35 weeks & counting...

Sorry for not updating this sooner, things have been a little busy between travel, work, & anxiously awaiting our baby's arrival.

I was fortunate enough to have a business trip home at 32 weeks pregnant. I spent most of the week on MSU's campus. Both weekends I was in Saginaw, and was able to see both Zach's and my family. I also met my Mom's newest addition, a Husky Chow mutt named Marley. He is SO cute! I really miss Sadie, and and all of the family pets. It was nice to visit with them too. Zach and I have had family dogs our entire lives. Just another aspect making it difficult living overseas, quarantine is a long process that would be unfair to Sadie. Plus Becky loves her (proof in her new sausage shaped body).

I stayed with Eric at our house in Lansing during the weekdays I was recruiting. As many know, I LOVE Buffalo Chicken salad aka Wing Salad. My wonderful brother, being the manager at BW3 aka B-Dubs, showered me wing salads every night with a H20 on the rocks. I hope he works at B-Dubs forever!

It was great being home, the weather was perfect, and campus was in bloom. However, I was also very busy working on teacher recruitment, which it took up all of my time in-between wing salads. I even went to Western's career fair to solicit teachers. I discovered this to be a very difficult and frustrating activity. Many of the recent college grad's think that they will be able to find a teaching job in MI, and their parents discouraging them to leave the safety of home. Some grads showed up with their parents at the career fair. WHAT?! If you are a parent reading this, DO NOT REPEAT THIS BEHAVIOR!

Traveling pregnant was not fun either. I had a unfriendly encounter with an unsympathetic woman during the long leg from Tokyo to Detroit. Plus, I never quite got over the jet lag once in MI. This was the first time I had this problem with jet lag. It sucks.

I did squeeze in some time for myself and did some shopping with my Mom for baby stuff. I had my first Babies-R-Us experience. Let me tell you, it was overwhelming to say the least. It took one hour to filter through the first two aisles. They have tons of lists and resources, but how the hell do I know which breast pads to select from the 20+ options??? My mom was not much help either. Her response to everything was "I don't know, they didn't have that when you were born." Which lead me to believe that the things on the "must have" list, really aren't "must haves." It was worth the time spent, because I was able to put together a registry and purchase some true MUST HAVE things that we can't get in China. I must thank my Mom for putting up with me and my Dad, for sending me back to china with the things we needed. I also want to thank Sam & Jo, our siblings, & extended family for your gifts. It was truly wonderful to have one suitcase full of baby stuff to take back with me!

Upon my arrival to Beijing, I was so excited to share all the new baby stuff with Zach. However, in our current 1 bedroom apartment, we have literally no where to put it all. We cannot officially move in to our new 2.5 bedroom (2 bedrooms + Ayi quarters) apartment until May 20th. This makes it difficult to satisfy my nesting instincts. That has been one of the more challenging aspects of pregnancy in China. Having a bigger apartment is not as important as being able to arrange our boy's nursery as we would have done in the States. I feel as though I am missing out on that experience. I'm trying to remain positive about the nesting.

Other than that I am hungry and thirsty all the time. I feel really big and I am EXHAUSTED by the end of my day. I also have noticed that my patience is running thin (poor Zach). Despite these feelings I have been able to stay mobile and content. I still walk half a mile to work, and with Zach at home more frequently, we have been able to meet for lunch and take walks in the parks.
Our boy has progressively become more active. In fact, we got in our first fight last week. He was moving around for what seemed like hours, and was SO ROUGH, I really thought he was going to bust THROUGH my belly! We needed to have a little heart-to-heart. Based on his activity level, I am pretty sure we are going to have a wild child on our hands. I can't wait to meet him! Next week we have our first ultrasound since week 20. We are hoping he is still a he, since I came back from the States with all boy stuff. Stayed tuned to the blog for more updates.
As for work, things have been busy beyond the teacher search, trying to complete all my major tasks before the baby is born. However, things keep popping up, like the Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease scare (HFMD). So far our school has not been affected, not to mention, we run a very hygienic program. So it is not a big issue. However, there have been some cases in Beijing, which obviously has concerned some parents. Some just want information, other are making outlandish recommendations. One such recommendation from an Asian family was to use PEAR JUICE instead of water to wash the children's hands AND feet throughout the day. HUH!?!? That sounds MUCH more sanitary then antibacterial soap and purified water!

I have actually had children in the US with this virus. I feel its just like anything else, you need to take precautions, follow the day to day health and safety procedures, (standard in all programs I have been associated with) and encourage parents to do the same. We spoke with our doctor about it. The fact that there is an outbreak does not make me or the baby more at risk. The doctors recommendations, breastfeeding & limiting our baby's contact with young children, are practices we already planned on. Pretty common sense stuff. The doctor said (verbatim) "Just don't allow another child to lick your baby." Overall we feel very comfortable that we will not be impacted by HFMD.