Surprise!!!

My dear friend Yuan, by the way, who just became an aunt (Congrats!), and a colleague of XJ, called me several days ago probing what I’d like to have for a baby gift. I learned from her that XJ’s colleagues were going to buy a baby gift for daddy-to-be XJ. Yuan asked me to keep it a secret from XJ so they can surprise at least one of us. I gave Yuan some nice-to-have options and restrained the urge to tell XJ about the underground going within his team at work.

Yuan called me this Monday asking me to set aside some time Wednesday afternoon as she wanted me to do something for her. I didn’t think much and agreed. She came to pick me up yesterday as planned. As soon as I got into her car, “what are we going to do anyway?” I asked Yuan. “Oh, I need to buy a gift for Toby (her husband) and would like your opinion. But first, I forgot to bring my wallet and I need to go to office first.” She said. And I was like, okay. Yuan seemed a little bit nervous talking to me and she drove super fast to the company (she was literally speeding in my apartment community and the company campus.:)). I sensed something and started to tease her a little bit. (I am quite experienced with this kind of thing because the company I used to work in is women dominated and had participated/organized a lot of surprising parties, not even mention that Yuan asked me about the gift ideas previously.) We got off the car. Yuan walked quickly toward the office building. Obviously she was trying to avoid eye contacts and conversations with me. Usually, we chat a lot as we are walking together. By now I was 100% sure that they were throwing a surprising baby shower for XJ but I kept amusing Yuan. I said: “Yuan, you walk too fast, I can’t keep up with you. And isn’t your office in that building?” We were walking to XJ’s office building. “Oh, I just moved to this building several weeks ago.” Yuan said, without much confidence. Suddenly, I felt I was acting badly. I stopped teasing her. She was so sweet and kind trying to surprise me and she did a wonderful job!

By the time we got to the conference room, of course with cakes, shower gifts, cards, snacks and smiley faces of XJ’s colleagues. And I, obviously was one of the surprises they arranged for XJ. After everything was ready, XJ was brought into the conference room by a colleague who set up a meeting with him days ago, with a pen and meeting notes book in his hand. He had no idea! They totally got him!!! I emerged from the crowed. XJ walked towards me with his mouth to both ears.

The cake was beautiful and yummy with a very cute baby face and a real pacifier. And, it was in Tiffany blue, one of my favorite colors. I put the pacifier in XJ’s mouth and caused a cluster of big laughter. The gift was perfect, a beautiful high chair we were considering to buy. We made wishes, cut the cake, read the cards, shared the only final candidate name of Little XJ&XJ, got positive reviews and recommendations for the name, received blessings and congratulations from all of his colleagues…In a cold, early winter New England afternoon, we had a blast and felt cozily warm in a corner of Apple Hill. Thanks Mathworks folks, and special thanks to Yuan. You guys made our day!

Hey, What’s Up?

It has been such a loooong time since my last entry. Friends who are used to check out my pregnant progress here started to shoot me notes or call me up: “Hey! What is up? How is the baby doing?”

How am I doing? My dear friends, I am doing great. Thanks for asking. Just that the chunkier I get, the lazier I become. Time passes by so quietly and quick without me realizing. Only four weeks remained till the debut of the Little XJ&XJ if he sticks to the schedule! What have I done during the last several months? I don’t remember clearly already! No wonder my mommy friends told me they regretted that they didn’t take some time to keep a diary on those milestones when the baby grew up. Those vivid and precious memories always fade exponentially as time goes by. “Get out of the sofa!” I ordered myself, “If you keep lying there, soon after you will be the one who murmuring what you were doing when the Little XJ&XJ exercise all his Firsts.”

Vermont in Fall

Although it is late, it is not too late. I still vaguely remember the weird feeling of the first butterfly kicks inside my tummy. Coincidentally, the baby kicks became more and more intense with the progress of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, especially during the feasts of gymnastic finals. I guess it was more of my adrenaline that was working and affected his behavior than he had been enjoying the game himself and can’t help but mimicking; The hide-and-seek game between the daddy and son was really frustrating for XJ for an extended period of time: the baby always stopped moving when old XJ placed his hands on my tummy and started performing as soon as the poor daddy turned his sights away. I also remember the sparkle in his eyes and ecstasy on his face when XJ first felt the movement of the baby, also the urge trying to catch his hands when the baby made waves all the way from one to the other side of the tummy later; And how relieved we were when the ultrasound technician confirmed to us that those cysts in the brain had no longer existed! We cherished that day’s report like a-million-dollar check; We attended the one-day crash course of childbirth for first time parents in spite of all our friends who did it told us it wasn’t necessary. We hunted down our friends first for second hand car seats, strollers, cribs and other baby stuff and then decided to shop brand new gears for him because we think the baby deserves the best we can afford…We just don’t want to miss any step that is on the to-do-list.

