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. 

33 Weeks

So this is what I expected pregnancy to be like.  After 3 months of not being able to eat anything, 2 more months of being able to eat only small portions of bland plain things, and another month of wanting to eat but not having enough room in the belly…I am eating like a preggo!  I surprise both Adam and myself.  We are going out to eat at local restaurants and I am no longer scared to take that first bite, in fact I inhale the entire plate.  Adam has made a few comments about the amount of things I eat between meals, not bad comments but more like pointing out “you are eating again?” where I respond “yes…do you have a problem with that?” (or sometimes I like to play a little game and say “are you saying I am FAT???) and he comes back with “not at all, I am excited you can actually eat!”.  The first 5.5 months of my pregnancy Adam choose the restaurants (no point in me choosing when I couldn’t eat anything) and now it’s my turn!  I have my first breakfast at 4:30 am (usually a granola bar or 2) then take a nap before I wake up around 9:00 when I eat my second breakfast (a bowl of cereal), At 11:00 I make lunch (sandwich, potato chips and 2 cookies) and that lasts about an hour.  At 2:00 I eat a small snack, then again a few more times before dinner.  I like to eat dinner around 6:30, then I have a snack around 8:00 and a granola bar right before bed (in attempt to stop my 4:30 belly wakeup call).  I drink mostly water (a few bottles a day) and juice with my meals.  Every once and a while (appointment days or days when I didn’t sleep well but don’t want to nap all day so I sleep better the next night) I drink a glass of coke.  The doctor said I was allowed to have 1 cup of caffeine a day, I didn’t have any during the first trimester, and since then I really haven’t had much although I had a daily coke while we were on vacations so I could last a full day.

I am still gathering diapers and wipes, and getting things ready for baby.  I sanitized everything this week then put them in Ziploc bags so they stay clean for the next month and a half.  I am working on my “go” bag list and what I will need for baby (if he comes early I will need a lot more, if he comes on time I only need a week worth of things).  I really don’t want to go out and buy clothes because I didn’t pack enough but I also don’t want to bring EVERYTHING.  For myself it’s easy to pack since there aren’t many things that fit over my belly and for after the baby is born I plan on wearing yoga pants or maternity jeans so no questions there.  I am working on a list of things I need to do before I move to Hong Kong and things that need to be taken care of while I am gone (a list for the cleaner).  I need to stock the house with cereal and granola bars (and other non-perishable items), I need to stock up on bread (I am freezing bread in bags of 2 slices for easy sandwich making).  I bought frozen meatballs from Ikea and I am stocking up on meat to freeze each trip to HK.  Unfortunately I can’t fit anything pre-made in the freezer, but we asked for meal kits for Christmas and should have enough to last a little while.  This whole situation is a organizational freaks dream and nightmare all at once.  I choose not to stress, if things get done they get done…if not well then they didn’t get done.  As long as the baby has clean things (which now he does) and as long as we have papa johns delivery on speed dial we will survive. 

*****Cool Week 33 Fact – my little guy’s head should grow 2/8ths of an inch this week, and this week the amount of amniotic fluid in my belly has reached a peak…from this point on I may feel kicking and punching a lot more (Lord help me), but he probably won’t flip or turn as much as he is running out of room.

The Emergency Plan To Beat All Emergency Plans!

This is something Adam has been working on for over a month.  When we started talking about the details of the emergency plan I decided that it isn’t something I need to think about.  Honestly the stress of figuring out what to do when and how and arranging everything was bound to cause me to go into early labor…so I decided to be the one that lives in the land of flowers and rainbows, where everything happens on track and according to how I want it to.  Adam got to be the one that made calls, did research and stressed until it was finished, he gets to live in the real world where things don’t always turn out as planned and problems sometimes happen. 

I think the right person had the job, Adam used people at work that lived in Hong Kong and the people that he knows that work at the Hong Kong Cree office to help him out.  Our emergency numbers list everything from Ambulances in Hong Kong, Huizhou and Shenzhen to ladies I know in Hong Kong that will come stay with me at the hospital until Adam can be there.  Adam listed a plan of action based on the situation and time of day. 

