Sunday, May 27, 2012

It's official...Africa here we come!

Last week Jason was officially offered the position with the fellowship in Africa and the contract that goes with it. I put in my notice on 5/18/12 and announced at work that I will be leaving. My last day at work will be June 7th, and then every moment will be spent over the next month getting things settled before Jason departs for his training in Gaborone, Botswana in early July. After his training in Botswana, he will begin his project appointment in Nairobi, Kenya. Since this is all official now, I was able to purchase my airline ticket to Nairobi. I will fly United Air (leaving at 11:30 pm on Aug. 7th) to Washington DC, then Ethiopian Air to Addis Ababa, and then continue on Ethiopian Air to Nairobi. Overall, this will take 28 hours and I will gain two days, arriving midday on Aug. 9th.

This week was also monumental in that Jason presented his capstone project to his academic committee. His project was well received and the papers were signed which makes his doctoral degree official at graduation on June 8th. So very exciting! We are all very proud of him.

We also had another visit with our midwife and broke the news to her that we will be taking our pregnancy to Africa. She was very supportive and we will continue to get care from her until I am ready to depart. At our most recent appointment Jason finally got to hear the fetal heartbeat over the Doppler. The midwife had a bit of trouble finding the heartbeat because our little one was squirming around so much and wouldn't hold still. It was neat to hear the doppler's interpretation of the fetal movement. At one point it registered as a screeching sound which sounded very vocal in nature. Jason will get to attend one more midwife appointment and an ultrasound before he leaves, and then I will have one last midwife appointment before I leave to join him. At the ultrasound we will need to decide if we wish to know the sex of our baby. We are a bit on the fence about this, since neither of us cares much which sex we are having. We simply feel thankful to be starting a family. At the same time, knowing the sex may help to narrow down our names list. What it may come down to may be pure curiosity.

 

 

2 comments:

  1. I LOVE reading your blog! Thank you for sharing openly and honestly about your journey. I'm so excited for you!! Looking forward to reading more about your little jumping bean :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bao,
      I'm so glad you are enjoying the blog! Initially I just wanted to make sure that I remembered everything accurately, but as it has progressed I have really enjoyed the opportunity to keeps family and friends up to date on our adventures. We will definately keep posting about pregnancy, travel, work, and life in general.

      Thanks for reading.

      A&J

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