On being pregnant away from home...

I'm not always sure what home is, but for the purposes of this post I intend something like, "my culture of origin."

So about a month or so after our move across an ocean, I was pregnant.  People keep asking us if that was "on purpose" or intentional, and my answer is that (a) it doesn't really matter- we've received a gift and (b) it's none of your business.  But I digress.  The whole point of this post is to document the first differences I've noticed between being pregnant at home and then in a different culture.  So here we go: a bulleted list of my observations thus far.

1. Navigating prenatal care is kind of weird, unknown territory the first time you do it at home or in a new culture.  I found both slightly intimidating at first, but as you jump in people are helpful and accommodating. 
2. Foods that you rarely desired in your home culture, even in a previous pregnancy, suddenly become comfort foods when they are some of the only easy options that are familiar.  For me this involves Subway sandwiches (which I'm embarrassed to say because there are WAY better options here... but hey, they have RANCH at Subway), tuna salad, Oreos, fruits/veggies (fresh is fresh!), and ramen noodles (even more embarrassing... no explanation). 
3. Smells... oh smells.  My nose is crazy when I'm pregnant.  Being in a world of unfamiliar smells has brought on a whole new level of nausea.  Ugh.
4. Expectations, "must-dos," and prohibitions of pregnancy vary from culture to culture.  For example: prenatal vitamins, their availability, the expectations of when/how long you should take them are pretty different.  Also, most of the fancy cheese here is a no-no... because of the use of unpasteurized milk, I think (normally I would be really sad about that, but crazy pregnancy hormones have be decently averse to cheese anyhow). 
5. Not knowing where to get stuff:  At home, I could pretty much get any of my pregnancy needs at Target. Prenatals?  Check.  Maternity/nursing clothes?  Check. Baby stuff?  Check.  Delicious snackage?  Check.  Here, not so easy.  I have figured out where to get most things, albeit in various places, except maternity and nursing clothes.  Luckily our mamas and friends send little (and big) packages of goodness to help us out!

I'm sure I'll have more to add to this list later.  Pregnancy sure is an interesting way to be thrust into a culture... and I think that it's been a good thing so far, aside from my food/smell aversions. :)

PS- My Safari browser and blogger had a little fight, and the original posted version of this was messed up.  I think I got it fixed in a different browser. Sorry about that!