35 Weeks

my belly looks fake in this one

This is my last week in Huizhou without a baby to tote around (unless you count the fact that I am carrying him in my belly)…either way he is pretty low maintenance now.  I am basically finished with my lists but I can’t help but wonder what else I need to do.  There has to be something right…I mean next time I come back to this apartment I will have my little boy with me.  I am hoping he comes a little early (for my sake…I can imagine going crazy sitting and waiting) but I hope he waits at least 1 more week until I move to HK!

I have started to feel self conscious about how I look…vein I know but I am a girl and I can’t help it.  A few weeks ago I was feeling pretty good about myself thinking I looked pretty hot with my normal body and my large belly, now I have totally puffed out.  My face is fat my lips look like I have had collagen injections.  My legs and arms are bigger, and I am gaining a lot of weight between appointments.  I am still only up 17 lb’s from my pre pregnancy weight but in the past 2-2.5 months I have gained 27 lb’s (if you count gaining back the 10 lb’s I lost in the beginning), and 13 of those ponds have piled on in the last month.  I check online for weekly updates and what is going on with pregnant women who are as far along as me.  Today I looked up weight gain at 35 weeks and I quickly became annoyed at women who were bragging about their low carb diet or their strict exercise schedule and how they have only gained a few pounds.  It made me quickly stop worrying about how I looked knowing that people are so vein that they may not be putting their growing baby first.  I figure I can recover from puffiness but my little man can’t recover from having a mommy who worries more about how much she weighs than how healthy he is. 

I have had trouble sleeping lately…actually I have been “sleeping” like an infant.  I sleep a couple hours at a time and wake up to use the bathroom or to eat something but usually both.  I take a couple naps a day and a lot of rest breaks between chores.  Unfortunately I get a surge of adrenaline at around 8:00 each night and can’t fall asleep until after 1:00 am.  I am so blessed to have the time to rest and not have responsibilities that can’t be postponed until I feel up to it.  Meanwhile although I eat more often I am back to small portions…I get full very easy.  I don’t snack so much between meals and my midnight snacks aren’t as vital as they had been the past few weeks.

*****Cool Week 35 Fact: Nothing too big, from now on the baby should continue to get bigger.  At my last appointment he was 5lb’s even (on the low end of average) so at this point he would almost be big enough for all those cute little outfits we have waiting for him. 

My Last Pregnant Escapade From Huizhou to Hong Kong…Tear!

I know from now on my doctors visits will be much easier, I mean taking the train 3 stops verses taking a 2 hour car ride, crossing 2 borders, taking the train (switching 3 times) for about an hour for a 15 min. doctor visit.  However I loved that I was able to make a day of it, it made me feel like each appointment was special.  I loved riding to work with Adam, I loved taking my nap in the car after dropping him off (however I am sure my driver will be relieved to not have to hear me snore anymore), I loved jamming with my I-pod on the train, I loved my pre appointment snack and my post appointment lunch, I loved walking through the grocery store wondering what is going to fit in my one bag, I loved taking the train back across the border and meeting the driver who would take everything out of my hands and have my pillow waiting for me in the back seat, I loved making a stop at Adam’s work to pick him up and stopping for dinner before heading home.  We would leave our apartment at 7:15 and usually not get back until 7:15 at night.  I know it’s silly but I figured if I lived in North Carolina and had a 15 min trip to the doctor, my appointments would become just one more thing I had to do that day rather than the center of my day and the purpose for everything else that day.  It really ends up being the focus of the days before and after.  The day before I gather up my emergency snacks and a sandwich, I fill out my immigration paperwork and make sure I have my passport ready.  I take extra rest time so that I have the energy to power through.  The day after Hong Kong, I call my feet up day.  Thankfully I really only get swollen after a long day of walking and a day of watching movies is an excellent cure.  Basically my 15 min appointment takes 48 hours of my time and energy.

So my appointments are starting to get boring…your great the baby is great…blah blah blah.  JUST KIDDING, I am so excited that things continue to look good and I love that my appointment needs to last only 15 min and that the doctor doesn’t have anything interesting to say.  Next appointment Adam will join me and we will find out more information about D-Day and lucky me I get to have my second dose of antibodies (imagine a tetanus shot only in your back side).  Our next visit will be very exciting because afterwards we will visit our pediatrician (please let him live up to my unreasonably high expectations) and take a hospital tour!

