3 Weeks!

Hmmm. Lincoln is making faces here. I set him in his basket and tried to snap a few photos for his passport. In theory, easy-peasy. Set baby in a basket with white sheets and wait for him to open his eyes. In reality, a bit of a challenge. Who knew babies were so wiggly.

Lincoln is 3 weeks old, nearly 1 month old. I can't believe how quickly the time went. I marvel at how much life has changed in such a short time. Not only do I now have the joy that is a new baby, but I also have the joy of having my ankles back. No more compression socks! My fingers don't look like sausages and I saw my feet without a mirror. I just need my waist back and a night of uninterrupted sleep for life to be complete.

We have Lincoln's 1-month check-up coming soon and then we'll see how weight he's gained and how many centimeters he's grown. As far as I can see, Lincoln is growing lengthwise more than widthwise.

His umbilical cord fell off yesterday and I swear I saw a ghost of a real smile today.

A Moment of Peace

It's been about a week and half since we became parents. Right now, I am savoring a moment of quiet when the baby is settled and I can enjoy a hot cup of tea while it is still hot. I'm not deluding myself; the baby is likely to wake at any moment. In fact, I'm surprised that he sleeps at all since the sound of car horns and construction noise is unceasing. Really, he is a good baby overall. He feeds about every 2 hours, though he'll sleep 3-4 (even once 5!) hours after his last nightly feeding at around 11p. He is fairly easy to settle when he cries. Generally he cries because of he is hungry or he is wet. Once those issues are addressed, he quiets down quickly.

In this week and a half, Lincoln was born, went home and met the cat, had a 2-day follow up doctor's visit (heel stick for PKU test -- parents should never watch their children have blood drawn), and went to the U.S. consulate to start the paperwork for his Consulate Report of Birth Abroad and his passport. I took a picture of Lincoln in his moses basket, which has white sheets. Like most passport pictures, this one wasn't very flattering. It made him look odd with a big moon face. The person at the consulate said that his papers should be ready in about a week.

It's strange to think how new this person is; that 2 weeks ago, he was still in my belly; that a year ago, he was only a distant thought. Now I wonder what he will be like in 2 weeks, when he is 1 month old; what he will be like in a year.

Right now, I am looking forward to his first smile and first laugh. He has such a serious demeanor that I have a hard time imagining what that smile would look like. The other day he pulled a spectacular frown on ayi when she was gently teasing him.

Mugsy isn't quite sure what to think of this little squalling bundle. If I sit in the big leather chair with the baby, Mugs is sure to sit on what remains of my lap. Lincoln still isn't aware of kitty. It'll be interesting when he starts to notice.

Beijing 2008 Olympics Torch Run

I got up early this morning to watch the Olympic torch run through Shanghai. Part of the torch run route was through Xintiandi and People's Square. One of my girl friends lives in the Xintiandi part of the city and her apartment management was keeping her updated on the torch route. The torch was originally supposed to come to Shanghai on the 20th, but was delayed for a 3-day period of mourning for the earthquake victims.

I got a text message saying the torch was coming at around 8 am, so I managed to get myself up and dressed and in Xintiandi by 7:30. Eric opted to stay in bed. I figured that since the torch was so close to me that I should make the effort to go see it. Streets were barricaded and lined with police officers. The pedestrian area of Xintiandi was cordoned off and the Starbucks on the corner had bike locks on the doors.



There was a general sense of excitement and anticipation with people lining the streets waving Olympic flags.



We found a spot to stand and wait for the torch to pass through. From what we had been told, the torch and torch bearer would be driven to one end of the street. They would get out, light the torch, and run down the street. We saw sponsorship vehicles for Samsung, Coca-cola, and Lenovo; buses of seemingly important people; emergency vehicles; and motorcycles. We continued to wait until the crowds started to disperse and the police started to take down the rope barricades. We were left baffled and hugely disappointed.



I got up early for this? It seemed that the people most disappointed were foreigners. I've heard similar stories of disappointment from people waiting at different locations in Shanghai. No one could tell us exactly what happened or when and where we could actually see the torch.

There does seem to be one person who managed to see the torch and has photographic evidence (link goes to Shanghai dear Edward's flickr photo stream). I'm glad someone got to see the torch.

