Exhausted

Out of a 24 hour period, work has been consuming a good 12-13 hours per day this whole week. So no, the laundry is not put away, no the floor is not vacuumed, and no the dried goods are not stored away in the cupboards. At least the dishes are washed though... I don't want any nasty little ants or whatever other critters to be crawling around our home.

We are still super excited for 小宝宝 to join our family, but I'm just trying to work out how I'm going to raise our little darling when we have such busy work schedules.

*sigh* It's Friday night, and we still have another FULL day of work tomorrow.

I'm crossing my fingers that we can do some kind of "baby stuff" shopping on Sunday. But who knows... we'll probably end up working.

Exhausted.

How time seems to be flying! It's already been one week since the pregnancy test. Seems like my thoughts are all revolving around 小宝宝. The other day at McDonald's, besides my normal Extra Value Meal of chicken nuggets, fries, and coke... I had porridge and water instead. (Yes, they serve porridge here @ Micky D's in Malaysia). Today, we were unloading a shipment of products from the container from Taiwan, and I had to do everything I could to try to help out all the while avoiding any lifting/pushing/pulling action of any sort.

I've still been having to go to the bathroom like a mad woman! Toilets here are mostly the squat ones... and if not, they are the kind where u don't want anything to be touching the toilet seat. *Sigh* peeing might just be the hardest part of this pregnancy.

Work has been so extra freakin busy that it's been hard to get enough rest. Yes, I may be online for all waking hours when I'm at home, but that is only because I need some kind of way to zone out everything from the day. Let's just say I have to charge my cell battery every one - two days, and about 90% of the people on my phone list are my customers, other businesses, people I've never met, or people who I want to kick every time I speak with them.

okok... must stop stressing out.

Today is the first day of 小宝宝‘s 6th week! This week, little spots will be showing up where his/her eyes and nostrils will be. Plus buds will appear where the ears will soon bloom! Yi-Hua and I are working on cutting down on the swear words. It's difficult... but we're working on it. =P

2 nights of endless random dreams. Really hoping/needing to sleep well tonight.

