I always take a week to recover from flying across this vast planet. During my first week in either country—Canada or China—I have many surreal experiences during which I dream vividly, sleep erratically or like a boulder, and sometimes even see things or hear things that don’t seem to be there. Jet lag brings us another layer of consciousness, I’m…   …read more.

Just over two weeks ago, I went to the ultrasound that was supposed to tell us the baby’s sex, not to mention confirm my due date. The ultrasound technician was very nice, but she was unable to tell me any information. Seems that Canada, particularly with its immigrant population and/or some newly resurfaced “old” ideas about the preference of sons…   …read more.

That question is already constant and I’ve just crossed the 4-month marker. It reminds me of something that would be asked by a waiter in a restaurant. I’m itching to place my order: “Yes, I’ll have one order of human baby, hold the birth defects, as well as a side order of easy delivery with no complications, please. Thank you.”…   …read more.

I’m writing this on the eve of leaving for Canada for our summer tour. By this time tomorrow, I’ll be arriving at my home city of Toronto and will be greeted by my parents. I can’t wait! It’s been too long since I’ve seen my family and they’re aching to see their granddaughter. More than anything, though, I’m aching to…   …read more.

I had never experienced cold the way I have since coming to China. (And that sentence was written by a Canadian.) I have lived through winters where the lows have dropped to more than fifty degrees (Celsius) below zero. I was even once in Whitehorse in February! Many times growing up, I remember my eyelashes freezing together while playing outside…   …read more.

Thank you all so much for following my blog for the past ten months! As you know, this blog has to come to a close because, after all, I’m no longer “Preggers In China”! The end of my moon month is here and that means that Little Spark (now named “Ruyi Echo”) is one-month old. It’s been an adventure already,…   …read more.

So, this is my second last entry in this blog. As you know, I’m no longer “preggers in China.” I’m now “mommers in China” (!) and have a brand new daughter named Echo.  As the moon month is so much a part of pregnancy and birth, I decided to keep this blog running until the month is up and then…   …read more.

Echo was born on the 2nd and here we are at day #12, nearly halfway through the moon month and she is nearly two weeks old! They say time goes fast when they’re so little, but I really didn’t expect it to race by this quickly. Sometimes it feels so natural to have a child. Like nothing monumental has happened…   …read more.

The good news has arrived! I’m no longer “preggers in China”! Our sweet little one is here and I’ve written out the birth story for you all. I warn you: this post is LONG! I wanted to remember as much as possible and so I wrote it out in the first two days of motherhood, in between feedings. After this…   …read more.

Happy New Year! It’s New Year’s Eve day here in China (at least, the Western version thereof) and I hope that your NYE celebrations are wonderful and that you can all welcome 2012 in with a smile!! Today, that is my challenge. I am pushing myself to rejoice in a new year rather than grumble about this continued pregnancy! But…   …read more.