Our baby is one month old!

 As our precious baby girl turns one month old today, many of our friends and family members don’t know the whole story so let me take some time to get you all up to date on what exactly happened and why our baby was born a few weeks early.

我們寶貝女兒今天滿月了，很多朋友跟家人還不知道那天發生甚麼事，就讓我來跟你們分享當天到底怎麼了還有為什麼我們的寶寶提早幾週出生。

It all began on a relaxing Saturday afternoon. March 13th 2021. After a short routine visit to the doctor for an ultrasound checkup, everything seemed normal so Alice and I returned home. We had planned to go visit our friends for a nice little lunch by the Tamsui river and so, hand-in-hand, we headed there by MRT. First we walked around a bit and then made our merry way to the restaurant where we enjoyed a good lunch and nice chat with our friends who had just had their firstborn baby only a few months ago. During lunch, Alice enjoyed asking some questions about pregnancy and delivery and we talked about our plans for the upcoming trip to the hospital which should be sometime in the next few weeks, the due date being April 8th.  

這都要從一個很輕鬆的週六下午開始說起，2021年3月13日。在一個簡單的例行產檢之後，醫生說看起來都很正常，所以我和Alice就回家了。我們原本就計畫要去淡水河邊跟朋友一起吃午餐，所以我們就手牽著手坐捷運過去。一開始我們到處晃了一下，然後開開心心地走到餐廳，在餐廳我們享受著美食，也與一對前幾個月才生小孩的朋友愉快地聊著天。Alice問了一些懷孕及生產的問題，然後我們討論了幾週以後要住院生產的事宜，計畫是在幾週後的某個時間，預產期是4月8日。

Towards the end of the meal, our friends needed to change their baby’s diaper so Alice decided to have a bathroom break. With a loaded diaper in hand, my friend needed to toss it into the restroom garbage can, but Alice had been taking a long time. As I approached the door to check on her, Alice finally appeared with quite a worried expression. “I’m bleeding a lot.” she said. 

就在快吃完飯時，我們的朋友需要幫他們的寶寶換尿布，所以Alice決定去上個廁所。我的朋友手上拿著一包裝得滿滿的尿布要丟到洗手間的廁所，但是Alice已經在廁所很久了。當我正要走到門口確認她都沒事時，Alice臉上卻帶著擔憂的表情走出來，她說：「我流很多血」。

We decided to take our leave from the restaurant and called an UBER who eventually showed up and took us to the hospital we had been to only a few hours before. When we arrived, we entered the delivery room and I stood around the waiting room as several nurses attended Alice to check on what might be the problem. After about 40 minutes or so of just not knowing what might be happening, Alice asked me to rush home and get her prepared suitcase as we might be staying at the hospital overnight. I felt kind of upset that no one knew what was going on, but apparently our doctor was on his way to the hospital to check it out, so I headed home. 

我們決定提早叫了(一台等了好久才到的)Uber離開餐廳，帶我們回到那個我們幾個小時前才離開的醫院，我們到了以後就進入產房，我站在候診室附近，有幾位護士檢查Alice，看看可能的問題是什麼。大約過了40分鐘，因為不知道會發生甚麼事，Alice要我趕回家拿她準備好的待產包，因為我們也許會在醫院過夜。我當時有點不高興，因為醫院的人都不知道問題是什麼，但我們的主治醫生正趕來醫院，所以我就回家了。

On my way, Alice let me know by message that the doctor said she had a lot of internal bleeding and they needed to perform an emergency C-section delivery as soon as possible. I was rushing around by MRT with a suitcase to get there in time but when I arrived they were already in surgery. Alice’s mother showed up and together we waited.

在路上，Alice發簡訊告訴我醫生跟她說她內出血很嚴重，他們需要馬上進行剖腹產。我拿著行李箱在捷運站趕路，希望能及時趕到，但我到的時候他們已經在進行手術了，Alice的媽媽也來了，我們一起等手術結束。

Eventually the surgery ended and, after some paperwork was done, we saw poor Alice, who was shivering and delirious, being carted from the surgery room to the recovery ward. But what exactly happened? It wouldn’t be for a week or so more that I would hear the actual name of the complication, but it was kind of serious and a similar situation had occurred just a few years before leading to a sad conclusion. However, over time, our situation turned out pretty well, though not without Alice and I seeking God in prayer about our worries and fears. 