PRE MARCH 6: We have everything from “THE BABY IS COMING NOW!!!!” to “The baby is coming soon but I don’t think I can make it across the border” to “My water broke and we have plenty of time”.  We have plans for if it is the middle of the night (our driver is on call and we have a number for an Ambulance or a driver that will meet us on the other side of the border).  We have plans for if it’s the middle of the day (we go to a different border and have a different driver to call that will meet us at the border).  If we don’t need to cross the border our driver will take us right to the Emergency room in Huizhou or Shenzhen.

AFTER MARCH 6: I will be in Hong Kong, walking distance from my doctor and a short taxi ride to the hospital.  Adam will work one day a week (Friday) out of the Hong Kong office and will stay with me on the weekends.  If the baby comes between Thursday night and Monday morning it would work out perfectly.  If the baby comes between Monday morning and Thursday night I have 2 ladies that will meet me at the hospital and keep me company until Adam gets there.  I will go to the hospital as soon as I have any sign of labor (no laboring at home when I am by myself).  If I feel up to it I will take a taxi, if not I will call the ambulance.  Meanwhile Adam has a plan based on time of day of how he is going to get to the hospital in Hong Kong from his dorm room at Cree.

Basically it sounds complicated, however it is really simple and we are both comfortable with the plan.  We have also run this plan by people that live in China and Huizhou and on my next doctors visit I will run it by the doctor. 

We Make A Great Team

I am so excited about having an infant in the house…sometimes I can’t even stand it!  I feel prepared (well as prepared as a person can be) and I am thankful for all the things I have done in my life to prepare me for my little man.  I was Red Cross certified as a baby-sitter and happened to be the only teenage girl on our street giving me the babysitting monopoly.  I nannied for a summer, and was in charge of the nursery one day a week at the resort I worked at for a couple summers.  Teaching kindergarten and first grade isn’t going to help me with infant care but it sure will come in handy as Zachary grows up.  None of these things is the same as becoming a full time parent yourself, but I have no fears about caring for my baby.  Adam on the other hand has asked me to come up with a checklist of things he needs to master before I can leave him alone with the baby.  I have no doubt he will conquer the list in no time at all.

Meanwhile today I have been sanitizing bottles and parts for the breast pump.  The breast pump is totally scary to me.  Before I opened the box I thought oh it’s easy everyone does it…now that the box is open and the parts are staring me in the face I am looking at them like I looked at a test in calculus class.  The tubes, the suction, the containers, the little parts that I have no clue what they do.  It is times like these when I am glad to be married to an Engineer.   Adam is going to have to write out a kindergarten level instruction sheet on what to do with the pump.  I am really bad at following directions and get overwhelmed very quickly with things that need to be plugged in.

All in all I think we will make a good team until I am comfortable with electronics Adam can be in charge of setting up and reading directions, and until Adam is comfortable with the baby I can be in charge of Zachary.  However I think I got the better end of the deal.

Another Great Report

After my amazing lunch experience, breaking the record for fastest immigration pass through, and buying 2 short sleeved maternity tops (now I have 3 actual maternity shirts…and that’s really all that fit over the belly) I went to see my favorite doctor.  This is the first appointment where I gained the appropriate amount of weight.  Enough about me though the baby is great, despite his killer kicks he is on the smaller side of average.  He is bottoms up but his head is not engaged yet so that can change.  We are glad that he hasn’t totally made his way to delivery position.

Doctor Doo and I discussed the plan…he still thinks we are more than fine moving to Hong Kong on March 6^th.  He is pleased that I have people in Hong Kong to meet me at the hospital until Adam gets there, and he said he would be sure to make sure the baby came on a weekend so that Adam wouldn’t have to take the trip from Huizhou. 

I got another blood test to see if I am producing the antibodies I need to kill the antibodies that would harm my baby.  If I am producing then I don’t need the shot if not then I get a shot at my next visit.

The story behind my shots: Adam has type A+ blood and I have O-.  Basically because I am negative and Adam is positive the baby could have RH disease (this wouldn’t be the case if our blood types were switched).  Anyway RH disease can be severe (stillbirth) or mild (anemia).  The baby would get this disease because during pregnancy blood can pass from baby to mother which would make my antibodies say “whoa what is this” and attack.  If this happens the antibodies could pass through the placenta to the fetus and will try to destroy the positive red blood cells.  This would hurt the baby and would become worse with each pregnancy.  The good thing is RH disease can be prevented by injecting anti RH- antibodies.  Both the baby and I will most likely have a shot right after birth.  1 in 10 Caucasian births include a RH- mother and an RH+ baby; however it is rare to get the disease.