As for myself, while I am not totally “wasted” as I became more and more close to an elephant, I did managed to dig into Chinese ancient and modern literature trying to find a perfect name for Little XJ&XJ (we are still deciding among the final candidates); I became addicted to shop baby’s clothes, especially kimono tops and found it extremely rewarding for the first time not shopping for myself around August and September; I spent hours in the fabric store to decide on the color theme and animal character for the nursery: I chose yellow elephant to reflect my nontraditional taste. I dragged my chubby body to burn midnight oil to decorate nursery and woke up XJ to check out my newly crafted crib bumper pad excitedly like a child; I also squeezed some creative juice from my long unused fashion designer brain and made a pregnant cape for myself in order to get that perfect pregnant posing in front of camera…

Wellesley in Fall

It is not all fun stuff though. The third trimester also turned out to be the hardest part of my pregnancy. One pregnant friend who suffered awfully in the first trimester teased me: I am paying back for the comfort I enjoyed during the first trimester. I am afraid I suffered all the symptoms that has been existed: heartburn, super frequent bathroom visits (5 times every night! God knows how many times during the day.), swollen hands and feet, puffy pregnant face (hate it!), short of breath and more heartburn, not even mentioning walking like a duck...

As I wrote along, I suddenly realize expecting is such a comprehensive word and one won’t explore all its meanings until the day she delivers. It is a soul searching process emotionally and a series of marathon events physically. You gotta live through it to fully understand it. I look forward to the big day’s coming, eagerly and anxiously, when I can look back and proudly tell myself I finally get the complete meaning of Expecting.

Maternity Fashion in Movies 1

When Fashion Meets Movies - 影尚随行: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg《瑟堡的雨伞》

Catherine Deneuve looks fabulously chic in maternity dress in this 60's romance movie despite a bittersweet story. Her tailored maternity dress is cute and sophisticated. The bump is wrapped preciously under dresses and coats:

A Naming Joke

A friend in China forwarded me this list of people's names. It is so hilarious that I want to post it here. As we are trying to find the perfect name for our Little XJ&XJ, these are definitely the pitfalls that we will have to avoid. At the same time, I can't help but wonder the humorous effect Chinese can bring: they are subtle to you at the first sight, then you will laugh your teeth off with some thinking and imagination. There is nothing the American dumb jokes can compare. Without further ado, here it is:

据公安部姓名查询系统,全国最爆笑的人名:
刘产
扬伟
赖月京(还是个男的)
范剑
姬从良
范统
夏建仁
朱逸群
秦寿生(亏他父母想的出)
庞光
杜琦燕
魏生津
矫厚根
沈京兵
排名第一的：史珍香

Pandora Music Box

Expecting Little XJ&XJ ... 期待中！: Mozart or Bach?

Being accused of using shortcut to serve our baby's needs in the previous blog entry, XJ showed his dedication by finding another shortcut. This time he opened a Pandora music box for me: www.pandora.com. Great technology, excellent music. The website tracks your likes and dislikes and plays music to your taste intelligently. I am loving it. It is so good to have a techie at home. My life becomes easier and more fun!

Babymoon (1)

There is honeymoon after saying “I do” in church for newly weds and there is babymoon after surviving the first semester for parents-to-be. It seems that moon is associated with romantic settings regardless of geological and cultural boundaries.

Knowing it is just a made-up concept to draw money from our bank accounts by marketing guys in tourist industry, XJ and I can’t resist the temptation to have a babymoon before the Little XJ&XJ is born. Yeah, why not take the last chance to have some fun in our couplehood? My belly just started to show so I am still physically adroit. Spiritually, pregnancy makes me happier than ever. I guess I have reached the best times of the nine months.

