Post #7: Visiting Pregnant Stacy in Fiji

Readers of my prior blogs will be wondering how two year-old Cooper’s visit to Nana’s house went, as I had told you about all the diverse preparations in Blogs #5 & 6. The details of the visit will certainly be forthcoming, but in this Blog #7 I am returning to the chronology of the early months of Stacy’s pregnancy, continuing from Blog #4 when we found out that our grandbaby was developing healthily and would be a boy.

April, 2016

Jesse and I had received an invitation from cousin Claudia for a first birthday party for her grandson Patrick to be held on Sunday, April 10. What a wonderful success story that Patrick, having been born frighteningly two months premature last year, was developing well and about to celebrate a miraculous one year of post-uterine life. I would have loved to attend, but we already had plans to travel to Hawaii and Fiji. During the brief time we had been home between Telluride and Hawaii departure, an email came on April 2, from father Jonathan entitled "Amazon List for Patrick's First Birthday," which detailed a hyperlink to a registry wish list. Admittedly, I was somewhat taken aback to be presented with a specific list for a one year-old's birthday. But these days there seem to be registries for many occasions, way beyond original bridal registries, from which the custom of the recipient-selected gifts derived. Furthermore, with so little time to go gift shopping, I was ultimately appreciative of this most convenient and time efficient way to send a gift to Patrick. I viewed the list and purchased the colorful Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn activity toy within a reasonable price range, and no shipping fees would be needed due to my Amazon Prime membership. And like the baby books I had ordered for Stacy, it was instantaneous, hassle-free shopping.

One of the discussions I was planning to have with Stacy was about gift receiving. Many family and friends had already inquired how they might send baby gifts. And over the years I have given countless wedding and baby gifts whose recipients and family would surely like to reciprocate by gifting Stacy and her baby. The complicated concern was how the gifts would get to Stacy in Fiji or Australia. Stacy has always discouraged me from sending any packages to her in Fiji. Packages are a hassle to receive, Stacy has told me, because the post office does not deliver them but supposedly sends notification to the recipient that a package is being held. Furthermore, post office pick-up hours are inconvenient, there is usually a customs fee, and notices are often delayed or non-existent. Alternatively, if gifts are sent to Australia where Stacy will reside in July and August, she will have much extra baggage to bring back to Fiji. So this would require a thoughtful discussion.

Playing the pregnancy card ~

Having enjoyed a lovely few days on Oahu, I checked online Saturday morning about our anticipated flight for late that night to Fiji. Shockingly, our flight departure for our non-stop flight had been delayed from 2:50 am (yes, originally scheduled in the middle of the night) until noon on Sunday, with an added stop before Fiji, increasing the travel time three hours and delaying our Fiji arrival 12 hours, virtually wiping out one of our few days with Stacy & Jason. In emailing Stacy about the delay, I posed the question as to whether we should stay an additional day in Fiji to compensate for the late arrival. Stacy's first response was, "I wouldn't bother extending your ticket because I am flying out Sat and need to spend some time that day getting organized." She reminded me that she had a business trip to the US directly after our visit, with meetings in Arlington, VA and Santa Barbara, CA.

I countered by email, "If we did postpone our return from Friday to Saturday night, we probably wouldn't be around Suva much on Sat? I just feel bad after long flights etc., we will now have little time with you, just 3 days, or maybe that's plenty for you, as you & Jason are pretty busy. Xoxo mom"

Stacy's next reply: "Here's the thing - I really want to try to use my Fiji Airways points to bump myself up to business on Sat. If you guys move your tix to Sat, there will be pretty much NO chance that I will be able to do this. Think of the pregnant lady traveling all cramped in coach before you change flights."

Of course, I wrote back, "No problem. We will keep our original flight."

But that definitely seemed to be "playing the pregnancy card."

April 11 to 15 Fiji visit

We had a very long travel day, leaving our Waikiki hotel about 8 am due to the Fiji Airways recommendation to be at the airport three hours in advance of flight departure. Our eventual arrival at Fiji's international airport was about 7 pm Fiji time but what would have been 9 pm Hawaii time. Then we still had to travel by taxi overland for three more hours to Suva, arriving close to 11 pm. We wearily checked into the lovely renovated Grand Pacific Hotel where we were graciously installed throughout our stay.

