Sometimes I'm a bit slow in the thinking. When we were at our first midwife appointment last Tuesday, an interesting and new experience was the search for the heart beat, as this was the first time I wasn't having an ultrasound at the same time (TW) where they get in position first so the heartbeat is already there when the doppler part of it is turned on.
Twas interesting here, because first of all, she searched from the top of the uterus, not the front - not that I had given it much thought, but I guess all times I have seen it done on TV it has always been from the front.
Then, as it was taking a while, an almost not quite panic started to rise in me. She finally found a beat that was quite slow, and I thought to myself 'that's mine' and was surprised and relieved when she said it was the heart beat (blood flow) through the umbilical cord, which meant there was life. Then a bit after she caught baby's actual heartbeat - ranging between 130-150.
Wasn't until tonight I started thinking about it. If my blood doesn't interact with baby's then it is baby's blood in the cord and should follow the baby's heartbeat, so the cord having the same rhythm as mine doesn't add up. Googled a bit and came across this lovely write-up, confirming my suspicion.
I'm 99% sure I don't remember it wrong, that it wasn't actually more swoosh swoosh and not necessarily as slow as my own.
Gives me just a bit more inspiration to switch to the home-birth team or another midwife in general. Am hoping for some insider tips on who's not one really good in her field but also just makes you feel good being around her (you know the kind of person I mean), and hoping even more that one or all of the three on the home-birth team are on that list ;)
Oh, and forgot to mention the mystery of why my doctor set my due-date as May 31 when 40 weeks from the first day of my last menstrual cycle is the 29th: in Norway they use 40W+2D as the date, not just 40W. Whoda thunk?
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
the name game
So officially I will not be looking for a name until after we find out if we are having a boy or a girl (if baby is cooperative), because name-searching is a difficult task for me.
For example, for a boy-name, our two previously selected possibles are now non-contenders. Not just because our friends chose both for their son (unbeknownst to them that those were our two future possibles), but because the one is too difficult for Judge to pronounce - if it is said in English the 'th' is tricky, and if it is said in Norwegian the 'r' is tricky (the name being Theodor).
Another example of the difficulties I face. I had come across a girl's name I thought 'nice! A definite possible.' Said it later to Judge, and got a firm 'absolutely not'. Reason being in Taiwan it will sound very much like the Taiwanese for 'your mother', which sounds nice enough, but is used in part - and in short-form - for some serious cussing. Another reason not to pick it (in my eyes) is I found out later that it is one of the top 10 most popular names right now. What is this mystery name you ask? Linnea. Pretty no?
However, I have actually landed on a strong contender if she's a girl. Landed on it by fluke, and though not 100% sold yet, just like I wasn't 100% sold on the name Leona to begin with, I believe I would be sold on it in time.
What's so awesome about this name is not only is it nice sounding (same kind of nice sounding as Leona in my personal opinion), but its meanings are pretty impressively perfect.
In one of the languages it comes from, its meaning is 'God has responded' - and considering this is a tried-for baby, not to mention our little 11th hour wonder! - it seems pretty fitting.
In another language its meaning is 'sunshine' or 'light', and considering where we are and the time of year baby will be born - a time when the sun don't go down - it is once again oh-so fitting.
If he's a boy, well let the search begin!
For the Chinese name, we already have it:
Confused? The above can be read downard, where be she a girl it is 雨安 or be he a boy it is 宇安. This of course dependent upon it being calculated as acceptable by Judge's dad.
What's really cool is that the first character is pronounced the same for both (yu3), where if she's a girl, it is the same character as Leona's first character (rain - used only in girl-names) and if he's a boy it is masculine (universe).
The second character is pronounced 'an1' and means peace. But here's the clincher: when the kids are being rambuncious and rowdy (and we know this is for certain something that will occur often) Judge can just call out the names together, excluding the first character (so 'an1' and Leona's second character - 靜 jing4), as this just so happens to mean 'Quiet'. Pretty convenient if you ask me!
But really, we like that there is a relatedness between the names of the kids. So finger's crossed that the calculations turn out good.
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For example, for a boy-name, our two previously selected possibles are now non-contenders. Not just because our friends chose both for their son (unbeknownst to them that those were our two future possibles), but because the one is too difficult for Judge to pronounce - if it is said in English the 'th' is tricky, and if it is said in Norwegian the 'r' is tricky (the name being Theodor).
