Melt my heart

What I want to share today is probably the thing that touches my heart the most at the moment. It’s one of those things that makes it so worth while being here.

DC (my Hubby) takes some of the older girls for devotion twice a week. These girls have been used to just being taught what they should do and told rules and regulations for life and Christianity but never really been given a voice or the ability to ask questions. DC has been challenging them and getting them to think, discuss and question. The girls have been loving it. In fact they love it so much they they often come and request DC to take devotions even on a day that it is not on.

The outcome of this is that DC has now built a really good relationship with these girls. They trust him and now come and ask questions. They confide in him their fears and troubles. This in return has given DC the chance to really speak freedom and life to the girls and even to help curb some bad behaviour. Now that they respect and trust him they also listen to his advice. They are not just learning religion, they are learning far more than that.

So the icing on the cake was seeing notes DC has received from a couple of girls. They went something like this:

“Uncle, I love you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. You are a like a father to me.”

These girls come daily for their hug from DC and I also get one too. It’s just so precious to watch.  Some of the girls have no fathers or if they do, their fathers tend to be drunkards. There are not many male role models here but they have found in DC someone that really respects them and encourages them to be who they are created to be and to really think for themselves. Most of all though… they just need a listening ear.

I have so much stuff racing around in my head that I am not actually quite sure where to start. So maybe I will start with an update on Deejay (DJ). Wow, the scales have tipped to the male side now.

So what can I say... We have been amazingly blessed with a baby that is so content and settled. Since day two he has been sleeping 5-6 hours in a row at night and last night he feed at 10pm and woke up at 5:45am, that's almost 8hrs. Usually we go through a time of sleep deprivation for the first few weeks but not this time. I think God knew we needed a settled baby. Throughout the day he is mostly happy and tries very hard not to cry. Today he was full of smiles for his Gran on skype. He's long and lanky where I am used to short and chubby babies. He's just so lovely.
We have people who call into our home to seethe baby, we have no idea who they are sometimes. A Hindu family who run a small shop not far from us arrived with breakfast one morning as well as ingredients ready to cook for the next day and she informed the "homes" kitchen staff how to prepare it for me. I ended up cooking it myself as I did not want the kitchen ladies having to go to trouble just for me. I have said it before and I will say it again.... sometimes the Hindus seem to be more Christ like than some of the Christians we have met.

So much has happened in the last couple of week. My parents have left after a great last week of being able to do a few things with then finally. We took a trip to Mysore and showed them a couple of sights and then out for a pre birthday lunch for my Mum at the palace we took D2 for her birthday. They even provided a bassinet for DJ to sleep in. I loved being able to show my folks a different side of India, the drive down to Mysore is beautiful. You get to see the sugar cane growing, the rice paddies, the village houses, people from all walks of life. My personal favorite thing is the little old men wearing their Lungi. The picture in my link is not of an old man but there is something I love about seeing these frail old men with legs that resemble something like our DJs little chicken legs as I like to call them. These men shuffle along the street until they meet other little old men and they will then sit and chat for hours. I look at them and wonder what their story is, what life has been like for them and where they go home to.

I was so proud of my parents, they really have embraced India in a way I never thought they would. I know that if we were not here it would not have been a place on the top "go to" places for them. They tried all the food and enjoyed it, they managed with cold showers, they shopped like pros and treated people with dignity. It makes me so happy that they enjoyed India. I love this country and now we have a baby born here. I feel a new connection to this land and it was so nice to once again share it with my parents.

We now have DJs birth certificate and just today we have all papers signed and witnessed and posted off to NZ for him to get NZ citizenship and a passport. It feels so good to have this on it's way and we just pray now that we have included everything they need and that the photo will be acceptable. It took us so long to get a photo of DJ that fits the NZ requirements for a passport. Try getting a new born to have eyes open, mouth shut, no expression, head straight and all this while not being able to hold them. It's next to impossible. We finally got a good shot ourselves but we are not sure the quality will pass the test. We just pray it will be fine.