Pregnancy Perk That Deserves It's Own Entry

Today I got through immigration in record time, which got me to the area where my doctors office is an hour and fifteen min. early.  I decided to get lunch before at the Thai place nearby.  To get to the restaurant I need to walk up a steep hill and a few stairs.  It is in an alley with another Thai place and a few Indian, Vietnamese and Malaysian restaurants…basically the non-Chinese Asian food alley.  They set up tables and chairs in the alley and hound people as they round the corner to decide which place you will technically eat at.  When I got there at 10:50 they were hosing down the alley and there were no tables or chairs ready. I should have turned around like the other people that rounded the corner with me (who other than a desperate preggo eats this kind of food before 11:00?), but I went to the man with the hose and asked when he opened (I figured 10 min I would wait 30 min I would shop first anything more and I would get a snack and eat lunch after I see the doctor).  Before I could get the first word out the man with the hose turned off the water and set up a table with 4 chairs, had the lady who was mopping the kitchen bring me cutlery and the man opening the awning get me the menu. 

I ordered lime juice and chicken with green curry (surprise).  I don’t know why they usually make you decide which persons table to sit at because my drink came from the restaurant next door and my curry came from the place across the street.  Anyway during the 40 min span of time I sat there waiting or eating all the workers finished preparing for the day, hosing things down, setting up tables and chairs, cleaning etc…all while ignoring anyone else who came around the corner.  It was great watching people (other “western” people) see that the places are closed then looking at me and wondering why is that girl sitting in the only table set up, and then turning to the workers who totally ignored them.  This wasn’t the best Thai food I have ever had (that I had in Thailand…not to brag) but I will continue going there just because they saw a pregnant girl in need. I am sure they had no idea I lived in a place where I couldn’t get Thai whenever I wanted, I am sure they had no clue the one thing I think about all day long is green curry, however maybe they did realize that it was a great business move to make a pregnant lady, who wants Thai food that early in the morning, happy.

32 Weeks

The last couple weeks the fact that time seems to be moving super fast has made me feel so unprepared for what will be coming within the next 10 weeks.  However over the past week we stocked up on diapers (a couple small packs of newborn, size one, and a box of size 2).  One thing I have heard from mommies is to wait to stock diapers until you see what fits your baby the best, however living in China has cut my choices down to 2 brands of decent diapers and according to the mommies here only one is worthwhile.  We picked up a crib, stroller, carrier, monitor and a few more blankets along with a bouncy seat from friends of mine who were nice enough to lend or sell me their already loved items saving us a ton of money (especially on the car seat which we would not be able to use in the US due to different standards).  We will bring the stroller back because it is a heavy duty one, but a lot of the things that Jodie left me will be passed on to someone who is hoping to become pregnant sometime later this year, and the crib and bouncy chair will go back to the girl who lent them to me in case they have another.  It is a huge burden lifted off my shoulders, not only did I have to tote everything back from Hong Kong after paying way too much (Hong Kong standards are much better then Chinese standards), but I was worried about what was going to happen when we returned to America and our stuff (including big baby items) takes who knows how long to get to us.

This week was also Chinese New Year (as we foreigners call it) or Spring Festival.  Adam planned a trip (I hung up my travel agent badge after the Australia trip) to Guangzhou.  I was proud of myself to being able to waddle around the city like a star.  We got to play tourist and relax a bit.  The biggest part for me was the opportunity to have more food choices then we have in Huizhou.  The day before we left I cooked a can of Tom Yum soup for dinner and it made me really want chicken with green curry (my favorite Thai food).  The night we arrived in Guangzhou we walked past a number of Chinese restaurants and went to an Asian fusion place that had Thai food, Indian food, and Chinese food along with a few Japanese choices.  I had the second best chicken with green curry I have ever tasted (the first being the fresh curry paste Adam and I made in our cooking class in Thailand).  The next day for lunch we went to a grill that had hotdogs, hamburgers, fried chicken etc…what did I order? Chicken with green curry.  Dinner that night we went to a German restaurant, but the next day for lunch we ate at a mall where I ordered Chicken with green curry and for dinner we looked at a few Vietnamese, Japanese and Brazilian menu’s before Adam told me…”lets just go to the Thai place, you know that’s what you want”.  Meanwhile I felt bad for making him follow me to Thai places all vacation but I honestly thought I would cry at the thought of going to any of the other places for dinner.  The next day we ate lunch at the place we went to the first day, I didn’t feel bad about making Adam go back because the menu was huge and had so many choices that he was able to eat pretty much whatever he wanted.  Thank goodness there is an amazing Thai restaurant right next to my doctors office in Hong Kong.   And thank the lord that I don’t have heartburn from eating spicy food…I think it’s my little gift for having 5+ months of not liking any food.