To go or not to go? – This is a non-issue for us. For some reason, we didn’t get chance to have a honeymoon. This would be an excellent opportunity for us to relax and have some fun while we are still a childless couple. There are a lot of places in North America that we haven’t been to. We thought about going to Yellow Stone or Grand Canyon, but it is too late as the parks are already booked out for the summer. Puerto Rico since we live on the east coast? Then we learned not only the temperature is too hot for preggies, but also it is the hurricane season over there during summer time. Don’t even mention the Latin food will be a big challenge for my flimsy stomach. Las Vegas? A friend told me it was a disaster to go to Las Vegas when she was pregnant as so many people smoke and the dryness almost made her dehydrated. Where to go? I started to admire some of my friends’ decisions to travel around before getting pregnant. Shoulda Woulda Coulda…

The babymoon destination is still under discussing. I am sure there will be a Baby Moon 2 coming up soon. However, XJ’s company organized an outing up in New Hampshire last weekend and we had a great time. Before we make our decision, let it be the preface of our babymoon for now.

Mozart or Bach?

Research indicates fetuses’ abilities to hear are well developed by the end of the second trimester. Knowing it is such a cliché for parents wanting the best for their child-even before the child is born, XJ and I still can’t help but start to think about exposing Little XJ&XJ some music. Human nature of wanting the best for the baby aside, we wishfully think you never know if utero concerto is going to do wonders.

XJ loves classic music. His favorite musician is J.S Bach. While I know little about music, I decided to delegate this task to XJ completely. (It is not easy for a hands-on leader like me to make this decision). In order to provide our baby a uterine environment that’s rich enough in music, XJ thinks we should expose him to different classic music instead of Mozart, or Bach, or Beethoven. In another word, we want to give him all. After the short brainstorm session, XJ promised me he will get work on this immediately. Half an hour later, he came to my computer claiming he'd found a perfect solution. That was fast! I was thinking giving him a week time. He opened a website, clicked on the “Listen Alive” button:

“This is where Boston comes to relax. Boston’s classic music station – 99.5, WCRB”, a voice came from the speakers.

Well, this is a man who knows shortcut! It is the classic music station he has been listening to. However, only results matter in my theory. Several days have been past and I am pretty satisfied with the company of all day long programmed live music, never a dull moment…

I am wondering what Little XJ&XJ thinks about our new endeavor. No matter what you think, baby, we are just trying to entertain you, not really trying to push you closer to an Ivy League degree or that sort of thing, well, which would be even nicer if it is the side effect. :)

Bye Pink, Hello Blue!

When I first started the blog, unknown the sex of the baby, I picked a neutral color tone lilac for the blog. Now, knowing it is going to be a boy, I changed the color palette to blue.

Like every expecting mommy, I got asked by friends now and then whether I wanted a boy or girl. I always said I wanted a girl because I can dress her. Knowing it is a boy, I have been thinking these days. Do I really want a girl just because I can dress her? I think maybe not. I wanted a girl because I understand girls by once being a girl myself. Honestly, what do I know about boys? How am I going to raise a boy by knowing nothing about his thoughts and needs. It is the unfamiliarity that subconsciously nudged me towards the thought of having a girl would be easier.

I talked to XJ about my concerns. He laughed at me : “Silly, that is why you have me. I was a boy. I know boys. I will deal with it.” Exactly! Look at what I was worry about. I have been trying to deny that pregnant women always have low IQs. It seems that for something, it is what it is, you just can’t deny it.

During the last several months, every time I saw those cute little pink dresses hardly can I resist the temptation to own them. They are just so adorable! I always daydreamed a girl looked exactly like me in these lovely pink outfits. How amazing that would be! Now, there is a total different picture in my mind: the little XJ in a polo shirt and a baseball hat, sporty and nerdy, just like his daddy.

Pink, bye for now and hello blue!

(P.S.: Many thanks to Yujing and Xiao for the baby outfit featured in XJ's picture here. )

Oh, Here is The Third Leg!

Today’s doctor visit was definitely like riding a roller coaster, a big thriller one. I was so worn out that I slept for three hours after getting home.

You know, there are those moments that you are going to discover something huge in your life, such as finding your name on the grade publishing board of college entrance exam, opening the admission envelope from your dream school, your all-dressed-up boyfriend reaching his suit pocket nervously in a fancy restaurant and saying I do in a white gown in church etc, etc, finding the baby’s sex is definitely one of the moments of this magnitude.

Both XJ and I were all excited about today’s ultrasound exam. The moment I lied down on the examining bed, we said:
“Would you please tell us the baby’s sex!” We were expecting an answer like this: “Sure, if we get lucky!!”
Instead, the radiologist calmly replied: “Well, we are not interested about that part. I am going to exam every part of your baby. If I see something, I will let you know.”