Daughter 1 has been unwell with a nasty throat infection/tonsillitis and ended up with a rash all over her body due to a reaction to the antibiotics she was put on. She was out of action for about a month but is now back into the swing of things again. Son 3 has started vomiting and is running a fever, I just pray for quick healing and this to be short lived.

We have booked tickets for a return flight to NZ in Feb to renew our visas. I feel like we have just booked a first class flight as we will be going Singapore airlines. Last time it took us nearly 2 days to get back with 3 stops along the way. This time we have one short stop, 17hrs to get there and movies and food included. I'm actually really excited about the flight.

As I write, the rain has begun to fall and that soothing sound on the roof makes me want to crawl into bed and just lie there and listen. Plus, this is getting a rather long blog post and I hate reading long posts myself. I still have heaps to write about but I think I will stop for now and write again at a later stage.

So for now.... as porky pig would say th th th th that's all folks.

Deejay Gregory Sean Czepanski (birth story)

I was almost at the stage of wondering if my parents would have to leave before the birth of this wiggling bump. I was actually feeling a little down about it all and trying hard to rally myself to have interest in anything else. Then on the 4/11/11 I went for my 40 week check up to find that this baby was ready to arrive any second and the doctor wanted to admit me then and there. (for the ladies information, I was 7cm dilated with no painful contractions) I declined and said I would come in when the first real contractions started.

My ideal birth or a sensible birth in a hospital (given we are in a rural area with a basic hospital facility) was a decision that I had had to make a few weeks back. I went with the hospital birth for peace of mind for family and friends and also because there are not emergency back ups quite the same where we are and you need to preplan for just in case scenarios. It was not an easy choice to give up my peaceful, candle lit, Jazz music, home natural birth that I was used to but I knew it was the sensible thing to do for us all.

So at about 11:45pm on the 3/11/11 I had my first contraction that made me realise that this baby was going to make an entrance. DC and I had been chatting to a good friend and then watched a video together and I had felt things were building. It was wet outside and DC decided to go out and try to get the jeep started up. It had been fixed the day before but sometimes has trouble starting. I had anticipated a ride on the scooter to the hospital (that could have been fun). By the time he came inside again I knew it was time to head off to the hospital. DC, my Mum and I headed off as the girls waved us goodbye from the veranda. I had permission for DC and my Mum to be with me, usually no one is allowed in with you for the birth.

We arrived at the hospital and I was guided to the delivery room by a lady that had cleaned my room when I was in hospital with my kidney issues. This is when they told my Mum and DC they could not come in. I tried to explain we had permission and to please ring my OB to come  but they insisted that DC and MY Mum leave..... I was a bit naughty..... I got up and left the room too. I then got called to a telephone where my OB requested David to come pick her up as she had no vehicle. This was so amusing to us, a new experience in the birthing scenario :) So David went off and my Mum came to join me in the labour room. As she approached they quickly shut the doors and locked her out and so I promptly opened the door again and told them I would wait outside with my mother until my OB arrived. When the OB arrived she was shocked to see me waiting and not in the labour room but I explained what had happened and although I don't know what she said to the staff  (it was all in Kannada) I knew they had had a bit of a telling off. Once that was sorted though we were all on smiling terms as they found out permission had been given and I guess they had not been told prior to me arriving so they were just doing what they knew the rules were.

The labour room was not exactly a peaceful place with people in and out (male and female), a drip put in my arm, people talking and playing Hindi music on cel phones. My OB had her camera out taking photos of me in labour and then went on to show DC and my Mum her home videos of her twin boys. The labour bed was interesting and seemed to provide no padding what so ever. I found it hard to get into my normal relaxed zone and focus on what I was doing. Everyone was very nice though and did their jobs well but it was a far cry from my ideal and I just had to make the most out of the situation before me and I am pleased that after 2.5 hrs of arriving at the hospital our wee surprise package displayed his boy bits to the world and gave us a great gusty cry. He was quickly whisked away and every orifice of him was poked and prodded while the suctioning machine malfunctioned and filled the room with smoke. I was elated that it was all over and everything went well with no complications and our little Deejay was the most perfect and handsome baby in the world. He weighed in at 3.7kg (8.2 Lbs) and 52cm long. Sure, It was not exactly the style of birth that I longed for but the outcome could not have been better. DC and Mum were great and the best part was when DC noticed I had nothing to rest my head on and so found a pillow and held my head for me, it was the best thing that happened the entire labour and amazing how such a small practical thing really made a world of difference.