******Cool Week 32 Fact: Baby now has toenails and fingernails and (maybe) hair.  Although hair supposedly causes heartburn and I don’t have heartburn so maybe Zachary will be a cute little bald baby.

Xin Nian Quai Le!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!
We just spent an amazing few days in Guangzhou.  Guangzhou is the 3^rd biggest city in all of China and it is only a 2 hour trip from Huizhou.  Why haven’t we gone there before do you ask?  Well we took a trip there about a week after we moved to Huizhou to meet up with some friends of ours that were traveling through Guangzhou to complete the paper work after adopting a little girl.  I have actually been there twice by myself to get more passport pages added to our passports.  Our first trip was a total blurr…we were still getting used to everything Chinese and we were really excited to see people from our life before China (anyone who has lived overseas will understand).  The last two times, dealing with the US consulate, left me hating the idea of ever going to Guangzhou again.   
We arrived at our hotel at 1:00 on Wednesday and headed to Baiyun Mountain where you can get one of the best views of the city, and walked through the Yuntai gardens where they decorated for Chinese New Year using flowers and plants.

It was a lot of walking but it was a beautiful day and a great way to start off our trip.  For dinner we stopped at an Asian Fusion restaurant.  They had a huge menu with amazing food (but you aren’t pregnant so you don’t care so much about the food).  The best part of this restaurant was the floor show.  Basically picture an Asian Mariachi band with singers and dancers dressed in costumes (Saturday Night Fever, Cowgirl, Chef, etc…).  They sang a few songs and danced through the restaurant…children and adults joined in and it truly made our night. 
Thursday we went to Shamian Island.  It was the only place the Chinese government allowed foreigners to live while China was closed off.  They gave the foreigners this horrible piece of land, meanwhile the foreigners build mansions, had sewage systems installed and running water long before China did…basically saying screw you.  The buildings have been well maintained and are now apartment buildings and souvineer shops.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Lucy’s Bar and Grill.  The menu had hamburgers, grilled cheese, fried chicken and they served iced tea in jumbo mason jars.

Ironically I ordered Thai green curry and Adam ordered Szechuan chicken…me I am totally having green curry cravings and Adam was excited to have American style Chinese food (good quality skinless chicken without bones with sweet and sour sauce).  At this lunch we noticed there were friends from Huizhou at the next table (actually I had seen the girl a few days before and told her we were going to Guangzhou and it seems like she liked the idea) while chatting with them we found out that the Starbucks in Huizhou had officially opened!  After lunch we went to a couple local markets which were mostly closed due to the holiday.  If we didn’t live in China with access to street markets I would have been disappointed but it was nice to walk through the markets without being bumped and knocked.  These markets made the markets in Huizhou look totally lame, I will defiantly have to go back before we head home. 
We also went to the "Canton School", the oldest building in Guangdong.

