My Due Date Buddy

This is 王老师 (Teacher Wang).  She was my teacher when the school year started.  Two weeks into the class she shared with us that she was pregnant.  When she said how far along she was tears came to my eyes because I knew we were pretty similar.  At that point, I had not told my classmates about my own pregnancy so I kept it quiet in my heart excited that I could bond with my teacher in a special way since we would both be pregnant throughout this school year.  One week later (three weeks into the class and about six weeks into Teacher Wang's pregnancy), she sent an e-mail to inform us that she was taking a few weeks off from class due to some bleeding and concern from her doctor.  I was worried for her and her baby and lifted them up often.  In the meantime, we got a new teacher who would serve as our substitute.  Eventually, Teacher Wang decided that due to morning sickness and wanting to rest more during her pregnancy, she would not return to teach our class.  We have all now grown to love our new teacher, but I have been truly sad about not getting to know Teacher Wang better. 

A few weeks back at the Tug-of-War competition, I ran into Teacher Wang.  We had chatted over e-mail but this was the first time I had seen her in a few months.  She said that she was feeling much better and she said as soon as I felt better we should go out.

I waited and waited and waited and never really felt better so last week in spite of feeling ick, we set up a lunch date.  And it was fantastic! Most everything I have been struggling with she struggles with, as well:  neither of us is sleeping well, we both are sensitive to smells and have many food aversions, and we are both emotional (although she said she has been unreasonably angry with her husband while I basically just cry at the drop of a hat).  And turns out, at her last doctor's appointment, her doctor gave her a May 5th due date--identical to mine! 

She shared that she is planning to hire a 月嫂 (yue sao) which is a woman who will come live with her for a month after she has the baby and help cook, clean, and care for the child.  She recommended I hire one, as well. 

It was so easy to talk with her as there are endless things to discuss about pregnancy and babies and because she is a Chinese teacher, she did a great job of speaking with me on my level.  She bought lunch and said I could buy next time.  I am looking forward to meeting again and discussing the progress of our babies.  This month when we compared our stomach sizes, mine was definitely bigger.

16 weeks pregnant