In the last blog I mentioned I was 5 weeks pregnant in Egypt. Just after that trip we went to the Dr. to see if we had multiples since we had used Clomid to assist in getting pregnant. The Dr. found twins immediately and Curt was PSYCHED! Then she thought she saw a third sac, but couldn’t grab a heartbeat on it, so she referred us to the sonologist to confirm if it was twins or triplets. On the 3rd day of the 3rd month we found out – we were having TRIPLETS. We had wanted to wait until our trip to the US in late March to tell people of the pregnancy, but this was too big for us to keep to ourselves. WAY too big. Rather freaked out, but thankful there weren’t 4, we called my folks first and then called Curt’s the next morning to share the big, no, HUGE news. They of course were happy to hear we were finally pregnant, but of course as in shock as we were that it was with 3. It’s still a little heard to believe, but we felt pretty lucky I hadn’t had any issues with morning sickness or any of the other worries that come with ART and the first trimester.
We had the opportunity to head to the US for a professional conference in late March 2008 so we tacked on visits with family and friends who were kind enough to clear their schedules and come see us! By this time I was about 11 weeks pregnant, so we were telling everyone else our shocking news. It was great to see people, and I was feeling like I was already “showing” – silly me.
My folks flew out to Atlanta to see us and then we took a week long tour of the southeast, hitting Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, Pawley’s Island, SC (where Aunt Linda and Uncle Don hosted us!), then back to Atlanta. Curt and I then headed to Chicago for the weekend for a training for him and to catch up with some friends. It was lovely to experience some cold, some rain, some sun and all the in between weather that is spring in the US. His parents drove out to see us for our last night in Chicago and then we headed back to Doha.
The middle of May we headed to Muscat, Oman with our friends Kevin and Chris (from Egypt) for a short weekend. It was just lovely. It was hotter than hell already (in the hi 90s) and I was feeling more pregnant, but it’s so hard to imagine that something only an hour and a half away (by air) can be so much greener!!! And they have small mountains, which makes for some nice scenery. We rented a car and went to a wadi (it literally means, “where water runs”) one day and saw wild donkeys and wild goats and various date palm farms. In the rainy season (apparently they have one) wadis will actually become rivers that head out to sea. We hit up a cool hotel for lunch right off the water, checked out the souk and the boys bought some Omani hats. Muscat is quite different from Doha. There is lots of signage on the roads labeling streets, there seems to be some sort of zoning when it comes to their buildings, and people are more laid back, even though it is still obviously a Muslim country. It is more acceptable to see mixed genders hanging out, even in couples, than it seems to be in Doha.
That Saturday we went to the grand mosque which was AMAZING. It is only a few years old and they have the world’s largest Persian carpet inside. Supposedly it took 400 women 6 years to make, or something like that. I was allowed to go in, however I had to wear pants, a long sleeved shirt and cover my hair and neck completely. Keep in mind it was in the mid to hi 90s at 9 AM. CRAZY! Then, Kevin and Chris decided to try one last time to get Kevin a silver Arabic coffee set, but the bargaining was not to be done. We opted for a light lunch and then we paid to use one of the hotel pools for the rest of the afternoon before we caught our flight home. We would definitely recommend Oman, though we would encourage people to head out of Muscat and spend time in Salalah, which is supposed to be pretty amazing. We also heard the snorkeling was pretty cool, but we weren’t feeling up for it.
A week after our trip we moved into a 3 BR apartment to get ready for the babies! Luckily we don’t have much stuff so it only took about 5 hours to pack our whole duplex and then about 3 car loads to get it over to the new place with help from friends. I of course was not much help as by this time I was pushing 19 weeks of pregnancy.
I will also add some additional pics from Doha that we’ve been meaning to share. Just some oddities you see around town. Enjoy!
We had the opportunity to head to the US for a professional conference in late March 2008 so we tacked on visits with family and friends who were kind enough to clear their schedules and come see us! By this time I was about 11 weeks pregnant, so we were telling everyone else our shocking news. It was great to see people, and I was feeling like I was already “showing” – silly me.
My folks flew out to Atlanta to see us and then we took a week long tour of the southeast, hitting Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, Pawley’s Island, SC (where Aunt Linda and Uncle Don hosted us!), then back to Atlanta. Curt and I then headed to Chicago for the weekend for a training for him and to catch up with some friends. It was lovely to experience some cold, some rain, some sun and all the in between weather that is spring in the US. His parents drove out to see us for our last night in Chicago and then we headed back to Doha.
The middle of May we headed to Muscat, Oman with our friends Kevin and Chris (from Egypt) for a short weekend. It was just lovely. It was hotter than hell already (in the hi 90s) and I was feeling more pregnant, but it’s so hard to imagine that something only an hour and a half away (by air) can be so much greener!!! And they have small mountains, which makes for some nice scenery. We rented a car and went to a wadi (it literally means, “where water runs”) one day and saw wild donkeys and wild goats and various date palm farms. In the rainy season (apparently they have one) wadis will actually become rivers that head out to sea. We hit up a cool hotel for lunch right off the water, checked out the souk and the boys bought some Omani hats. Muscat is quite different from Doha. There is lots of signage on the roads labeling streets, there seems to be some sort of zoning when it comes to their buildings, and people are more laid back, even though it is still obviously a Muslim country. It is more acceptable to see mixed genders hanging out, even in couples, than it seems to be in Doha.
That Saturday we went to the grand mosque which was AMAZING. It is only a few years old and they have the world’s largest Persian carpet inside. Supposedly it took 400 women 6 years to make, or something like that. I was allowed to go in, however I had to wear pants, a long sleeved shirt and cover my hair and neck completely. Keep in mind it was in the mid to hi 90s at 9 AM. CRAZY! Then, Kevin and Chris decided to try one last time to get Kevin a silver Arabic coffee set, but the bargaining was not to be done. We opted for a light lunch and then we paid to use one of the hotel pools for the rest of the afternoon before we caught our flight home. We would definitely recommend Oman, though we would encourage people to head out of Muscat and spend time in Salalah, which is supposed to be pretty amazing. We also heard the snorkeling was pretty cool, but we weren’t feeling up for it.
A week after our trip we moved into a 3 BR apartment to get ready for the babies! Luckily we don’t have much stuff so it only took about 5 hours to pack our whole duplex and then about 3 car loads to get it over to the new place with help from friends. I of course was not much help as by this time I was pushing 19 weeks of pregnancy.
I will also add some additional pics from Doha that we’ve been meaning to share. Just some oddities you see around town. Enjoy!
1) Me, my mom and dad at a plantation outside of Charleston, SC
2) Curt boozing it up with Kristin and BDub at ACPA - I was sleeping
3) Me, my mom, Aunt Linda and Curt at Pawley's Island
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