Changing Habits

Dearest 小宝宝, I'm trying my best to keep you safe inside my tummy cuz it's a harsh world out here. So just hang in there!
~~~~~~~

Now I realize that I've never really taken care of my own body really well. I lift heavy things, give myself the occasional bump and bruise, inhale a terrible amount of unhealthy foods and drinks in a day, let many things stress me out, etc. But ever since we've found out about 小宝宝, I've been extra extra careful not to do stupid things or let stupid people/things get to me. =P

1 month down! 8 months to go!

Infants Fly Free!

Yi-Hua and I seem to fly a lot, so I decided to look into infant flights. Infants 2 and under fly FREE FREE FREE! (well 10% of adult fare + taxes). However, there is all this other stuff such as crying, feeding, changing, etc to think about. I'm not worried bout the short flights between Malaysia and Taiwan. I'm just thinking how it will work when we fly 小宝宝 on a 13 hour flight to the U.S.

Our friends are getting married some time next year. I'm crossing my fingers it's going to be later on in the year. Perhaps then, our family of 3 can fly over to attend the wedding as well as visit my parents in Walla Walla and our friends in Seattle.

Info from Eva Airlines: Traveling With an Infant or Small Child

• When traveling, infants and small children under 2 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
• Within the first 7 days after birth, a baby is not strong enough for air travel and will not be accepted as a passenger on an EVA flight.
• EVA requires that a medical information sheet certifying readiness for air travel be provided for premature babies.
• For safety reasons, whenever two infants or small children are traveling with one adult, one must be able to sit in a seat using an approved car-type infant seat.
• According to CAA regulations, an aircraft shall be equipped with a seat for each person who is over two years of age.
  Beginning Nov. 1, 2004, infants who reach their second birthday while traveling on an EVA Air flight must, in accordance with safety regulations, begin to occupy their own seat. The applicable child's fare must be paid for all sectors flown after the child reaches two years of age.
• If you would like to order a baby meal and/or diapers, please contact our reservations office at the time you make your booking. We will do everything possible to assist you.
• Baby bassinets are available aboard all EVA Air aircraft, but for safety reasons, height and weight limitations apply. Please advise us of your baby’s date of birth, height and weight when you make your reservation.

It's still just the beginning...

Just as I was thinking I might be lucky enough to not experience many of the "pregnancy symptoms," I realized that I thought too soon. Yesterday, during the middle of the day, this insane sweep of fatigue came over me. I told Yi-Hua I was just gonna nap a lil and then wake up and finish the rest of the housework. That soooo did not happen. I passed out for 3 or maybe it was 4 hours. The only reason I did actually get up though was cuz he made me. He was worried if I napped any more, I'd never be able to fall asleep at night. Fatigue I can deal with, but this having to go pee more often is really starting to annoy me. I've been waking up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom lately. I didn't think anything of it at first... but now it's alllll making sense. Oh gosh, what's next? Morning sickness!? I've been doing a lot of reading on that... and it doesn't sound fun at all. *fingers crossed* Please let me be in the 25% of women that don't have to experience this.

I'm starting to think about turning our guest room/storage room into a baby room. *sigh* it's got so much stuff inside though. One of these days, I'm gonna have to do a major cleaning out in there. I think I'm gonna end up having to toss a lot of stuff out. But the bed... what to do with that queen sized bed?????

Here are some *dream rooms* that I would love to give our 小宝宝。

Definitely just "DREAM" rooms.

It's a Secret!

This "not telling" thing is driving me crazy. I love my family and friends and always want to share news w/ them ASAP... but we both feel it's better to be safe and at least get the results from an ultrasound before we make the big announcement. This brings forward a bit of a problem though. We are actually planning to wait til we go back to TW to do the ultrasound just because it is the better option as opposed to finding someone to do it here. Hopefully Yi-Hua can help me schedule an appointment in for Feb 13th. If all goes as planned, we will make the big announcement the next evening at the CNY dinner. So it's a whole 4 more weeks to keep this secret.

Current thought: "Is Baby gonna love chocolates as much as Mommy?" =P

The Stork!!!

As far as I know... the stork is gonna bring us our baby. I hope it knows we are planning on waiting for it in Taiwan, NOT Malaysia!

We've got to start Baby off with a dual Taiwanese & U.S. citizenship to avoid any future hassle for if and when we move back!

Still Such a New Feeling!

This whole idea of having a baby is still such new news to us! There are so many things to think about... what to do... what NOT to do. I know you're sposed to learn a lot of this with experience, but as you know, this is a first for both of us. (Unless Yi-Hua has some hidden fam that I have yet to find out about) hehe Anyway, I have been doing a lot of research on the net, but it's nothing like reading and flipping through a book. Yesterday, we went to the bookstore and I bought a guide that will hopefully serve as my bible through this. It's called Your Pregnancy Week by Week.

So far it's been pretty interesting. I'm mainly concerned bout whether or not I'm eating the right kind of food in order to provide the nutrients and vitamins that the fetus needs. I want a big fat cute lil baby with rosy cheeks! Ahhhhh... I'm still dying to tell everyone, but alas I mustn't. Shopping has automatically become a little different. I notice we are both lightly scanning the baby isles now. Diapers... strollers... clothes...bottles, etc. Omg it's like a whole other shopping world out there. Also, I never used to notice babies or little kids when I shopped, but now they're like everywhere! And sometimes I'll think awww... she's/he's cute... and other times, it's like OMG... you kidding me? But no no no, I must stop thinking that way. ALL BABIES are BEAUTIFUL... right? =P All I remember is the episode of Friends where Ross and Rachel are in the OBGYN office and Ross says to Rachel, "Ugly baby judges you." Ok, that probably makes no sense to whoever is reading this, but it just cracks me up. =P

Just preparing by purchasing some photo albums!

Anywho, I think the biggest lifestyle change I must work on is sleeping earlier. For some reason, I am a fan of desperately fighting fatigue til 1 or 2 AM every morning. So yesterday, it was like 10:30pm and I told Yi-Hua to tuck me in. He's like, "U serious? You're gonna jump outta bed like in 20 minutes or less." I stubbornly told him that I could fall asleep... for the good of the baby, ya know? Minutes later, I was still awake and totally alert. Of course I couldn't give my husband the satisfaction of telling me "I told you so," so I waited til at least half hour before I walked back out giggling... hehe my bad. Anyway, I'll work on that. So yeah, it's day 2 of week 5! Supposedly this little 1mm-grain-of-rice sized baby has some totally miraculous stuff happening to it. Little ittle ittle baby, WE LOVE YOU THIS MUCH ALREADY!!!!!

News!!! (Jan 13, 2010)

We (well I) took the test this morning!!! TWO DOUBLE LINES! We are gonna become a Mommy and a Daddy! Strange story though. This morning, I took the long awaited pregnancy test that has been sitting on my desk waiting to be used. Instead of seeing one single line or two solid lines, we saw a blur of purple. I was mad cuz I thought the test was invalid, so I tossed it out and we went to work. Curiosity brought me back to the garbage can a few hours later. OMG was that two separate distinct purple lines we were looking at? NO WAY! We were both kinda in shock, so we decided to get one more test just to confirm everything. 2 lines it was! I don't know if it's a gross thing to do or not, but I'm totally keeping that testing strip that has been dipped in my pee... and it's gonna be like page one in my future scrapbook! I am totally bursting to tell our families and our friends, but I guess the safe rule is to wait 12 weeks before spreading the news. So I'm trying really hard to keep mum bout this whole thing. However, out of my excitement, I did leave a few exclamation marks on my FB and it has lead to a variety of questions. OMG... I hope I didn't just give it away. Today is the first day of Week 5!!!!!!!!!!!! Expected due date is approx Sept 17!!!!!