Missing my kicks

According to the BabyBump app on my iPhone, I should have felt some flutters by Day 126. The message showed up right around our Tokyo babymoon and I started to tear up. I managed to control the initial welling of emotions so I don’t think Wen realized how disturbed I was by the non-flutters until I felt teary again later that same day (and told him about it). He proceeded to do some quick research and reassured me that my high placenta position and this being our first baby makes it perfectly normal not to feel any kicks until even the 5th or 6th month.

Unfortunately, it certainly didn’t help that Day 135 said “By now, baby has started moving around in your tummy, and you’re probably wondering what on earth he/she is doing in there.” Yeah, thanks.  Now I’m wondering if my baby is truly healthy because I’m not sure I’ve felt any movement. So I console myself that the baby must be kicking my bladder and causing that need to pee every other hour. Or maybe the slight soreness and indigestion I feel is really the baby kicking around. But mainly, I think I’m just so clueless that I need to literally see a slight imprint of his foot on my tummy (from inside out) to really feel his kick.

Whatever the reason, I definitely cannot imagine or be sympathetic to any complaints from pregnant women about the kicks they feel from their baby. It must be one of the top ten best moments for a mother and I can’t wait to say “Yes! That’s definitely a kick!”

Happy Anniversary!

It’s been six years since we had our first wedding, and so we celebrated at one of our favorite restaurants – Yakiniku Yazawa the other night.   It’s been an adventurous last few years with school, work, the move to Singapore, and now a baby on the way.  Through it all, I consider myself very lucky to have such a loving, supportive and feisty wife and soon-to-be mother.  Love you!

Countdown to Chinese New Year

One of the downsides of growing up in the US is that I missed out on entire swaths of Chinese culture.  Celebrating the Lunar New Year – Chinese style is certainly something we didn’t have growing up.  And I do not count the New Years day parades that happen in SF Chinatown as an immersive experience.
As this will be my second New Year in Singapore, I’m looking forward to a number of things – decorations in Chinatown, family reunions, time off spent with the wife, and oh- the music.  Apparently, there is an entire collection of Chinese New Year songs – like Christmas songs but with more gongs and whatnot.  If you’re in Singapore, you can tune to the mandarin channels (92.7, 100.3) and chances are you’ll hear some tunes as we get ready for the new year.

I can only say that it’s markedly different than what I’m used to in holiday music, but as the saying goes- when in Rome…

I don’t know why the little girls are all dressed in Korean garb either.