Jamaica

I can't believe how fast time is slipping through my fingers. Jamaica trip was very relaxing. The resort was services were good but we found it to be busy for this time of the year. I guess, this was an indication that it is a good resort. Every day there were at least 2 weddings at the resort!
The food was okay but I think Maroma Beach one's food that we went last year was better. Nevertheless, food has never been the center of our trips. Pishi and I enjoy the quite time at the beach or the pool. Through this trip, I finished one book and started another one! Most of the days were spent by the pool under the shade reading and resting and enjoy events at nights. Although not a single night I could keep myself awake to go for dancing at their club! Last year we dance the night away but this time not so much. Although If I have to choose which resort I would go back to again, I would choose the Maroma Beach one as everything was splendid.

Our baby girl is having a healthy growth. My bump is showing more. Pishi had an excellent talk at Mohandes and now everyone there knows that we are expecting! I love our princess's kicks! Although some times she decides to wake me up at 5:30 am! I hope she has the same sleeping habits as I do! This way life would be much easier!There are 2 more weeks left of work and we are looking forward to the week off at the end of December to start the process of spring cleaning in winter for your highness arrival!
Finding a name though has proven to difficult. I kept on thinking of names that I liked and it hit me yesterday that I should be considerate to how it may affect her. We have some candidates and hopefully we can select one before she is born!

Movember and more!

This November, Pishi started to grow bear and mustache and he looks super sexy! He also has admitted that he is being noticed more!!Alas, he will shave it off by December!
In the last Ultra Sound performed last week, with learnt that we will be welcoming a healthy baby girl. She has started kicking from week 19! At first I could vaguely feel it but I can feel her kicks more and some times, Pishi can feel it too. I could mostly feel her kicks when I am sitting down, relaxing or going to bed. Haven't felt her kicks in the gym  yet! Since the start of my pregnancy I haven't gone swimming but I am intending to change that starting this week.
This week we are going to our baby moon! We are flying to Montego Bay in Jamaica. I think this would be our last couple vacation destination where we fly to before the addition of our baby girl! I still can't believe it. I like her kicks and it makes me worried some times when I don't feel it for a few hours! Now that I can feel her move, I can connect with her more and talk to her more. These kicks has made Pishi so excited and I love it when he gets close to my belly and talks to her!
Couple of weeks ago we went to the baby show and it is amazing the variety of different stuff that you need for your baby. Although I have heard that some of these nice to haves are not really needed.
One of the things that I don't agree with is the toddler beds that can be converted to a double bed. I personally don't understand why a 4 or 5 year old would require a such a bid bed? One of the most interesting beds we saw was a European one that I really liked. In general, I liked this brand's baby decor and stuff. The most important quality of it is it's genius design for the intended use. I am more about the functionality than the bells and whistles!
December would be a 3 week month and Pishi and I are intending to do a spring cleaning and prepare the baby room and effectively start purchasing what we need. At this point we are in the research phase! It's amazing how this bundle of joy has changed the dynamic of our lives. We celebrated with my parents at Boston Pizza her t:-4.5 month! She made it half way and we are cheering and can't wait for her to join us in April! Hopefully she doesn't give her mommy a hard time in the end.

Engagment Anniversary!

Today is the anniversary of the 7th year that Pishi and I celebrate our engagement! 7 years ago Pishi proposed to me in a very romantic way. He made a ring our of flowers and filled his apartment with lit candles and flowers and bought my favorite food for dinner. He took my hand and went down on one knee and popped the question. I said yes and I remember vividly that we both started crying out of joy and hugged each other. This affection and hugging hasn't diminished since then.

We are set to go for our baby moon, in the last week of November. This time we are going to Jamaica. Hopefully there would be no Hurricanes or rains so we can relax and store Vitamin D for the rest of the year!

I am at week 19 now and there is an Ultrasound scheduled on Tuesday. We are eager to see if we can find out if our baby is a boy or a girl. The sex of the baby doesn't really matter, I pray for a healthy and happy baby! Although I like to have a daughter but I can see that both physiologically and sociologically, it is better to be a boy than a girl. So for the baby's sake, I think it would be better to be a boy!