手術終於結束了，在完成一些文件作業以後，我們見到了可憐、顫抖而神志不清的Alice從手術室被推到病房，但到底發生了什麼事？ 我可能不會花一個禮拜或更長時間來聽併發症的真實名稱，但這是個狀況很嚴重，幾年前也發生了類似的案例，而最後是個悲傷的結局。 然而，隨著時間過去，我們的情況逐漸好轉，這也是因為我跟Alice將我們的憂慮跟恐懼帶到神面前，以禱告尋求祂。

As everything was happening, apparently all the people whom Alice had been in contact with during the day decided to message my phone to see what was going on. A bit annoyed at the situation overall, I let them know that there were some complications and they all told me that they would be praying for us. Unknown to Alice or I at the time, there were hundreds of friends and church family members praying for us. 

隨著一切事情的發生，顯然地，Alice白天聯絡的人們，都傳簡訊來問我到底發生了甚麼事。整個情況讓我有點煩躁，我告訴他們事情有點複雜，而他們全都跟我說他們會為我們禱告。當時Alice和我都不知道，有幾百個朋友跟教會的家人們正在為我們禱告。

We spent that night in the hospital, and other than a quick picture from a nurse, neither Alice or I had yet been able to see our little baby girl. It was a sort of a limbo as we waited for her to stabilize and for Alice to heal from the surgery.

我們那晚待在醫院，除了護士很迅速地拍了一張照以外，我和Alice都沒有見到我們的女兒。當我們在等女兒穩定下來以及Alice從手術恢復過來的時候，心情一直懸在半空中。

As Alice was recovering, I continued to go to work normally while my mother-in-law took care of Alice. I spent the nights in the rather uncomfortable visitor’s bed next to my wife and overall it was a very difficult experience, not being able to see our baby for a week, but eventually the days in the hospital were over. Alice was able to walk around pretty well again with only some minor pain in her stomach. On Thursday, March 18th we were discharged from the hospital and we were able to hold our little girl as we got another driver to take us to the (月子中心) postpartum-care-center where Alice planned to enjoy 30 days of rest and recovery as is tradition here in Asia. 

當Alice在恢復的期間，我岳母幫忙照顧Alice，而我繼續正常的工作。我在太太旁邊那張超級不舒服的訪客床上過夜。總體而言，這是一個非常艱難的經驗，我要一個禮拜不能見到我們的孩子。但最後在醫院的日子終於過去了，Alice可以在肚子只有輕微疼痛的情況下再次正常走動。3月18日禮拜四，我們出院了。在我們等另一個司機帶我們去月子中心時，我們能夠抱抱我們的女兒。Alice計畫在這裡待30天休息並讓身體復原，這是亞洲的傳統。

The name of the complication is a Placental Abruption, which is something that happens to some mothers around the 25 weeks mark of pregnancy and is rather dangerous if not treated quickly. Thankfully due to the expertise and quick work of our good Christian doctor, the whole thing worked out alright. Apparently it could have been much worse. Thank you God for taking care of us and taking care of our baby!

併發症的名稱是胎盤早期剝離，這是有些母親會在懷孕25週左右發生的事情，若沒有及時治療會相當危險。值得慶幸的是我們的基督徒醫生，因著他的專業知識以及快速診治，整件事發展順利，顯然地，情況有可能更糟。感謝神看顧我們以及照顧我們的寶寶。

For the past few weeks, Alice and I have been enjoying learning how to be caring parents of a newborn baby. Soon we will all be moving back into our own home where I have been hard at work getting everything ready. Thank you to our friends and family for their prayers, love and support with gifts and words of encouragement. 

過去幾個禮拜，我和Alice很享受學習當新手父母，很快地我們要搬回我們自己的家，那個我一直以來辛勤忙著要讓每件事都預備妥當的地方。謝謝我們的朋友以及家人的代禱、關愛、支持，還有禮物以及鼓勵的話。

Here are a few photos of our baby girl, Alyssa “Li-Xin” (理心) Joy Piotrowicz. 