Another example of the difficulties I face. I had come across a girl's name I thought 'nice! A definite possible.' Said it later to Judge, and got a firm 'absolutely not'. Reason being in Taiwan it will sound very much like the Taiwanese for 'your mother', which sounds nice enough, but is used in part - and in short-form - for some serious cussing. Another reason not to pick it (in my eyes) is I found out later that it is one of the top 10 most popular names right now. What is this mystery name you ask? Linnea. Pretty no?
However, I have actually landed on a strong contender if she's a girl. Landed on it by fluke, and though not 100% sold yet, just like I wasn't 100% sold on the name Leona to begin with, I believe I would be sold on it in time.
What's so awesome about this name is not only is it nice sounding (same kind of nice sounding as Leona in my personal opinion), but its meanings are pretty impressively perfect.
In one of the languages it comes from, its meaning is 'God has responded' - and considering this is a tried-for baby, not to mention our little 11th hour wonder! - it seems pretty fitting.
In another language its meaning is 'sunshine' or 'light', and considering where we are and the time of year baby will be born - a time when the sun don't go down - it is once again oh-so fitting.
If he's a boy, well let the search begin!
For the Chinese name, we already have it:
What's really cool is that the first character is pronounced the same for both (yu3), where if she's a girl, it is the same character as Leona's first character (rain - used only in girl-names) and if he's a boy it is masculine (universe).
The second character is pronounced 'an1' and means peace. But here's the clincher: when the kids are being rambuncious and rowdy (and we know this is for certain something that will occur often) Judge can just call out the names together, excluding the first character (so 'an1' and Leona's second character - 靜 jing4), as this just so happens to mean 'Quiet'. Pretty convenient if you ask me!
But really, we like that there is a relatedness between the names of the kids. So finger's crossed that the calculations turn out good.
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first midwife appointment
Yesterday we headed out into the pitch black late-morning for our first midwife appointment.
The standard checks were made, and then some chit-chat - appointments are scheduled to last a whole half hour.
The questions I had lined up for her were 1) What are the birthing facilities like at the hospital? 2) Anything I can do for my ligament-pain (already researched answers but just curious what she would say) and 3) I am still nursing Leona. I know my milk supply and content is changing - is there anything specifically I should keep in mind (also already researched but again curious).
I was pleasantly surprised about her answer to Q1, as three out of the four LDRs have birthing tubs - so the plan is still on for a look-see when we head up for the ultrasound in two weeks.
And for Q3 I was a bit disappointed. Her response was she encouraged me to consider weaning due to the dangers nursing during pregnancy holds, and that the milk's nutrients for Leona are changing away and readying itself for the new baby.
Overall I felt OK comfortable with her, but since we (I) am still keeping the thought of perhaps having a home-birth in the back of my head, I am thinking of perhaps asking to be switched to one of the midwives on the home-birth team, just so I can become familiar with them and discuss all options fully (that is if they also do hospital deliveries).
Next check-up (excluding the ultrasound) isn't until mid-Feb, so we will just have that one done in Taiwan - that's two months away. Still kind of strange for me that by then I will be 24 weeks along, and yet it will just be my third check-up.
The best bit about the whole visit was finally getting to hear itty-bitty's heart-beat! What a glorious sound that was.
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The standard checks were made, and then some chit-chat - appointments are scheduled to last a whole half hour.
The questions I had lined up for her were 1) What are the birthing facilities like at the hospital? 2) Anything I can do for my ligament-pain (already researched answers but just curious what she would say) and 3) I am still nursing Leona. I know my milk supply and content is changing - is there anything specifically I should keep in mind (also already researched but again curious).
I was pleasantly surprised about her answer to Q1, as three out of the four LDRs have birthing tubs - so the plan is still on for a look-see when we head up for the ultrasound in two weeks.
And for Q3 I was a bit disappointed. Her response was she encouraged me to consider weaning due to the dangers nursing during pregnancy holds, and that the milk's nutrients for Leona are changing away and readying itself for the new baby.
Overall I felt OK comfortable with her, but since we (I) am still keeping the thought of perhaps having a home-birth in the back of my head, I am thinking of perhaps asking to be switched to one of the midwives on the home-birth team, just so I can become familiar with them and discuss all options fully (that is if they also do hospital deliveries).