Last night we went to Toronto Symphony Orchestra to listen to a number of Beethoven's tune and also enjoy Spanish Opera. The first portion of the program was peaceful, after the break, the Spanish Opera and fantastic Flamingo dancer excited us. The excitement was to the extent that Pishi and I felt our baby's first movement!

Thinking of all the things that this baby has to learn is overwhelming but at the same time, I can't wait for this baby to set foot on this earth and we show and teach him/her all the life skills and develop his/her talents and see how they flourish. I can see now that as I progress in my pregnancy I feel more excited to meet him/her although the birth part really is freaking me out!

I have started going to gym and I feel myself again and started enjoying different get together. Every weekend is going to be busy before our trip. Next week is the baby show and we are planning to go with my parents to see what it has to offer.

I feel much relaxed in general, work is moving well. It is exactly what I looked for, it is much more relaxed with higher title and pay! I thank God everyday to have presented this opportunity to me during my pregnancy! I should also to say that part of the relaxation is due to never ending support of Pishi. His love and excitement of meeting our small one and him taking care of me in every way fills me with great strength.

Fall

We welcomed this Fall with new beginnings. San Fransisco was interesting. We visited Google headquarter and their fantastic facilities in the Bay area. Google is an example of a servant leadership model. It ensures employees are satisfied in every basic needs so they can just focus on work and be creative. Being in that premise I felt the positive energy. I am lucky to have started in Sanofi which is somewhat similar to Google in some benefits. We got to meet old friends and visit the red woods that contain the tallest trees in the world.
The trails were beautiful and the weather cooperated during days. It was a good trip to disconnect with day to day routine in Toronto and specially it prepared me for my start at Sanofi.

It is the 3rd week at my new job and I am still undergoing training and it would be for another week at least. This company has a great focus on training specially because it is a center for research and development. It is amazing to work in a company with such extraordinary history and know that it was in this site that great minds worked on ideas that impacted human life to such great extent and continues to impact new generation.

The baby is doing well, I am at week 16 now and things thankfully are going well in a few weeks we will know the gender and hopefully we can start thinking of names and buying baby stuff! I have started going to gym again and I feel my life has gone back to normal now that I am done with the first trimester and thankfully no more throwing up!

We are thinking of ideas for baby moon now. Both Pishi and I want to go on a relaxing vacation somewhere warm in December. Hopefully we find a good place to relax and store energy before the new addition to our family!

New job

New Begining

September was a month full of different types of worries. But these worries were resolved successfully. One was related to our baby. He/She loves to give me drama! Last week I entered my 12th week and got to hear the baby's heart beat and most of the features. Thankfully Ultra Sound results indicated that everything is fine. I keep on having my daily dose of throwing up. Mostly in the afternoon but I think that is a blessing in disguise as the baby reminds me that he/she is still well and kicking!!
The next worry was trying to decide what do I want to do with my career. After being almost 7 years at Teva, I decided to leave and join Sanofi Pasteur. They had given me all types of assurance that I have made the right decision. I will be operation quality manager over there. It would be a fantastic opportunity to learn about vaccine world.
It is interesting to move from corrective solution health care to preventive solution health care. Many people from Teva had given me assurance that this was a good move, although considering that I am pregnant I was hesitant if I had made the right decision. I had very good working relation with my colleagues at Teva and a fantastic team and boss. I know what I am doing which is great because it would cause me to have least stress during my pregnancy. Moving to a position that I don't not much about and an industry that I don't have experience in, was my biggest fear in making the decision. But none the less, I decided to say yes to change.
I think if I do well in this position many doors can be opened for me. The company itself is the 3rd largest brand pharmaceutical company in the world which makes me proud to be working in.
I just hope that I have a good boss and I don't get stressed out there none the less, in 6 month I will go to mat. leave so I just need to stick it for another 6 month!
Everyone asks me if I am excited and to be honest, I don't know. I don't feel anything. I think I am too worried to be excited. The only excitement I have for now is that I will go to San Fransisco for a short holiday this week before I start at Sanofi. Hopefully change in paste will get me excited for this new beginning.

Baby story and more!

