The Lab experience

Today was fun. I walked into town with another German volunteer and we did a bit of shopping and I also needed to get a pregnancy blood and urine test done. So we asked around some shops to see if there was a Lab nearby and got given some ok directions in some very broken English. Amazingly enough we found it, although it did not really look like a lab. There were heaps of people cued up and I thought I would just see if I had the right place and sure enough I did and the line was for another scan or something so I got to go straight in. I decided I wanted to see the needle come out of a sterile pack as it was a bit of a grubby place. In no time at all the blood test was done and done very well I might add. The needle got recapped (a big no no in NZ) and then thrown into an open box.
I was then given a tiny tiny little glass pot. Now when I say tiny I mean tiny. Smaller than a film canister. Lets say about 2cm high with a 1cm opening at the top. So I venture into the loo to find there is no light so only limited visibility and think to myself. How am I going to do this? It was a squat loo and to be perfectly frank it was hard to see the stream to catch it and hard to catch it in that wee pot without getting it all over your hand. So next thing after wee is collected, I am thinking that I can't take this little pot that is all wet and give it to them, so I wash it under some water being careful not to get water inside it and then dry it on the inside of my top. I then take it back to the lab where I get to place it next to all the other little wet pots, but mine is beautiful and dry. They must think I am some amazing woman to collect that specimen so cleanly :)
I then see a lab guy holding up another little pot to see if it is clean before handing it to someone else who will also bring it back soon and add it to the little waiting cue of urine samples.
1/2 and hour later though I had my results and all was good. Quite a new experience.

Yesterday was yesterday but today is today

I feel fantastic today. I woke up and did not need to vomit, I did not feel dizzy or faint during the morning and usually I would be sleeping now but funnily I don't feel that desperation to sleep like I had been. So instead I will rest with my feet up and write for a bit. I think I must have turned the corner and have officially left the first trimester of pregnancy. Wooo Hooo!!!!!

David managed to get the business thing paid that he had tried so hard to do for several days. It took him all morning but it is done now. Just a few more things to do and then time to look for a new accountant. Our accountant does not want us anymore :( but we are happy about this because we were thinking of changing as we have very different views on bribes and he is fully aware that we will not pay them. So not quite sure where or who we will get one. English is not spoken so much in kollegal and so Mysore would be closer but our business is in Bangalore. Mmmm, what to do?

Tough

After a wonderful Easter weekend and especially a really special brunch full of eggs, fresh cut fruit, hot cross buns brought from Ooty and then a treasure Easter hunt for our kids and for the girls that did not get to go home for the holidays, I walked around the compound here. I looked at the mangoes ripening on the trees and could picture plucking one soon and sitting under the tree with sticky juice running everywhere and then having to run from the monstrous ants that would be after me. I enjoyed walking in the cool of the Bunyan trees, looking at the tomatoes growing, the corn, the cows, the vine of some sort that would be growing some mystery fruit or vege soon. Would it be a melon, pumpkin, cucumber? They all look the same to me before they fruit. The place seemed to be fertile and alive and fresh and perfect. I felt like I had a wee snippet of the garden of Eden and I felt fulfilled. It was a wonderful feeling.

Then I don't know what or how it happened but today was the first day where I thought I wanted to return to NZ. We had issues getting some business paper work done and DC had to line up for an hour for the 3 rd time only to be told he still needed to bring more identification. Now it was not that that really bothered me as I know that in India things take longer and small things become big things but I hate seeing DC so upset about it. I don't like seeing his frustration and him being down and so I thought to myself, if we are just going to be here going up and down, up and down and my hubby is not happy then why are we here. Maybe we should just go, pack up and leave. I just want to see him happy and fulfilled.

So those were my thoughts and then I have to weigh those thoughts up and all the things that have happened to get us here, all those "coincidences". Yesterday felt like paradise and yet today I wanted to leave. Lots of jumbled thoughts swimming around. I love India, I love the people but some days it is hard and then you get over it and you carry on. I guess we are still waiting to see how we fit in here at the girls home and see what God does. I love these kids here but don't feel that I am contributing much yet. Time, time, time I guess.

