Miss Kolka

The day yesterday finally came and went and we are relieved. Everything seems to be going fine, the baby is ready but the strange itchy thing will be closely monitored at the hospital from now on and until the birth. But when will that be? Impossible to know but a little something tells me we wont have to wait too long.

In the meanwhile, all christmas cards have been sent, christmas gifts have been wrapped and we are getting ready to have a lovely christmas eve with my dad and Lise. As usual the food will be exquisite and plenty of wine on the table, that is for all but us, babylicious and me. But we'll enjoy it none the less - give me tasty food and good company any time and Im happy. Hope Pan will like it, this being his first Noel abroad and away from his family.

And for christmas day we've also planned to have some yummi stuff, such as duck with apples, alot of "Sild" or harengs we found in the delicatessen shop "autour du Saumon" and my grandma's wonderful Cartron chocolates. This combined with old christmas movies and we are set for the waiting.

Merry christmas Everyone.

Let me say it again. 0.35%. That doesn't sound like a big probability. Well that is the number of pregnancies in France that suffer from a problem in the 3rd trimester called Cholestasis. A rather rare liver abnormality that if left untreated can be hazardous for the baby - although research does not confirm that and actually little is know about the disease at this point, although it seems to be more common in some places that others (for example in Scandinavia where 1-2% of pregnant women suffer from it) - Its main charasteristic is an unstoppable itch for the mother-to-be, and both the itch and the liver function can be treated with drugs. But it often means that labour has to be induced early, or from 37 weeks to not risk the baby health. In rare cases, women can wait until the full 40 weeks. And the only cure to this is the birth - then the condition disappears by itself. Hmm.. so lets say between 0.35% and 1% - what are the odds?

Well little probability, but enough since I got it.   

Weird, Tomorrow is our date, 37 weeks, that we have been waiting for for so long. Where I thought I could finally run up stairs and just do any things that pregnant women do at the end of their pregnancies. But it seems that we will be challenged once more. Lets see what the doctor says tmr.  

 

Only a few days left until I find my freedom again! Until I loose it to motherhood that is :)
But that's not a problem. I just can't wait to walk down the street and not worry if these cramps that Im feeling are normal or something actually to worry about. From tuesday on, Babylicious can come whenever it wants... Im ready, baby daddy is ready, the bags are ready and all we want is to get to know this little person soon.

Also I don't want to have to wait until the 13th of january! Or even the 22nd (some doctors say that they will actually wait THAT long before anything will be triggered). That seems like forever. I won't have any nice advent calendar gifts to open anymore and PAn will start work again on the 5th of january.

So baby, if you please, don't imitate your mom and be late. Its not polite.

Something I thought I would never miss in the countdown to christmas was book advertising. Now I just can't help but wonder why so few books are on commercials here in France just before christmas. I never see one on tv or hear special adverts on the radio. Sure there are radio shows with book critics all over (no radio talk show can exist without their literary commentator it seems) but somehow this does not seem satisfying to me. Often the choices these critics make can seem obscure or a bit above my comphrehension and yet I love to read. Isn't it a bit unusual for a country that praises itself for literature that it seems to hide these particular assets during the biggest shopping fest of the year?

 Pan pointed out to me that perhaps it is because it's "cheap to have to sell your book", its beneath the author's dignity to advertise, people should just know what to buy. And Im sure 2 or even 3 % of France's population knows exactly what book to buy when and where and is very aware of the choices they have. The problem is that the rest (perhaps 97%) are totally lost when they enter a bookshop. Shouldn't book editors try to reach them as well - instead of counting only on the small intelligentsia? Books should be for the masses. There is nothing more enjoyable than reading a good book, and it can certainly compensate for all the bad tv programs like the reality shows about France's poor that live on the streets, Star academy with their awful singers or all the replays of old and corny christmas movies shown on tv every single year (WHo want's to see "Le pére Noel est une ordure" yet again?? Its from 1982 for crying out loud!)

But I guess its all down to traditions. In Iceland, its common to get at least 2-3 books under the tree, so a few weeks before christmas, tv stations are drowning in book commercials - advertising gets twice as much time than usual in this golden period - and you hear about most of the books at some point - so before you go to the bookstore, you actually already have an idea of what to buy. I have gotten many of the most interesting books I've read this way. From Santa. But then again, at this time of year, In Iceland, its dark and people love to stay in their warm homes with cookies and a good book. Christmas in Paris is more like, "lets stuff the goose and eat it - then we'll drink some champagne to celebrate". Here books are just for the metro - and now the ipods have taken over. So its cultural I guess.

SO I have added more pictures of the babyshower, of a danish christmas "party" we had at home and some belated ones of the auntie-to-be on Flickr. Check it out.

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