Her response, empathetical? not so much; honest? yeah absolutely! She reminded us that we got more important tasks to do today, checking and making sure the fetus is developing well. The radiologist started to take pictures of every part of the baby: heart, abdomen, face, ear, nose, mouth, arms, legs, hands and feet…The baby was moving very actively and that made examining her (we still use “her” as we didn’t know yet) a little bit hard. XJ and I glued our eyes to the monitor bugging the radiologist now and then if she had seen any part of THAT. The baby seemed really wanting to keep that a secret as she closed the two tiny legs so tightly. There was no chance for others to have a peek. I was thinking, good girl, you already know how to behave properly in public!

Everything looks fine until…

When the radiologist was taking the pictures of the baby’s head, I saw the monitor showed two big bubble shades on the baby’s head. I casually asked,
“What’s that? Is that her brain bones?”
“They are not supposed to be there. I need to look into this and you may need another ultrasound.” In a very strong Eastern European accent, the radiologist said.
“Then what is it?” XJ and I started to get nervous.
“They are called Ch…P…Cys. We have seen this in a lot of babies and most of them turned out just fine. I can’t say more than this. But your doctor will talk about it in detail with you today.”

This caught us totally off guard. We had no idea about the terminology even she explained what that part of the brain is for. All we heard was fluid, fluid, fluid. We, especially I started to panic. “Oh, my god,” I looked at XJ desperately, “our baby is not normal!” Even though the radiologist kept confirming that all the other parts look perfectly fine as she went on with the exam, we were so worried and in no mood to find out the baby’s sex any more. I looked at XJ and he started to comfort me and ask me not to worry until we talk to the OB. (I am still not sure how can he be so calm.)

“Well, I think I see something between the legs.” The Radiologist said.
“What is it?” We started to pick up some spirit again.
“I think it is a boy, but I can’t see it clearly”.
“Oh, my god, we are having a boy!?”
I asked the radiologist to prod my tummy a little bit and hopefully we can see more in that department. Several rounds later, a “third leg” kind of thing between the baby’s crossed legs popped up on the monitor and I asked,
“Is that what I was thinking?”
“I am now 100% sure it is a boy. That is his penis.” A sweet voice said.

That is it?! Here is the answer to several months' guessing game?! XJ and I started to acclaim, “Oh, we are really going to have a boy! It is official!!”

The joy of finding out the baby’s sex breezed away some dismal haze about the findings on our baby’s head. The radiologist finished her job and went to ask another senior radiologist to take another look at our baby. I lied on the bed, XJ holding my hand. We started at each other feeling, sweet sorrow. What if...what if…

A senior radiologist came and repeated the whole procedure, examining and taking pictures of every part of the baby. After she finished, she told us that everything looks fine except the brain part. Again she told us there was nothing to worry about and my OB will talk about it with us. Don’t you hate it when people keep telling you this! But what else can they say?

With the report in hand, we finally saw the word of the symptom. It is called “Choroid Plexus Cyst”. In the OB’s waiting room, XJ whipped out iphone and we started to google everything about this CPC. (Today, iphone looked even lovely to us than ever) We started to calm down as we read on the articles about CPC and its causes and consequences. It seems that it is a quite common thing for fetus to develop and it will go away by the 3rd trimester. There is potential risk of chromosomal problems but the risk is quite minimal.

By the time we got into the OB’s room, we already calmed down. We shared the joy of finding the sex of the baby with her. She reviewed the report with us and made sure we understand there was nothing wrong with the baby’s brain. In our case given that all the other parts are totally fine and the very low risk factor of the first trimester screen test, our baby having chromosomal problem is very low (0.1%). We don't need to worry about it and should continue enjoy the pregnancy.

Walking out of the hospital, hand in hand to the car, phew, what a drive! Known to XJ as a worry babe, he made sure I listened to what the OB said and stop thinking it as such a bad thing anymore. In the way home, I started to resonate with what my mommy-friends said: I used to say that I wish our baby get my eyes, XJ’s nose etc, etc. They always told me, “When you are becoming a mommy, you just wish your babies be normal.” I realized today it can’t be more true!

Let's pray...

OMG, Stretch Mark!

I went to shopping with one of my girlfriends the other day. Except that both of us gained quite a lot of satisfaction from the so-called “Retail Therapy”, I reaped another surprise, and it is bad. :( My girlfriend noticed that I got one of every pregnant woman’s nightmares – STRETCH MARKS, on my back waist!