Since last time I wrote, we bought a cake from Bibi and have them write on it "grand mother, grand father, Hello!" and put a picture of myself and Pishies shoes along with 2 pair of baby shoes, one for a boy and one for a girl with a question mark in an envelope to see the surprise on their faces. So the day that we went to my parents house with these to our surprise, was my parents 35th wedding anniversary, at first when my mom saw the cake box, she said, oh how did you know! Both pishi and I were laughing because the cake wasn't for their anniversary, when my dad opened the envelope and saw the pictures he got it right away and told my mom both were happy with joy, I told them to open the cake and they saw the writings and said, this was a fantastic news on their 35th anniversary! We told Pishi's parent the next day via Skype and they were also really happy to hear about it.
In the mean while we confirmed via blood test that we are pregnant, although it had its dramas!! The story started when my family doctor was on vacation and I had asked her Secretary to tell me if he got the blood test result or not and what are the next steps. She said you probably are not pregnant because if you were, the Doctor would have let me know about the next steps! She even looked at the results, supposedly and said I don't think you are pregnant! So you can imagine how puzzled I was! I knew 99% that she was wrong and that was pregnant and I really didn't pay attention to what she said, but this discussion made Pishi worried, to the extent that I ended up calling my specialist whom to which my original blood test results had gone to to and left a message with her. Here is how that discussion went. when she called me I was at work and I really didn't want to talk to her at my desk as we are in open concept office so everyone would hear every one's discussions! So as I was walking away from my desk, she asked me, do you want to check to see if you are pregnant? I said yes. She started laughing and then said, of course you are! I started laughing, because I knew the other secretary was wrong, this secretary though, was surprised about the whole thing and she kept on laughing and I kept on thanking her for confirming the pregnancy for me. So once that drama ended, I waited for my actual appointment with my family doctor which was scheduled after his vacation which was sometime mid August. But the drama really didn't end there! The great thing that happened during that time, was I was assigned a midwife which was a blessing during the drama that happened next! So couple of weeks after, I started experiencing spotting. At first from what we read, we assumed that it is because of placenta being formed but because neither Pishi and nor I knew what amount of spotting is normal and for how long, Pishi encouraged me to call the midwife. The day that I called the midwife office, the spotting had increased and I got really worried and when I spoke with the midwife, she said, it might be signs of miscarriage. She immediately, asked me to book a Ultra Sound and said that she would sign the requisition form. Considering my experience previously with the broken health care system here I thought, it is going to take a while but to my surprise, as I mentioned the reason I am asking for the ultra sound, they immediately gave me a spot on that day and even earlier to the time they originally booked me for, the called me and said, I can go an hour and a half earlier! So I told Pishi and went straight from work to do the Ultra Sound. I was very nervous, but when the Technician showed me the baby which really at that point, a 1 cm line!! and even the heart beat, I was relieved! It was too bad, that by the time Pishi arrived, I was done but we both were happy that the spotting was not serious. The midwife office called me the next day to confirm that I am having a normal pregnancy. The spotting though continued for a week but reduced in sign and then completely disappeared!
Since then I have visited my family doctor, which he got me an appointment with an OB for September where another Ultra sound and probably another blood test needs to be done. My first appointment with my midwife also is going to be in September and I hope with the inspections that we are going through at work, I can easily leave office to meet these dates.
What I learnt about the above 2 experiences, strengthen my decision to have a midwife. Their system is fast, efficient and actually works!

My morning sickness started from week 7 where I feel the nausea every day and really it is twice a day, morning and evening! I have thrown up 4 times though of all the days which I find chewing on gum helps reduce the feeling and urge to throw up!

I haven't told my work yet about pregnancy nor to anyone else aside to my parents and Pishi's parents. I want to wait until the actual bump shows to tell my work and friends. Pishi and I wanted to go to a babymoon but considering how tired I feel everyday, not sure if we can do it. I think we have to make a decision in September if we want to go on vacation in December or not.

So aside from the pregnancy updates, we had a pretty good summer, we went to Island lake with friends, went out for dinner and movies and parties and had been pretty busy! Work wise, I got a second interview and they really like me and they want to consider me potentially for another management position because they think I have strong leadership skills.

