Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad dayS

Since the first of the year, Hugo has been working less. As in...he only works six days a week instead of seven. He has been able to relax and help me with projects around the house on his day off. However, there are quite a few things we haven't been able to accomplish because his day off falls on Sunday...a day when most businesses are closed. Last week, I had a doctor's appointment. Hugo decided to take the entire day off so we could run some much needed errands after seeing the doctor. Our to-do list had several stops:
-doctor's appointment
-ultrasound (to find out the sex of the baby!)
-US embassy (to pick up necessary forms for the baby's passport and citizenship application)
-the Family Records Office (to get a copy of our marriage certificate for baby's consular birth abroad application...have you noticed the obscene amount of paperwork the government find necessary?!)
-the private hospital (to tour the maternity ward and gather information as a possible location to have the baby)
-the post office (to mail an application for my college transcript...yet ANOTHER necessity for Baby's consular birth abroad application)
-the lumberyard (to buy wood for a project Hugo is working on...building a closet for our clothes since they currently hang from the rafters)
-the cell phone store (to fix a broken cell phone)

You might look at that list and think it would be a cinch to accomplish. Perhaps in America it would be. But I knew that it would be very difficult to accomplish all of the tasks in one day. We would have to hustle!

On the way to the doctor's office, we stopped at the post office to mail my college transcript application. While we were there, I inquired after two packages that had been shipped to me about a month before but had yet to arrive. The postal worker mentioned that the El Salvador postal system was trying to improve their services. Apparently, that included inspecting EVERY package that came through customs. Before, they randomly inspected packages. Now, they were checking everything. As a result, delivery has been delayed. Excellent. On to the next stop.

We didn't have a doctor's appointment...the clinic only accepts walk-in customers. Our doctor's shift starts at 9:00am, so we got there a little early to ensure we would be the first in line. I was bummed to see a full waiting room when we entered. Not only did that mean we would have to wait awhile, it also meant there were a ton of people to see me walk in with my urine sample. Awkward. When we finally met with the doctor, she had bad news for us. First, my urine test came back positive for some infection (I didn't inquire further. Actually...I think it was high blood sugar, but I didn't ask). The doctor asked if I had showered before the test. Ummmm...no. I was told it had to be a test from the first time I used the restroom in the morning. I don't usually hop into the shower BEFORE I pee. The doctor thought it could possibly be a false positive and asked that I repeat the test again the following day but to shower first. Great. The second piece of bad news was...the ultrasound doctor was off that day. No ultrasound. She said we would have to come back another day. But, like I said, Hugo works every day. That wasn't going to be possible. She grudgingly agreed to write a note to admit me into another clinic with an ultrasound so we could get it done that same day.

We left the doctor's office and headed over to the other clinic. No joy. The doctor was only there from 3:00pm-5:00pm. It was 11:00am. We would have to come back.

On the way to the embassy, we stopped at the cell phone place in hopes of fixing a broken cell phone. After waiting almost 2 hours, the technician finally announced the phone was unfixable. Awesome. We weren't having a very productive day.

The US Embassy is the largest building (actually, it's a compound of buildings) in the entire country. We had to park about a mile away and walk to the Citizen's Entrance. When we finally arrived, we had the pleasure of reading the sign tacked to the door that said hours were 8:30am-11:30am. What?! How can an embassy only be open for three hours a day?! I'm a US citizen! What if I needed assistance after 11:30am?! Ug.

Oh, I forgot to mention...on our way to the embassy, we came across some heavy traffic. There was a giant Pepsi delivery truck in front of us that had stopped. However, his break lights didn't work. By the time we realized he had stopped, we couldn't. Hugo slammed into the back of the truck. Luckily, there wasn't any damage to the truck (we would have had to pay for any damage that was done). Unluckily, the hood of our car had crumpled in half...it looked like an A-frame hog house. And our headlights were smashed. Amazingly though, the car still ran fine. We were able to drive away in our mangled car.

Ok...now what?! Our day was not turning out anything like I had imagined. We ventured over to the hospital in hopes of accomplishing at least one thing that day. Luckily, we were admitted and were able to gather all the information we sought. But after touring the hospital, we had to high-tail it back across town to make it in time to visit the ultrasound doctor during his very restrictive hours. We weren't able to stop at the Family Records Office and get our marriage certificate. Next month, I guess.