Next check-up (excluding the ultrasound) isn't until mid-Feb, so we will just have that one done in Taiwan - that's two months away. Still kind of strange for me that by then I will be 24 weeks along, and yet it will just be my third check-up.
The best bit about the whole visit was finally getting to hear itty-bitty's heart-beat! What a glorious sound that was.
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Sunday, December 9, 2012
weekend round-up
First off: on Tuesday we got (drum-roll please) Judge's joining family resident visa in the mail! That's right folks, not only did the process go beyond lightning quick (in visa-processing terms, and even more so in Norwegian government paper-terms), but the lady who had called me the preceding Friday had found a loop-hole I had not thought of that made it all follow the letter of the law. Thank goodness for good people, as she could just have easily rejected our application. The loop-hole: "Requirement for previous earnings was dropped as the sponsor (me) had extended her stay in Taiwan after completing her studies in order to marry and give birth" (if you were a student the preceding year you are exempt from the previous earnings' requirement). Though not technically how I was thinking it at the time, it is in effect true, and we most definitely accept her analysis of the situation (!). So that also means: Hello Taiwan in February :D
In potty-news: After a week of consistently keeping Leona diaper-free during non-excursions and non-sleeps, there is most definitely improvement in the pee-department. Yay! I realized, though, that saying we're 'potty training' may be a bit of a stretch, seeing as she still wears a diaper as much as she does, so really perhaps we have just kicked up the ECing to another level. In any event, once we feel comfortable with the at-home situation we will expand it to out-of-house as well, and then nap, and lastly night sleeps.
And in other-baby news, I still feel junk most days when we get to around noon and onward, though not near as bad as before. So that is good! I can now more actively play/help with Leona, and can even help with the dishes sometimes.
I'm also on various hunts, some of which have already been successfully completed. For example:
Lastly, yesterday we headed over to my mom's co-worker's home for a lovely noon visit (she has two girls around 8 and 11 - I think, who really like Leona). So I got Leona all dressed up, 2nd time ever since we got to Norway (1st time was 17th of May):
In potty-news: After a week of consistently keeping Leona diaper-free during non-excursions and non-sleeps, there is most definitely improvement in the pee-department. Yay! I realized, though, that saying we're 'potty training' may be a bit of a stretch, seeing as she still wears a diaper as much as she does, so really perhaps we have just kicked up the ECing to another level. In any event, once we feel comfortable with the at-home situation we will expand it to out-of-house as well, and then nap, and lastly night sleeps.
And in other-baby news, I still feel junk most days when we get to around noon and onward, though not near as bad as before. So that is good! I can now more actively play/help with Leona, and can even help with the dishes sometimes.
I'm also on various hunts, some of which have already been successfully completed. For example:
- baby carrier - got a 2nd hand sand-colored manduca (the color being better for sunny Taiwan days - and the 2nd hand meaning we can eat two *fantastically delicious* dinners in Taiwan on the savings)
- 2nd (*not* hand) car seat - got a maxi-cosi mobi that is rear-facing from 9-25 kg (so awesome!)
- Funny story that. After purchasing it online I had forwarded the purchase confirmation to my mom with the following email (in full):
- So we've bought a rear-facing car-seat for Leona that's good from 9-25kg, so 'mini' can use the one Leona has now :) We will be trying to bring the new one to TW this time so that she can sit rear-facing while we're there, and then we'll take the little one we have in TW back to Norway for mini to use while we're here, then just bring Leona's current one to TW in the fall. That's the plan at least ;)
- Got an email back from Jollyroom's customer service: Hi Johanna. That's great! Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
- Oooooops, I guess that was 'reply' not 'forward'.
