The Arrival of Two Special Ladies

A lot has happened in the past few months but there were two very exciting things that stick out the most. The first event was Grandma visiting us in Germany on October 20th! I am writing this today with a very heavy heart because she just left us yesterday on her trip back home to America. I never thought it would be this tough to say goodbye, especially after 6 weeks together but she was our first visitor and I learned it is extremely difficult to say goodbye after moving here. It truly makes the distance feel much farther and knowing we wont see her again for about 7 months is very hard. My heart feels broken and our apartment feels much more empty. In an effort to stop the tears from flowing though, let's recap the trip.

My mom has never been out of the US and this was her first European vacation. We joke about how it was her dream European trip when in reality it was very uneventful. There were a lot of contributing factors to why it was so uneventful but let's just say we didn't do much sightseeing. As I mentioned she arrived on October 20th and it took her a few days to acclimate. Mind you I was very pregnant so I was not extremely active in these last weeks either. Our first outing was on Friday the 22nd to Sternchanze, an area of Hamburg that is very grungy but hip, much like Logan Square in Chicago or Little Five Points in Atlanta. Unfortunately it was downpouring so we didn't get to do a lot of perusing but we did go pick up Calvin's 2nd birthday cake that I had ordered from a little bakery called Herr Max. We did a lot of walking and I think due to the extra exercise I started having contractions. I was very concerned I was going into labor and was going to miss my son's birthday but thankfully they were very irregular and after a couple of hours they went away completely. Crisis averted! The next day was wonderful celebrating Cal's birthday. We all had fun catering to him, playing with his new toys and hearing Calvin sing for the first time- Happy Birthday to himself of course. Things started to go downhill from there. That next morning my mom didn't feel well. I was quickly behind her with a cough and dry throat. While we all nursed our illnesses for a few days, a certain someone had other plans to arrive right in the midst of all of us feeling awful.

Cue the arrival of the 2nd special lady, our daughter Kenna Florence Berger. At about 3:30am on Wednesday the 27th of October I woke up to my water breaking. I knew we needed to move fast but I did not feel ready and was sad I did not get to take a last picture as a family of 3 and wasn't about to wake Cal up to say goodbye. B and I got our stuff together, said goodbye to my mom and called a cab to take us to the hospital. It was eerie arriving there at about 4:30am and the entrance was completely empty. We made our way to the labor or delivery floor and I checked in alone as B had to wait outside. They brought me back to a room and checked to see how dialated I was along with doing a quick ultrasound to check if the baby was still breech. Turns out i was 4cm dilated, baby girl was still breech and things were moving fast. They got my consent to perform the C-Section and very quickly things started happening. I walked to another room where I was prepped for surgery, they did a quick epidural and within minutes B joined me in the room. The C-Section was such a wild experience. Cal's labor was 22 hours and I pushed for 2.5 of that. Within 10 minutes this baby was out! We got to the hospital around 4:30am and our daughter was born at 5:48am! While I was having some pretty intense contractions pre-epidural, there were some major pros to having her this way. For one thing I wasn't completely and utterly depleted of energy after her arrival. I was totally present when they pulled her out and showed her to us. I was so out of it when I first met Calvin so this time felt very emotional because I was much more with it. I got to "hold" her on my chest for a bit and the took her back to clean her and do their thing. She definitely came in fast and furious and it was fitting for the name we eventually picked.

B and I had 3 names we really liked at the end of my pregnancy. Kenna kept standing out as the front runner for me and we didn't really come across it until about half way through the pregnancy. There was a character on a reality TV show I was watching named Kenna and I really liked the name. It wasn't very common and I hadn't really heard it before. We were toying with Kendall as well and it was close to that. We wanted a name that sounded good with Cal and the more I said Calvin and Kenna, Cal and Ken, Cally and Kenny etc. the more I liked it. We also would have Calvin say the names and this one seemed easy for him to say as well as sounded adorable coming out of his mouth. Since we were torn on the name I looked up the meaning of each name we had in the bank to see if that would sway us. Kenna is of Scottish origin which is fitting because I am Scottish. When I looked up the meaning of Kenna it said "Fire born". I had a tough pregnancy with this little girl, I was very sick the entire first trimester, something I hadn't dealt with in my first pregnancy. I had horrific heartburn and little sleep, she moved a ton throughout the whole pregnancy and then flipped in the third trimester to breech position. If you know me or my family at all it was a running joke that I was going to have a daughter and everyone hoped she would be just like me. Not because I am so beloved but because everyone wants me to have a dose of karma, to be given the challenge of dealing with something just like myself. Given all these factors I knew she was going to be feisty and full of fire. We couldn't be happier with our choice of name for her, it fits like a glove. We also chose her middle name Florence (Flo for short) after Bergs maternal Grandmother. We would go visit her in Marine City, Michigan together from very early on in our relationship. Bergs and I both cherish those trips and miss her dearly. She had some feistiness in her as well and was an incredibly intelligent woman so hopefully Kenna channels some of her great grandmother as she gets older.

