and hire another helper as soon as you can. there is no point delaying this till after the birth if your current helper is going to leave anyway in 2 weeks. this is actually a good time to hire experienced helpers, i've seen a lot of very good posts/advertisements out there from helpers looking for work, so make that your priority. it's a tough time, but nothing that can't be sorted, try to make those calls, interview quickly and settle on someone who doesn't need to go back to the Phils but can start ASAP here in HK.
as for the current helper, i would try to get her to do things like get the new baby's clothes ready (washed and aired or arranged, whatever you need), cook some meals that the 17 month old will eat/family can eat and pop in freezer for when things get hectic, make sure all laundry/cleaning is up to date etc.
also, my advice would be to just let the helper continue to feed the 17 month old if that helps her sleep through the night and gives you and hubby a break - no it is not ideal and obviously there's a few habits you will need to break here, but if this helps you and hubby to get things sorted with looking for, and hiring a new helper and make some progress in that regard over the next 2 weeks, then i'd go for that, rather than having broken nights and stress etc which can be avoided at least for the next 2 weeks.
don't worry - this will all seem like a distant nightmare in a few months. hang in there, and keep us posted, and just try to get through.