What the hell! I dived into research about preventing and reducing stretch marks when I first got to know that I am pregnant. And I thought I have found the perfect solution – Palmers’s Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion. As per dermatologist, cocoanut oil is the best to prevent and reduce pregnant stretch marks. I have been religiously applying it on my tummy every day for several months. Maybe it is working, maybe it is not the time yet, I haven’t seen any single trace of stretch mark on the front of my abdomen. I was even delighted that I might be able to get around this horrible “Geographical Map on Your Tummy” thing with some luck and the help of this massage oil. This little finding on the back absolutely shattered my dream. How come it starts growing on the back first?! I do have a little bulge on the front but nothing happened on the back yet. It is so unfair!!

People say you never know what would happen on your back. It is so true that even pregnant stretch marks surprised me like this. In a second thought, it is actually silly to care so much about it. It is part of the nature. Also, I am not even a beach babe, who else can see it?! XJ says the stretch mark is lovely. Anyway, from that day on, the daddy-to-be started to pick up another daily task – applying the stretch massage oil on my back.

Daddy-to-be Having Fun

Americans love T-shirts. They wear them everywhere: work, gyms, travel, casual gatherings and parties. With so many famous authentic All-American fashion designers/companies continuously innovate in this area, T-shirts aren’t a simple, casual white knit shirt that absorbs sweats well anymore. It is more a fashion statement for Americans who emphasis individuality and humor. There are so many to explore about the T-shirt culture in America, but I am not going to enumerate here. Just recently, I found some companies selling humor Tees for expecting daddies. They are so much fun and cool that I want to record here. This small example also reflects the American T-shirts culture perfectly.

Nowadays, there are enormous wardrobe choices for fashionable mommies-to-be to have fun during pregnancy. As an equally important part of the human being-creating project, daddies are getting some actions in their wardrobes too. With no exception the easiest way is to express their excitements and proud through their favorite tees.

“CHANGING THE WORLD, ONE DIAPER AT A TIME”, this statement is the first one that caught my eyes and I felt it especially interesting to me. I was wondering if the designer borrowed this line from my Alma Mater's (Stanford GSB) tagline which says, “CHANGING THE WORLD, ONE PROJECT AT A TIME.”

And there are tees for proud daddies like:
“YES, IT’S MINE”
“LOOK AT WHAT I DID”
“YES, I DID IT”
“THE MAN BEHIND THE BELLY”

Further more, there are provocative statements like:
“MY BOYS CAN SWIM”
“HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES”
“BULLSEYE”
“I AM THE MILKMAN”
These statements are really funny but I think it takes quite some courage to wear and show to the world in some culture.

Isn’t pregnant life more fun for women with these little gestures from their hubbies? I love these humor tees. Too bad that as a conservative Chinese, my guy XJ is not willing to wear these tees except for the first one. He said, “Honey, I am more willing to peel and cut one more apple for you everyday.” Well, life is also about tradeoff, isn't it?

Learning Curve

XJ's colleague passed him some wisdom about raising children. It is so funny that I have been constantly cracking up every time I think of it since he told me. It is translated as, “Raising the first kid according to books and raising the second one as a piggy.” It is even funnier when you say it in Chinese because it has a rhyme in it. It says, “第一个小孩按书养，第二个小孩当猪养”.

Joking aside, this simple phrase is so witty and comprehensive! I can’t help but acclaim the power of Chinese expression. If we give this some analytical thinking: apparently, the learning curve for young parents to raise the first kid is very deep because you start from ground zero and have so much to learn. As for the second, the third and etc, with more accumulated knowledge, the starting point on the Y axis is higher and the learning curve naturally gets flatter and flatter. But this is not always the case, if you get some precious help from mom and dad, which would give the beginning a jump start, the learning curve, even for the first kid, can be flatter too. That is why everybody invites parents to help! Ooops, I guess I went too far on this analysis. This starts to get boring and silly.

My parents have four kids with me being the youngest. Hmmm, I am wondering what kind of animal I was raised as back then. Gotta call them and find out. Just kidding, I can’t thank my parents more for bringing me to this world and bringing me up the way I am. If I was a piggie, I believe I was the luckiest, happiest, proudest and most spoiled piggie in the world. I can’t imagine how my mom achieved to be a mother of four kids when she was in a even younger age than I am now. People say daughters connect to parents, especially moms much more deeply when they have their own kid. I want to say, my dearest mom and dad, I wish you healthy and happy and I can’t wait to share with you the feelings of being a new piggie, oh no, I mean mommy :)

Baby Boom?

