Precious Little Treasure (PLT) - pregnancy week 27

小寶貝

10/22/2008 - Hi Baby!! First image of the baby from 4D ultrasound at week 27 - chubby cheeks and little nose on the left side of the picture. It's like a Picasso painting, you have to use your imagination like Wesley said :)

At every OB check up, they always pull out a regular old measuring tape and size up my tummy as if to make some clothing alterations. After reading a baby magazine, the doctor is checking for the height of fundus (the top of my uterus) to see if we're growing at a good rate.

Nutrition

Healthy baby starts in the womb! Prenatal health can affect a person's risk of heart disease many decades later. People with low birth weights are at increased risk of developing heart disease as adults.

Above is my snapshot at the doctor's office for a regular check up. My belly gets bigger every time I look at it. I read in books and brochures that it's important to eat healthy during pregnancy in order to have a healthy baby. I thought I was a healthy eater. Even though I'm taking prenatal vitamins daily, but after routine blood work, appears that I'm anemic and I'll need to take iron supplement, which I heard is common in the pregnant women. I got Feosol carbonyl iron, from Walmart and it doesn't cause stomach upset. Note - iron and calcium tablets/milk should NOT be taken together, because the iron absorption can be reduced. While vitamin C related food helps with iron absoprtion. I was hoping to increase my iron intake through my natural diet, such as tofu, leaf vegetables, chickpeas, hummus. But after tracking my food intake through online food journal, I realized it's hard to eat the food I like daily and still have enough amount of nutrition. You can also download an excel pregnancy diet template. So it's probably a good idea to take daily vitamins even when one is not pregnant. I know vitamins usually is like swallowing pills, but Centrum just came out with chewable favor kind.

In order to make sure I have the nutrition that the baby needs, tracking daily food consumption is helpful. I also need to increase my protein intake to at least 80-100 mg/day. That means 2 eggs per day, milk, nuts, peanuts. Here's the tip on how to peel a hard boiled egg. They would tell you the weight you should gain during pregnancy, however, appears that it's more important to have a healthy baby and eat healthy, than go on a diet while you're pregnant.

Vitamin C is important to prevent premature birth and to strengthen the membranes (walls) of the sac that holds the growing fetus and the amniotic fluid.

Alzheimer's linked To aluminum - use stainless steel pots.

Lead can cause miscarriage. Run cold tap water for 1 min. before drinking it. NEVER DRINK HOT TAP WATER! so we ingest as little lead as possible. To reduce the lead in your drinking water: 1) flush pipes before drinking by running the water until it gets as cold as possible; and 2) use only cold water for consumption. Never use hot water from the tap. For example, don't run hot water to save time when you want to boil water for pasta. Hot water from the tap has the most lead. When you need hot water, take cold tap water and heat it. To reduce waste, shower or bathe first, which starts the flushing process for your home. Then run the tap you're going to use for drinking water for a minute and fill a pitcher for the day.

Too much caffeine during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage and affect the development of the baby. This means not only coffee and tea, but also... chocolate :(

Definately no alcohol or smoking!

Birthing Class

Can't believe we only have 10 weeks (~3 months) to go... can't wait to meet the baby in person. After attending the birth classes and knowing more about the birthing experience, the pain, epidural, the pain killer, the side effects, we changed our mind and wanted to give back the baby :) no... we were just scared. We're not sure how much pain I can take, if the pelvis stretch exercises, breathing, and massage will work. I guess it's the unknown and the risks that make it challenging for first time parent.

We took a birthing class over two half-day during weekends. It covered everything but we still feel like we're not ready yet. with all the complications with the drugs, so many unknowns... what if epidural won't work. we don't know my pain tolerance, how the baby will turn. decision we'll have to make. realizing induction/pitocin will require epidural. complications may lead to c-section. doctor may want episiotomy (e...pee...si...oto...me... what is that?! Oh! that sounds kind of painful...) What if doctors and nurses are only doing things to make it easier for them and go home earlier, instead of what's best for us. we wanted to explore more about natural birth, so we're taking a 11 weeks Bradley method birthing class. even if natural birth won't work out, at least we're getting more prepared mentally. we watched several birthing videos, read birthing stories, and practiced relaxation techniques, meditation, and pelvis exercises. we'll see how it goes when it finally happens :)

9/30/2008 - Before daddy went to work, he whispered to you that he loves you very much. Did you hear him?

9/14/2008 - Daddy felt you kick in my belly for the first time. You're very active. It's neat to feel the little kick and punch everyday. We signed up for the birthing class and started to set up the baby room.

Wesley was glad my happy hormones kicked in and the first trimester is over. He has been asking when is my happy hormones kick in?! Our goal is to get the house ready before the baby comes. However, Wesley ordered some tech gadgets, like karaoke machine, Wii balance board, PlayStation 3 (Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore is a lot of fun. Simon really likes Wesley's voice!), Acer mini laptop, and Homedics massage cushion. I said okay, these are your Christmas presents and that's it! We have to save money for the baby. He said, well... the baby has to make sacrifices too! Oh my lord... (He was joking of course!)

8/30/2008 - My ankles swollen during the long trip to Taipei, Formosa, but we had a great time! Wesley found the maternity stores district and we bought a maternity support belt (TH03 model). It really helped when we were out walking a lot doing touristy stuff.

Wesley was trying to suck in his stomach, but no hope for Mary after eating yummy food non-stop during the trip :)

Taroko National Park, Formosa Taiwan

Our good friend, Angela Lin, planned a wonderful weekend trip for us. Hualien, Formosa Taiwan was truly beautiful!

9/21/2008 - Since we have the annual pass to the Universal Studio Orlando, we went to Orlando to have some fun before I can't move anymore or the little one comes. We also went to Colonial Dr. to eat some authentic Vietnamese food and to do some outlet shopping. Not realizing even the stationary rides do not accept pregnant woman! (like Terminator 3D) We ended up going to two shows where we planned to just sit there and be entertained. Just in time for the spirit of Halloween, we went to the Universal Horror Make-Up Show and the Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue. In the horror show, the hostess (also pregnant) asked for a volunteer. Young kids eagerly raised their hands and yelled pick me, pick me! I always try to get Wesley to raise his hand since he's so shy :) Unknowingly, the hostess had her eyes on me! She asked me to go on the stage!! I was about to faint! I have never been picked to go on the stage in front of all these audiences and I was so nervous! But everyone clapped their hands, so I went up. The hostess asked if I like to watch movies, I said, yeah except horror movies!!! I had to hold some dead limbs, cut my arm (I was actually smiling during that!), and spook by a werewolf. Even though I was still shaking the whole day, but it made my day since this stuff never happened to us before! Wesley thought the show and the hostess were funnier than the last time we went. So that's my five seconds of fame and try out for Hollywood! :)