Has it been a year…or just 10 min?

I will never forget the excitement I felt to move to China…then the total dismay I felt as we made the drive from the Hong Kong border to Huizhou.  For the record it is honestly the worst drive a person can make.  You leave the nice big city of Shenzhen drive through the very poor farm areas, and pass some very ugly factories, and see endless run down apartments.  Not to mention we were exhausted and it was rainy and gray outside.  To get to our hotel we didn’t pass anything that looked like any of the wonderful pictures Adam had taken.  Our hotel was on a back road past a couple run down apartments and a sketchy looking alley.  We checked into the hotel and I swear we were the only people staying there.  Our room was dark even with all the lights on and the heat didn’t work.  The manager brought up a space heater…just like the one we had in the 80’s that my parents wouldn’t let us touch.  I took a “nap” really I was just laying in bed wondering what I could do…I was stuck here for another 18 months.  Adam has work, what am I going to do each day?

The next day the sun was out and the sky was clear (which after a year in Huizhou is a typical day).  We took a tour of the city and stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut (you may laugh that our first day we ate at pizza hut…but the culture shock was unreal and I loved that there was something familiar).  I was back to being really excited about our adventure…and I was looking forward to the first day Adam would go to work and I would get to explore for myself.

Since that day I have made some amazing friends…friends who on bad days made Huizhou good and on good days enjoyed exploring with me.  Since that day Adam has learned a lot about doing business in China and made some amazing friends at work.  Since that day we learned to depend on each other.  Since that day we have taken some amazing vacations and seen more than I ever dreamed I would see.  Since that day we both learned a little Chinese and a lot about the culture.  Since that day I became pregnant and we are now expecting a little boy. 

Pretty much our lives here have been a blurr…I don’t remember what it was like to have target down the street where I could pick up anything I needed…I don’t remember what it was like to find chicken every time I go to the grocery store.  Meanwhile I can’t believe it has already been a year.  It’s hard to believe we are 2/3 of the way done with our contract.

34 Weeks

This past week I finished organizing our closets (there were still a few things that needed to be unpacked).  I cleaned off my desk, I made a list for our cleaner for while I am gone, I reorganized kitchen cabinets making sure we had enough stuff to last the first week we are home with the baby.  I finished all the information I was gathering for my mom not to mention her China survival kit.  I packed my “go” bag which will be ready in case baby comes early (it’s not like I can send Adam back for things I need), I packed a bag with baby things to last 1 week.  I made a shopping list of things I need to pick up Tuesday from Hong Kong after my appointment.  I also picked up the paintings I had done for the nursery from the art village…they are AMAZING!  I did all this between my snack and nap schedule.

I know in my head and in my heart that I still have time, there have been no signs of pre-term labor and I am not at risk.  My husband however is starting to panic every time I move because I am uncomfortable or stop in my tracks because the baby is hanging out in my hip, or every time I readjust my belly because the baby is on one side.  He read that women who are on their feet more than 5 hours a day are at risk for pre-term labor meanwhile women on their feet less than 2 hours rarely go into labor prematurely.  I see that and thing well I should be fine because at most I am on my feet less than 5 hours and not daily…to him that means I should stay off my feet…we compromised and I promised not to stand for more than 4 hours a day…even on busy days.  Like I have said previously there is only room for one of us to stress and worry…and it’s not a good idea for me to be the stressed one. 

Meanwhile what do I do the next 2 weeks?  I am afraid to touch anything that I have organized for fear of ruining it.  This is going to be a long couple weeks…however when it’s over it will be like a major tease because after sitting around here waiting I get to sit around in Hong Kong waiting. 

******Cool Week 34 Fact: The baby isn’t changing much anymore; instead he is just getting bigger and cuter!  The best news is that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks typically do just as well as babies who are born at full term!!!!