As we were driving home yesterday, XJ told me that another one of his friend is expecting a baby girl this August. Flash back. Suddenly, I realized so many of our friends have been hit /will soon be hitting on the parental road. The news came to me from mail box, MSN live messages, phone conversations and personal surprises. The baby waves have washed me again and again. Interestingly enough, I hadn’t noticed this pattern before I was pregnant. Does this mean another baby boom is coming? What a change! Is it me or is it the world? Flash back again. When XJ and I decided to get married two years ago, we found so many our single friends were getting married too. All of a sudden, I laughed at myself. This is life - a never-stopping-never-ending grand live event. As individuals, we are visitors. As we walk along the event, we see different scenes and feel different feelings. “Life is a journey”, I have known this line since I was in elementary school and quoted it in my writings now and then. But all these years, I have never taken a moment to slow down and seriously think over its real meaning and how it is applied to my life. No wonder people say you immediately grow up when a baby is presented in your hand. The coming of the XJ&XJ definitely provoked my philosophical thinking!

A Sleeping Posture Solution – My Comfy Prenatal Body Pillow

I never imagined that my years of sleeping habit lying on the stomach will ever pose a potential danger to the baby growing inside of me. I had been tossing around the bed for quite some nights in order to make sure that I sleep on the left side, which as every practitioner tells you, is the best sleeping posture for your baby. Not until I discovered the prenatal body pillow 2 weeks ago had I found my tight sleep and sweet dreams back.

As the pregnancy progress, it got harder and harder for me to sleep my way though nights. Everything I was used to started to bother me: the pillow, the mattress, the person lying beside me. It took longer to fall asleep and easier to wake up during nights, not only for the frequent bathroom visits, but also unknown reasons.

As desperately as I got, I changed my used-to-be-perfect medium firm pillows to extra firm ones. XJ slept on our new extra firm pillow for one night and the first thing he did the next morning was to unpack old pillows. He simply can’t handle the altitude and the hardness of the new one.

While the new pillow gave me several nights’ comfort, I found new issues that bothered me. This time was XJ. Due to our significant weight difference, we had changed our mattress for several times until we found a very firm mattress, so firm that I won’t feel sleep on a slope every night. Well, the trouble came back to me. I started to believe XJ had put on a lot of weight as I felt sleeping on a slope again. Poor XJ, he insisted he weighed the same as before. Time to change to a firmer mattress? But the one we have now is the firmest we could get; also it is so expensive to buy a new mattress. Time to change to a not-so-heavy husband? Hmmm, tempting but seems risky and costly too.

I always feel solutions come to me when I am in trouble. As lucky I got this time, when I was reading the subscribed pregnancy newsletter one day, I discovered there is a thing called maternity body pillow which is supposed to help pregnant women to get better sleep. I can’t wait to show this to XJ and headed to the local store and digged out this baby. It was perfect, not only giving me comfort support, but also making sure I always sleep on my left side, and unexpectedly, it forms a barrage between XJ and me so I don’t feel sleep on a slope any more.

By the way, Happy B-day to father-to-be XJ!

The "Grand Opening" of 2nd Trimester

The second trimester finally arrived as expected, wait, too early to cheer up. It is coming with a cold first and hay fever followed. In order to avoid the allergen – pollen, I have to chain myself at home with windows closed. New England just entered into summer, sunny, mild weather, the pleasing breeze, the balmy smell…the best season in a year. All I can do is to watch it through a closed window. Sigh!

As every pregnant woman desperately looks forward to, the second trimester is supposed to be the best part of pregnancy, even the most joyful part in a woman’s life. I definitely haven’t tasted a bit of it with the cold and hay fever. My nose has been running and I have been sneezing so hard that I am afraid I could almost shoot the baby out of my body every time I sneeze. The most annoying thing of hay fever is that it lasts LONG, as long as there is pollen in the air. It has been 2 weeks in my case and there is still no sign of the end. The pollen allergy also does damage to my face. It caused red rash all over my face, which not only ruined my “maternity glow”, but also itches really bad.

Hopefully, as traditional wisdom said, the best part comes later.

Celebrity Maternity Looks in One Day

Angelina Jolie without any doubt is the most famous young mommy in the world; a mysterious, stylish, sexy and versatile movie star; a humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency; one of the most reported movie stars in Hollywood.

With 3 adopted kids and a biological daughter, she is expecting twins again. Check out her stunning maternity looks in one day:

We Saw You, Baby!

