blanket, had to ask for a towel, the food was cold (listeria, people) and Matt had to bring me in toasted sandwiches, there was no medication and the only testing was a standard ultrasound. The nurses, doctors, everyone was lovely, and I've waited long enough in NZ hospitals to realise waiting is normal, but it was a very depressing experience and I left vowing I was not going to give birth there. Luckily the Head OB-GYN agreed and recommended I go back to NZ for the birth (Dad - at this stage we're arriving June 3). He said the only options for a birth plan were no drugs at all, or a c-section under general anaesthetic and not seeing baby for 24 hours, neither of which sounded ideal.

Since then I've waited. The pre-natal programme seems very comprehensive, although I only get that from talking to other mums as there doesn't seem to be any overview of what happens. First of all I got told off when I tried to make an appointment for not coming in yesterday (how was I supposed to know they only took new patients on Mondays?), then I dutifully arrived for a 9.30 appointment to discover first of all I had to go pay at another window, then I had to give in my reciept at another window, then give my appointment card to another person so I'd sat for an hour before I was on the list. And while you get an appointment for 9.30, so does everyone else. Samoans are very good at waiting but I'm not. Of course when I got in, the Nurse Practitioner was very friendly and practical.

I've also had a scan at the hospital since then and it's the same process. Twenty women/girls in various stages of pregnancy sitting in rows, names being called over loudspeakers (Mrs Hunt, you can come in for your internal examination now) and three different administrative stages before you get to see a doctor. And you have to move chairs every time. Make sure it's the right chair too, or you'll get told off. Good doctor once you get there, but a door that actually closes when your belly's getting jellied would be nice too.

When I think of my nice midwife's house in Parnell last time, with the marble tiles in the bathroom and the velvet chaise longue in her office, I realise how spoilt I was, and really, I've just got to get over it. But a little bit of privacy and discretion would be nice. Especially when there are ANZ employees everywhere who all say Hi Sharyn!

At least I'm getting used to the strange looks when I tell people I'm 37 and it's only my second child, not my 6th. And that there'll be 7 years between the two, not 10 months. Anyway, I will keep you updated.

So our plans for an extended road trip to the States over the summer break have been put on hold. Matt's trying to figure out how he can get to Guam, Fiji, Arizona, Seattle and Tauranga in the next six months. I've suggested he time the Guam/Fiji trip (there's a direct flight between them for some strange, strange reason) with Spring Break so we can meet him in either Fiji or Hawaii but we'll wait and see.

There seems to be lots of odd little holidays in the next month or so: MLK Day, President's Day, Easter (only one day off) and of course Waitangi Day where we'll try to find a legal beach for a BBQ. The kilo of chocolate spratz we brought back won't last until then (don't leave an unopened bag of chocolate sitting in the middle of the fridge - this ain't all baby belly) and the double layer Continental Chocolates I bought at Auckland airport for $49 (they were a necessity) went pretty quickly too. Jane was making damper with her second grade class today for their Australia unit, and she wants to borrow our cricket set, so they can be NZ traditions as well at the beach.

Right, off to learn how to create a website for National History Day projects. Oh the things people do!