Weekend in Seoul, South Korea

Hello Everyone! 

Last month we were able to spend a long weekend in Seoul, South Korea to reunite with one of Ryan's friends from college. We had a great time exploring the city, eating strange street food and visiting the various markets. It was Xavier's first time in weather below 75 degrees so it was interesting for him to have on all the layers, mittens and hats! 

Plane ride to Seoul

Ryan, Xavier and I with our friend, Ryan 

Beautiful fall colors in Seoul

Exploring the Changdeokgung Palace

Haven't seen frost in forever! 

 

A taste of home for lunch- Taco Bell! 

Xavier had no interest in a cheese quesadilla (and I wouldn't let him!)

Krispy Kreme for dessert

Bingco- a J shaped ice cream cone that tastes like captain crunch cereal and is filled from both sides with soft serve ice cream

Korean BBQ

Myeong-dong night market

Toy market

Churros for our afternoon walk

Cabbage is not only the most popular thing to eat- but it's their landscaping! 

Kimchi festival

Street food night

Getting a demonstration on the making of a Korean dessert

Xavier couldn't handle it all 

Hong Kong bound

Next Saturday we fly out to the states for Christmas and can't wait for everyone to meet Xavier over the holidays! If you're around Milwaukee or Iowa during that time let us know and we would love to meet up! 

New apartment and neighborhood

Wow- 2 posts in 1 week?! I actually have been meaning to write this for a long time and I am finally getting things crossed off my list before heading back to work next week (this and trying to fill in X's baby book).

We moved out to Discovery Bay a few weeks before Xavier was born. We thought we would be barely unpacking the last box when he would arrive but luckily we were all settled in and even had time to wait around before he finally came.

Discovery Bay is a private residential community on Lantau Island in Hong Kong (we previously lived on Hong Kong Island). It is a 30 minute ferry ride from Hong Kong Island and is only accessible by ferry and a few public buses. No private cars are allowed within the community, only golf carts and a handful of buses are available for those who need. We live within walking distance to the ferry pier and main plaza so transportation is not an issue for us. At the main plaza, adjacent to the ferry pier there are stores and restaurants for pretty much everything you could want. In the middle of the plaza there are tables and chairs with a large open space that is often filled with kids playing and families sharing take-out meals from the nearby restaurants. Hong Kong Disneyland is also across the bay from us so we are able to sit out on the plaza at night and see the nightly fireworks show!

Part of our walk by restaurants to the ferry pier

Walk along the beach to our apartment

Golf carts parked at the pier

We live in a low-rise complex within the community near the beach. Our apartment is a bit bigger than our last and we are loving the extra space to sprawl out and have people over. Our kitchen is now open (vs the previous with a closed door) and can fit more than 1 person in it!

The grass area our apartment looks over

Out our front door and a right turn is this view

Walking into the apartment

To the left of the front entrance, kitchen and dining room 

Looking from living room to dining room, kitchen and stairs to spare bedroom and nursery

Around the corner in kitchen, extra storage and laundry closet

Looking into master bedroom from living room 

Looking into nursery

Nursery

Overall we are very happy to have made the move out to Discovery Bay. It is very friendly for families and dogs (Ahri is a completely different dog now that she is socializing with other dogs and small kids on a daily basis). We are enjoying every minute of walking by the beach and living in this community that we have. 

PS- For those of you wondering, the recent protests in Hong Kong are not near where we live and we have not attended any of the events. The only effect it has been having on us is the awful traffic it is creating around the city due to major streets being shut down for weeks, which is only a minor inconvenience. We continue to watch events unfold on the news daily and pray for the city we have grown to love and for those involved to be safe. 

Cambodia

Hello everyone!

We survived our first trip with Xavier and managed to avoid any major meltdowns by either Xavier or his parents! Ryan had a week off of work for China's National Day so we wanted to take advantage of the time to go on our first vacation as a family. We stayed in the city of Siem Reap and toured around during the week to see the many temples and ruins that surround the city. 

Angkor Wat is the worlds largest religious monument. Angkor Thom is a nearby religious complex that has been featured in many movies, most notably Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. We spent 3 days going from temple to temple in a tuk tuk (small carriage pulled by a motor scooter) and afternoons introducing Xavier to the hotel pool. 