Baby fever!

Exiting July!

July has proven to be an exiting month. First I got contacted by a head hunter for a job opportunity at Aventis. She interviewed me last week and today called to set up 2 interviews with Aventis HR and staff! I guess I will see how it goes next week!

Bigger than that news is the news that changed Pishi and my life on July 23rd, 2012 at exactly 9:00 pm, where we saw a positive sign on the pregnancy test! Even though we have been planning and anticipating, it was unbelievable when we found out. Pishi was extremely happy and I kept on asking him, are we really..? really?? It was my first time ever using these home based pregnancy test kits and we were both taking all precautions possible to ensure we are getting the correct results!!
Since then I have done my blood test and waiting to hear the confirmation. At the same time Pishi started the process of acquiring info for midwife yesterday and we will hear about that soon. I think considering that my doctor is very busy, mid wife is the best option.
Pishi called me at work yesterday to say, Your due date would be April 4th. Hearing the date and seeing the enthusiasm of Pishi is a sign that he would be an excellent father.

The only thing left is to tell our parents! We are trying to find creative ways to tell them! Any ideas?

Summer trip!

A month after our trip to Peru, Pishi and I went to Italy to meet Pishi's family for couple of days. We stayed in Rome and were lucky enough to get the tour of the city from my brother in law's friend. I found Italian people are very friendly and warm. We got to visit the high lights of Rome which in Italian they call Roma. This included, Colosseum, Spanish steps, Vatican city and church and may other interesting historical architechures.
The most interesting part of the trip was praying in the Vatican church. I was able to convince the gaurds to allow me and our tour guide to go close to where the Pope had a mass and was able to pray a bit. Praying in that church gave me a peaceful sensation. I am glad that I was given the opportunity to experience this feeling.

Afterwards we flew to Nice where the rest of Pish's family came to pick us up to go to Grass which was a city about 45 minutes to the Nice air port. They have rented a breath taking Villa. The Villa was amazing, it was a 2 storey tall building and enjoyed the outdoors swimming pool and the Ping pong table and foosball tables in the basement.
We spent a week in this Villa. In the mornings we would go for a 1.5 hours of walking and then jump into the pool for 30 minutes cool off and then had breakfast and then enjoyed different games ranging from Water polo to Pantomime. The purpose of the trip to France was to celebrate one of Pishi's family member's 60th birthday. The Birthday was fun and during our time there we got spend some time in Canne's Mediterranean beach. We bought some fragrances from Fragornad where we visited the plant last year and I must say the new fragrance I bought is fantastic!
Pishi and I got to do some shopping which was great. I think we both now shop to the point! Meaning that we shop to what we need not just what looks nice!
It has been couple of weeks since our trip but its positive effects are still here with us. I have started going back to the gym and swimming pool. The Yoga classes for this term is ending Tomorrow and I can't wait to enrol both myself and Pishi for the next one!
The funniest thing keeps occurring at work. People keep saying that I look different that they couldn't recognize me! I guess I have changed since last year. I have shorter darker hair and definitely very much fit compare to last year. I think combination of relaxing times and the great team I have at work has helped me to have a more energetic and positive view of life.
July has shown to be interesting! I most probably will become the permanent supervisor for this team. This team and my boss like me and so do I which is exciting! Hopefully we get more cheerful news by end of July as well.
For now, life is going great despite some wrinkles that has raised their head but I have no doubt that Pishi and I can manage it with no problems.

 

Trip to Peru

Trip to Peru was a journey of self understanding for me. It gave me a chance to know myself and deeply understand what I thought I have understood in life. It opened my eyes to where I am in this world and showed me my strength and how easy is to change my life and life of others in this world.

