I am 75% of the they way there on this pregnancy. Overall it's been smooth sailing, but the usual discomfort that comes in the third trimester is certainly starting to make me want to unload this watermelon soon.
My biggest complaint must be the leg cramps at night. It doesn't happen every night, luckily, but when it does, the sharp pain wakes you up from deep sleep and leaves you tossing and turning for at least an hour afterwards.
Last night was the worst so far, I had it on the right leg, front and back, then the left leg, front and back, then back to the left leg, side and back, and again ended on the left leg back side. The whole thing must have lasted at least 15 minutes. It was as if there's a conductor in my body trying to make music by making the different muscles tense up, in a magical order. Better yet, it's impossible to stretch it out by myself, especially when it happens on the front and back of the leg -- just as you try to stretch out the back by using the ledge of the bed, the front cramp begins. Now that mic sometimes takes Jack-Jack to bed and ended up sleeping next to Jack-Jack for the night, I have no one to kick awake in the middle of the night, and my quiet midnight screams can be heard by no one but myself. So the only way, is to endure the pain, wait for it to pass, then try to scoot myself on the bed, and try to stretch it out a bit after its all over, by standing next to the bed. The muscles still ache afterwards, and I can bearly reach my calf myself to massage it with the big belly being in the way.
Oh dear, why mother nature designed this to be part of pregnancy I have no clue, but I hope for the rest of the 10 weeks I have left, this symphony would not interrupt my sweet dreams again.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Jack-Jack is TWO!
I still remember, exactly this time two years ago, I was just getting ready to be checked out of Queen Mary Hospital, ending my long and uncomfortable bed rest, being picked up by Mic, and being transferred to the Sanatorium to have my C-section at 10AM.
And two years later, our lives have been transformed by this little bundle of joy.
Yesterday we had a mini celebration at home for him with his Godmother, K and her family. I made a big pot of a beef bourguignon, roasted vegetables and a salad for dinner. She brought a nice banana cream pie. Jack-Jack's first real cake experience since this is first time he had a real whole slice of the pie (normally we kept him away from cakes and other sweets and only give him the occasional bite), and of course he devoured all of it in typical Jack-Jack style. Our other friend T whom we haven't seen for over three years was in town and joined us for a brief while as well. It was just the intimate set up I was hoping for and the dinner and celebration worked out perfectly. Jack-Jack was able to blow out the candles this time, compared to his first birthday, even though he looked a little clueless while we were singing him the Happy Birthday song.
Looking back, I am still sometimes just overwhelmed by how much joy life is with him. It is indeed very different -- We are now up at 630AM most mornings, going to bed around 930PM, no more late nights, rarely do we have long dinners with friends trying out new restaurants (since most people don't eat at 6pm when we eat and we need to be home to put him to be before 9pm), I have cut down on my tango and other activities and our days evolve a lot around him. That being said, it is truly a blessing that we have the time and the space in our minds to be with him in this way, which allowed us to thoroughly enjoy him and observe all of his little changes over time. Just this past week, his vocabulary has expanded massively, instead of his standard "car" "bus" "digger" "baba" "mama" "狗狗", now he can also tell us he got bitten by a mosquito by saying "疱" and wants some "藥藥", he can request for a pair of his Thomas the tank engine chopsticks at dinner, he can tell us he's hungry by pointing to his mouth and say "吃", and he even translated for me when I couldn't understand he was saying "cat" by also telling me it is "貓". His play has became a lot more imaginary and interesting -- his obsession with cars and buses continue, and he always needs to put them in the exact same line very neatly. 6 little vehicles is all he needs to be entertained for hours, moving them around and parking them in different ways. His opinions and personalities are starting to come out more vividly -- he really expresses a preference on who should play with him, help him wash his hands, take him to bed etc., but over all he is a child with great empathy and can listen to reason most of the time if we have the patience to outlast his complaints.
Today we plan to take him to Disneyland in Hong Kong for his actual birthday, another new experience for him since he had pretty much zero exposure to Disney's grand marketing machine thus far (so he wouldn't recognize Mickey, Goofy and other characters). I booked an overnight hotel so we could watch the fireworks and not have to rush back home exhausted afterwards.
The parenting experience has taught me so much, and I am looking forward to all the joy and challenges ahead with this little life came out of my tummy, this time exactly, two years ago.
And two years later, our lives have been transformed by this little bundle of joy.
Yesterday we had a mini celebration at home for him with his Godmother, K and her family. I made a big pot of a beef bourguignon, roasted vegetables and a salad for dinner. She brought a nice banana cream pie. Jack-Jack's first real cake experience since this is first time he had a real whole slice of the pie (normally we kept him away from cakes and other sweets and only give him the occasional bite), and of course he devoured all of it in typical Jack-Jack style. Our other friend T whom we haven't seen for over three years was in town and joined us for a brief while as well. It was just the intimate set up I was hoping for and the dinner and celebration worked out perfectly. Jack-Jack was able to blow out the candles this time, compared to his first birthday, even though he looked a little clueless while we were singing him the Happy Birthday song.
