How we enjoy American TV

Back at my parent's house, we have this little item called a Slingbox.

Now, Brian handled the purchasing of our Slingbox. And then my dad handled installation. So I really know very little about this whole thing but I'll try to explain it. Well, as much as I know about it.

Basically, this box plugs into an American cable box. Then it is hooked up to the internet, either through a wireless connection or a landline. Since it is connected through the internet, you can connect to the box and watch it over the internet. Hence, we can watch the TV over our internet here in Switzerland.

Make sense?

If not, please direct all questions to my husband.

But in the end, we were able to watch the Ravens beat the Browns last night. And see the replay of Tom Brady's injury, ouch!

**Yes, it has been brought to my attention that the Ravens actually beat the Bengals, not the Browns. And yes I am completely ashamed that I made that mistake. But I'm leaving the mistake there, just to illustrate how I clearly am losing touch with American 'reality' and being sucked into European-ness.

Can you hear that thud?

There it is again. Can you hear it?

It is the sound of me banging my head against the wall.

Went to the doctor's this morning. I was told "It doesn't look good" and then was asked to call in the morning so they could do a test to see where my bladder infection stands.

Then the doctor said, "It is hard being pregnant for the first three months in Switzerland, yes?"

YES.

Life is Good

I'm watching American football.

Go Ravens!

I'll post tomorrow about how I can do this from the comfort of my bed while I try not to puke. In the meantime, hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

One day at a time

That's how I've been taking this week and it has been going pretty well! I've kept all my meals and meds down. I have gotten sick a handful of times but it hasn't affected the big meals or meds. And I feel a ton better. Just kind of sick of eating at this point. I feel like I constantly have something in my mouth!

We've been able to get out of the house a little bit this week too. Tuesday night we went to a birthday party for one of Brian's coworkers children, Wednesday evening we went to the Badi, and Friday we went to Park Im Gruene with a friend.

We've tried to make sure Marion has friend time as well so she spent Monday morning at a friend's house and then had Spielgruppe two mornings this week.

As Brian puts it, my focus this week has been to get through the day, rest, eat, and not puke. And create human life.

And as far as I know, all is going well in those areas. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday morning to check on my infection so I'm hoping that has gone away too.

Brian's been doing everything else. Grocery shopping, putting Marion to bed, and making meals when he is home (the kitchen still kind of makes me gag). Seriously, this guy deserves the award for father of the year. He's got two kids at home to tke care of!

Thanks for all the well wishes, I really appreciate it!

Heard at our house this morning

Me: Getting sick.

Brian: What do you think you are doing? You aren't allowed to do that!

All's going well here. I am feeling better, despite getting sick this morning. That was before I took my medication so all is still good. Except that Brian thinks he can control my stomach. It was good for a laugh!

Rabbits!

Our next door neighbor's son, Ramen, recently got two rabbits. Marion is in love. She already adored Ramen. Everytime she sees him she yells "Hi Ramen!" and then looks at me to tell me she is going to go play with him. Now he has two rabbits? He has now reached idol status.

Here are some pictures of the two of them playing with the rabbits. I have a feeling we will be visiting these rabbits often.

Well I landed myself in the hospital

Saturday started off okay. I was able to keep some bacon and Orangina down. And two doses of my medication for a bladder infection. But it just wasn't enough. I was starving and dehydrated and, by Saturday afternoon, I had some back aches.

Fearing a kidney infection, I called my doctor. He was worried about the same thing and had me go to the hospital.

So Brian and Marion dropped me off and I found my way to the check in desk. Luckily, the person there spoke a little English. But the forms were in German. I still haven't learned all of the official stuff so I was a little stuck. She was very nice though and helped walk me through it. Once I was checked in, she handed me my paperwork and told me where to go.

I followed her instructions but was still confused. No nurses station to direct me and everything was still in German. And I only had a doctor's name to go on. So I tracked down a nurse holding a crying baby in the hallway and asked her where to go. She sent me down a different hallway and I was able to find the doctor.

First thing on the list to do was get some pee and blood samples to check my infection. They checked my ketone level and then turned to me asking, "You are hungry, yes?"

I guess it was pretty obvious. I was starving. But couldn't find anything I wanted to eat or that I could keep down. It's a vicious cycle, this morning sickness. You should stay hydrated and full to avoid getting sick. Food aversions make that tougher. So if you don't eat, you get sick. Then of course you don't want to eat anything else and it all goes downhill from there.

Next, the doctor hit my back to check for a kidney infection. It didn't hurt so she was pretty confident that they were okay. But my ketone level concerned them so they started me on an IV right away.

My doctor arrived about an hour later to see my bloodwork results. They confirmed I didn't have a kidney infection (thank god, because the result would have been a three day stay in the hospital). However, he was also concerned about my morning sickness so he admitted me to see if they couldn't get it under control.

They got my medical background and then a nurse came by to take me to my room. I was told I'd be sharing a room with a woman who is 30 weeks pregnant and on bedrest. There's that lack of patient privacy again. It's going to take me awhile to get used to that considering our doctor's office back home wouldn't even release test results about Brian to me.

Anyway, as we were walking to my room, the nurse mentioned that she did acupuncture and asked if I would like to try it to alleviate the pain?

I said sure. I mean, why not? I'm in Switzerland, might as well do as the Swiss do.

Then she mentioned one of my medications was only available as a suppository.

And I immediately thought, "Acupuncture? Suppositories? Where the hell am I?"

So that's about as far as I'll go with this story. I've given more than enough information I think.

The acupuncture went well. It definitely helped although I had an ohmygod, i'mgoingtopassout moment while she was putting the needles in.

By 5 pm on Sunday I felt better and was ready to leave. The hospital was clean and nice but I felt nasty (hospital showers with an IV in your hand just aren't the same) and was worried about who was going to take care of Marion this week.

The doctor released me. But with the warning that if I don't keep my medicine down he's shipping my butt back to the hospital. So far so good today. And we are taking things slowly this morning at our household. Marion's at a friend's house getting some playtime in. Brian's at the grocery store stocking up on some food for me and then he'll go in to the office. And I'm trying to get some rest.

So that was my weekend. Aren't you jealous?

Happy Labor Day to all of you back in the States!