We were soon reunited and moved to a small room for about 2.5 hours, just the 3 of us. This was nice to have this time together especially because I knew B had to leave us due to the Covid protocols at the hospital. I was moved to a room with another woman who had given birth the day before and was being released that afternoon. She spoke English and was extremely nice but it was a bit awkward as I wasn't used to having to share a room. She was discharged a few hours later. B left after about an hour in the room with us and Kenna and I were alone. I wasn't prepared for the aftermath of a C-Section. It was pretty painful and I feel like in the US they may be more inclined to keep you well medicated to not feel so much. Here I had some Ibuprofen and Tylenol that we would rotate and that was about it. I remember the first time they had me get up to go pee and I felt like my lower half was going to tear from my top half and I had to hold myself together in the middle. I was in a lot of pain most of that first 24 hours and it didn't help that my throat was still so dry and scratchy. Every time I had to clear my throat which I felt like I had to do quite often, it caused an extremely painful sensation rippling through my lower abdomen. I also do not remember anyone telling me about how excruciating the trapped gas pain is after an abdominal surgery. This was by far the worst part and kept me up all night in extreme pain. Not to mention I had to pick Kenna up from her bassinet on my own every time she was up and needed to feed which just felt really difficult. I was definitely missing the pre-Covid days where your partner stayed with you and you had help! We made it through night one though and the next morning I was given another room mate. It ended up being really nice to have someone to talk to. She also helped translate some things for the nurses who weren't as well versed in English. We even exchanged numbers as we live close by each other and plan to get together after the holidays. Bergs was able to visit me for about 2 hours that following day and some crazy things ensued with Kenna's hips and having to take her out of the hospital to another hospital to see a specialist. I wont go into detail because it would take too long and everything ended up being ok. Kenna was given a brace to wear for 4 weeks that we ultimately were able to get rid of at the end of that time period as things looked normal. I was released the following day which was so nice to only spend 2 nights in the hospital alone. It felt amazing coming home and introducing Calvin to his sister was such a joy. However, I was coming home to a sick house.

My mom was still sick, Bergs and Calvin also had caught the virus going around. The next week felt really crazy because instead of having a calm relaxing week at home with the baby to recover and the help of my mom and husband, everyone was sick. Calvin stayed home the entire week from daycare due to a fever which just becomes absolutely exhausting to deal with on its own. Add in some sleepless nights with a newborn and it just felt nuts. All I wanted was to keep Kenna away from everyone and hope that we would be ok. I was feeling much better at this point so we tried to keep our distance. Cal eventually was well enough to go back to Kita the following week. My mom and B were able to go on some outings and allow Kenna and I time to relax, bond and heal but unfortunately she stayed sick pretty much the entire visit here. They did make it to Planten Un Blomen,the incredible park closer to City Center a well as a really cool playground and trail area called Neindorf Gehege. We also took a trip with Kenna down by Bergs workplace to walk around the shopping district. Lastly, we made it to not one but two Christmas Markets. The larger Christmas market at Jungfernsteig we managed with both kids! It was nice to get out, drink some gluhwein and look at all the different shops. We also managed to obtain a huge turkey and make a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner while simultaneously celebrating B's 35th birthday. Those little moments really stick out as magical along with the mundane things like bath time with Cal and watching my mom read him bedtime stories and put him to bed.

So while her trip overall maybe wasn't the greatest in terms of seeing Europe, she was the first extended family member to meet and spend time with her granddaughter. We also watched her and Calvin's relationship develop before our very eyes. It was truly special and he is still asking for Ga Ga when he wakes up in the morning and when he comes home from school. Her presence is missed terribly. Perhaps most of all, our dog Rosie suffers as Grandma spent a lot of time catering to her needs and giving her attention she was missing as B and I navigated life with 2 young children for the first time. We are still so happy she came and I am so proud of my mom for navigating an International trip for the first time completely by herself. She did great and I know it has given her confidence to do it again. The next trip will be better and we are planning on doing some travel to go see some places other than Hamburg and our Apartment the next time she comes over the pond. I will attach pictures below but now we settle into winter, get ready for Christmas and the arrival of two more special people. Bergs parents arrive on December 13th and will be here for about a month so we aren't left to do it on our own for too long!

Tchuss!