We were then given a room to move to where my Mum and I spent the night with Deejay. In the morning Deejay was being welcomed into the world by what felt like the entire population of India (ok, slight exaggeration) word must have got out that the first western baby had been born here in Kollegal. We ended up locking our door to get some rest.

DC brought the kids and my Dad in later that morning and it was just so wonderful to see out 7 kids together. We have been so amazingly blessed.

Thanks to God for providing us with one more child that we thought we would not have. Thanks to my parents for flying all the way over to be here for Deejay's arrival. Thanks to DC for being a loving supportive husband and to the rest of our kids for being so excited about having another boy in the house. Thanks to all our friends who have been with us on this journey and have encouraged and prayed for us. We love you all.

Waiting

It's been a while since I last blogged so I thought it was about time to catch up.

My parents arrived almost a week ago to be here for the arrival of this little baby who seems very content not to come early like the last three have. My folks are here for another couple of weeks so I know baby will come sometime while they are here. I would like it to come earlier so we can get out and do a bit more and they have time to cuddle this little bubba. 

We managed to get a pretty good live feed via the Internet of the RWC final. Mum and Dad had brought over some kiwi sweets so we enjoyed watching the game and pigging out on a few tastes from NZ. Yummy chocolate and sweets, Mmmmm.

We had an amusing time arranging some things for the birth. Because we are in a rural area, the hospital facilities are not quite at western standards or Indian city standards. It's clean and I have a great doctor but she wants me to be at the hospital for the birth and not at home and we had to arrange a few things for a "just in case of emergency" situation. So one of the things we had to do was book some blood at the nearest hospital that holds blood. We thought this was going to be a simple fill in a form but in the end we had to call on one of the staff here who can drive and he was spoken to by my doctor to arrange what was needed. The next thing I know we are having to drive about 12km to a hospital (on very bumpy roads) where I got to meet one of my donors... yes you heard right... I met my donor. We did not realise that our friend was having to find people with A+ blood type to donate blood for me. So we had to go and get cross matches done. It's not that I am anticipating needing to use the blood but in NZ a local hospital would have this sort of thing on hand in case of any hemorrhage. It's just a bit more hands on here and a new experience. But it's all sorted now and I am just sitting back waiting for this baby to come. I usually like to have a homebirth but will go to hospital this time just for some safety reasons and to keep others happy. As long as we have a safe birth and healthy baby... that's what counts.

Tonight is Diwali (festival of light), so I anticipate there will be some loud crackers going off. Perhaps if this baby comes tonight we should call it Boomer. We had a bonfire and some crackers with the girls at the home a few nights ago but unfortunately the rain came and cut it a bit short.

We have all been up and down with a virus lately... one with a cough and the other with a fever. I have managed to get over mine now so finally feel fit to have this baby... Come on already!!!! Do you sense my impatience. I'm trying hard to be patient but today I'm not feeling it.

David gave all of the dorms a sheet of paper to guess when baby will come. They are having great fun guessing and are always coming and rubbing my belly or putting their ear to my belly. I don't think I will be short of babysitters.

Here's a few shots of the things we have been up to.

 Almost 39 weeks pregnant

 Gifts from NZ

 Gran and Grandpa watching a playback of a skit the kids did.

 Rugby world cup final

 Bonfire and crackers night... and early Diwali.

Holding the fort

First and foremost I want to say a huge thank you to my wonderful hubby and kids for keeping things ticking along and the household running while I've been out of action. The girls even cooked a meal for guests while I was away.