- double stroller - am thinking I will wait until we're in Taiwan, as it will be cheaper there, and more size-appropriate (in terms of walking down the street or through stores). I do think it most definitely will be necessary when we live in China, though I may just even wait until we've been there a month or so to really get a feel for our needs
Lastly, yesterday we headed over to my mom's co-worker's home for a lovely noon visit (she has two girls around 8 and 11 - I think, who really like Leona). So I got Leona all dressed up, 2nd time ever since we got to Norway (1st time was 17th of May):
[She is such a ham when she fake-talks on the phone]
[Note she only gets to use Judge's phone, which is a good ol' Nokia, not smart-kind at all, yet she can act as enraptured in it as we are in our screens]
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Monday, December 3, 2012
3-day potty training
There is the golden window for potty training toddlers - between 18 and 22 months old (or so the saying goes). The reason this timeframe is so ideal is that the younguns are mobile and communicative enough to be able to take charge of the process, or at least fully participate, while yet young enough to be mostly happy to listen to you - not as strong-willed as a 2.5 or 3 year old.
Now, because we've been ECing Leona - with varying intensity and 'success' - since she was 2.5 months old, she's also already quite aware and communicative when she wishes to be.
And truth be told I've been wanting to potty train her for quite a while now (ok, I admit, I had hoped she'd be diaper free - and consistently miss free - before she turned 1, but that fell by the way-side), but since Judge is the one at home with her during the days I've not really brought it up as it would require some attention and effort/follow-up on his part.
However, last weekend I mentioned my desire to try potty training her - as well as the golden window bit, and Judge's response was: Why didn't you mention [the golden window] before? Let's do it!
So since I'm still on 40% sick-leave, where I stay home on Friday's, we decided to use this 3-day weekend to try the 3-day potty training method.
Actually, all we did was tell her she won't be wearing a diaper during the day any more (except for during her nap for now still), and took her diaper off when she woke up, and asked her to let us know when she had to pee or poop.
I also tried to feed her as much water as she happily would drink, and tried to be close to her most of the time and very aware of her...without hoovering and asking her every five min if she had to pee. But other than that we didn't do anything special (the 'real' 3-day potty training method has lots of tricks up its sleeves).
To be honest I was a bit apprehensive about trying this, because a couple days before The Weekend we had taken her diaper off a bit before her bath, and both times she had peed on the bed without any show of being aware of it. But by postponing it her awareness of herself would just diminish, not improve, so figured 'let's do it!' was the right idea.
So this is how the weekend went.
Friday: She had her second wake - and diaper removal - at 9. By 11 o'clock I had changed her pants four times. By bedtime that evening we'd had a kazillion pant-changes with a track-record of 100% non-communication about the pees (but 100% [1x] number two in the toilet).
At first I thought she really had totally lost touch with herself due to the diaper soaking it up so well, but then I realized it wasn't fully that, as she would run into the bedroom, happily yell bye-bye, close the door, and a few seconds later open it with her happy 'here I am!' face...and I notice she just peed. She did this three times. She would also sit down on the couch and be still for a moment, and yes, have peed (twice). And more.
I was ready to give up for this try, thinking maybe because my milk has lessened that she is feeling insecure or something, and thus it not be an ideal time to potty train.
But then I figured I would tough it out these three days.
So Saturday: diaper off at 9 again, peed on the potty. Peed again on the potty at around 12 (! now that was a long wait compared with yesterday...and no misses in between), and so on. Total of two misses (pees - once at the supermarket) and all the rest on the potty or in the toilet.
What did we do different on Saturday? I brought her potty out to the livingroom so that it was visible and accessible at all times. So sometimes she'd signal, and head right over to the potty, or bring the potty to one of us while signaling.
Now, because we've been ECing Leona - with varying intensity and 'success' - since she was 2.5 months old, she's also already quite aware and communicative when she wishes to be.
And truth be told I've been wanting to potty train her for quite a while now (ok, I admit, I had hoped she'd be diaper free - and consistently miss free - before she turned 1, but that fell by the way-side), but since Judge is the one at home with her during the days I've not really brought it up as it would require some attention and effort/follow-up on his part.
However, last weekend I mentioned my desire to try potty training her - as well as the golden window bit, and Judge's response was: Why didn't you mention [the golden window] before? Let's do it!
So since I'm still on 40% sick-leave, where I stay home on Friday's, we decided to use this 3-day weekend to try the 3-day potty training method.
Actually, all we did was tell her she won't be wearing a diaper during the day any more (except for during her nap for now still), and took her diaper off when she woke up, and asked her to let us know when she had to pee or poop.
I also tried to feed her as much water as she happily would drink, and tried to be close to her most of the time and very aware of her...without hoovering and asking her every five min if she had to pee. But other than that we didn't do anything special (the 'real' 3-day potty training method has lots of tricks up its sleeves).
