So you want to (or have to) move to Cambodia?? Whether you are jumping up and down about this prospect or stomping your feet and pouting…I am here to hold your hand! You see, I’ve done it, thrived and enjoyed it…I took the plunge with 3 kids – a 2 year old and 3 1/2 month old TWINS! …and I was probably jumping up and down and pouting and sulking and then jumping up and down again…and everything in between!
Here’s what I know…this is a big step! When I moved, there were no “how to move to Cambodia” books…no advice on what you did or didn’t need (unless you counted my already living here husband who worked 15 hours a day and had only met our twins for 5 days prior to being forced to return to work!). Yeah, I’m not bitter about that or anything. I can tell you this, over the past 3 years, I have fielded emails, phone calls, blog posts, Facebook questions, group questions and all of that stuff about everything here. I’ve taken the time to respond to each person who asks a question as simple as “where do I buy a high chair” to “what’s the deal with Dr’s”…”where can my kids go to school”…”where should we live”…from moms and dads from around the world.
I will try and cover all of the important things; and any ideas or questions that come in, I will work on getting a specific blog post for that specific question! The good, the bad and the ugly…in no particular order (I should probably ease into the bad!)…
A little about our story…
“Way” back in 2009, we were this little family of 3, living in southern California…my husband was a VP for an international bank and we had a darling little boy named Zachary who was turning 2 that year! I bartended a few nights a week to make “fun” money and my hubby took care of our baby. We had our sweet little home, great friends, drove 2 new cars, travelled on vacations and our sweet boy…but my husband had this itch to do something more! He wanted adventure and challenge and excitement in his professional life and this “adventure” sort of fell into his lap!!! He went to Laos for a 2 week period in October, 2009, came home; I got that swine flu that everyone was freaking out about back then (and it was AS horrible as they said); he knew he was going to be offered a job, so we thought, “We’ll take the job, get pregnant before he leaves, move to SE Asia when I’m 6 months along, go to Bangkok to have the baby and we’ll have this PERFECT little life over there TOO!”…
Well, we DID get pregnant on the first try…and guess what, twins run in my family and we found out on Christmas Eve, 2009, that we were expecting twins. The Dr. told us that I should stay in the states to have the babies – due to twins and my “advanced maternal age” (of 36)…so, Zachary and I packed the daddy up and sent him on his way January 9, 2010. (yes, I was about 6 weeks along). We had a vacation planned in Hawaii that the baby and I still went on. We stayed there for almost a month, came home when I was about 11 weeks along and was told that I had a placental tear and was to be on “even more stricter bed rest” (Dr’s words…and she looked VERY convincing!) So, here I was with a 2 year 1 month old, pregnant with twins, alone and on modified bed rest…no picking that big boy of mine up, minimal walking, minimal shopping, minimal anything but staying home on my butt~! I got weekly ultrasounds to measure the tear and over time, it healed…and by 18 weeks, I was off that “stricter bed rest” and on modified “rest”.
The pregnancy went along smoothly from then on…I had family in town and my mom flew in to stay with me a few times…and a lot of friends who were SO kind to me; bringing me food, taking Zachary to the park, offering to do some shopping for me…we made it work! They scheduled me to be induced on 8/9/10; from then on, the goal was to keep them in until Daddy could make it home! (he was supposed to have 2 to 3 weeks off during that time…but that will be post about who not to work for later on! 
Well…we made it, Daddy arrived on 8/7/10, we had one day as a family of 3, they induced me and the boys were born that evening…almost 16 pounds of baby were hanging out in this belly…
We came home a day after they were born…
…and the next day had a family photo shoot…
…and then a party for daddy to say hi to our friends and family…
…and the next day, we drove around town trying to pick up stuff that people needed in Cambodia…and Daddy rode to the airport at 7:00 PM…and I stood in the driveway and watched the car pull away; holding 2 new babies with a 2 year old sleeping in his bed and me sobbing, unable to make myself walk into that house.
We had no timeline, no plan and no idea when it would be OK for us to travel…I had no friends in Cambodia and no idea what I needed, what would be available and what to expect…except for a mother to a 19 year old who worked for my husband who was SO VERY kind to answer any questions I had to the best of her knowledge and one other mom who went on to become my BEST FRIEND here!
So…between the time my husband left on August 13, 2010 and the time I flew over on November 30, 2010; I had 3 kids, alone, sold pretty much everything we owned and what I did keep, managed to fit into a 4’x5’ storage unit, had a hysterectomy and packed up and moved here with 21 pieces (including strollers, car seats, pack and plays, etc. NOT just stuff!) and here I am now!
…You see…I know a thing or two about moving here, living here and surviving here!
Next up: Vaccines
