christofu.net

Owwww

So, I'm slightly sulking. In preparation for the arrival of our impending bundles o' joy, I've been trying to lose a little weight. Now I'm not huge, but at 6'0" I'm pretty healthy at 180, but not my current 205 (was 210). Also, at my last physical, the doc said my insides were fine, but I needed to hit the gym more to ensure that I stay that way.

Anyway, I went running a few miles yesterday an apparently my back prefers my running when I'm under 200. Arghh... looks as if advil will be my friend for the next couple of days.

A healthy dose of pending reality

We just finished a busy weekend. We used to have an office; we now have a nursery. The last coat of paint was completed Saturday morning. Saturday evening was spent putting together a crib. An hour and a half and a few expletives later, we had a bed for a baby. Final tasks are to clear coat the changing table and put up a clothes rack -- no biggie.

Sunday was spent at birthing class. The class was fantastic, mostly due to the coordinator, who was very animated and kept us engaged for 8 + hours.

On the way back over the GG Bridge, I pondered just how different things will be in less than 3 months. When will I find time to hang glide???

Fast forward to last weekend

Christi's mom, Ann, came into town last weekend, and spoiled us rotten. Christi's grandfather has not been in the best of health, so it's quite difficult for Ann to be able to break away for any period of time. She arrived Thursday afternoon, and after we had a nice dinner at First Crush, the rest of the weekend was spent picking up necessities for our pending bundles o' joy.

Ann spent Friday cruising San Francisco, mostly Chinatown, making more friends in one day than I do in a year. Must be a Texas hospitality thing. That day, she came back with lots of goodies, mostly for Baby A (adopted baby, and the one we anticipate to arrive first). Very cute children's books, mostly on chinese culture, holidays, folk stories, etc.

Saturday brought in some big ticket items, including a diaper genie and a baby bjorn. Lots of little toys, some blankets, bibs, linens, some clothing for Baby B, the list just goes on. Sunday was reserved for Ikea. I politely bowed out as I have no ability to handle more than 30 minutes in that prison. My penance? Putting together the Ikea diaper table (although I do think that I impressed my mother-in-law, MIL for short, by popping that thing together in well under an hour).

Anyway, it was a great weekend. My parents came over for dinner on Satuday night, and we all had a lot of laughs. I also think I got MIL hooked on my favorite gin. I try to build up credit when I can.

And baby(s) make four

Now you can probably imagine what it was like being 5000 miles away from your significant other when you get life-changing news. I just wanted to hop in a plane straight back to SFO. But I managed, even with a cold that lasted the rest of my trip (that and a very funny episode at some Swiss hot springs which will have to be mentioned sometime in the future).

We had to wait a few weeks before our obstetrician would see us. I guess they want to make sure the baby makes it past the 8 week mark. So we meet and surprisingly we discover that the doc will do an ultrasound right there.

The above picture confirmed that there was just one bun in the oven (so we are at least down to a possible three at this point). We left the office with a handful of baby pictures, wondering how the timing on all of this would work out.

So here's a place to

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The Dossier goes to China & so do I

Our dossier was sent to China in August of last year. The SARS crisis was fresh in everyone's mind. Several groups had their travel plans delayed. However, the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) committed to keep the paperwork moving to minimize any adoption delays (in hindsight, very sucessfully, I might add).

In October, I took this nutty business trip that had me circumnavigating the globe. I hit Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Switzerland & the UK all in 2 weeks. I was in Beijing over the weekend (done intentionally as I love the city). The weather was not cooperating and it rained the entire time. Christi rang me during the day, which was odd since that meant it was the middle of the night there. She asked me if I was sitting down (at that point, I lay down on the bed). She then spoke something that resembled Mandarin (I have Chinese dictionaries at home). After the third attempt, she gave up and told me that she was pregnant.

Now a couple of things to mention here. First, even if Christi's Mandarin was perfect, I would have never understood her as, until then, I never had a need to understand the phrase, I'm pregnant (thank goodness). Next point: since we had started the adoption paperwork, we were not trying to have a natural child. Our "plan" was to adopt, wait a year or so, and then try. I'm not sure what comes to mind first, "The immaculate conception" or "Folks, birth control really isn't 100% effective."

So let me paint this picture again. I'm in Beijing, it's pouring rain, I have the beginnings of a cold with 1.5 weeks of travel to go, it's nighttime in the US so I cannot call anyone to share the news. I was absolutely elated and absolutely freaked out both at the same time. While I was surprised at the news, I wasn't shocked. Fate has a way of keeping life interesting & wonderful. This news certainly counted as both.

I got off the phone with Christi, and started to think, and Think, and THINK and THINK! Christi & I had put on our adoption dossier that we would be open and willing to adopt twins. Hmmmm. Come to think of it, Christi has twins in her family. Zero to four kids in under a year? Now that would be interesting.