Baby Gift

We've been very fortunate to have such a great support network of friends here in Shanghai. We've become good friends with one of Eric's officemates, Penny. She brought us to her hometown and introduced us to her family, a really wonderful group of people. Her sister and nephew have visited us in Shanghai before. Penny's sister gave us a baby quilt and recently, her cousin sent us a hand-knitted jumper for the baby.



Her cousin has a 6-year-old daughter who is absolutely adorable. When we were visiting them, she showed us a video of Le Le when she was 4 on a Chinese children's program. She sang a song and did a little dance. I don't think I managed to write a post about that (along with a lot of other things). Here's a picture of the two of them.



Here Le Le is taking individually wrapped flowers from her mother to hand to all family members. Le Le picked out the buttons on the jumper. Right now the jumper is folded in the baby's dresser. I know I will dress him in it at least once for pictures, but this is something that I will certainly set aside for a keepsake.

The Last Few Weeks

Finally, it's May. We're in the home stretch here. I've lately been promoted to weekly doctor's visits. Eric was at the last one and we saw the baby on the ultrasound. The technician did some measurements to estimate the size of the baby. I'll get blood drawn at the next doctor's visit.

Most of my girl friends are pretty open about discussing personal issues -- in-depth discussions about medical maladies, relationships, and so on. Pregnancy brings this general female camaraderie to a whole new level. I find myself discussing the state of my cervix and its anatomical neighbors with not just my girl friends, but also with women I have just met (I'm also blogging about it -- never thought I'd be doing that). And no one bats an eye.

I've joined a Bumps and Babes group here that meets a couple times a month. These meetings usually have a speaker or a topic for the women there to discuss. We've had a breast-feeding consultant, a chiropractor specializing in pregnant women as well as children, a small business owner along with other people. I've been fortunate enough to have found other women who are due around the same time as myself. Some of us have formed a smaller group where we can commiserate about our respective pregnancies and, hopefully, will have little buddies for our babies as they arrive. We've had our first birth. Kristy delivered a boy via c-section on 25 April. Kari is currently overdue. Cara may go into early labor. And I'm just waiting until the end of May.

I had my morning workout today tugging on my compression socks. The pair I'm wearing today are thigh highs and are tighter than my knee-high compression socks. Imagine me sitting on the bed in my underwear huffing and puffing as I try to work the stockings over my feet. It's already a challenge to reach my feet. After several breaks, a lot of cursing, and about 15 minutes later, I have successfully got the stockings in place. Now I'm sitting here in pajama shorts (nice and stretchy), a t-shirt and my stockings. I can assure you that I look ridiculous. I'm going to dig out my muu-muus later on.

We just got a portable stereo with an iPod dock, something I've wanted to get for a while. Someone was telling me that newborns have initial sleep difficulties because their new environment is so quiet. They have gotten so used to the sounds of mom's heartbeat and digestion as well as other background noises that absolute quiet is unnerving. I'm not going to play sounds of digestion but some music would be nice. I've been sitting here all morning listening to music. The sound is much better than the laptop speakers. It's sunny and beautiful outside, but I'm having difficulty motivating myself into some decent pants to go for a walk outside. Maybe I'll have more energy after lunch. What I really want is a good chocolate milkshake. I've found exactly 1 place that serves a decent one like you'd get at Steak n Shake. I might have to flag down a cab and get one.

Approaching Maximum Density

Here's a shirt I got at my last doctor's visit:



Hee hee! Notice how the shirt is straining over my massive 8-month belly. Not pictured are my lovely swollen feet encased in orthopedic compression stockings. I'm quite the picture.

Let's see, I believe I have about 6-7 weeks left until baby arrives. So happy he's coming before summer!

Going on Month 8

I'm going into month 8 here and I'm ready to have this baby now. Thankfully, my feet don't hurt anymore and I have some energy back. Eric laughs because he can hear me huffing and puffing through the door when I'm trying to get up from my chair to let him into the apartment.
I've joined a group for expecting moms and moms who've recently given birth. There's a few of us who are due around the same time and we're making plans to get together and commiserate about sore feet and expanding body parts.

I had the most wonderful surprise today. I logged onto my blog page and surprisingly, it's not blocked anymore. We'll see how long that lasts. These things are never predictable.

I've neglected this blog for a long time and there's much I need to catch up on. For now, I'm going to post this brief entry and call it an early night.