So there's my wee waffle that may or not make sense.

and this...

Just wanted to add that my husband is my hero. He did so well yesterday driving in the hot sweat causing sun, the mechanical awkwardness, the potholes, finding ones way, avoiding trucks, buses, cars, bikes of all kinds, oxen and carts, people and other various animals and lets not forget the 7 hours it took plus around town stuff. You are a legend my love.

What a trip

We set off early yesterday morning. Our goal was to go to Bangalore to pick up a puppy, a golden Lab for Daughter no.1. There was great excitement. So, all went well on the way up to Bangalore. We stopped off at a McDonalds as there is nothing like that in Kollegal and everyone had a chicken burger... no beef here remember. I must say that I have never been a huge Mcdees fan but I am now enjoying a spice free burger when I can. It is a nice change for the taste buds.

We arrived in Bangalore to R and L place and they had lunch ready for us all. I ate far too much and am still regretting it now. When pregnant, the gut just lets the food sit and sit and repeat and repeat on you. Anyway..... after lunch we headed off to get this puppy. It was hot and we were all sweating and the car that we have been lent to drive is in somewhat of an antique status but we are so glad to have some transport. We took one wrong turn which wasn't too bad considering we are in a huge city with no street names and you travel by land marks.


We had also bought an Austrian girl and German lady up with us from Kollegal and the Austrian girl was going to be staying on in Bangalore for a while and going to help out at a place called Home of hope I have been inspired by this video and would love to go and visit some time. This is real mercy in action. The reason I am telling this now is that where we picked up the puppy from was on the same street as Home of Hope. It was great to see where it is. It is a home for the destitute and those that no one wants, just amazing. So after traveling on past there we came to a place called accept. This is where we were picking up the puppy. It turns out that it is a hospice and hospital and home for people with HIV. Oh man, these are all things I would love to help with. Again, love in action.


We were then taken to see the puppies, so so cute. D1 picked her one and we went to pay. It turns out that the payment goes as a donation to the Home. So it's nice to be getting something that is wanted and being able to give to a great cause. So after much Ooooing and Ahhhing, we set off with one puppy in tow, back to pick up our German lady again and make a couple more stops so that we will be on the road back to Kollegal by about 4pm. But.... David started to notice a problem with the clutch and it got worse and worse until it was hard to get out of gear and with not so good brakes this is not a great look. By the time we got back to R & L it was not doing well at all. We had a mechanic come and look and of course it worked perfectly for him and he said there was nothing wrong and that maybe it had just over heated. So we headed off for another 10km but the clutch was getting really bad again. We stopped at B & V place and had a drink and it was about 6pm by now. Then we decided that if we could get out of the city then at least we would not need to change gears so much and maybe we could get home. This was not meant to be. We all piled in the car only to find it would not engage into gear at all now. So out we get again, back to B & V and call another mechanic who came and started to get to work on the car. It looked like we would need to spend the night in Bangalore with B & V. This meant all of us (8) plus our German lady and a puppy with it's first night away from it's mum and B & V in a two bedroom flat. I was feeling quite sick at this stage from the heat, travel and eating too much so I started making visits to the loo to vomit. David went out with B to get some dinner for everyone and managed to have an wee accident on the way but they were ok. B had had an accident in the morning as well in his brothers car, it was not looking like a good automobile day.


By about 9:15pm the guys arrived back with dinner. I can't say I ate anything though. Then by 9:45pm the car was fixed and it was time to head off. Poor DC, he had traveled all day in this very hard to drive car, in the heat and now we were heading off for another 3.5hr trip in the dark. At least now the clutch was in good order. A few of the the kids were crying at this stage due to tiredness and trying to find space to lie down but the puppy was fantastic the whole trip.