To fill you in.... long story short. I have been battling a kidney infection for about a month and have been on oral antibiotics. Unfortunately they did not do the trick and my body decided to treat everyone in the doctors waiting room with a dance act of me breaking into great chills and shakes (rigors) So I ended up being admitted to hospital for a few days and getting IV antibiotics. Once my fever and aches and pains had subsided it was a bit of a holiday really where I was able to read and relax.   Probably just what my body wanted actually (although the IV antibiotics were pretty painful). I came home for a couple of days but test results showed that even after the IV antibiotics, the infection was still there. I came down with fever again the next day. So I am now on two antibiotics until baby is born. Bubs seems unperturbed and is wiggling away as usual but my doctor would like to see baby born in 2 weeks. I usually go into labour two weeks early anyway so that will be about the right time.

The hospital was so clean and quiet and most of the staff were great. My doctor is fabulous. One thing that we laughed at every time is that the method of checking ones temperature is with the back of the hand on the forehead.

I had a lovely view through coconut palms from my room and I remember opening the windows one morning and the morning smell of sweet smoke filled the room as people cooked their breakfast on wood burning stoves. Squirrels were running over roof tops and along the coconut leaves and I breathed in deeply enjoying the peacefulness of it all. It will be one of those memories that sticks in my mind.

Some vibrant art the school kids were doing.

Trip to Mysore

DC and I decided it was about time we had some time out, just the two of us. Being a small rural town here in Kollegal we decided to take a trip by bus to Mysore and perhaps enjoy a coffee in a cafe and eat some food we can't get in Kollegal and just enjoy some time out.

We headed for the bus terminal at about 8am and found the bus we needed by just asking around. There are no signs to point you to the right place, it's word of mouth here. It was about a 2hr trip and we laughed how we would never be taking a bus for 2 hrs in NZ just to have a coffee together.

Once there we purchased a coffee and then some fried chicken and chips but we realised that we have actually adapted and changed to the life in Kollegal and although the idea of a coffee in a cafe sounded nice, it was not all that our minds had lead us to believe it would be. I actually didn't enjoy it. I have become a rural small town girl that enjoys small sized Indian chai and dosa bars. The only thing we really did enjoy was some time out together and a ride through the country side and paddy fields on the way there.

Our trip back by bus was an interesting one. We found a bus heading to Kollegal but the one thing we did not find out was that it was going to take a different route home. I now know that being 8mths pregnant and dirt roads with pot holes do not go favourably together. We were in the back seat as they were the only ones free when we first got on the bus and it was fine until we hit the dirt roads. We were being bounced around like rag dolls. I held one arm under my belly and another on the seat in front to stop being thrown around too much and to support baby. The conductor came and moved us further up the bus because there were now some vacant seats but you should try walking on a bus that is swaying and jerking and crashing and banging when you are pregnant. So we had  about an extra half hour of the off the beaten track road and then we suddenly heard a huge bang and I felt wind on my arm. The tyre had blown out. But we could not stop for another 10 mins or so until we got onto a wider road and this also happened to be the road of a very welcome tar seal. The tires had no tread what so ever, I don't think safety is the number one thing for bus companies here.

All in all we got back safely and I think if baby had any idea of coming early it would have on the bus. I think that may be my last pregnant bus ride for a while but we had to laugh. It's all part of the adventure.

Rice planting time

The Home owns land that rice and wheat is grown on. It is not on our compound so we took a trip both in the morning and afternoon to take food and chai to the workers who were planting out the rice today. It's so wonderful to get out in the fields and try our best to communicate with the workers. Their backs must have been aching from leaning over all day but the smiling faces did not give anything away. I would love to go back again during harvest time in 3 months. I have never seen how it is harvested and have always had a fascination with rice as it comes in prepared bags ready to cook in NZ. It's a lot of sweat and hard work to get rice to our tables. I think you appreciate your meals more when you see how it got to your plate.
Some of the rice will be sold but the rest will be stored for use at the girls home. There's nothing quite like eating rice from the ground to the table.

It's funny to think that I will have a new babe in arms before this rice crop is harvested. I will be 32 weeks this coming week.