Parenting without a pushchair

Winter has arrived almost overnight in Hong Kong. A few days ago we were walking through the streets in shorts and T-shirts, and today I am still shivering under my three layers of cashmere. It's not that cold in terms of temperature (18 degrees) but in contrast to what we are used to, it might as well be the ice age.

This drop in degrees, coupled with the flu vaccine I received on Saturday, is not making me want to leave the house much. I have to force myself to go to work, but if it were up to me, I would spend my days curled up under a couple of layers of blankets at home instead.

Our little tigger seems similarly lazy – actually the word that the doctor used is "uncooperative". We went on Saturday to get its nuchal translucency measured, something which apparently can determine the risk of Down syndrome, but the little nausea-inducing vegetarian was not willing to assume the correct position, instead choosing to curl up even further each time the doctor poked and prodded it. We're back tomorrow for round two in Determined Dr vs Stubborn Sprog.

In the meantime, the flat hunt continues, and in our search we might just have found the ideal abode - otherwise known as the place we are living in right now. Our landlord has offered an extension of 25% in size for only a tiny bit more money each month, so we'd have the biggest flat among the people we know, with the smallest rent to boot, which is saying something in this ridiculous real-estate mad city. Staying put comes with plenty of inconveniences of course, but then doesn't every flat?

We hashed it all out yesterday night (distracted mid-conversation by a Trivial Pursuit-off provoked by Krusty declaring that I was useless in every topic bar literature - I won) and came to the conclusion that the only actual drawback in our current flat were the stairs leading up to the lift.

Now this is a major drawback, I admit, but after extensive research, it seems doable. In fact according to numerous testimonials online, there are many, many mums climbing the same amount and many more stairs than I will be. Not to mention that climbing a few stairs each day is a recommended exercise for pregnant ladies to keep fit.

We first thought about getting a lightweight, foldable buggy which I would carry down the stairs while bub was in a Baby Bjorn-style carrier. Doable, but tiring on the old arms. Then we thought about getting a high tech buggy with wheels specially designed for stairs (yes, this exists - über-trendy Stokke has come up with an amazing buggy design, 2 of the 4 wheels of which retract at the click of a button to allow easy transit up stairs, over sand and in snow...) but that costs a small fortune (literally a month's rent).

Then I went to Mothercare, initially to test run the Stokke converter buggy. As I was practising going up and down the "stairs" of the display in store, a mum walked past with a tiny bub in a Baby Bjorn. Then another. Why weren't these ladies pushing prams? I asked one, and she unequivocally answered in favour of the baby carrier, saying that she didn't have stairs in her building, but that Hong Kong was such a stair-crammed, pushchair-unfriendly place that she found this solution the best and most adapted to her lifestyle. The second mum agreed, saying she had a pushchair, but only used it on longer excursions with her husband on the weekend, preferring the hands-free practicality of carrying bub around close to her body.

And then, as if on cue, a third mum chimed in, saying that I should look around next time I was in the street - most mums opted for the baby carrier option in Hong Kong on weekdays. For shortish, city-based activities, she was convinced it was the only way to go.

Anyway, all this to say that I spent a lot of time chatting with these ladies, and they all agreed that 2 x 15 steps to get home was very far from an obstacle to having a baby. And they added that they had lost weight much faster by carrying their babies this way! I'm tempted to agree with the mums who live here and have been through the whole process.

Speaking of Trivial Pursuit, did you know that should our progeny be a little boy (which, let's face it, its annoying behaviour seems to point towards), its testosterone is currently at the same levels as those of a 12-year-old tween. Thankfully they will drop by a fifth by birth, but still...