To be honest I was a bit apprehensive about trying this, because a couple days before The Weekend we had taken her diaper off a bit before her bath, and both times she had peed on the bed without any show of being aware of it. But by postponing it her awareness of herself would just diminish, not improve, so figured 'let's do it!' was the right idea.
So this is how the weekend went.
Friday: She had her second wake - and diaper removal - at 9. By 11 o'clock I had changed her pants four times. By bedtime that evening we'd had a kazillion pant-changes with a track-record of 100% non-communication about the pees (but 100% [1x] number two in the toilet).
At first I thought she really had totally lost touch with herself due to the diaper soaking it up so well, but then I realized it wasn't fully that, as she would run into the bedroom, happily yell bye-bye, close the door, and a few seconds later open it with her happy 'here I am!' face...and I notice she just peed. She did this three times. She would also sit down on the couch and be still for a moment, and yes, have peed (twice). And more.
I was ready to give up for this try, thinking maybe because my milk has lessened that she is feeling insecure or something, and thus it not be an ideal time to potty train.
But then I figured I would tough it out these three days.
So Saturday: diaper off at 9 again, peed on the potty. Peed again on the potty at around 12 (! now that was a long wait compared with yesterday...and no misses in between), and so on. Total of two misses (pees - once at the supermarket) and all the rest on the potty or in the toilet.
What did we do different on Saturday? I brought her potty out to the livingroom so that it was visible and accessible at all times. So sometimes she'd signal, and head right over to the potty, or bring the potty to one of us while signaling.
On to Sunday: diaper off just after 8, and quite the good start, with about four signalings and pees in the potty, then a partial-in-time poo, but then five non-communicated pee-in-pants in a row (two of which were on the bed...we have - once again - learned our lesson). This was just the morning, pre afternoon nap. She was a bit unstable during this time as well - emotionally, so may have had an effect. Then a few more 'close the bedroom door' misses, and a few in the potty, and that was a wrap.
Overall, though, I feel it went pretty well. We weren't expecting zero misses from the start, and I really think if we keep it up and are consistent (without making it a guilt or stress point) the misses will become less and less pretty quickly.
Most importantly, both Judge and I are on the same page regarding our game-plan for this (as tends to be the case when it comes to how we want to raise our kids - especially after we've discussed it), so we can provide her with a safe support.
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Saturday, December 1, 2012
dress-up and drawing
Leona has loved dress-up for the longest time - pulling our clothes out of the closet, putting on her dad's t-shirts or our underwear (underwear goes on your head, remember - first paragraph under the first picture), or trying to put on her own clothes.
It doesn't stop there though, anything that can be worn is fair game:
She is also quite into pens - and crayons - and scribbling. Pens are extra fun because you can 'pop' them:
It doesn't stop there though, anything that can be worn is fair game:
[Recycling bags? Hello!]
She is also quite into pens - and crayons - and scribbling. Pens are extra fun because you can 'pop' them:
...while crayons are nice, but don't taste too good (and this must be confirmed every time)
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muffin tin meals...and milk (nursing-kind)
I have loved this idea ever since I came across it long ago, before Leona was born. When Leona turned one my mom gave her a muffin tin that we could use for just this - but unfortunately at that time she was more into throwing the tin on the floor than anything else.
Well, Tobias recently gave it a shot:
She has started eating tons more than she ever has before though, and I think that has to do with my milk supply shrinking drastically due to the pregnancy.
[interlude] She still nurses tons - though I have gotten it down to more of on a routine basis rather than on demand basis these past couple months. Last one for the night when I get up for work - a little before six, then when I come home, before she goes to bed, then at 10pm, 1am, 3am and maybe 4am, and then start the cycle again, and if I was at home that day again when she wakes up a few hours later, and before her nap and after her nap - and if she goes to the store with Judge when they come home again.
Now I have cut the night-time nursings down quite a bit, first cutting out the 10pm one and then the 1am one, so the first one is now at around 2 or 3am, and recently I have been able to cut the 4am one as well, so we're down to one (sometimes two if I'm too tired - because she still wakes up quite often and every time she wakes up she wants to nurse, and thus cries for a minute or two before she lays down again - but this minute or two is totally ok - not like the crying she did earlier before she was 'ready' to cut down on the nursing).