Pishi and I enjoyed a fantastic relationship with people of Peru and our guides. The first guide showed us the Capital of Lima. Lima is a very humid city with smell of the ocean. That is the Pacific Ocean. We spent 1 day in Lima and then flew to Cusco. Cusco  3,400 m above the sea level. Cusco is a beautiful city with strange weather. The city is surrounded with mountains and because of it's high elevation it doesn't snow often. Pishi and I had elevation sickness the first day we arrived which was resolved with the altitude pills and lots of cocco tea!
We spent 2 days in Cusco and visited different site and smaller villages close by.
Afterwards we started trekking in Lares Trek. Andes mountains reminded me of mountains in Europe and Iran. Although they were much higher in altitude. During trekking with the help of pishi and our guide and assistant guide I was able to more or less overcome my fear of hights. We met local people and witnessed an authentic rural Andean way of life. We bought pens and notebooks for the village children as per our guide's suggestion. Giving out these stationaries during our hike and seeing their faces brighten up with their shy smiles was the most rewarding experience I had in my life.
I try to help people as I come in contact with them, but help building a future for children is different. In the past few months, I have been more observant to the new generation and their likes, hopes and dreams, I think I have finally grown up as I don't think only of myself and now see myself as a tool to help the new generation. It is funny, I thought I would feel this way when I am much older but one thing that stuck to my mind from my Quality Management instructor was the theory of abundance in that there is no limitation  to the opportunities. I remember I had difficulty understanding this concept when I was in high school but I know see everything is linked in how I view this world. If you limit yourself to only a few options, you feel frustrated and threatened.
The hike and the sound of the river and the wind between the mountains was peaceful. It made me think about what I have learnt in my life and allowed me to reconnect with mother nature and see how people live with such limitation with happiness. People who don't have electricity and only 1 room to live in, lived life to the fullest. You could see their smiles were sincere. Their beautiful hand crafts which took them months to complete using old traditional methods using nature's amazing colors was made with such love.
We learned from Inka families how they transform the Alpaca's fur to thread and use amazing natural colors to make beautiful hand crafts.
Our perseverance's paid off and we reached the highest pass of the trek! We performed a traditional prayer respecting the 4 mountains in different directions of the pass and head to Macchu Picchu.

Macchu Picchu, the city that Inka's tried hard to protect from Spaniards in which they fought them for 40 years in another region of the area to distract them from finding this interesting city was magnificent. The use of science and technology in Inkan era was unbelievable. I learnt that even though we tend to think that we are smarter than our ancestors, this is absolutely not true. The engineering in Inka Traces and their pilot agricultural areas are amazing. The strange part is while the rest of the civilization was growing with a different paste this culture was re-inventing themselves similarly but a few hundred years later.

After visiting Macchu Picchu we head to the Amazon rain forest. I always wanted to see the Amazon jungles since childhood when we studied them at school. My childhood friend Sina and I when our families would go to North of Iran used to pretend that we are in the Amazon when sneaking in the areas covered with tall tress with big leaves. Amazingly after visiting the Amazon rain forest and walking in the jungle, I can say that aside from the giant trees, the shape and type of vegetation is similar to North of Iran at least the area that we visited. Riding on the river which had many different spices of fishes. Participating in bird and caiman watches were the high lights of the Amazon portion of our trip. Amazing birds consisting of different types of parrots with magnificent colors created out of this world experience. Although I must say there were may different bugs around as well which having net suits really helped!
We saw beautiful butterflies and I saw a green snake just pass by me!! This portion of my trip brought peace in me with the snakes and the caimans!

I wrote this to remind myself and pishi of the wonderful time we had in Peru, eventhough I didn't detail out the salt mine and the rest of amazing places we visited there, we can look back at our adventures together before we become boring with kids :-)

One more trip is on the go and that is coming up in 3 weeks!Italy and France here we come!!

Spring Vacation!

Our vacation is finally here. Friday we will be flying to Peru! We have the exact plan of what we will be doing for the 11 days that we will spend there. The highlights are the hiking, camping and mountain climbing in the Andes for 3 days and spending time in the Amazon rain forest for 2 days and get to see the historical sites in Peru.
It would be an adventurous trip! For our trip, we got Yellow Fever Vaccination and thankfully we didn't show any signs of reaction! Hopefully the high altitudes won't bother us during climbing as well!
Our house renovation started last week and it is going well. I think by the time we are back from our trip, it would be completed.
Our summer trip is also set now and I am looking forward to that one as well. We will a few days in Italy and then fly to France. To celebrate one my in Laws birthday and enjoy French Riviera!

