Welcoming Cooper

We're so happy to announce the birth of Cooper Clement Hill, who arrived on Sunday, March 27th at 10:30 in the morning, weighing 7 lbs, 15 oz. He is a healthy baby, and we were released to go back home the next morning.

Knowing how fast Jack arrived, we left ourselves plenty of time to get to the hospital, and because it was a Sunday morning we had no traffic and made the normally one hour drive in 10 minutes! I had a full team of the OBGYN, midwife/doula, pediatrician (required in Kenya to be present), nurses, and Dusty of course. The labor came hard and fast and left no time for the epidural - so I had a natural childbirth even though I would have preferred otherwise. Additionally, it was "back labor," meaning the baby's face was turned the wrong way, so the pain was intense.

We are all very grateful that Cooper and I are both healthy, and we are recovering well. He is so sleepy at this point that we can barely wake him up to feed him, and yet he still manages to be awake in the middle of the night. Now for a few photos:

Jack enjoyed snuggling up next to me in the hospital bed. He's not quite sure what to make of the whole baby thing, but he's doing a great job and is happy to have a brother.

A rare wakeful moment on the Rift Valley sheepskin we bought for Cooper.

Tessa is completely in love with Cooper, and having a baby in the house has been a great joy for her. She holds him all the time and enjoys dressing him and helping with diaper changes.

The Princess Zahra maternity ward. Jack had just knocked his ear on Cooper's car seat so he wasn't too happy here.

Cooper, snuggly in his multiple blankets in the hospital bassinet. East Africans love to bundle their babies, but we were very surprised the staff never placed a knit cap on his head like they do in the States.

Riding on the bassinet and banging it into the walls - a nice, quick introduction into what Cooper can expect from his siblings' activity level.

Happy mom, sleepy baby about 7 hours after the delivery.

Happy father, uncertain brother about 5 hours after the birth.

Tired and content.

Our first Kenyan visitor, Salome, who was thrilled with Cooper - and he was pretty interested in her too!

We praise God for this amazing gift - a beautiful baby boy, a safe delivery, a morning drive to the hospital with no traffic, quality hospital staff, meals at home provided by friends, and an apartment to stay in while we recover and apply for Cooper's birth certificate and passport.

Small Towners in the Big City

Before we left Musoma, and in the middle of a heat wave without power, I commented, "If Nairobi is this hot and having electricity issues I will be SERIOUSLY disappointed." Apparently I said that so strongly that Tessa timidly asked, "what does 'seriously' mean?"

Fortunately, I have not been disappointed - it is cooler here, and we've barely lost electricity at all - just blinks here and there. We're not having an ant problem, milk is easy to buy, the kids and I love the bathtub, we've been to a couple of restaurants, and we have a grocery store nearby. On the health front, we've visited the OBGYN and hospital twice, met with a doula/midwife, and found out that partial epidurals are available. So the list of things to which I was looking forward has been met. Yea!

Traffic is just as atrocious as I remembered, and the apartment is quite "cozy" (read: small), but we're managing fine. Home schooling is going surprisingly well, and Dusty's able to walk down the hill to the office to do his work on the computer and with colleagues. The kids have made a few friends at the tiny playground next door, and we're settling in well.

Having said these things though, it's clear that we're small town folks in the big city. We find ourselves readily speaking Swahili to Kenyans, who speak perfect English but enjoy Swahili too. Dusty's managing parking fine, but I have still resisted parallel parking our truck on the hill of our apartment complex. We're experiencing sticker shock at the prices of medical care - in Musoma it costs less than $5 to visit the doctor at the clinic - here it's about $40. Granted: the care is a bit different too!

The kids thought that a car alarm was a bird singing. They are fascinated by the traffic and ceaselessly comment on all the large trucks and buses. They referred to traffic yesterday as "the parade." They continue to talk and pray about malaria, which really isn't an issue, so we don't have to use our nets. They're thrilled by having ice cream in the freezer (well, we all are), grapes in the fridge, and store-bought cookies. The milk from the carton/bag tastes different to them, so Tessa decided it must come from a "different cow" than the one from which we get milk in Musoma.

But with all the big city has to offer, we still are focused on the main reason for our being here - waiting for this baby to come into the world, and into the Hill family. I'm getting a bit of stage fright, Dusty's trying to figure out how to navigate Nairobi and the American Embassy to make the baby an American, and the kids continue to pray that "the baby has fun in Mama's tummy."

Surely the next time I post, we'll have the Little One out, named, videoed, and photographed to our hearts' content. Till then, thank you for all your encouragement and prayers!

Life in Nairobi So Far

From today - March 24th. Due date is April 3rd, but for obvious reasons, I'm hoping the baby comes as soon as possible. Two of our biggest concerns are being stuck in the very tight parallel parking here at the apartment or stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital.
Our mornings are spent in kindergarten home school. Jack plays on the floor with trains, colors, and blocks while Tessa and I work together. Occasionally he joins in for reading and other activities. Temporarily home schooling Tessa is good practice as it appears that we will be home schooling once we move to Uganda as well. So far, it's going quite well, but I do wonder how it will keep going once the baby comes.
Tessa dancing to the Sheryl Crow song from the movie "Cars." Both kids love rocking out every now and then.
Blowing out the candles on her pink cupcakes on her actual 6th birthday. I could only find some odd floating candles in the shop, and only 2 of the 6 would light. We topped the cupcakes with ice cream and real strawberries - the biggest treat. We had already celebrated her birthday early with her friends in Musoma with a butterfly birthday cake, and I'm so glad we did - this birthday celebration was just the 4 of us, but was still fun (except when Jack blew the candles out first and got in a bit of trouble!).
Opening presents after breakfast on her birthday from care packages (thanks Wendy and Nana!) and us.
Kids get creative when resources are few. This evening Tessa decided to make herself into a pirate by coloring an eye patch and taping it to her face with Scotch tape - topped by a hat. I think Dusty got her to say "Arrgh" here. Cutest oddball pirate I've ever seen.
Care package arrived with Cinderella clothes for Barbie - thanks Wendy!
Wendy, my cousin, sent some Duplo blocks for Jack - they've seen a lot of happy daily use. We're so thankful!
A nice quiet activity - both kids reading on the couch.