Xavier's first flight

Xavier's own seat belt 

Bassinet seat during the flight 

Finally in Cambodia! 

  

Family tuk-tuk ride around Siem Reap

Ready to swim! 

Angkor Wat 

Xavier slept in the carrier all around the temples

Tree roots finding their way to the ground 

Tired boy after touring all over! 

Overall we had a great experience in Cambodia and traveling with Xavier for a first time. We've realized that now is a much easier time to travel with him as he loves sleeping in the carrier and is easy move around with him. We can't wait to keep taking him around Asia with us and making memories we will tell him about in the years to come! 

Having a baby in Hong Kong

As I promised in my last post, I would do another blog post about what it was like having a baby in Hong Kong as many have been interested in the differences from here to the states. Since this was my first child, I don't have any personal experience of delivering in the states so I can't give any first hand remarks on most things. 

As previously discussed here, I went through the government funded, public healthcare system for my prenatal care, delivery and now postnatal/child care. Ryan and I made this decision after a lot of research and thought. The public system is in conjunction with the university so it is also a teaching hospital. There are also many private hospitals throughout Hong Kong, but the public hospitals are the only ones equipped with a NICU; so if your child needed extra care or your pregnancy became complicated (which Xavier did for one night) you would be sent to a public hospital for care. 

The main difference we came across with being in the public hospital was lack of privacy. Upon being admitted for my induction, I was in a general ward for monitoring and the early stages of labor. For normal deliveries, you are kept here until you are at least 3-4 cm dilated before you are sent to the labor ward. While you are in the general ward, your husband or partner is only allowed in during visiting hours (12-1pm and 6-8pm) so I was a bit nervous about being induced and having to be alone for awhile. 

We spent time on floors 9, 10 and 6 throughout our stay

Once you have been monitored and are in active labor, you are moved to the labor ward where your husband/partner is allowed to join. This is a private room and where you will stay for your delivery. From what I have been told, the hospital is very open to any form of pain relief/movement to reduce pain. I was offered nitrous oxide (laughing gas), pethidine (an intramuscular injection) and an epidural for pain relief. Due to Xavier's low heart rate, I wasn't allowed to get out of bed or move off my back, which is not comfortable, so I was given the nitrous oxide and pethidine to help ease the pain until the epidural which was available. Unfortunately we had to do a c-section before that could happen. 

Poster with information for being admitted to hospital

Poster for information for husband/partner during delivery

Information on care for mother and child during labor 

After your child is born, you are taken to another general ward where you stay for the remainder of your time in the hospital. The ward consists of various bays that contain 6 beds, all sectioned off by curtains. Luckily for us, I was placed in a bed by the window so I had a nice view, rather than being surrounded by curtains. The area you have is big enough for your bed, the baby's bassinet and a chair for your visitor (again, only during visiting hours). Since the fathers are only allowed in during visiting hours, I was determined to be released as soon as possible. For normal deliveries, this can be within 24 hours. For me having a c-section and Xavier being in the NICU, we had to stay an extra night and were released 48 hours after he was born. 

Other differences we noticed were having to supply everything for yourself and the baby (diapers, wipes, toiletries) and obviously the food. I was given the 'western' food which normally consisted of a soupy oatmeal for breakfast and rice with cabbage and some type of meat for lunch and dinner. I had read all over the internet to bring in your own food, so I was stocked with energy bars and dried fruit, but didn't mind the food I was given also (lots of traveling in China will change your taste buds).

My first food I was allowed after surgery, warm rice milk

I've been asked a lot since Xavier was born if I would do it again here and at the same hospital. Even though it wasn't the greatest circumstances for us, I am happy we were at the public hospital throughout it all. Ryan and I have both agreed we received great care throughout the time there and know if we were anywhere else we probably would have ended up at the public hospital in the end. It wasn't the nice, large delivery suites I see back in the states, but you can't beat the price we paid ($58 US dollars!) and we still have an amazing baby boy in the end. 

Receipt for myself and Xavier. Ryan was instructed to go pay before we left the hospital. I had actually forgotten to pay for a day I was admitted for brief monitoring the week prior- so the actual delivery cost $39

It was quite an experience and we look forward to telling Xavier about it someday. We know it wasn't the closest location we could have chosen to have our first child but as with everything Ryan and I have seemed to do- it all has added to the adventure of our marriage.