Baby Chari: The Big Questions

Friends,

I know that our pregnancy announcement has surprised (and excited) many of you and given lots of questions, so I will do my best to answer them all!

Q:  Is Baby Chari a boy or a girl?

A: Baby is one of those! God and our doctor know which one, but we have decided to wait until we are in the delivery room to find out.  Those of you who know us can guess who made this decision (hint, hint: it was not the impatient mommy!)  Nyasha really wants to experience this surprise and I want to give that to him—but I won’t lie, at every doctor appointment I pray that someone will slip and say “he or she” hahahaha

Your guess is as good as ours.  I think Baby is a boy, but we will know soon enough!

Q:  Will we remain in Zimbabwe on the mission field with the baby?

A: Absolutely.  I was certain of my call to Zimbabwe before I met Nyasha, long before we married and even more so now that we are serving God together.  I was worried about how this would work out in terms of my ability to serve, but when the people I work with learned of my pregnancy they were thrilled and feel that this experience just continues to validate my voice in the context in which I work.  I, like many women in Zimbabwe will strap baby to my back and get on with my work… I am sure that our caregiver training groups will be more exciting with a real baby as opposed to a therapy doll! I anticipate that they will also be slightly noisier as well!  (Baby wearing mamas I’d love your opinions on wraps and carriers!)

Q: How does Ru feel about being a big sister?

A: This was our biggest concern regarding the early timing of this baby; however I have to say that I was surprised at how excited she has been!  Nyasha’s brother and sister in law had their third baby last December and Ru was enchanted by Tina from the beginning.  She loves having a baby cousin and at that point instructed us that “We could have a baby anytime” but that she would prefer twins!  We knew that our baby would be a slightly different story and that there would be lots of emotions… and there have been.  She is so excited—and our doctor has been so great with her! He let her come into one appointment and see the baby on the ultrasound.  Her face lit up when she heard the heartbeat and she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.  The baby didn’t disappoint, he or she turned its little head and looked straight ahead and scratched its head! Ru was amazed and the doctor printed a picture that she has been carrying around ever since! She is convinced that baby is a little girl and she has already begun creating a duty roster that will allow her to hold the baby the most.  But she told us not to worry, that we will be able to hold Lucy (the dog who thinks she is a baby!)  

This does not mean that this transition will be easy.  We know that there are moments where she wonders about her history, the time she was in the womb and most importantly her birth mother.  We know that seeing this baby have experiences that she did not have will bring up more that we need to work on, but she also knows that we are in this together.  This little girl has our whole hearts and she knows that we are not afraid of the ways in which these transitions stretch us as a family. 

This was Ru when she found out she was going to be a big sister.  The preciousness in this photo is just too much.

Q: Will the baby be a citizen of the USA?

A: Yes.  Thank you for being concerned about these details!  The baby will be a citizen of the USA based on my citizenship.  At this time dual citizenship is not allowed between the USA and Zimbabwe, so we have to choose one.  For many reasons, we have made the choice for baby to be a US citizen.

Q:  Will we have baby in Zimbabwe or the USA?

A:  This is another million dollar question.  Although there are reasons that we would choose to have the baby in both places (mainly because we have so many people we love in both places) we have decided that if all goes according to plan, baby will be born early February in Michigan.  My family is there and they have so graciously allowed us to experience so much that they missed out on (including our wedding) that we really want to be able to be with them when baby is born.  

At this point it looks like I will travel over at the end of November.  I will spend Thanksgiving in California (my first American Thanksgiving in 10 years!!!!!!!) And Nyasha will travel over at Christmas time (his first American Christmas EVER!!!)   Nyasha will stay with us until he needs to get back to work and as soon as the doctors say we are good to go, baby and I will head back to Zimbabwe.

Q: What do we need/how can you help?

A: I am completely overwhelmed by the idea of creating a list of necessary baby things! It’s madness!  However I do know that there are some things that we need to borrow and some that we need to bring back with us.  Here is what we know we need so far:

 

•   A place to stay in Michigan (preferably a house-sitting gig for some snow-birds for Jan and Feb)
• A car to borrow in Michigan (Anytime from early December on)
• Maternity clothes (for winter, Michigan is COLD!!)
•  Various baby stuff…. This will be a post for another day!
•   Flights (if anyone has any air miles that they would like to share with us, we would appreciate it!)

Q: How can we pray for you?

A: This has been a tough pregnancy.  I have been quite ill, catching pretty much anything that comes my way—from stomach bugs to conjunctivitis! Please just pray that baby and I will remain healthy and that our travel is uneventful! Pray for peace for Nyasha as he prepares to take time off to be with us in the USA when the baby comes.  Please pray that Ru continues to be excited as she is promoted to Big Sister and that she openly explore all of her emotions during this time.  Pray that God continue to provide for all of our needs, as He most certainly has so far!  Our big prayer is that this transition of welcoming a new baby home is as enjoyable as our transition into marriage was, we have laughed and connected so well and we hope this continues as we add a new transition to our list of life experiences.  We appreciate your prayers and love so very much!