Humourless pregnant woman alert

I'm working until 10PM tonight and sipping on some Earl Grey which I hope will keep me awake long enough for the drive home. I am so exhausted lately.

A colleague remarked on my size yesterday and I nearly punched her in the neck. Wow, you're a lot bigger than last time! Uh, nope, just about the same. Oh! Well, oh, ok.

The correct comment to a pregnant woman is: You look fantastic!

The correct comment to a woman showing you her newborn baby is: What a lovely baby! Great name!

I spoke to my mother last night and she asked if we were still thinking of naming baby 2 Roman. "Well, it's different." Whatever that means. I thought that comment was reserved for use by senior citizens in reference to movies with non-linear plots or depictions of homosexuality. Different! Yes, mom it's different, different from Jason or Luca or many other names.

You see? No more humour left in me.

I can't wait until the end of the day tomorrow (my last day). A is getting very nervous about me going into labour while driving home. I told him I thought I could make the hour drive while in early labour and he nearly had an aneurysm.

Too much bumpy

So the stress levels are now officially unmanageable. Our basement flooded on Saturday thanks to an incredibly rainy November and a terrible storm on Friday that knocked out power for three days. We went to bed on Friday night feeling all lovely and snuggly without television and a healthy dose of romatic candlelight. Saturday morning there were 4 inches of water in the basement. Sunday it was up to a foot. I was a complete mess. I realize that I'm pregnant and susceptible to crying jags but the sight of tiny infant clothes floating in water was too much.

The water is out and the power is back on, but we are poorer and desperately in need of shelving and a plumber. Those two things will make us even poorer but fuck it, right?

I can't wait for my parents to come back from South Africa so they can help me get ready for this baby. A guy at work asked me when I was due "June?" he says. I nearly punched him in the throat. June?!?!?!? Imagine if I had to wait until June? I think I would die.

tick tock

On Monday I went to a friend's house for dinner. He took one look at my big huge belly and asked if I was sure about my Jan. 1 due date. What does he see? Could this baby come sooner? God, I hope so. I'm so tired. I feel asleep at 7PM yesterday.

I also got a massage yesterday. What the hell was I waiting for? It was wonderful and I fell in love with Melanie the small hand/strong hand goddess when she said my back troubles could be because I'm so slim and all belly. A says women are so easy.

I'm counting the days left before I go on leave (17, but only 14 work days) but since my work doesn't seem interested in replacing me, I'm both anxious and angry. Sigh.

Week 35 is hard.

the complaining begins

Today I felt the first twinges of the return of heartburn, so I feel the need to list my general pregnancy complaints at 28 weeks. All of these complaints occurred during my first pregnancy, but I managed to bury them deep deep down. They are back to mock me.

Lower back pain. This time, I'm aching only on one side. I think this is from holding Little A on my left hip. He is 25 pounds now so I'm not surprised.

Inner thigh pain. Who knows? Pressure from Baby 2 on my pelvic floor? Will my bladder prolapse?

Heartburn. Here we go again. Boy oh boy, break out the Tums, I'm on a calcium high.

Sharp pain under my ribs, upper left side. If I keep my posture perfect, it's not so bad, but after a meal, I'm screwed. The last time I was pregnant, the doctor sorta chuckled when I told her about my sharp pain. She had no ideas. Liver? Nobody seems to care. Only three more months.

Terror of diastasis. I'm sure it's already too late. I'll need to go nuts with Tuppler so I don't pooch too badly postpartum.

Stretch marks. Please please please don't make them worse this time around.

More bitching later.

A loves duck 

Babies in HK and Beijing

So, before travelling around the world - or over the world, since our plane flew from Chicago over the North Pole, Siberia and Mongolia before landing in Hong Kong - I was worried about what to expect for jet lag. What would it be like? How would little A react?

Here's my story:
Baby Jet Lag
Little A threw up all over me, Andypants and a passenger about one hour into our 14 hour flight. It was a 24 hour flu that he passed on to me, Andypants and presumably the poor puked-on passenger whom we never saw again. PassengerMan was very good natured about the puke, perhaps not so happy about the flu that followed.

After going to sleep fairly easily at around 9PM, Little A woke up at midnight for a quick bottle and then again at 3:30AM to start his day. This pattern continued for about 5 days, but with slightly earlier bed times each night.

By the time we got to Beijing, we only had two nights of waking up at 4AM and hanging out in the hotel room while Little A ran from one side of the bed around to the other. I couldn't believe that the breakfast room only opened at 6AM. I angrily walked around Beijing's hutongs while Andypants lounged in the hotel room "because one of us had to try and get some sleep." Ha! The whole napping thing doesn't work anyway when we're not at home. You just shrug and move one.

Strollers in two Chinese cities:
Our fancy friends in HK live in Mid-levels, which means about half-way up the Peak. This makes for some very very steep climbs at the end of an exhausting day. Of course, this really meant hopping into a cab while it struggled up the hill. No car seats for babies in HK or Beijing. Babies ride on laps.

OK, back to strollers. Steep climbs also mean steep descents. Someone I know in San Francisco said when her first baby was born, she was walking down some incredibly steep hill, the stroller in front, when a stranger stopped her and advised her to walk with the stroller behind in case she lost her grip and bye bye baby. Both SF and HK also have a lot of stairs because of those steep hills. This is no good for a stroller. There is no way I could have manged that city by myself with a stroller. The BabyBjorn was a life saver but Little A was pushing its weight and my back's limits.

Beijing is very flat but the streets are enormous, with lanes and lanes of traffic. You can't just cross the street at the light, you have to take the underground walkway - and you know what that means - lots of stairs. They had these hilariously steep ramps for "wheelchair" access, but if you were really in a wheelchair you would risk another serious spinal injury flying down these 30 degree angles. Either that, or you would never again emerge from the underground walkway, not being able to get up enough speed to power up the ramp.

The Forbidden City also sucked for a stroller - and there were many strollers there. This was the only place in Beijing where we saw many while people. Most with new Chinese babies in strollers. Stairs, raised platforms and doors that didn't open to the ground made me want to just hang at the Starbuck's (yes, it's true) and screw the sightseeing.

HNY

Back from a whirlwind trip to HK and Beijing - more on travelling with a small child and jetlag later. A week off over xmas and a visit from the lovely J&L made my eye twitch go away. I'm sure it will be back soon thanks to this crazy job. How do eye twitches happen? Can somebody please do a Pubmed search on that one and get back to me? Should I revisit those breathing techniques from prenatal classes? More yoga? Help.