I think her stomach is starting to get used to the new schedule, as last night she slept all the way until 1am, then laid back down without crying, and slept until about 2:30, and then again, after nursing and playing a bit, slept straight through until 5:45am for her morning nurse.
Or maybe last night was a fluke :P [/interlude]
I thought my milk was mostly 'water' anyways (as in not filling), as the fat content in my milk has always appeared super low (and when I say always I mean the first couple weeks when I pumped because I wanted to have a small emergency supply), but seems I may have been a bit mistaken.
Or she's going through a growth spurt - since we don't measure her weight regularly we don't really know (we don't own a scale).
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Well, Tobias recently gave it a shot:
[clockwise from top left: cooked carrots, maccaroni, empty, corn, brussle sprouts, omelete]
But he found out it was much more successful if he started with her least favorite and gave it to her to eat when it was fresh off the stove, then slowly moved to her most favorite (corn and maccaroni), as otherwise she's just hone in on those two and ignore the others.
So I think we will keep this one on the back-burner for a while longer, so to speak, as I am still in love with the idea ;)
She has started eating tons more than she ever has before though, and I think that has to do with my milk supply shrinking drastically due to the pregnancy.
[interlude] She still nurses tons - though I have gotten it down to more of on a routine basis rather than on demand basis these past couple months. Last one for the night when I get up for work - a little before six, then when I come home, before she goes to bed, then at 10pm, 1am, 3am and maybe 4am, and then start the cycle again, and if I was at home that day again when she wakes up a few hours later, and before her nap and after her nap - and if she goes to the store with Judge when they come home again.
Now I have cut the night-time nursings down quite a bit, first cutting out the 10pm one and then the 1am one, so the first one is now at around 2 or 3am, and recently I have been able to cut the 4am one as well, so we're down to one (sometimes two if I'm too tired - because she still wakes up quite often and every time she wakes up she wants to nurse, and thus cries for a minute or two before she lays down again - but this minute or two is totally ok - not like the crying she did earlier before she was 'ready' to cut down on the nursing).
I think her stomach is starting to get used to the new schedule, as last night she slept all the way until 1am, then laid back down without crying, and slept until about 2:30, and then again, after nursing and playing a bit, slept straight through until 5:45am for her morning nurse.
Or maybe last night was a fluke :P [/interlude]
I thought my milk was mostly 'water' anyways (as in not filling), as the fat content in my milk has always appeared super low (and when I say always I mean the first couple weeks when I pumped because I wanted to have a small emergency supply), but seems I may have been a bit mistaken.
Or she's going through a growth spurt - since we don't measure her weight regularly we don't really know (we don't own a scale).
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oh how I love visa application processes
I have gotten into the habit of not answering my phone when at home if no name pops up - because it is either work related or someoen wanting to sell me something.
Thankfully I didn't screen my calls today - or rather not this call, as it was from UDI, Norway's immigration office, calling regarding Judge's family-immigration-visa.
Now, I am not going to go into too many details regarding the journey we've been on thus far, but suffice it to say there are lots of pieces of documentation that had to go into the application (of course, when has a visa like this not required loads of documents), and the only one we've been unsure of in terms of it's sufficiency is my documented past earnings.
See, the regulation states it has to be last year's income statement. Mine is practically null (Leona was born in April and I didn't head back to work soon after as is the Taiwanese norm, but rather took the Norwegian route of taking the rest of the year off). So we waited until I had earned the required minimum this year (2012) - about NOK 300k, and then provided documentation proving this, plus an explanation regarding why I couldn't prove that amount in 2011.
She said that the earnings from 2012 count only as proof of future earnings, that it has to be from the last tax year (me: close to despair, as the scenarios if we don't get this visa are all pretty depressing).
So then she asks whether I can prove we lived together for several years already (as I had written our together-lives' story in his application, as required..."not that I don't believe you"), because lo-and-behold she says one can be exempt from the previous earnings' requirement if one has a kid together who is Norwegian, and has lived together already for several years.
Now wouldn't that have been ideal to write on their website? (!) Then we could have accumulated the proof while still in Taiwan, and applied for this visa back in December last year (!!!), and saved us tons of headaches trying to figure out how we can move to Norway without splitting up the family for a year first.