這裡有幾張我們女兒的照片，Alyssa “Li-Xin” (理心) Joy Piotrowicz。

What I needed someone to tell me 1 - Suicide is Easier

Suggested Ambience: Apocryphos, Kammarheit, Atrium Carceri - A Lonely Strain

Suicide is easier when you've had a bad day.
Suicide is easier when you've had a few beers.
Suicide is easier when you stop thinking about what could have been and just keep thinking about what happened. Those things that you wish didn't happen, but you can't change.
Suicide is easier when you are walking through the night alone on your way home from the bar.
Suicide is easier when you see the many car lights headed your way and one small motion to the left or right could be the end.
Suicide is easier when you hate what the world sees you as and the way people talk and you're just so sick and tired of dealing with everything.
Suicide is easier when the world and what it offer's is no longer appealing to you no matter what you do.
Suicide is easiest when you curl up inside your pain and just hate everything.
Suicide is easiest when you stop thinking and feel too much.

Suicide is permanent and feelings are temporary. Thoughts are temporary.
The future is unknown and the answers to all your problems could be just around the corner.

And what about that kid who doesn't know the way to achieve the things they dream of? It might be inside of you, ending when you end. Where will they go? Will you let those answers disappear into the hood of a car or the depths of a river?
Suicide is easy, but life is full of glorious discovery, no matter what you feel right now.

Wait and see.

Alice and Tim Piotrowicz Marriage Blog - Year One

Hello everyone! I thought it would be great if I posted a little update for all the friends and family of Alice and I. At first I was going to write about every event in great detail, but I realized I have many photos and some video clips to share so I’ll try to keep a neat balance of both writing and media. Whether you read every bit of text or just scan over things to see what we’ve been up to, Alice and I hope that you enjoy our first marriage blog post.

To start off let me say that Alice and I recently celebrated our one year anniversary and we are looking forward to many more years together.

Our wedding was a grand event in September 24, 2016 and we were happy to see all the people that came to celebrate with us. After spending a few days in Taipei with my parents who were visiting from the States, Alice and I traveled to Okinawa for our honeymoon. If you want to read more about that, I made a blog post about it which you can find here: Honeymoon Blog Post 

A notable highlight of our marriage that I want to present before everything else has been Alice's attention to us being a healthy (and thrifty) couple in all things concerning food. At the start of our marriage we committed to a 24-day diet of no sugar, no gluten, and no (something else that I cant remember) and Alice and I slaved each day to prepare meals according to that plan for each and every day. It was hard work and in the end I did not see any noticeable difference in my body, but maybe we will do a different diet in year 2 and see how that goes ^_^

Chicken-bone soup for healthiness

Celebrating the end of our first diet!

As soon as we were hitched (married) and back home from our vacation, I sent in my paperwork to get my ARC (the card that lets me stay in Taiwan as long as Alice is alive) and thankfully it didn’t take long for me to get it in the mail! Now I can live and work in Taiwan without leaving every few months!

Something Alice and I have been doing since the beginning of our dating relationship has been reading the Bible together on a weekly basis. Now that we are together all the time, we get to read together more! Sometimes we have thoughts to share and sometimes we get into...heated discussions...about our differences of opinion. Either way we both believe that spending time together in the Word of God is integral to growing spiritually together.

Along those same lines, Alice and I were looking for a church that would work for both of us to attend. I found a church that was just 5 minutes away from our home and I began to visit there a couple times. Alice, however, had been attending the same church for more than 20 years and I felt a deep conviction in my heart to show deference to my wife and travel a couple hours each Sunday so that she could stay connected in the church she knows and loves. Three cheers for Tim! Tim, however, does not understand Chinese very well and so Alice has shown a great deal of flexibility and deference to attend the English service with me each week! Three cheers for Alice!

Although finding a good church was not hard, getting connected in a church can have its difficulties, especially for someone like me (Tim). For the first few months of our marriage, we both enjoyed a small group meeting based in another church (the first one I mentioned) near our home, but after a while the leaders of that group (Alice’s good friends) moved back to America so we had to find a new group :(

After testing the waters with a small group in the English congregation at the far-away-church, Alice and I settled in and have finally gotten to know some people there and attend regularly. God has allowed us both to find and fellowship with some awesome people at church through this small group.