This Week Last Year

In a way it feels like yesterday but on the other hand it feels like a lifetime ago.  I guess it kind of was a lifetime ago…looking at how our lives have changed in this past year.
A Look Back:
Sunday Feb. 14: I spent the day with my best friend from college who was nice enough to fly up and help me run errands.
Monday Feb. 15: I spent another day shopping with my bestie, then after dropping her off at the airport joined Adam at our last life group meeting. 
Tuesday Feb. 16: The movers (or should I say mover) came to pack up everything going to China.  This was the first time I felt stressed about the move.  Looking back I don’t know how I made it without crying.  I was assured that it would just take a couple hours and they would be done before lunch.  I figured that the company Cree hired to deal with our move would have communicated with the movers.  I assumed that I would have half a day to finish crossing things off my list.  I was wrong.  The one guy that came to pack everything up was wonderful and patient.  He started in the kitchen and packed all the dishes and pots and pans and moved through the house.  As he finished each room he would weigh each box record the weight and put the boxes in the truck.  After finishing the kitchen and packing electronics he stopped because he reached the weight limit he was given.  500 lb’s…didn’t include clothes or all the toiletries I had stocked up on at Sam’s.  Cree gave us a limit of about 1200 lb’s which is why we weren’t conservative with what we packed.  Unfortunate the mover’s boss was at lunch and wouldn’t answer his phone until his lunch was over so the mover and I hung out for an hour.  I was thinking of all the things I wasn’t able to do, rescheduling appointments and wondering what I was going to do if the were only going to take the 500 lb’s.  It sounds like a lot but 300 of those lb’s were 3 transformers so that we could plug American products into Chinese plugs…something about the voltage.  Once the boss got back to us he said that they were allowed to ship 500 lbs straight away and hold the rest until our paperwork was finished.  If I had known that I would have packed very differently…ie our clothes vs. our entire set of plates, glasses and pots.  I made the decision to have the guy pack everything else and we would just wait the month it would take to finish the paperwork.  It was that or have him unpack every box re-arrange things and have him re-pack.
Wednesday Feb. 17: The movers (2 this time) came back to pack up everything going into storage.  This went much faster because they mostly had furniture to deal with, not all the little things that the poor guy the day before had to pack.  I called Adam when the movers left and he met them at the storage unit.  However the truck broke down on the way leaving Adam (who had plenty to do at work preparing for Cree’s move to Huizhou) standing at the storage unit until they fixed the truck. 
Thursday Feb. 18: After sleeping (or not sleeping) on an air mattress Adam went in for another long day at work trying to make up for lost time and I organized all the things that needed to be packed.  I met some ladies for lunch and when I returned I packed everything.  It didn’t fit the first time so I unpacked, re-organized and re-packed.  It still didn’t fit.  3^rd try was a charm.  However I went downstairs to clean out the closet (things that were going to my parents) and noticed all our shoes needed to be packed.  Rather than try to fit it all I went to target and bought another suitcase.  I rearranged things a little so that we could hopefully live out of 2 suitcases and leave the others for once we move into the apartment.  Adam came home to pick me up, he helped me pack my car with things for my parents and we packed his car with our 7 pieces of luggage.  As we headed to Raleigh where we spent the night with friends I had a total mental breakdown.  It was all the tears from all the stress of the past few days, it was the lack of sleep from the air mattress and a mind full of lists.  This all happened while I was on the phone with my dad telling him how to pick up my car and that I needed him to check our storage shed.  I love my dad and I love my husband but neither of them know what to do with a crying Lindsay.I thought Adam would drive off the road trying to calm me down and I thought my dad was 5 seconds away from coming out to me.  Both the men were trying to tell me how I shouldn’t be stressed, that everything was taken care of.  This was one of those times where you just need to let it out.  We showed up at our friend’s house and as soon as Leslie saw my puffy face she reached out and hugged me…that was all I needed…that and the pizza we ate while watching the Olympics.
Friday Feb. 19: Adam got up and went to work and I got up and hung out with Leslie talking about her pregnancy and what had happened since I had seen her last…girl talk.  Adam picked me up for lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  Our flight didn’t leave until 4:00 so after lunch Adam and I went to a move; Valentine’s Day.  Next thing we knew we were on our way to Toronto, which put us one step closer to Hong Kong which put us that much closer to Huizhou.
I honestly don’t know how I would have survived this week without the dinners and lunches with friends and family.  I can’t wait to have lunches and dinners when we return to catch up on all the things we missed…however it does make me sad that we are closer to leaving Huizhou.

