Parenthood Education Class (Number One, or Number Six?)

We went to the Corniche Hospital Friday for the parenthood education classes from one of the midwives. Somehow, we managed to get assigned to class number six of six classes, so we sat in on the last class. In two weeks, we go to the first of six classes. Anyway, class number six was about bathing the baby, blood tests for the baby, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (or Cot Death, as our British midwife called it), etc. Now I know how to bathe a plastic baby doll.

Today, we returned to the Corniche Hospital for a quick checkup. All the tests are normal (obviously, they're testing the baby and not Christine then!).

I could hear our little girl's heart beating (I think I heard Morse code for "LET ME OUT," but maybe I'm projecting).

We're certainly getting ready for her. The nanny is all set (her name is Mishrak, an Ethiopian girl with excellent recommendations from other teaching couples at our school). The car will soon be ours (I have to do the bureaucratic dance of death next week to switch over registration, and then the car will be ours, in shallah).

I've also booked us a room at a government-run resthouse ("concrete cancer," according to LONELY PLANET, but we've stayed there once before) in the middle of the Empty Quarter in the Arabian desert...It's in the Liwa Oasis, and the scenery there is breath-taking. The red dunes and desert views are a Martian landscape...I'm looking forward to it.

April showers bring baby showers...Actually, May will bring the showers, beginning with an online baby shower for Christine's family on 3 May. Then sometime next month, some of our friends here are having a baby shower for us. It is the only type of SHOWER that we will have in Abu Dhabi!

Now, if I could just think of an excuse to have a Husband Shower. I have a list of things that I would like...