Waddle! Waddle!

I used to come home from work and my husband would exclaim, “Oh, my little duck is home!” It was so endearing! But that was all in the beginning of our pregnancy journey. I guess I should back track a bit and say sorry for not blogging this experience more often. A combination of things have kept me from doing so. First of all, dealing with all the yucky side effects of pregnancy can really through a girl off of her game. Like having a simple laugh and suddenly the flood gates have opened and you have to run to the ladies room. THEN, there’s the busy days at work where I could barely manage to teach one class without running out like a maniac just in time to make it to the garbage bin in an attempt, (I kid you not!) to throw up my lungs…or even the baby! I sooo looked forward to maternity leave! (I never got one during my first pregnancy).

Three months before I was to go on maternity leave, my husband suddenly announced that he was shipping me back to the States to give birth. Why? Well, let’s just say my medical experiences in the great and vast land of China was NOT a walk in the park! Everything was so different from what I was accustomed to for a pregnant woman. The language barrier kept me from expressing my concerns, the sanitary problems plaguing the hospitals and the crowds! Oh good God Almighty the crowds!! It’s enough to make me cringe now!

Anyway, back to my surprise, big, temporary migration to America. I was excited and depressed at the same time. How was I going to cope without my beloved husband? My Donald Duck to my Daisy! My Mork to my Mindy! Not feeling him hold my belly as I try to fall asleep at night. Not seeing the wonder in his eyes as he watches my tummy do the butterfly dance. Who will take me to my doctor’s appointments (None of which he ever missed). Who will put a steaming hot bucket for me to soak my feet in every night religiously, then rub my swollen legs down before putting me to bed? I lamented to myself, and to him every night. In the end, he still shipped me out!

Well, I have been in the great and sunny state of Florida for almost two months now. I get to spend time with my family and friends, but I have forgotten how busy life is in America. Work! Work! Work! Bills! Bills! Bills! So in essence no one really had the time to spend with slow and clumsy pregnant person. I sometimes feared I would go into labor and without a car at my disposal, I’d be like those girls in TLC’s “I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant” screaming and hollering alone, giving birth in my sister’s toilet. Thank God this has not happened.

So far, things are progressing well. I miss my husband like crazy. I miss when I cook him an American meal that he loves, he and my son fight over who gets a 3rd helping. I miss how he looks at me and tell me how I have changed his life and given him life opportunities he never thought he would have just by loving him. I miss how he hats my cleaning habits and the way we always tag-team the laundry. I just, plain miss my suga-booga. We do communicate on Skype every day, but it’s not the same feeling as waddle waddling my way home to him every day and hearing him say, “Oh, my little duck is home!” Soon though…soon I will be back in his arms…hopefully sexy as ever, with not much baby fat left, as I hand him our bundle of joy and begin the next journey together into parenthood. Until then, I will waddle waddle my big belly around town in a perpetual haze of wonderment and occasionally stopping to breathe through my braxton hicks! More to come soon!

Not my words…but beautifully said and quite nourishing…ENJOY: A Different Kind of Bread

A Word for the Day: A DIFFERENT KIND OF BREAD
At the beginning of a new year there is much talk about losing weight and dieting.

Many diets stress the need to cut out carbs one of which is bread.

This has been shown to be beneficial in weight loss. They have also found that bread can gradually be reintroduced back in moderation after your goal has been reached.

There is a bread however that is quite beneficial to us.

Jesus used natural things to help us to understand some very important spiritual truths and laws.

Spiritual laws are often quite different from natural laws.

Bread in the Bible refers to Jesus and the living “Word of God” (John 1:1-5). It is the thing that sustains us and keeps us strong. As we eat it we grow spiritually. As we digest it and put it into practice it becomes what we live by.

Jesus addressed this very topic as he spoke of natural bread which perishes- comparing it to spiritual bread.

John 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveith you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us THIS BREAD.35- And Jesus said unto them, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

verse 48- I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.

And so while we may need to slow down on natural bread, we need to get as much spiritual bread as possible.

While eating an abundance of natural bread may cause us to grow in the natural in a negative way; eating spiritual bread helps us to grow in a positive way which produces life.

We may need to say “No thank you” to natural bread, but we truly need to say “YES”, PLEASE PASS THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN.

Affirmation: Dear Lord, please continue to give us a heart to receive You as our Lord and Saviour. Help us to have a hunger for your bread- the Word of God. And as we digest your Spirit and your Word continue to help us to gain abundant life- in this world and in the world to come.

I’m NOT Superwoman or Wonderwoman? Danm!!!

I’m NOT superwoman nor Wonderwoman? Sheeesh!! Here I thought walking 2.25 miles in the blowing, wet snow, then coming home and preparing dinner for my family classified me as such! Nope!!! My hips and my lower back are crying out “Girl! You ain’t no superwoman! You a tired-azz 35 year-old going through a second pregnancy with a ball of spitfire in your belly! So you betta recognize!” Wait! Was that my subconscious?  Cause I sure as heck could hear the nagging voice of Madea in my head saying this! I must be going crazy!

