Strange Dreams

For the first few months of the pregnancy, I was completely knackered all the time. I'd come home from work, wolf down my dinner and be in bed by eight o'clock. Biajee found himself doing all the cooking, washing and tidying.

With me in bed by dusk, he'd end up spending countless nights alone surfing the web until he realised that this was actually a good opportunity to study some programming or read to me. There was a Bible we ordered for pregnant moms - What To Expect When You Are Expecting.

"You can do what you want," I said, regally. "I don't give a toss. I'm going to sleep." His oral English has improved quite a bit during those weeks.

Dreams became complex and surreal for both of us. He had a thrilling dream of me giving birth to a green alien and then he put it back into my tummy.

Meanwhile, I was having spooky premonitions of looking after a child, dreams which would often end with me waking in sheer terror. I also woke him up at midnight because I dreamed of stepping into lots of dirty toilets in Beijing, things that had haunted me since I was a kid. Pregnancy can bring your best and worst memories in life to the extreme.