B-Day = Busy Day

JoJoMAMI needs to vent. Today is her ?th birthday and for the i-don't-remember-how-many-years in a row, she is again traveling for work. She is stuck in tiny little hotel room in NYC with freezing weather outside and cannot-be-regulated heater blowing at her face and drying her up like Santa Ana wind.
The night before she took the redeye to NYC so of course she already had very little sleep. Last night, she couldn't really quite sleep again despite she is tired as a hog (not sure if this is the right metaphor but she is too tired to think of a better one). She tried to sleep around 11pm but kept waking up because of the dryness. She needed to replenish water in her body every 2 hours and yet her throat was constantly parched. She finally gave up around 4 am to catch Men's semi-final at the Australian Open and only found it sad that Federer is no longer ruling the court. She went back to sleep around 5pm but was tossing left and right until maybe 6.30am and her pre-set alarm woke her up at 7 am. She checked her email box and was immediately overwhelmed by more than 100 emails she received overnight (all work related) not to mention the calender reminders that faithfully telling her that she has 3 conference calls in the morning and 2 meetings in the afternoon. She is just so tired of working and wonders if there ever a birthday she can spend just relaxing on lounge chair somewhere and not having to endure sleepless nights and the morning-after headaches. In the meantime, she can only escape and vent (and procrastinate) by blogging... *sigh* Fortunately, she has received all these nice emails, text messages from her loving and caring friends wishing her happy birthday... Thank you guys and gals for remembering!

Sorry this blog is nothing about Chamu since he is too young to understand the inevitable, un-escapable four-letter word in life: "WORK".

Globetrotter Chamu

For those of you who have been reading my blogs, you must have noticed how much little Chamu has been traveling since he settled in my womb. First was in September, Chamu toured charming Italy after attending a lovely wedding, then to cold London to meet with investors, and then to Taiwan for business trip. In October, he made it to Sipadan only to sleep and read for 6 days while waiting for Daddy to return from his dives. JoJoMAMI managed to escape all travel commitments for the next six weeks since she suffered greatly from morning sickness and constant fatigue caused by pregnancy. In late November, Chamu's world journey began again, with a trip to sunny LA. He got back to Hong Kong for 2 weeks and left again for Hawaii for Christmas and the New Year. He was brought back to Hong Kong for 3 days (and Mami managed to squeeze in an ultrasound in between) and boarded the plane to San Francisco again. And the journey continues, he was in SF for 6 days, in LA for 4 days, in Las Vegas for 3 days and then in NYC for 4 days. For the last 3 days, he is back in LA where weather is a lot warmer and less harsh than NYC but in 2 days he will be going to NYC again. Let's put it this way, if he had his own Marco Polo membership, he has already made his gold membership in less than two thirds of his way to full term.
Of course this is nothing to brag about. It is just crazy that JoJoMAMI has to put little Chamu through such a busy life. Hopefully, by the time we make it back to Hong Kong in ten days, we can finally rest and only worry about daily commute to Shenzhen. Luckily, every where we go, there are always lovely aunties and uncles who are eager to meet Chamu.
Chamu (and his mother)are growing rapidly under the great care of his daddy (Daddy travels with Mami like her little guardian angel). Mami dreads weighing herself because every time she steps on that scale, she seems to be a few pounds heavier (and she usually weighs herself quite often). Mami's belly is now looking like she is due next month than mere six months pregnant. Chamu is kicking a lot more since he has less and less room to move about and do his somersaults. Mami often stares at her own belly with amazement because it's hard to believe that her skin is THIS elastic. While she never really had an iron board tummy before but she still had some curves and waist to show off. But now, the tummy sticks out at least 2 inches more than her boobs (and these are the already enlarged boobs) at the rate Pinocchio's nose grows when he lies to his father and it does not seem to have any intention at all of slowing down. Man, and I have another 15 weeks to go...

Shy little one

Today is the day we go check out Chamu for another time. For days I have been worried nonstop about how Chamu is not kicking enough. I was already at 20 weeks and most of books tell you that you can start feeling the fetal movement starting at 18 weeks. I for some reason was quite insensitive and not sure what exactly I was feeling in my tummy. So I couldn't really wait for another ultrasound session to confirm the existence of little Chamu even though my tummy was growing inch by day.
Forgetful me had mistaken the time for doctor appointment and was called after my scheduled appointment was already 15 minute overdue. Luckily, we made it to the doctor's before they close.
Little Chamu is now at 21 weeks. He is big and you can see his face (but he has his hands over his face when we try to see his face using 3D. He is a naughty little boy and puts his two little feet together when we try again to count his way too many toes. Overall, he is growing healthily and kicking nonstop.
Doctor did give me a warning for my weight gaining progress. I have gained 4.5 kg and expanded my tummy by 5 cm in four weeks!! Most of the weight went to my body and not little Chamu so I need to watch out for what I eat. Must've been all the delicious homemade food in Hawaii!

Shamu vs. Chamu

So finally the long awaited family vacation was here. We were so much looking forward to bringing Chamu to Hawaii for the first time and to meet Gonggong and Popo for the first time! I had been so busy with year end stuff at work and sometimes don't even remember that I was carrying little Chamu with me.
After three flights and nearly twenty hours, we finally got to Maui. Weather was pleasant with sea breeze and sunshine. We got to the house and was greeted by all of our family (all 10 of them!). We were tired but were very excited to see everyone, especially mom and dad whom I haven't seen since the wedding.
We had planned a lot of activities for the family. First day we went to North Maui where we had to drive through treacherous winding road in rain. Then we had planned a whalewatching trip. Winter is the season where humback whales travel from Alaska to Hawaii to mate and to give birth to little ones so they can be spotted throughout the bay of Maui and Lanai. Chamu was certainly very excited to see the creatures that look like Shamu... We saw a lot of tails diving but didn't get to see any breach in the air but it was already amazing enough that we were so close to one of the largest mammals on earth.
We traveled up the Hana Highway where we were greeted by rain and pondering waterfalls, giant lava tubes and rainforests. We went on a sailing trip to Molokini crater where Chamu got a taste of water for 30 seconds before Mami gave up and turned back for a tanning session aboard instead. Dadu, on the other hand, was able to capture many pictures of sea turtles by terrorizing them.
We even managed to wake up 2 am in the morning to head up to the highest point on Maui to see the breathtaking sunrising. The next few days, we took it easy and enjoyed homecooked meals at home. Jorge and Suli were trying hard to catch someting fishing but the fish just wouldn't bite. We hung out, played cards, played Nintendo DS and Carcasonne board game. No pressure and just fun fun fun.

Chamu started to kick little by little. My belly grew at least 2 inches over the week. Every night I would lie on the bed, thinking about about how much fun we had as a big family and how loved little Chamu will be when he becomes the newest member of this family. Popo, Gonggong, uncles and aunties all are waiting to see this little boy. Chamu will be a big boy just like all the little Shamus borne to the bay of Maui....