Marred for years

We held off until we got confirmation that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in the family way before we jumped on the baby-making bandwagon. Well, that didn't take long and now we're looking forward to a future prince/princess/other of our own. It's early days still, but certain future grandparents have gently suggested that some blogging action would appease the masses.

Answers to FAQ's:

1. We plan to birth the baby in Hong Kong. Then, we'll finish out Dave's grad school program.

2. We have no idea what will happen after Dave finishes grad school (Summer, 2014).

3. The wee babe, unfortunately, won't get any special status. It'll just be a plain old citizen of the U.S.of.A.

4. Oh right, the most important one: October 18-22, 2013.

As it turns out, Hong Kong is a pretty sweet place to have a baby. Permanent residents and temporary residents with employment visas (us) get a Hong Kong ID card. This magical plasticard gets you all sorts of perks, including nearly free antenatal and maternal/child care. All the way to delivery and beyond. I think it'll cost less than $500...like, everything. More on the hospitals later.

Thus far, we've been testing the public care via the local clinic, where I got my "official" pregnancy test. My overall impression is quite positive.  The staff has been friendly and courteous, though slightly bemused by my questions. I guess most people go to private doctors for the test or something. 

Anyway, I submitted my urine sample and met with a very friendly doctor to receive the results. Maybe she doesn't get to deliver good news very often, but she was really beaming the whole time. There was a bit of a language barrier, but eventually she figured out what paperwork I needed to get a referral to the antenatal clinic. Excerpt of the ensuing conversation:

Dr. Wu: You are pregnant! First baby?

Me: Yep.

Dr. Wu: So, no medicine or herbs, okay?

Me: Okay.

Dr. Wu: What about your feelings? Are you okay?

Me: Yeah. Pretty great. Okay.

Dr. Wu: Very good. How long married?

Me: Uh, huh?

Dr. Wu: How long are you married?

Me: Oh, right...I dunno. Since 2009.

Dr. Wu: Four years. Oh, you should have a baby right now.

Me: <nervous chuckle>Guess my timing is pretty good.

I find this variety of non sequitur to be fairly common in Hong Kong. Normal conversation, normal conversation, strange personal question/unsolicited advice. Anyway, I'm actually glad that Dr. Wu was concerned about my marital status, cause I got this gem of a referral letter:

I'd say that first "symptom" allows for a plethora of creative interpretation. Now, you could be bland and guess, "Married four years," but I prefer a more esoteric reading. This could represent Dr. Wu's medical opinion of my physiological condition since my 2009 nuptials. Or, more darkly, it could be a dire prediction of the toll pregnancy takes on the female body.

Speculation aside, Dave and I aren't one bit concerned, but rather overjoyed and very, very happy to share our news.