My partner, Guo Jian, has been priming me for the “Moon Month” or to zuoyuezi 坐月子. When my in-laws were here a couple of weeks ago (the precursor to their more permanent visit that starts as of the 21st) and we were downstairs helping to unload the car, a perfect stranger saw my advanced pregnant shape, the presence of parental…   …read more.

Well, Christmas is upon us and here I am on Christmas Eve day having pulled out my red “footie” pj’s and Santa hat. They actually still fit! I think I’ll dress like a “Pregger Elf” tomorrow. Why not? Little Spark can create the Santa-inspired “bowl full of jelly” impression when s/he gets excited, too! Why not emphasize this bulbous shape…   …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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.