Work is going well. It seems the my boss, bosses boss and the big boss are happy on how I am handling the group. The new manager told me that they have given me these responsibilities because they feel I am competent! It's great to hear that from a person who join the company and has a fresh pair of eyes to look at things.
I still need to send an email out to find out what my next assignment would be in August. My course term marks are out and I got A. It was a great relief!

Last night we were invited to 2 parties, one was for "L"'s baby shower and the other was for "S"s birthday. Both was great. It is always nice to catch up with friends and dance the night off!

BTW..I started Yoga classes! It is amazing. I think it would be great experience before and during the time we get pregnant.

13 be dar and more!!

It has been a while since last I have updated here. So many things has happened. Both Pishi and I are in shape now and reduced our training from 2 sessions every week to 1 and has been proactive. We pay attention to what we eat as well and that is important I think. The first week of December we went to Cancun Mexico and we stayed at for a week. We spent a few days at the SPA. I loved the hydrotherapy and message and the sea weed wrap! I also got an interesting Facial. The feeling is really amazing. This trip, I made it my personal goal to ensure I am active, so while pishi was sleeping in the mornings I went to the fantastic gym on in the resort and worked out every day 1:30 hours. I found my days were much better spent that way. The activities in the resort were great, we enjoyed the water aerobics and archery and dance classes. Every night they had different events and club entertainments. This resort was full of bridal parties and weddings, we actually saw around 2 weddings everyday!
A week after we were back, Pishi's parents came to stay with us for a month and we enjoyed their company.
2011 was closed off sad though. Once our beloved family friends passed away a day before new years eve. This was shocking to all of us and to be honest the events that followed afterwards is a vague memory. The only thing I remember from that periods of sadness that stood out was going to Mansour and Moin concert, the first day of 2012 with Pishi's parents.
2012 winter wasn't really cold, we couldn't go skiing but tried to keep active. One weekend we went rock climbing in the Toronto Rock Climbing Academy. I must say it was an exhilarating experience. It actually was an eye opener for me who is scared of heights. I would definitely try it again. I think though having the correct equipment helps too!
I also started taking a course which will be concluded in 2 weeks and this weekend and next I am trying to study for the final exam. For some reason I am not sure why this time this has been more difficult that the other courses I have been taking. I guess more memorizing involved and I am not a big fan! I hope the exam goes well..I can't wait for the 2 weekend from now!
A change at work was the manager who was hired in my team 7 month ago left the company and I again inherited 15 people! So far it is managed well but I can see how it can affect my life! That's why I did not apply for the manager position. Even though everyone expected me to apply. I don't know if I made an error or not but I think this year I should have my health as priority. Specially we are looking forward getting pregnant. I don't want to put too much stress on myself. So I told my boss for the first time in my life I am going with the philosophy of what ever come my way is welcomed! I don't know what will happen in August that is when my interim assignment will end. But I have been told that I won't be going back to my previous site, which is a relief!

Nowruz arrived this year at 1:14 am on March 20th and we woke up for that time and talked to the parents and then went back to sleep. There were lots of partying in the weeks proceeding and today was the first day that I could get a chance to update here! We were invited to Gilaneh Restaurant and it was our first time there. It was great and I would definitely recommend it! We couldn't do much on 13 be dar. Just through our sabzeh into a river but because it was rainy we couldn't stay outside much we just did a few showings with my mom.

Both Pishi and I are craving so much for a fantastic vacation! I want to have a vacation before getting pregnant. An adventure one and then one relaxing one as our baby moon during pregnancy. I don't know it will happen or not but but we have to start planning. Going to Peru was on the table but considering the permits required etc. may cause delay in our plans!

Another exciting event that happened last week was that we bought another house! This was our second offer presentation. We lost the first one the week before but the second one this week we won. It was an interesting race and at the end it boiled down to the seller meeting the buyers and choosing who they wanted, like bachelor series on TV! And...drums rolling..we won!
So now we are going through the processes involved prior to closing which is end of this month!

Looking at it, it has been I a guess a fruit full ~6 month. We got in shape. We bought another house and I had done the tests required prior to getting pregnant. I just have to schedule 1 more and also start taking the required multivitamins and then plan the big bang!!