Looking back, I am still sometimes just overwhelmed by how much joy life is with him. It is indeed very different -- We are now up at 630AM most mornings, going to bed around 930PM, no more late nights, rarely do we have long dinners with friends trying out new restaurants (since most people don't eat at 6pm when we eat and we need to be home to put him to be before 9pm), I have cut down on my tango and other activities and our days evolve a lot around him. That being said, it is truly a blessing that we have the time and the space in our minds to be with him in this way, which allowed us to thoroughly enjoy him and observe all of his little changes over time. Just this past week, his vocabulary has expanded massively, instead of his standard "car" "bus" "digger" "baba" "mama" "狗狗", now he can also tell us he got bitten by a mosquito by saying "疱" and wants some "藥藥", he can request for a pair of his Thomas the tank engine chopsticks at dinner, he can tell us he's hungry by pointing to his mouth and say "吃", and he even translated for me when I couldn't understand he was saying "cat" by also telling me it is "貓". His play has became a lot more imaginary and interesting -- his obsession with cars and buses continue, and he always needs to put them in the exact same line very neatly. 6 little vehicles is all he needs to be entertained for hours, moving them around and parking them in different ways. His opinions and personalities are starting to come out more vividly -- he really expresses a preference on who should play with him, help him wash his hands, take him to bed etc., but over all he is a child with great empathy and can listen to reason most of the time if we have the patience to outlast his complaints.
Today we plan to take him to Disneyland in Hong Kong for his actual birthday, another new experience for him since he had pretty much zero exposure to Disney's grand marketing machine thus far (so he wouldn't recognize Mickey, Goofy and other characters). I booked an overnight hotel so we could watch the fireworks and not have to rush back home exhausted afterwards.
The parenting experience has taught me so much, and I am looking forward to all the joy and challenges ahead with this little life came out of my tummy, this time exactly, two years ago.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Week 28: The last name challenge
The last few weeks went by so quickly. Our trip to Taiwan ended up being rather bittersweet. The birthday celebration for my dad went really well, and the day before our scheduled return, my grandmother passed away. It was a very sad moment as she was the closest person to me in my life, but it was also a blessing that I was there with her holding her hand as she peacefully passed just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday. Jack-Jack has acted really sweet around her all the time, and it never seizes to amaze me how affectionate he was towards her despite how she looked in the end plus the fact that she couldn't even interact with him nor play with him. I was able to plan the funeral for her and it was also really great the whole family was together for the first time in over 35 years. I really enjoyed being with all of them and I hope Jack-Jack also felt the warmth and the strength of love in the family.
Now back to K#2, she's really just a little trooper doing so well despite not getting much attention. We arranged for a medical check in Taipei since our stay was extended unexpectedly, and it was great to finally get a good rendering of her cute little face on the 4D ultrasound. She even did a little yawn for us. I can't wait to meet her and hold her in my arms.
And the other decision that we have come to is she will bear the last name Liu. I never thought my dad cared about this but when I got pregnant he asked if I could ask if Mic would be open to having this child bear our last name, otherwise the Liu names will not be passed down from me. My dad has never asked me for anything in my life so I figured this must be quite important to him. Honestly I didn't really think any of this mattered --- our genes are passed on, and who knows what will become of the future generations, especially with our move to NZ and the fact that our kids will grow up with fewer and fewer Chinese influence. Surprisingly Mic was really understanding of this and agreed that the heritage a last name bears is very important. So upon some deliberation, the decision is made. Well, at least then there will be two people in this four person family with the same last name. (Now we have Wan-Min-Kee, Liu, and we shortened Jack-Jack's name to Wan only, so technically we all have different last names, and I am carrying around marriage and birth certificates around when we travel to prove that we are a family!)
Now back to K#2, she's really just a little trooper doing so well despite not getting much attention. We arranged for a medical check in Taipei since our stay was extended unexpectedly, and it was great to finally get a good rendering of her cute little face on the 4D ultrasound. She even did a little yawn for us. I can't wait to meet her and hold her in my arms.
And the other decision that we have come to is she will bear the last name Liu. I never thought my dad cared about this but when I got pregnant he asked if I could ask if Mic would be open to having this child bear our last name, otherwise the Liu names will not be passed down from me. My dad has never asked me for anything in my life so I figured this must be quite important to him. Honestly I didn't really think any of this mattered --- our genes are passed on, and who knows what will become of the future generations, especially with our move to NZ and the fact that our kids will grow up with fewer and fewer Chinese influence. Surprisingly Mic was really understanding of this and agreed that the heritage a last name bears is very important. So upon some deliberation, the decision is made. Well, at least then there will be two people in this four person family with the same last name. (Now we have Wan-Min-Kee, Liu, and we shortened Jack-Jack's name to Wan only, so technically we all have different last names, and I am carrying around marriage and birth certificates around when we travel to prove that we are a family!)
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