As I am approaching the end of the first trimester, (yeah!), things are gradually looking up like they said in the books indeed. Nausea is already a remote word to me. As a meat lover, there was some time between 7th and 8th week, I couldn’t even bear smelling the so-called “slaver-inducing” flavor of meats. It is all gone by now. I started to enjoy cooking and eating meat again. The tiredness and sleepiness, however, are still with me day and night. I am still very unproductive on anything I do daily. Really look forward to the days coming that I can be active, spirited and energetic again.

We have been to the hospital and seen the fetus' ultrasound picture twice, last Tuesday (5/6) and today (5/15). Obviously the fetus is growing very fast. I hardly saw anything last Tuesday when the OB checked the heartbeat of the baby. XJ did see some tiny electric waves as he sat closer to the monitor. We both felt so CALM that we started to doubt that we are both retarded on this parental intuition thing. Today, only 8 days later, in my 12 weeks and 1 day pregnancy, the size of fetus doubled! I finally saw it clearly, especially when the operator enlarged it on the screen. She (as XJ referred it) was moving violently (as XJ described it) with arms and legs all over the place. The heartbeat was very obvious and quite powerful. It was really amazing to see a moving creature inside my body. We were definitely amused by her performance. And as “retarded” parent, we still haven’t felt that flush of desperately thrill and joy as people described. Just as one close friend puts it, she is more thrilled for us than we are.

First Close Interaction with Maternity Clothes

When I started the blog, I had blogging about maternity fashion in my mind. While it was not until this Sunday had I had the first close interaction with maternity clothes.

Honestly and shamelessly, the first thing I was worried about when I first got to know that I was pregnant was not about how to be a good mom-to-be, instead I was wondering what I was going to wear during pregnancy, how to keep in style with a growing belly, how to be hip instead of boring…silly me, hah? Anyway, researching on maternity fashion turns out to be a good distraction from the notorious hardship of the first trimester so far. With so many brilliant maternity fashion companies and designers offering beautiful maternity clothes, we are able to indulge ourselves a little bit on clothes while going through this tremendous “project”. It is a privilege, I declare.

A month ago, immediately after the pregnant test, screaming and laughing, XJ and I went to Amazon.com and ordered seven pregnancy books, four of them are about maternity style according to my requirements. I have finished all style books and am still working on those books with REAL stuff. What can I say? It is just easier for me to read the style books. (Sometimes, I feel I am really a superficial person. Luckily, XJ thinks it makes me a very interesting person. ) And reading those books did make me enjoy my pregnancy much better. I was amazed by the autobiography written by the founder of Mother Works Inc., Rebecca Matthias, how she turned a simple idea to a business, how she found a niche market and built a successful public company based on it. It is absolutely inspirational. Also, I enjoyed Expecting Style by Lauren Sara. It tells you can be much more creative and fashionable than you could imagine during belly days. It also makes me feel less guilty to care about the appearance because some people out there make it as a career.

This Sunday, when we drove to Boston via route 9, we made a stop at the Destination Maternity store. The moment we drove to the parking lot, we “smelled” something different. All the cars in the parking lot are either SUVs, or Volvos, a.k.a safe cars. Our compact, fuel efficient car easily tells that we are yet serious, responsible parents. Upon entering the store, XJ and I quickly located our separate destinations, with him settling in a big sofa with a big flat TV screen broadcasting sports events and I heading to racks and racks of maternity fashions. As usual, I picked out what I liked, went to fitting room, put on every piece and showed them to XJ. It is our shopping routine that I always get his second opinion because I am a big spender and he pulls our wallet string. Today, I picked three winners and he killed one. I ended up with bringing home two pregnant dresses without a showing belly yet. And here they are:

The Word For You Is To CHILL

It has been several days since my first nurse visit. I should have written something about it but the pregnancy fatigue hit me so hard and I feel like doing nothing these days, even sitting in front of the computer makes me sick. I am in my ninth week pregnant. Hopefully the nausea and other discomforts will magically disappear as the second trimester sets in like they said in books.

Usually, the first hospital visit is with a nurse. I guess the doctor is too busy to see me and I am too insignificant to be seen by a doctor in current stage. Basically, it is like a meeting and greeting experience. We are supposed to ask the nurse a lot of questions and be drawn A LOT OF bloods to be tested for various items. I was drawn EIGHT tubes of bloods that day.