So I explain to her that we have no mail that was sent to our homes from when we lived in Taiwan, no documentation showing we both lived where, together.
We talk some more, she asks why I moved to Taiwan in the first place - for study?, I explain my reasons, then say I also ended up taking a master's as the opportunity presented itself. She asks me to send her documentation showing as much, as maybe it can be used for something (vague-much).
So I do, right away, and ask if I am able to contact my previous landlords and get them to send an email stating we lived there together from when to when, if that could suffice. She says sure, that may suffice.
So then I start stressing - because of course we don't have the contact info for any of thsoe landlords any more. So I write an email to my sister-in-law asking if she can email UDI and confirm that me and Judge had lived together for four years in Taiwan with details regarding time and place, and I email my younger sister asking if she can send an email on behalf of our dad saying he had visited us in 2008 and 2009 - in our homes where we lived together in Tainan and Jhubei.
Right after I finish these emails, I get an email from UDI-lady that I do not have to worry about finding documentation proving we had lived together the whole time we have claimed.
No idea what happened that had her change er tune (perhaps the fact I showed I got a master's in Tainan, showing I lived in Taiwan for several years, so then they can more easily believe our story? But why would we lie about it in the first place seeing as we didn't know it was a blessed loop-hole? Mystery.)
I am just truly hoping that it means we get a 'visa granted' letter in the mail shortly - bated breath and fingers crossed.
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Thankfully I didn't screen my calls today - or rather not this call, as it was from UDI, Norway's immigration office, calling regarding Judge's family-immigration-visa.
Now, I am not going to go into too many details regarding the journey we've been on thus far, but suffice it to say there are lots of pieces of documentation that had to go into the application (of course, when has a visa like this not required loads of documents), and the only one we've been unsure of in terms of it's sufficiency is my documented past earnings.
See, the regulation states it has to be last year's income statement. Mine is practically null (Leona was born in April and I didn't head back to work soon after as is the Taiwanese norm, but rather took the Norwegian route of taking the rest of the year off). So we waited until I had earned the required minimum this year (2012) - about NOK 300k, and then provided documentation proving this, plus an explanation regarding why I couldn't prove that amount in 2011.
She said that the earnings from 2012 count only as proof of future earnings, that it has to be from the last tax year (me: close to despair, as the scenarios if we don't get this visa are all pretty depressing).
So then she asks whether I can prove we lived together for several years already (as I had written our together-lives' story in his application, as required..."not that I don't believe you"), because lo-and-behold she says one can be exempt from the previous earnings' requirement if one has a kid together who is Norwegian, and has lived together already for several years.
Now wouldn't that have been ideal to write on their website? (!) Then we could have accumulated the proof while still in Taiwan, and applied for this visa back in December last year (!!!), and saved us tons of headaches trying to figure out how we can move to Norway without splitting up the family for a year first.
So I explain to her that we have no mail that was sent to our homes from when we lived in Taiwan, no documentation showing we both lived where, together.
We talk some more, she asks why I moved to Taiwan in the first place - for study?, I explain my reasons, then say I also ended up taking a master's as the opportunity presented itself. She asks me to send her documentation showing as much, as maybe it can be used for something (vague-much).
So I do, right away, and ask if I am able to contact my previous landlords and get them to send an email stating we lived there together from when to when, if that could suffice. She says sure, that may suffice.
So then I start stressing - because of course we don't have the contact info for any of thsoe landlords any more. So I write an email to my sister-in-law asking if she can email UDI and confirm that me and Judge had lived together for four years in Taiwan with details regarding time and place, and I email my younger sister asking if she can send an email on behalf of our dad saying he had visited us in 2008 and 2009 - in our homes where we lived together in Tainan and Jhubei.
Right after I finish these emails, I get an email from UDI-lady that I do not have to worry about finding documentation proving we had lived together the whole time we have claimed.
No idea what happened that had her change er tune (perhaps the fact I showed I got a master's in Tainan, showing I lived in Taiwan for several years, so then they can more easily believe our story? But why would we lie about it in the first place seeing as we didn't know it was a blessed loop-hole? Mystery.)
I am just truly hoping that it means we get a 'visa granted' letter in the mail shortly - bated breath and fingers crossed.
.
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