On a similar note, we also have greatly enjoyed meeting and eating with a couple pairs of newlyweds like ourselves, enjoying meals and meaningful chats together. So far we have had 2 meetings and we will enjoy another one soon!

Something Alice and I have both been really enjoying has been to view great tv shows and movies together. After a certain popular American show season ended, Alice and I spent several weeks going through the Lord of the Rings movies, The Hobbit movies, and all the released Star Wars movies and we look forward to Star Wars episode VII this December!

We don’t just sit on our butts all day though! If you know Alice, you know she is very active and loves to get out and travel to new places. Alice has taken me...

hiking up Elephant Mountain

to visit a some art exhibitions,

and to visit some museums such as the miniature museum,

Different scenes from the Alice in Wonderland story! 

Can you see our faces in the mirror at the end? 

A lovely Victorian-era living room ^_^

The miniature Buckingham Palace

And to visit some other fun local places,

A shipping-container food court near 101 

Visiting a museum near CKS Memorial Hall 

Alice and I looking dopey at a Jazz show.

Alice captivating people with some godly wisdom.

And we have also done a bit of traveling around Taiwan, including, but not limited to, our trip to the 2017 VOICE Retreat.

Alice and I love being together, but sometimes we need a little alone time. The first time we spent time apart was when Alice decided to go visit some friends in the south and I stayed at home. I enjoyed having some time to myself, but I quickly found myself deeply missing Alice and I was very happy to get her back only a couple days later.

On the note of our time together, Alice and I have fallen more in love with each other as the months pass by, but we have also learned what we hate about each other. It is true and the longer we are together the more we see that we don’t like, but the more opportunities we get to work through our differences and build stronger character in each other.

Many of these challenging differences have led to emotionally painful arguments and hateful words, but Alice and I have learned to always resolve issues as soon as possible and God has been helping us to grow more humble and loving towards each other. Alice is very patient in these times and I am learning to rely on God to help me make right choices and grow.

Co-teaching English to a group of students in 2016

Another challenge we have been through is the issue of finding work. Alice was able to quickly find a new position with a great Christian seminary here in Taipei. Although there seems to have been many challenges there, with prayer she has pushed through and finally been accepted as a full-time employee. As for me, I have found my love for teaching growing as I teach and tutor English in various part time positions, and I hope to get a full-time position as soon as I graduate from college in 2018!

Although I have been struggling this year with my university studies, I was blessed to fill my time with some tutoring jobs and ultimately with a cram school English teaching job which I am learning to love.

A story written and illustrated by a pair of sisters that I get to tutor!

During free time Alice invests a lot with that far-away-church by helping with and teaching children’s Sunday-school classes and also volunteering with the church's children’s fellowship group.

In the spring and Summer of this year, I was blessed and challenged when I invested 6 separate days voluntarily teaching English at a local Juvenile Delinquent Center.

Other Tim-happenings included meeting and doing language exchanges with people,

Tim and Kelvin

making and investing in new friends, and being led by the Lord in witnessing to, being challenged by and praying for various people that I meet and interact with.

Tim and Bob

So I hope that you can see that Alice and I have been pretty busy learning and growing and experiencing life together! In conclusion here are some other highlights of our first year, followed by some topics of things you can be praying for us about in the year to come.

Davina and Eric's wedding

Attending a few weddings of close friends

Rachel and Michael's wedding

Alice’s birthday celebration!

My battle with the insects!

And our trip to visit our good friends over the Mid-Autumn holiday.

Some things to be praying for as we move into next year are,

Christmas >:[
If you know me, you know that I don't like American Holidays very much. Perhaps its because of my felt misuse of the holidays in the states to push materialism, or perhaps its just the negative effects of redundant activities that weighs on my soul. Whatever the case is, please pray that this year I can find some patience, appreciation and the love of God for his son's birthday.

During Chinese New Year 2018 we will visit America for 10 days!
Please pray for safety for our travels and for a good time of fellowship with our (odd) family.

My current goal is to graduate in February 2018 so please pray that I can continue to pass classes this semester and next!!!

And

Please pray for us as we continue to seek God's will concerning making our family grow with some kids!

(Thanks for reading all the way to the end. We appreciate your love, friendship and prayers! See you in the next blog!)