Why am I trying so hard to do things that can jeopardize the safe delivery of my baby AND my health? Well, maybe it’s ’cause I live in China where e’rybody, their grandmama and their great-great granddaddy aunty telling me I’m suppose to be weak and fragile…so I wanna prove them wrong! 

At what cost?

That’s a question I will have to ponder as I go through another 19 weeks of belly boppin’, duck-waddlin’, and essentially rollin’ in the deep end of “pregnancy in China”, where EVERYONE wants to rub yo belly then give you their opinion!

EEK!!!! (In response to my Migration blog)

So a couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog on how my family and I were thinking…ok preparing to migrate back to the US. It has been a time of back and forth for us. However, this week, in light of the tragedy in Connecticut, I have come to realize that perhaps going back and teaching in the US Public School System and maybe even the private schools may not be such a great idea. My son is freaked out and saddened at what happened. My husband, who has never been to the US called me at work tears clogging his voice as he expressed the sorrow he felt for those families who lost their babies. It hit him a lot harder because he is expecting his first child.

Needless to say, we started praying and sending out applications to all the Christian-based International schools we could find in the central and southern parts of China. I found some great schools which shares the same faith as I do. Every time we submitted a new and quite lengthy application, we prayed that it will get to the right hands. Now, all we can say is, “Lord, let your will be done because your word says ‘Faith without work is dead’. So we work full of faith that you will guide us to where we need to be eventually.”

My heart goes out to the families who have lost. May God grant you a peace that surpasses all understanding. May He allow you to see Him in everything whether good or bad. May your faith never waiver or fail.

Is it time for the great migration?

So many people have given up their US citizenships this year in search of a better financial-based life. Although I did not give up my precious citizenship, I too migrated to another country in search of financial and professional reprieve. I moved to China a little over a year ago and although Although I signed another 3-year contract back in March, my husband and I are planning to migrate back to the States…with a significant enhancement in my life of course. My honey Jaison, my little man Ethan and a new baby!

For a time I feared the process may be a difficult one and wondered if we were up to applying and paying a bunch of fees or even going through the hassle of finding an uncorrupted lawyer. Well, I strongly believe it will be worth it all just to get home. Since the journey is just taking root in our minds, it is only a seedling we hope will blossom into reality within this year. Let the journey begin…

OK, I wrote most of the above passage before the wedding. Now, we are full-fledged into application mode. Found out I could send the application straight to Guangzhou, which may help shorten our process. So the journey continues. Now real worries though, if it takes some time, we will just put that time to use in saving and planning what exactly we want to do when we get to the states.

First comes marriage…then comes the carriage

I have a bun in the oven!!!!! Yay!! I know it seems so soon after the wedding to so many people, but life happens. Jaison and I wanted this part of our life to happen sooner rather than later! I am no spring chicken you know!!! Anyway, we are 4 months (16 weeks) along as of November 27th! It hasn’t been without its ups and downs, but I recently started really loving the idea of being pregnant again…this time with a willing and happy partner in tow and a big brother-to-be who pretends he is going to torture the baby if it’s a girl but share his toys and life lessons if it’s a boy!

 

MORNING SICKNESS

Well on the exact day I turned 5 weeks, I got hit with morning sickness. It came so violently, that I literally ripped the sink off! Thank God my son was standing next to me (as he and his dad are super over protective of me since I got preggers). He called out to his dad and together they held my hair back and rubbed my back until my 5 long minutes of sickness had subsided. Through the next month and a half, this would be the ritual. The fatigue hit around the same time. I could barely stand up after having 9 hours of sound sleep. This one is a strange one. Through those times, even though I had the boys there to help, I could only long for my little sister Nehemie (check out her single on Amazon and iTunes: Nehemie and the Billy Rich Project).

(SIDE NOTE): You see, when I was expecting my number 1, Ethan, she would lie next to me on my bed and during the hundred times I had to try to get up to go to the bathroom, if I couldn’t make it there, she would carry me. She was literally my strength in those times. The memories of how she took care of me will have to do. I plan, Lord willing to be there for her the best I can when she is experiencing that part of her life.

COMPLICATIONS

During my first pregnancy, I was so scared, I didn’t pay attention to the process. This time around, I am reading more and matching what I am reading with what I am experiencing. There is still a lot that I am  learning about being pregnant. A week and a half ago, I experienced 3 days of piercing sinus pressure headaches. It got so bad that my husband panicked and took me to the hospital. When we got there, many tests were run, blood was taken and so on. I had also been experiencing periodic cramping on the lower right side of my belly. When we mentioned this to the doctors, they became very alarmed. At some point they told my husband they thought I had developed appendicitis and that they would have to terminate the pregnancy to operate. Through all of this he remained calm on the surface. It wasn’t until the 5th and most senior doctor examined me that he put the fears to rest. He then prescribed me 1 week sick leave from work to rest.