It's amazing how much traffic there can be at 10pm in Bangalore and it took us a while to get out and on the open road but once we did id was better..... for a while. Then we saw the lightening and the wind came up and then the rain. There were two issues with this. 1. The wiper blades looked like they were made for a toy car and 2. We were missing a back window that had fallen in on our last journey :)
It made for an interesting trip back but we made it and I was pleased to be back home again, kids in bed, puppy to sleep and us to bed. I am still feeling bit sick this morning. I think travel and pregnancy don't mix well with me.


So all I can say is thanks God for getting us back in one piece and please.... a car would be nice :)

Seven a side

I woke up early in the morning in Melbourne on our way back from new Zealand. We were staying over night at some friends who graciously picked us up late at night and let us all bunk down for the night. We are so grateful to them. So as I was saying…. I woke up, rolled over to D.C and said, “I feel pregnant”. This was the beginning of our Yatra back to India.

We arrived in Singapore after a flight of a vomiting child and the first thing I did was sneak away and find a chemist that sold a pregnancy tester. Sure enough two strong red lines appeared and I whispered to myself in the cubical, “Oh my, I really am.”
I then returned to D.C and asked if he was ready for 7 a side. We were both in a bit of disbelief as we had been told after an issue with Son 6 that we probably would not be able to have any more and that if we did it would be very dangerous to me. D.C happened to be chatting to two of our good friends at the time so we spilled the beans but said to keep quiet as we need to get scans done etc before we tell kids or family. It was a funny feeling because we were not expecting it but were also feeling happy about it. We kept looking at each other, laughing and then shaking our heads.

After arriving back to Bangalore the symptoms of nausea and vomiting set in and I was very tired. We then made our way to kollegal and I was so excited to be there but had no energy to spend as much time as I would have liked with all the girls there. It was hard keeping it from our kids and doing secret runs to the toilet to try and vomit quietly but I am happy to say that after a trip back to Bangalore, we had a scan and all looks perfectly normal and baby's heart was beating away and he/she was wiggling around. I was 9 weeks by this stage so we decided to tell everyone.
The kids were so excited and screamed and hugged each other. It was so nice to see how welcoming they were for another addition to our family. We also told our parents who were pretty good about it. It was a bit of a shock to them but I think it helped that we had had the scan and they knew all was well.

So it’s been a huge increase to our family. Not only do we become a family of 9 this year but we also gained another 62 girls. I am now feeling so much better than I was and can begin to enjoy having so many kids around. I feel extra happy because some of the girls have started to call me Mumma Aunty. I can’t tell you how much that warms my heart. A feeling of acceptance.

One of the girls has given me a photo of her Mum and I have put it on our fridge. She looked so lovingly at it and was so proud of her Mum. I asked her if she was still living and found that she was. Then this evening she was so sad because her Mum was supposed to have called her on the phone and didn’t. She had waited all day and the call never came. It was so sad to see the sadness in her eyes.

Most of the girls will be going away for the holidays, some to single parents, some to extended family and then a few that have no where to go will stay back here with us. We plan to make it a special time for these girls. Do a trip to the zoo that is about 1.5 hrs away in Mysore and just spoil them a bit. It’s a time when it hits home for them that they do not have family. Not all the girls will be going back to a good situation though. Many have fathers that drink and no mother or two parents but alcohol causing violence. So the time back home has been limited to 15 days. Apparently the girls often return under nourished and their clothes get taken and given to others. It’s hard because they so badly want to see family but it is not always a good experience for them.

Last but not least….. It was my birthday yesterday and I woke to a trail of hearts and arrows made on the floor by my girls  and some of the volunteers staying here. The trail lead to a decorated lounge and kitchen where some presents sat on the table and candles on a plate and a couple of little cakes to share. they had gone to so much trouble and had snuck in at mid night to do it all. My hubby had written a lovely blog entry For My Bride, it was so lovely and one of those moments that is better than any gift that could be given.We also went out for breakfast and then I came home and made 3 cakes to share with our huge extended family. i should have made 4 but never mind. So all in all, I had a lovely day. Didn’t expect to be having a baby at age 39, how exciting.