I feel like I am cheating on Dr. Doo with a man I have never met…

Well, maybe not cheating but I certainly have a new doctor who after reading about I am in love with.  Technically he will be Zachary’s doctor, but from what I have read he is perfect.  I got recommendations from friends then looked each doctor up on Geobaby (the Hong Kong website for ex-pats who are pregnant or have babies…there are tons of us!). I didn’t find much on the recommended doctors however I kept reading things like “I go to Dr. Mark Chan who is in the same practice and is amazing”.  I decided to look up this Dr. Mark Chan and although you usually get some negative feedback on things (the waiting room is small, there aren’t enough nurses, he is busy and we have to wait a while) I didn’t read one negative comment from any woman on Geobaby.  In fact I kept reading things like “great with a first time mum who has a lot of questions” “wonderful with my baby” “I can’t say enough wonderful things about him” etc…  I googled him and found the website for his practice, along with his bio.  What I read put him at the top of my list. 

Dr. Mark Chan went to University in the UK (as do all the best doctors in Hong Kong), he worked at various hospitals around London affiliated with the University of London (that can’t be bad)…here it comes…he worked at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham NC!!!!!!  He has specialized in nephrology (kidney disease) but switched back to general pediatrics.  He moved back to Hong Kong in 2007.  He has a ton of other accomplishments but I have no idea what any of them mean. 

One of my worries was that I was going to have to do a ton of research about standard care in the US.  I want our baby to be on track with immunizations etc…so when we move back we will have a smooth transition to a new doctor.  I figured at least he knows what the standard practice is in the US. 

OK so let’s keep score…RAVING reviews, understanding of US pediatrics, and gives me one less thing to worry about. 

Then I got an e-mail that pushed him over the top…I e-mailed Dr. Doo (who if you haven’t been able to tell I LOVE…maybe a bit too much but I have never actually liked any doctor I have ever had, so this is a good thing) to ask him to recommend some pediatricians.  He got back to me with one name…Dr. Mark Chan.  Then he went on to say that his office was located in the same building but a few floors up.  So to sum it up no, Dr. Doo didn’t recommend any of the other doctors in that practice (who also sounded great based on their bios) he recommended the one I had already decided I wanted.

Back to the score… RAVING reviews, understanding of US pediatrics, gives me one less thing to worry about, is recommended by the best doctor in the world (according to me) and I already know where the building is…not to mention I can knock out two doctors appointments easily. 

Adam and I are meeting with him on March 7^th after my appointment and unless this man is a total monster he is the winner!  I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how this must be a God thing…I mean could this man be any better on paper? 

Just Another Day

Adam and I may not celebrate holidays the way most people do, we don’t do special dinners out or get each other gifts.  The other day Adam said that he was worried that we didn’t really do the normal holiday things…we both almost let Valentine’s Day slip by without celebrating.  I absolutely hate that people expect flowers and candy and a fancy dinner on Valentine’s Day just because it’s Valentine’s Day.  I hate that restaurants charge you an arm and a leg for a set menu.  Honestly go out to a fancy restaurant and look around you, there is so much awkwardness.  Now I don’t hate the holiday, I am a holiday lover…remember!  I love the heart shaped cookies, the candy hearts, wearing my Valentine’s Day socks and pink outfit, I loved making cards with my students and reading my all time favorite valentines book “Froggies First Kiss” (a much have if your children enjoy silly stories) and making crafts from red and pink construction paper.  I love that there is another day set aside to show how much you love the people around you, however I would much rather get a random “I love you” gesture on a random Tuesday.

Tonight we plan on going out to dinner, a) because we don’t have many nights left without having to worry about a little boy and b) because I can eat and gosh darn…I will eat!!!! And c) because my wonderful husband thinks we have fallen into a rut and feels like we need to celebrate Valentine’s Day in some way. Now back to what I said before, no we don’t get each other things…honestly we don’t need anything and we have no place to put anything.  Ever since we started going out we decided to take a trip instead.  For Adam’s first birthday while we were dating we went to Wilmington, for my birthday we went to Asheville, etc… our trips lately have been much more exciting…Thailand for our anniversary (even though it happened to be a month late), Macau for Adam’s birthday, Disney for mine, Bali for Thanksgiving and Australia for Christmas. 

I am not the romantic type, flowers are nice but they die, a box of fancy chocolates are great but I would prefer a bag of M&M’s any day,  a teddy bear is nice but what do I do with it tomorrow?  So as a practical girl who would much rather go to dinner where they don’t force you to eat off a set menu or would much rather save money for something special then get jewelry that I won’t wear we are making our Valentine’s Day special by hanging out together…we do this a lot but we enjoy it and I look forward to just another day with my husband and best friend.