8 Months down!

Well, January and the lead up to 'eight months' fairly zipped along. Mind you so much has been going on with Chinese New Year, it's hardly surprising.

So eight months it is, today!

Oh and the perennial question - how much longer? I'm hoping we are at least a third of the way through, pretty much resigned that we aren't half way through (although I am thinking of getting myself a grey caftan and calling myself an elephant - not that I'm large framed - it is just that elephant's only have 22 month pregnancies).

Gong Xi Fa Cai! 恭喜发财! Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!
恭喜发财!
Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!

We have had a wonderful Chinese New Year.

It started last weekend when we travelled to Sydney and marched in the Chinese New Year parade, with a group families who have adopted from China. And about 2,500 other people. Our daughter had a great time - she rode on her dad's shoulders the whole way and waved and smiled at the large crowds like she was a 'homecoming queen'. Amongst that she was chatting up the police guarding the route.

Mind you one of the other little girls had a better idea - she had two toy dragons on a stick and was running up to the barriers and showing the crowd - and coming away with lots of coins.

Then on Friday night we went to the Chinese New Year celebration at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra - again with about 2,500 of their 'closest' friends. As usual it was a great night. As usual they set up market stalls and sold Chinese crafts and books - this year the proceeds went to Project Hope. And I always come away with a bag of fantastic and cheap books. This year they also had tea making demonstrations and tastings of a variety Chinese teas.

Then there is always the great food. And the great entertainment. This year the Embassy had brought out an Inner Mongolian performance troupe and they were gorgeous. Our daughter spent the pre-performance 'chatting' up the dancers and having her photo taken with them.

Then today being Sunday our daughter had Chinese school - and her teacher and the school gave her 'hong bao' (lucky red envelopes with money). And we got to eat homemade 'nian gao' (Chinese New year cake) and sweets.

Then after class we went to our daughter's Chinese godparents house to celebrate with them and other friends. We had a great time including having spring roll making lesson.

Today is the first day of the Year of the Pig (and the first day of Spring Festival or as we in the West refer to it - Chinese New Year). This year is said to be a 'Golden Pig' Year - because it is the last year in a 60 year cycle.

There is some conjecture that this year will see a surge in births in China because it is considered to be a good year to be born in. People born in the year of the Pig are said to be steady and honest with a kind and simple heart - they seek universal peace and get along well with everyone. They do not bear grudges and place great importance on friendship - they tend to believe in others. They like parties of all kinds. Girls born in the year of the pig are neat and tidy.

I think given the length in wait times, there is a strong probability that our second child will be born in the Year of the Pig.

Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year!

Something for those waiting to 'while away' the months...

Recently I was asked what I 'did' to keep occupied during the wait for our first daughter. Well one of the things was my husband and I had an 'injection of the month' club (we were the only members).

It sounds a bizarre thing to do but we really wanted to know that we were going to be in tip top condition before and after we met our daughter. The last thing we wanted was a vaccine preventable illness - and so called 'childhood illnesses' are no fun in adults and can in some circumstances be quite serious.

Having known several parents who returned home with a nasty cough and feeling dreadful, only to be diagnosed later with whooping cough, which they had caught from their child, and also hearing about children being handed over on 'family day' with active chickenpox, we weren't taking any chances.

Even if you were vaccinated during childhood the immunity does not last a life-time - you often need a 'booster' in adulthood. A few years ago the Australian Government provided free whooping cough boosters for young adults because of this (unfortunately we were a touch too old for these).

Anyway we sat down with our doctor and mapped out what injections we thought we needed and when they needed to be given. Some require a single shot, others a series of shots so you have to plan ahead. So we made a plan for a visit every month to get these done - hence the 'injection of the month' club, as we called it.

If you are considering doing the same, please speak to your doctor but this is what we had:
Hepatitis B and A (combined vaccine - offers long term immunity to HepB and 5 years for HepA) - series of shots over a number of month
Whooping Cough (comes in a combined vaccine called Booterix with tetanus and diphtheria) - single shot
Measles/Mumps/Rubella
Chicken Pox
Polio (high incidence in China still)
Influenza shots

Then after we received our referral we went to a specialist 'travel doctor' and gots shots and medication for 'conditions' that were common in the area we were travelling (I think we had cholera and typhoid injections and medication for malaria - cause we were going outside the city) .