Introduction: I am Having a Baby!

This has been pretty much the only thing that is on my mind lately. I am going to have a baby girl, and she will arrive around Christmas 2006 or New Year 2007.

My husband is in the military, and he was deployed in May 2006. I did not find out that I am pregnant until 2 weeks after he had left. This whole thing actually worked out just like I had planned -- I want my husband to be home when the baby arrives, and I think I should be strong enough to handle the pregnancy all by myself. So I wanted to get pregnant before he left.

People say, "Be careful what you wish for!" And indeed, I got pregnant before he left. I am still glad that he will be back when the baby arrives, but I have to say it is much harder than I had anticipated to handle everything by myself. The most frustrating thing is that I have no one to talk to when I am feeling down, or exhausted, or frightened, or excited. My coworkers and my neighbors actually help me out a lot and we chat from time to time, but I still feel empty with my husband being far far away.

So... I created this group and I am hoping that I can get to know more friends here, who will be willing to share your experience, your stories, or just chip in your comments. I am looking forward to making more friends here. Thanks for your time.

Comments: 14

Diana Raabe Aug 11, 2006, 5:35pm EDT

Congratulations, Selene. I hope you find a lot of support here. Having a baby is one of those incomparable events in one's life - enjoy it!

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Shannon S. Aug 11, 2006, 6:33pm EDT

Congratulations, Selene! Pregnancy is a wonderful, emotional, and sometimes frightening experience, but there is nothing else like it in the world & I wouldn't have traded it for anything! I hope you find the support you need here. Good Luck!

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Hira S. Aug 11, 2006, 8:22pm EDT

Cogratulations! You are very strong to go through the whole pregnancy alone.

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Charlene K. Aug 12, 2006, 1:58am EDT

Congratulations! I just had my son 12 weeks ago and I still can't believe it. How exciting that your baby is due around Christmas!

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Marie L. Aug 14, 2006, 10:51am EDT

Selene, I am happy for you. I hope you are finding the support you are looking for. It can be stressful having a husband away in the military when you are pregnant. I know, I used to be in the same boat. Wishing you good spirits while you await the return of your husband and the arrival of your daughter.
Marie

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tats r. Aug 27, 2006, 10:23pm EDT

Selene, congratulations! Having a baby is wonderful, life-changing and very stressful. My daughter is 10 months old, but I haven't forgotten what it was like to be pregnant. I'm not sure if you have already done so, but I found a pregnancy journal to be helpful, esp with your husband gone. And hopefully this group will help too!

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Selene N. Aug 27, 2006, 11:47pm EDT

tatsrus w. - Yes, I do keep a journal. I don't write in it everyday but I do write down "big" stuff, such as major frustrations, major discomforts, and my baby's first movement (that I could feel). I also taped my ultra sound pictures in the journal. I wrote my journal in Chinese. I don't really know exactly what I'll do with it, but I was hoping maybe that will create an incentive for my husband or my daughter to learn to read Chinese. ;-)

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tats r. Aug 28, 2006, 12:04pm EDT

Are you Chinese? So am I! I am trying to get my daughter to learn Chinese so I've been babbling to her in Chinese. I don't know how to write, but I am learning so I can read her Chinese books. Right now she ignores me. But when she gets older, I'm hoping she'll sit still for reading time.

What dialect do you speak? I only learned Mandarin.

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Selene N. Aug 28, 2006, 12:43pm EDT

tatsrus w. -- How cool is that!! I speak Mandarin only, as well. I can understand Taiwanese but that isn't my heritage. I am Hunanese, but unfortunately I don't speak Hunanese. So... just the plain old Mandarin.

I definitely want to teach my child to speak (and hopefully even read and write) Chinese. But I have a very tough job ahead of me, because my husband is Caucasian and he does not speak Chinese.

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tats r. Aug 28, 2006, 1:38pm EDT

Selene, that's pretty cool you can understand Taiwanese. My father is Taiwanese but my mother is ke jia ren so I can only speak and understand Mandarin.

My husband is also Caucasian and does not speak Chinese. And the day care provider is from El Salvador. So my daughter gets English, Mandarin and Spanish every day. But I am going to try anyway.

Where were you born? I am from Taiwan but came over to the US when I was 4. So I feel pretty lucky that I can speak and understand as much of Chinese as I can.

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Selene N. Aug 28, 2006, 2:45pm EDT

tatsrus - I was born in Taipei and I didn't come to the US until I was 23. However, Chinese is pretty much out of my life since everyone around me speaks English. I even type English emails to my mom. It is my laziness because Chinese typing is too difficult... :-p My mom graduated college with an English major, so her English is good. That's another reason I decided to write my journal in Chinese, so I get a little bit more "in touch" with Chinese.

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tats r. Aug 28, 2006, 4:04pm EDT

I was born in Taipei too! My mother doesn't speak English well so I have to try to get my point across on 4th grade Chinese. Pretty difficult when you're talking about your job and stuff. I wished I knew more Chinese and about being Chinese. I didn't get a lot of education on Chinese traditions, myths, etc.

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