We're Having a Baby!

Surprise! We're having a baby, whom we've affectionately nicknamed #Sbitiny at the excellent suggestion of a couple of our wonderful neighbors and colleagues from Nairobi. We are so excited to expand our little family next spring and look forward to starting a new chapter of our lives. (And I'm grateful not to be hiding my growing belly and other signs of pregnancy from my friends and coworkers anymore! I've never wished I could telework so badly than during that first trimester...)

One of the first questions people ask when we share the good news is whether we're having a boy or a girl. We've decided to keep the sex of our baby a secret, so everyone will have to wait to find out after the birth. (No gender reveal parties for us! After all, it never made sense to me why we call them "gender reveal" parties when what they are revealing is the sex of the baby, not the gender, which is distinct. But I digress!)

Regardless, we are thrilled and busy preparing for our new addition, and we plan to have the baby here in South Korea instead of returning on what we call "OB medevac" to the United States to give birth. We are so grateful to live in a country with world-class medical care, great doctors, and plenty of unique things that made choosing to stay a no-brainer for us. I am also personally thankful for the very recent (i.e., starting October 1, 2020) introduction of parental leave to the Department of State, which will give me three months of paid leave to spend with our newborn.

I'm working on a mix of posts about other things we've been doing, some Foreign Service advice I've given to applicants lately, and more... So stay tuned for both some of the blog's more regularly scheduled programming as well as personal updates coming soon.