We ate dinner at a German restaurant that had good beer for Adam and well…food I liked.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel…even though the whole city seemed very calm I (we are blaming our lameness on me) had a long day of walking and was getting tired.  We skipped the fireworks and went back to the hotel.
Saturday we went to a couple malls where we ate lunch and wondered around the new area of Guangzhou…the area I know well after wandering around for 30 min trying to find the consulate.  This time I actually enjoyed the stroll, partly because the temperature was in the mid seventies, the sun was out, there were children playing in the park and my husband at my side.  We walked through Ikea

(as a Huizhou ex-pat we need to walk through places like Ikea every once and a while).  We ate Thai for dinner and Dairy Queen for Desert (yes you read that correctly DAIRY QUEEN).
Sunday we got to sleep in (if you count the last time I woke up) and take our time packing up and watching news in English.  For lunch we went back to the first restaurant (it was really close to the hotel and it had the best green curry I had since we arrived).  I totally didn’t expect another floor show but sure enough the performers did a Chinese New Year floor show which was the perfect ending to our wonderful trip.  Actually the perfect ending was having our driver pick us up at the hotel and drive us to our apartment…we didn’t have to go through security or immigration. 
We have decided that if we travel anywhere else while we are here we need to travel within China…then when we move back to America I really want to make sure we take our children around the US.  It’s a shame we have been in China almost a year and haven’t really been a tourist in China yet.  We hope to travel at least o Beijing (once the baby comes we will need to take a practice plane trip before we take him on a 20 hour flight anyway).

My Little Rabbit Baby

As of today Zachary will be born during the year of the rabbit.  I looked up some information on what that means for him and for us.  Here is what rabbit babies should be like:

“Rabbits are private individuals, a bit introverted and withdrawn. People e born into this sign would rather work behind-the-scenes instead of being the center of attention in any situation. Do not misunderstand…the Rabbit is not a recluse. In fact, he is a reasonably friendly individual who enjoys the company of a group of good friends whether at a business dinner or a holiday party. Rabbits just like to be a part of the gang as opposed to the leader of it.”

THE METAL RABBIT 1951 AND 2011

Metal gives Rabbits a more resilient demeanor than the other more quiet Rabbit. These Rabbits are very ambitious and can be quite crafty in their dealings with others. They throw themselves and their emotions into everything they do, making them intense lovers, but not outwardly affectionate lovers. Their determination can affect their work as well, whether through personal relationships with colleagues or with the work itself, a Rabbit can be known to immerse himself in his projects…business and personal.

He kind of sounds like a Dalland (my mom’s side of my family).

Just for fun here is the info on Adam and I:

Adam was born the year of the dog: “The Dog is a giving, compassionate personality. He offers kind words, support and advice to friends and family. He is a listener, always available to lend an ear or a shoulder to a friend in need. Often Dogs know more about their friends than their friends know about them or even themselves! Dogs are incredibly attentive. Sometimes though, Dogs should pay more attention to their own needs. In private, many Dog people worry a lot.”

THE WATER DOG 1922 AND 1982

These Dogs have great foresight and are well-educated on many different things. This quality helps them appreciate other points of view, making them quite flexible and liberal. They are easygoing, but this can cause them to be too spendthrift with money and less loyal with friends. Still, because of their flexible natures and their ability to appreciate difference, these Dogs always have friends and are usually popular people.

I think it is pretty on the money for Adam…however as a man I can’t say that I he knows things about people.  He is a great friend and is always thinking of others.  Adam isn’t a spendthrift or less loyal, but he is very open to differences in people.

I was born the year of the pig: “The Pig is a fun and enlightening personality blessed with patience and understanding. People born under the sign of the Pig enjoy life and all it has to offer, including family and friends. They are honest and thoughtful and expect the same of other people. Pigs can be perceived as oblivious or gullible because they do care about others so much that they will do just about anything for a friend in need.”

THE WATER PIG 1923 AND 1983

Water Pigs go with the flow and usually trust people before they truly know them. This, of course, can get them into trouble because they are often too trusting for their own good. Water Pigs are quite easily influenced; yet, can be very persuasive when it comes to getting what they want. These people love parties and social situations and enjoy giving of themselves to help others.

Honestly when I found out I was a pig I figured “oh great…what is good about pigs”.  I would love to live up to this description and I plan to try however I can’t say I am the most patient person.  I am patient with children but I have no patients for people who should know better. I think people who are close to me will know that I am very good at getting my way…in a nice way.

I read a lot more information and I can’t say that I believe this is always true but I think it’s fun.  The favorite thing I read was that rabbits are usually best friends with pigs!

Chinese New Year!