WHAT I LEARNED

While on sick leave, both my husband and I read up a lot on pregnancy symptoms. I learned that the congestion will most likely last until two weeks after i give birth, periodic cramping do occur, but if they are not frequent there should be no worries. I also learned about a lot of other icky, disturbing symptoms…some of which I am experiencing now. But my mind has been at ease. Most importantly, I am learning how to love being pregnant, being pampered by a husband who loves me and a son who adores me. I am learning that I am a strong woman who is willing to endure just about anything to have a healthy baby!

Until next time!!!

I Got Hitched!

Yes, it’s been a while since I last posted. I am happy to say it’s not because I abandoned the beautiful, joy of writing, but because I was preparing to get married and didn’t have much time for anything else. I don’t have many followers, but I do have some great friends on Facebook who have already seen my engagement and wedding pictures. But I will try to share some of them on this blog.

Well, first let me give you the run down on my journey to the altar. Like everything else in China, for an expat, it was a PROCESS! Since my husband was not born in the province where I live, we had to travel to his province to get our marriage license. We only had 2 days to accomplish all of this before I had to return to take a flight to America to go pick up my son Ethan and bring him back to China with me.

So our journey began fairly well. We were travelling to the countryside of Anhui province. The train ride was uneventful, until we got to his hometown. We planned on hiring a car to take us through the mountains to get to his mother’s house…oh did I mention I was also meeting the parent for the first time???!!! Talk about scary! Well, we got to the train station and lo and behold! I am the only black person there! Mouths have dropped, tongues are rolling and people are tripping over themselves to try to take my picture. My husband gets very testy about that since all they will do is post them on the social network of weibo or their personal QQ accounts to make God only knows what kinds of comments! He tells them no and suddenly no cars want our business at the regular price…they want 3 times as much. Mind you it’s almost dark and we are in the boonies of the mountains. So we decide to start walking and hope we can find a car going our way.

The mosquitos are out in full force! They seem to love this dark chocolate. I am sweating profusely, hearing scurrying and what seems to be dogs howling. I am scared, but my honey is gripping my hand for support. After what seems like ages, a car comes careening down the dirt road. We quickly flag him down and he agrees to take us the hour and a half through the mountains. He was a blessing in disguise. Once we get to the front steps of my future mother-in-law’s home, I asked my husband Jaison to pay him at least 100RMB ( the equiv of about $20), but the man only wanted 10RMB!!! I was dumbfounded, but grateful.

NaiNai’s house seems large, but it reminded me of a house in Haiti. The outhouse was super scary with giant spiders all over the wall….oh and to get there, you have to go through the bushes in the back of the house. Needless to say, I did not pee nor $#!* for the 2 days I was there! Drastic I know, but you would do the same if you saw the sizes of those spiders!

After all we went through, you would think it was smooth sailing from there, but NO! We woke up the next morning, met the curious neighbors who watched my husband grow up into a handsome young man. We watched the curtains move back and forth while we waited yet again for another ride into the big city of Hefei…this time with Nainai and my brother-in-law’s 2 youngest girls, ages 6 and 3. I instantly fell in love with my new family and thank God they felt the same way.

I carried those little ones around like they were my own. We had a language barrier, but they started calling me mama. My heart was warmed. When we finally got to Hefei, we arrived at the justice of the peace just in time for them to close and go to lunch…for 2 hours!! Uggh! We were going to miss our train and we did. Finally, we have our marriage license, which in China means we are officially married. We run to the train station and yes, missed it. We bought seats on a bus. The bus driver takes off, only to stop a couple of blocks later to pick up new unauthorized passengers. He was making money on the side. This is a 6-8 hour drive, with at least 10-12 people sitting on the floor in the middle of the bus. The bus was so full it couldn’t drive at normal speed.

Then the air conditioner suddenly broke. We started to suffocate. The mosquitos were on the attack. A few people including my husband called the police to report the driver. Two police cars showed up on either side of the bus, but did not stop him. They basically followed us until he was out of the city. The children started to whimper and looked like they were going to pass out. This went on for another 2-3 hours before suddenly the bus limped into a rest stop where it decided to die indefinitely! Now we were in a dilemma. It was too hot to stay in the bus, but too dangerous to venture outside as the mosquitos had tripled their attack.

My new babies were covered in welts. The rest stop restaurant was closed by now since it was really late. We bought up as much water as we could. Poor Nainai is not of a young age. She is silently enduring, while quietly watching how I dealt with the children and the situation. I am thankful that I had experience as a mother and seemed to pass her test. Many hours later, the people again called the police to report the driver. Finally the police did come and cited him. His company got a fine and he got a personal fine for putting so many people on the bus. He also had to refund everyone their money.

Our saving grace came a few hours later while the police was still monitoring the situation, a car came through with only the driver. Since we were the only ones with little children, and the driver was heading to our final destination 3 hours away, the police asked him to take us. The other passengers were angry, but Praise the Lord, it worked out in our favor. So that was my journey to becoming Mrs. Jai Jun Wang. I will never forget it. And I loved every minute of my adventure. Something to tell the grandbabies!

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