Made in Italy (Part 1, Intro)

Winging It
I suppose almost every young girl has dreams of a big custom-detailed wedding, but I can honestly say I never sat around day-dreaming the perfect colors, flowers, or dress. A lot of my big day was planned around convenience, knowing that a week after the wedding I would be jet-setting off to a new life abroad.

Hec, you didn't even hear a grumble from me when I found out that the guys here in Italy don't save three months salary for an engagement ring. My mom and I winged everything and it turned out beautifully. It was charming and full of personality and a great farewell to friends and family. And, it was just the beginning. If anything has come as a big surprise it is child-rearing in Italy that caught me the most off-guard. Don't as little girls we all assume we will play house just as our mothers did?
So, what better way to christen this blog than to begin with a birth story. Maddalena, the third edition to our family, was a surprise pregnancy and like all unplanned events a little ad-libbing would be called for. Being my third baby here in Italy some of the shock in differences has worn off... sort of. There are things you will never really get used to. Things such as the lack of gown that they should give you at your prenatal appointments or the long lines of socialized health care to get monthly blood work. But, because a baby is going to be born no matter what you are wearing or how many lines you were held up in, like with my other pregnancies, with the support of my pilot husband, what else could I do but wing it. The news of a new baby, 3 1/2 years after the last, would need a little improvising: throw together a corner of my firstborn's room into a nursery, make do with borrowed items since we had gotten rid of baby gear, and stand-by for the incoming bambina.