We arrived at the doctor's office with about 45 minutes to spare. We were ushered into the room and were eagerly anticipating the ultrasound results. We have been waiting 6 months to find out if we have a boy or girl! The doctor checked all the regular things...heart rate, head circumference, etc. But...he was unable to tell if it is a boy or girl. Our silly, stubborn baby was feeling the effects of the stressful day too and had curled up into a ball. All day long, the baby had been moving around...kicking me all over the place. Now, he/she refused to move. Grrr!!

When we left the ultrasound clinic, we had about 15 minutes before the lumberyard closed. We headed over there immediately. Hugo rounded up the supplies he needed and a worker helped him haul them over to our little car. I looked at the giant sheets of plywood and asked Hugo what his plan was. He decided to tie the wood to the top of the car. The worker guy helped Hugo heave them up on the roof and I heard a terrible scraping sound. Hugo leaned through the window of the car and handed me the radio antenna. Well, what's one more damaged thing on our beauty of a car? The guys tied the wood to the top of the car by looping the rope through the open windows. Finally, they had it secured. Hugo grabbed the door handle to open the door and was thwarted. They had tied the doors shut! He had to climb through the open window and shimmy into his seat. When we arrived at the house, he had to run inside and get some scissors to cut the rope. There was no way this pregnant belly was going through the window too!

On reflection...we managed to accomplish less than half of the things on our list. And...had managed to get in a car accident too. That wasn't on the list and really didn't need to be accomplished. Hugo decided to take the following morning off work too so we could go to the embassy again. Thus...the beginning of bad day number two.

Remember how I said the doctor wanted me to repeat the urine test? And...to shower first? She also wanted me to do a blood test...and I couldn't eat before the blood was drawn. Yeah...I wasn't looking forward to either of those things. I have learned two things about my pregnant body. One: my stomach needs to have food in it at all times. If no food is present, vomiting tend s to occur. Two: I go to the bathroom a lot. Especially during the night. My first trip in the "morning," usually happens at about 4:00am. So...here was the start to my day.

I woke up at 4:00am and had to go to the bathroom. However, I was really, really, REALLY not looking forward to taking a cold shower that early. I tossed and turned in bed until 5:00am, when I couldn't take it any longer. I got up, took the world's fastest shower, and finally got to pee. Relief. But, I was now facing another problem. Hunger. I needed to eat. I woke Hugo up and asked him if we could go to the clinic right away so I wouldn't have to wait longer to eat. He agreed. So at 5:57am, we entered the clinic for my blood work (luckily the clinic is open 24 hours a day). By 6:07, we were leaving the clinic. That was the fastest turn-around I had every experienced at that clinic. In fact, it was the fastest turn-around I had experienced anywhere in El Salvador.

The embassy didn't open until 8:30am, so we had some time to kill. I persuaded Hugo to take me to Burger King for breakfast (I really wanted an egg/croissant sandwich). But finding one open so early was no easy feat. While we drove around, I snacked on some crackers. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. I had let my stomach get empty. As a result...vomit...into a ziplock bag...while driving. After three months of non-stop morning sickness, vomiting into a bag while in a moving car has become a skill I have mastered.

Finally, we found a Burger King that was open. However, entering said establishment was another story. We were in a part of town with a ridiculous amount of one-way streets and couldn't manage to get on to the one that led to the restaurant. It was like the time we were trying to visit Iwo Jima but kept getting caught in a traffic circle: there it is...there it is...there it is. After many horn honks for driving the wrong way, we finally got into Burger King and I had my sandwich. Even after our scenic viewing of Burger King's neighborhood, we still had time to kill at the restaurant. There was a guy sitting at a table nearby, reading a newspaper. After awhile, I noticed he was gone, but his paper was still there. I grabbed it and brought it back for Hugo to read (I, of course, had a book with me). Hugo was pouring over the paper when I heard a commotion. I looked over and the guy was back! And...looking for his newspaper! Apparently, he had only gone to the bathroom. Beet red in the face, I returned the guy's paper..and high-tailed it out of there!

We parked and walked the mile to the Citizen's Entrance again. After an ordeal trying to get through security (I had a lot of things in my purse that were contraband...my cell phone, camera, hinges for Hugo's project, headphones, and an iPod), I finally was admitted into the embassy. The moment I set foot outside the security building, I was overwhelmed. It was like being on the Iowa State campus...there were buildings everywhere. Where was I supposed to go?! I picked a building at random...luckily it was the right one. I got the papers I needed and practically sprinted out of there. Hugo took me home and he headed to work. I stripped out of my clothes (despite the early hour, the sun was a beast and quite unpleasant in our un air-conditioned car), positioned the box fan about a foot from my face, and passed out on the couch. It had been a loooooong two days!