She had been crying on and off for the last 100kms. No amount of singing or reassurance or stopping to give her a quick cuddle would inspire her to sleep. It was long past her bedtime. We were coming up on the last leg of the journey on a country road heading back “home” to my parent’s house—our retreat space….   …read more.

For my last birth, I toured the birthing facilities at the painstakingly-chosen hospital before my bump had even taken shape. This time, it took until I was 36 weeks along for the decisions to be finally made regarding the birth—the where, the how, the who, etc. Why so late? Let me chronicle this drama: You see, we were hoping to…   …read more.

Final Thought, Dec 2013   This fall, I finally started my Masters Degree through an online program at The City University of Hong Kong. This MFA for Creative Writing is the only one of its kind in the world because it focuses on writings about Asia in English. In October, I attended an in-person session called a “residency.” Required once…   …read more.

Every woman has a different pregnancy because every woman’s body is different. But, every pregnancy is different too, which points to the influence of the baby on these things, obviously. Every fetus is different from the last. So, the child rules the roost in here! (Of course!) Here’s my list of comparisons between my two pregnancies, something I find quite…   …read more.

My older cousin has just explained hot flashes to me—the need to suddenly tear off your clothes, she said, fling open the window and hang half-naked out into the wind in the wintertime. It feels like your blood boiling from the inside like it’s being microwaved without your permission, she said, wide-eyed. I am listening, laughing. We are sitting at…   …read more.

I wedge myself into one the seats with portable mini-desk surfaces coming out of one of the plastic arms. There is a room of them—black, hard poured plastic chairs—that support the backs and behinds of the students in this program, a class of faces I have never met. It is the first day of the fall session for a program…   …read more.

Recently, a blog has been circulating the internet that starts out with these words: “Marriage is not for me.” It’s a compelling hook, especially since the first few words of the blog identify the writer as a newly married man. We instinctively want to shake the guy before he’s even written his first paragraph in defense of his poor new…   …read more.

  *Written October 17th, Posted October 18th* Tonight is my last performance of the season…. and the next. There will be no winter shows this year due to this second round of baby-making. Tonight’s concert is the last until spring. Today’s show is making me think of a show two years ago at the end of October in the same…   …read more.

I am pregnant with a second child here in Beijing, China. In contrast, I am surrounded by a country of people who, if they have had a child at all, have only ever had one. This is the land of the “one child policy” and, since 1979, families have been relegated to this population control method. As a result, I’m…   …read more.

When our bodies start making another human body, the process is so complex that it’s no wonder we’re exhausted. As this is my second pregnancy, I’m surprised that I’d forgotten this fact. I’m currently 6 months along and so for the past half a year, I’ve found myself wanting to nod off at 10pm or falling asleep the moment my…   …read more.