It’s been a pretty amazing trip so far to get here; Beijing. Every step of the way has been filled with questions like; “should we go? should we not go?”. There are so many “what-ifs”. “What if my baby got sick? What if I went into labor. Etc.”
Of course all the way up until actually traveling, I was feeling great. I was pushing for going all the way, to Beijing, to Nanjing to visit family and friends, to ShangHai to eat soupy dumplings, back to Beijing, etc. However the last few days before departure, I could tell I was getting to a point in my pregnancy where it was slowing me down. I tire much more easily. Relaxin is kicking in and my bones ache at night. Lovely.
No matter what – my in-laws were definitely still going to go to Nanjing, you have to visit the elderly and pay your respects. The question was – who will go with them? I’ve pretty much decided I should just stay in Beijing and be good to my body. My husband of course, decided to stay with me. Then there’s the question of my baby – does she stay or go with them?
I was under the impression that there was no chance they would be brave enough to travel with a 16 month old baby without us. To fly over there on a small plane to one of the hottest cities in China. They were pretty much leaning towards the same direction. Then they called their family in Nanjing to tell them the plans. And the family members in Nanjing were the ones that reacted with “how can you leave the baby with them, he (my husband) has to take care of me (being pregnant), and they will be too tired if you don’t bring the baby.”
With just that, my in-laws changed their minds and now felt it was their duty to bring my daughter with them. So we made back up plans and back up plans. If anything happened, they would either fly right back, or we would fly to them. If that is, my baby missed us too much.
I’m very supportive of trips like these, I’ve always wanted to encourage my in-laws to travel with my baby more. This would be their first major trip. This way in the future, they can bring my children back with them to China more frequently. So I’m all excited for them, and my husband and I were ready to drive with them to the airport to send them off.
It turns out there wasn’t enough room in the hotel car for all of us to fit in the car, because they prepared a carseat for my baby. So we had to say goodbye at the hotel entrance – that, I was not prepared for. I missed my baby right away. As soon as the car drove off, we both cried. Everyday, we’ve been waiting for the call to tell us to come fly to Nanjing to help them. But our baby has been just a trooper – everybody adores her. My husband’s big aunt even asked if she could keep her for a year, then she said 6 months.
It’s great to hear all the stories about how much everybody loves our daughter. How she’s so full of energy and smiles at everybody. She doesn’t want anybody to carry her, such an independent personality. It’s great because she’s gone as our representatives and nobody blames us for not coming.
So I’ve been counting down the days until she comes back. It’s only less than a week, but every night I’ve dreamed about her. The way she says “mama”. Everyday I talk to her on the phone until she pushes it away. Tomorrow I pick her up at the train station. I can’t wait!