The nurse is very amiable, and knowledgeable. She is a like a pregnancy cheerleader trying to cheer you up. You can feel the professional fake underneath it but what do you expect instead, a cold shoulder? During the visit, we found out my exact due date – 11/30/08. XJ had a lot more questions to ask than I have. He appeared more concerned than I was. At the end of the appointment, the nurse asked me to relax, live as usual and enjoy my pregnancy. She turned to my husband and said: “For you, the word is to CHILL.” We all laughed.

Find The OB and The Hospital

I never imagined how much work to do to pick an obstetrician and the hospital to have the baby. The reality is there are a lot of due diligence to do.

Like choosing any products or marketing a brand, word-of-mouth is the king. By week 5, we started asking around, friends, colleagues, friends’ friends, friends’ colleagues…Basically, anybody with experience we can reach.

For hospitals, it boils to down to two – Newton Wellesley and Brigham and Women. XJ and I decided to check out the location and neighborhood of the hospitals before we choose an obstetrician because we need to choose an OB who is affiliated to the hospital we want to deliver our baby in. On Saturday, we drove around, checked the routes, traffic, the hospital buildings and parking lots, you know, all kinds of superficial stuff. We still couldn’t make our decisions after the visits. I started to call my friend who had an adorable baby again and during our conversation, the light hit me, why not to use her OB and the hospital she went to. It was that easy. I later checked out her OB background and found that she is overall the most impressive. Brigham and Women’s Hospital is also the best women’s hospital in United States. Why not to take advantage of it since I live so close?!

My conclusion is if you want to make your life easier, follow the choice of your friend who you know well and trust. The reality is, s/he has done all the due diligence as you would do.

.Com Rush

My American friend told me an expecting website: What to Expect. While I was exclaiming how great and helpful this website is and how genius the business model is and how can I transfer this business model to China, my Chinese friend informed me a very popular Chinese website: 摇篮网. They did everything exactly I wanted to do. No matter it is born separately or imitation, I can’t help but wonder how fast the new information travels around the world. The world is not only flat, it is literately a dot! Anyway, individuals benefit most from this rapid information spreading. I registered on both websites and enjoy the good of both sides.

A Tea Solution

I have been trying to drink water for several days. Old habits die really hard. My daily fluid intake has been significantly reduced because water just tastes so plain. I can’t help but start to find green tea alternatives. Then Teavana (www.teavana.com) came to my notice. They sell caffeine-free loose tea leaves! XJ and I went to the nearest mall immediately and bought their most popular caffeine-free tea for pregnant women – Blueberry Bliss Rooibos Tea mixed with Peach Tranquility herbal Tea. Even though these flavored teas can’t compare with the natural fragrance and bitterness of green tea, it is so much better than water. I feel I have found the perfect drinking solution for my pregnancy. If I get tired of this flavor, I can always go back to get another flavor. They seem have many varieties of caffeine-free teas.

Bye for Now, Green Tea

Last night, XJ looked at me very seriously and said: “Honey, we need to be responsible now. You need to eat healthy and exercise more. ” AS IF I don’t know. :(

Actually, this is not a huge challenge for me. Our diet has been pretty healthy. XJ likes to peel and cut fruits so I get plenty of fresh fruits everyday.

My biggest challenge is what fluid to drink. I have been a tea buff since I was a kid. Green tea has been my daily fix. I am the kind of person to bring my own green tea wherever I go. I make my tea in traditional Chinese way - loose tea leaves with boiled water in a big drink bottle. One time I brought my tea with me while we were visiting Empire Building in NYC, the security person thought I was drinking worms. (Gross! The little green tea leaves resemble worms to him). Well, big red flag now. Green tea contains caffeine, which is better to be avoided altogether during pregnancy. And I had been drinking green tea until last night! Also, I drank some coke last several weeks before I knew about the pregnancy to fix the bitterness in my mouth. Hope I haven’t done much damage.

Anyway, I decided today to quit green tea cold turkey. Think the positive side, my teeth might get several shades whiter!

Honey, it is somebody else's turn to be a baby!

March 22nd, 2008; Easter Sunday; Natick, MA

It was Easter Sunday, with huge amount of anxiety and curiosity, XJ and I took a pregnant test and the results immediately said I am pregnant!

What do we do now?

I was screaming and he was giggling.

We have been expecting but not desperately; we have been looking forward to the moment while subconsciously hope it won't come very soon.

Now here we are. Little XJ&XJ is on the way. Both of us are the youngest kid in our separate families and now we told us it is somebody else's turn to be a baby.

Let the journey begins...