Nairobi Bound

On Sunday, March 6th we will be making the drive from Musoma, Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya. For the most part, I'm grateful to go, but there are a few disadvantages as well. Here's how the lists boil down:

Why I'm looking forward to being in Nairobi:
1. The climate! It's nearly 6,000 feet high, so it's always cooler there, and we've been dealing with heat like we've never known in Musoma. This has been more difficult being pregnant, but also because with 7 hours of daily electricity rationing, we frequently can't run a fan.

2. Electricity! While we're being cut daily, Nairobi folks are getting cut 3-5 hours only once a week.

3. Nakumatt - a real grocery store (plus) to make meals so much easier! Think Target - Kenya style. The kids think it's a treat to climb into a shopping cart. When you ask Jack "where did you learn that?" he often says, "Nakumatt," but why he says that remains a mystery. At Nakumatt I can buy...

4. ...Pasteurized/Homogenized milk! No more buying milk from the bucket on the back of the milkman's bicycle, boiling it, letting it cool for hours before putting it in the fridge (if it's on), then scraping off the cream in the morning.

5. Bathtub! We are staying in the apartment where we stayed when Jack was born, and it has a bathtub, which we don't have here in Musoma. Here we use big laundry basins for the kids. My pregnant body and I are looking forward to experiencing something resembling weightlessness, and the kids always have a blast in a real bathtub.Tessa in the tub at the Nairobi apartment right before Jack was born.

6. Restaurants! It will be very nice to not have to cook every day for every meal, whether we go out or order take-out on occasion. We have four restaurants in Musoma, but two of them only serve fish/chicken and fries, and the other two sometimes make one wonder if it would have been better to stay home and cook/clean for ourselves.

7. Ant-free home. We are currently experiencing the worst ant invasion we've ever seen. Maybe this is because we're in the dry season, but we've had several dry seasons without problems like this. They've invaded our entire kitchen - even the fridge, the floors, the back porch table, the dining table, the dog's dish, and sometimes the toilets too. We put out ant traps, but they march on, so we've taken to spraying them with a water bottle that has 10% bleach.

8. Paved roads. Ok, I know there are many roads in Nairobi with frightening potholes, and lots of traffic, but the 4km dirt road we must use to get to town here in Musoma is definitely NOT agreeing with my pregnant belly. It is a rough drive on all of us, plus we've had to use a detour since Sept/Oct as they have been slowly working on a 3/4 km stretch. Today was the first day we noticed something resembling pavement on that stretch. My patience has ended, and I don't want that road to be "the straw that broke the amniotic sack."

9. Hospital! The books tell me I could have the baby any day now that I'm in my 36th week. Being in the same city as a really good hospital will provide relief from anxiety for me - I do NOT want to have a baby in Musoma. I've only had one prenatal visit this whole time, so it will be good to finally meet with the doctor who will be delivering the baby and finally get some prenatal (and natal) care.The hospital where Jack was born and #3 will be born if we can make it through traffic!

10. The baby! We're all eagerly anticipating seeing and getting to know this new person in our family. Hopefully we can choose a name during the eight hour drive to Nairobi!

What I'm not looking forward to about being in Nairobi:
1. Having to borrow someone else's washing machine as the machine for the apartment complex is broken. Fortunately we can buy and use disposable diapers and let the cloth diapers wait till we're back in Musoma.

2. Cooping up the family in a small 2 bedroom apartment with parquet floors which echo. And no garden with a lovely view of Lake Victoria like we have here!

3. Making new friends / reestablishing older friendships - finding friends for the kids to play with might be a challenge as many of our friends who used to live in Nairobi have now moved away.

4. Homeschooling Tessa while entertaining Jack and then adding an infant to care for on top of it all. Can I keep up with her curriculum? Thank goodness it's only kindergarten - surely I can handle that, right? Tessa in front of her school in Musoma

5. Nairobi traffic. Anyone not having experienced it might not believe me when I say it is my number two cause for worry about having this baby (see #7). I do NOT want to deliver a child in our truck!

6. Dusty being in Entebbe, Uganda for the first 5 days after we get there - I have a lot of phone numbers of friends and a good taxi driver's number just in case I need to make a run for the hospital! However, I'm looking forward to this opportunity for him to see the city where we'll start living in 2011, get to know the team members there, look for housing, and get a better understanding of what his role will be... as long as he makes it back to Nairobi before the baby.pregnant with Tessa in 2004 in front of our office in Entebbe

7. Delivery with no hope of an epidural - enough said. I am NOT a "natural" kind of gal when it comes to childbirth.

So I only came up with seven disadvantages, and I'm sure I could have listed more than ten things to which I'm looking forward. It must be a good plan!