Pregnant Stacy in Fiji with Grandpa-to-be Jesse

Our first view of pregnant Stacy was about 8:30 the next morning when she arrived to take us to breakfast. I immediately took her photo with Jesse, her baby bump posed significantly visible in a black dress as she leaned sideways toward Jesse in a white polo shirt.

We had a bit of time before breakfast as Governors restaurant, where Jason was working, opened at 9 am. So I happily presented Stacy with all the baby paraphernalia we had schlepped to Fiji: 11 stuffed animal toys, 7 baby books & two onesies.

We had eaten at Governors on our two prior trips to Suva but this time I was especially checking out the decor and menu, and snapping photos, while congratulating Jason on fatherhood-to-be and his new chef position.

Stacy and chef Jason at Governor's restaurant

In our breakfast conversation, Stacy reminded us it was our son Ben's birthday, April 12. I had pretty much lost track of the date, due to the very long travel day before and crossing the international dateline. Furthermore, Stacy surprised me by mentioning that they may give their son a middle name to remember Ben. Stacy also reminded me that her cousin Joshua Kaplan had kindly done that six years ago with their firstborn, Lucas Benjamin.

Our overall several day visit was mostly a lot of eating and relaxing and watching Jason and Stacy in their respective elements. Jason spent Tuesday afternoon marketing and then cooking at their home a multi-plate dinner for us of tasty and creative dishes including a lightly breaded tender white fish, calamari and a mystery Fijian vegetable, pickled sea cucumber, curled long green beans adorned with sautéed onions and garlic in coconut milk, spinach in coconut milk, peppered ahi tuna, and eggplant. Quite a feast for all the taste buds. I presented the chef with a gift of a Fossil watch which I had purchased at home to specifications that Stacy had suggested: black or silver, water resistant, and a readable dial suitable for aging eyes.

And we had some relaxed conversation in which I got to learn more about Jason's family. His family home was in the Blue Mountains area west of Sydney. He has two brothers and a sister, who have nine daughters between them. So Jason's son will be the first male of that generation.

On Wednesday evening we four went to a local social event for the launch of Fijian-style canoes, with Fijian hors d'ouevres and an upbeat band which inspired Jesse and I to dance, as we had less people with whom to socialize than Stacy. It was nice to see Jason more relaxed and out of the kitchen.

On Thursday night we ate dinner at Governors, choosing some of Jason's specialties of the night. For starters Stacy and I shared an appetizer of fresh New Zealand green lip mussels prepared in a light chili sauce and Jesse had a dhal soup. For the main course both Stacy and I had Jason's delicious creation of coconut rock crab meat and vodka infused mahi mahi layered over local greens.

Despite losing a day due to the Fiji Airways schedule change, we had plenty of time to spend with Stacy. So the pre-grandparenthood trip and getting to know our almost son-in-law turned out to be a success. We had lots of time for conversation with Stacy who met us for some other meals, and spent the day with us on Wednesday, driving to Pacific Harbor, an hour away for some R&R and spa services at The Pearl Resort. When I happened to inquire of Stacy on Thursday whether she and Jason had any plans for marrying, she replied to my surprise, "Well, Jason already asked dad."

"So when did that happen?" I asked, looking accusingly at Jesse. "You never said anything to me."

As I was thus informed, this conversation had taken place on Tuesday morning when Jesse had run by their house and found Jason working on something out in the yard. I was pretty surprised that Jesse hadn't mentioned that to me, but nevertheless, it is an exciting bit of news, although perhaps anticlimactic considering that Stacy and Jason are already expecting a baby.

Leaving Fiji, I emailed both Stacy and Jason, with the subject line “Vinaka,” which is Fijian for thank-you:

Dear Stacy & Jason,

We had a lovely visit to both of you in Suva, and especially were happy to see the obvious gestation of our grandson-to-be.

Jason's meals were extra special, the multiple dishes cooked at home and the specialties of the house at Governors.

Thanks for making time during your work week to host us.

Maybe we will see Stacy very soon, who knew? As soon as next week in NY.

And August in Australia will be especially exciting.

As I told Stacy. I just booked my trans-Pacific flight.

Lots of love to both of you,

Mom & Dad, aka Beryl & Jesse

You see that I had deliberated how to sign my joint email to Stacy & Jason.