Adam and I had decided from the beginning of our time here that we wanted to spend Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival as they call it here) in China.  Up until a few weeks ago everyone agreed…you have to do it once.  However lately people (Chinese and foreign) have given us a look of confusion and said Oh…OK.  They mention how loud and crazy it can be, how many people there are all over the place and how we should stay at home.  However we were determined to truly experience this holiday.  We decided last week to go to Guangzhou (the 3^rd biggest city in China and only 2 hours away) for 3 days.  We figured this would be great because we wouldn’t have to take a bus or cross the border during this time of the great migration.  Our driver will take us to the hotel and pick us up after our little holiday.  We only need to use public transportation for very short distances.  Before we left we decided that if it was truly crazy (where I was getting knocked around or bumped too much we would happily have a relaxing couple days with some great meals). 
We really couldn’t get a straight answer about what we should do or where we should go or what to expect.  The thing about Chinese people is they don’t want to give you false information, they don’t want to say “I don’t know” and they don’t want to say anything that would make you unhappy.  Meanwhile I would love it if someone would tell me taxi drivers are going to charge you 100 RMB just to get in or last year lots of people got hurt because of the crowds or whatever would help us plan better.  We really couldn’t get information off the internet because the best info is all in Chinese.  Our best resource was a coworker of Adam’s who lives in Guangzhou.  He gave us a few of the best areas to stay in and Adam ran the plan by him to make sure things would be open or if he had other suggestions for us.  I retired from my trip planning after Australia…at least for now.  So I handed my travel books and my favorite website over to my husband, who really got to see how hard it is to plan a trip where information is in a different language and you don’t really know the area.  He got to see how hard it is to find a place on the map when you don’t have any idea where to look.  He got to see how hard it is to decide which hotel to stay in (the close one, the cheaper one, the chain you know…it’s a craps shoot!). 
We are staying at the Holiday Inn…after Japan I decided that it was just easier to stay in a Holiday Inn…they are usually conveniently located, their standards are basically the same anywhere you go and we collect points.  The only reason I will choose something else is if we are going to a resort area (Bali) then I like to stay in a local chain resort (chains to me say people liked the first one so they were able to afford to build another). 
ANYWAY we have been looking forward to this experience since we moved here a couple weeks after the holiday last year.  I can’t wait to document this trip!

My 1 Year Anniversary

Today it has been one year since I retired from my position as a kindergarten teacher.  I think back to that day and it was one of the saddest scariest days of my life.  I really don’t like to think of things as sad…there is always something around the corner and even in the darkest situation I truly believe something good can come out of it.  You don’t always see it at the time and even if you know something amazing is coming up it’s hard to look past the sad moment.

I wasn’t sad to leave my family, my friends, my job, the life I knew.  I was sad that I knew my little 5 year old friends didn’t truly understand that I was leaving for good.  I was sad that I wouldn’t be there to give them a hug when they realized that.  I thankfully had the opportunity to sit in on countless interviews, and thanks to the bad economy we got to pick from some amazing choices.  I knew I left my kids in good hands, but (and I know I wasn’t their parent) is anyone truly good enough for your kids? 

I wasn’t scared to move to China where I didn’t know anyone or what to prepare myself for.  I was scared that I was losing myself.  Who was I?  If someone asked me to describe myself I would proudly say I am a teacher.  I would happily tell them about the things we did in my class.  I would continue telling cute stories past the point where people would listen.  Beyond that I was proud of the life I had built for myself.  I was proud of the fact that I was able to buy a house on my own (thanks to the banks giving loans to people that shouldn’t get them).  I loved the house I had carefully painted and decorated. 

The first few weeks before I “retired” and the few weeks after, I think I truly went through a depression.  As an independent woman I would now have to build my identity around my husband.  What would I tell me when they asked who I was?  I loved my husband and I was proud and excited to go on this adventure with him, but I really think this was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.  You may think I am crazy that it wasn’t hard for me to leave family, friends or the life I knew.  All those things are still there are will be there when we get back with open arms.  However the Lindsay I was before is gone…not in a bad way, in a I have all these new experiences way, in a I have learned so much about myself way, in a I now know uprooting my life to be a housewife isn’t losing my independence way, and in a I can’t imagine doing anything differently way.  However I do still tell long unsolicited stories of school and I know I will always be a teacher even though I am not technically employed, it’s not what I did it’s who I am.