Today’s the first time someone gave up the seat to me on public transportation. I had deliberately missed one train on the subway so that I could be first in line for the next train and grab an available seat. My destination was at least 40 minutes away and I didn’t want to spend it standing up. There was only one seat available in the car that arrived and it was almost mine. Two teenaged girls got to it the same time as I did and one of them took it. I had a second of annoyance on my face before the lady sitting next to her took a glance at my belly and my standard pregnant woman apron dress, widened her eyes, and got up to let me sit. The second teenage girl almost sat down in the seat but I didn’t hesitate this time and squeezed into the seat as I said thank you to the lady that stood up. I guess this instance was proof of good and bad manners of people in Beijing.
Today’s also the first time I bought baby clothes! There’s a boutique by my house that is having an end-of-lease sale, so I got a green with yellow polkadots onesie and a yellow sweater for baby. SO CUTE! Both 100% cotton and although made in China they are “export quality”. They didn’t shrink after the first wash, so all is good. Although my heart wishes to buy baby organic cotton brand name clothes, building a whole wardrobe with it doesn’t seem frugal nor practical. I read that some study out there took a sample of children clothes in China and found that a majority of them have some residue of pesticides or whatever chemicals, so I have to be very careful about whom I buy from and always wash before use. This boutique owner is very knowledgeable about where her stock comes from and the quality of the products. That’s as good of an assurance as I’ll get for now in China.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Baby musings
I read somewhere that pregnant women with frequent heartburn have babies with a full head of hair. If that’s true, then this one’s gonna be a Wookiee. (Here’s where Mike chimes in and says “just like her mama!”)
Baby Shyu’s wriggling in the tummy has turned into sharper pokes and kicks. Mike’s waiting for the day that he can feel it too. The “was that baby or a random cramp” has turned into a “was that a poke or a kick” question. She goes quiet whenever Mike places his hands on my belly though, as if playing a game of hide and seek. I think it'll be a few weeks before baby can play patty cake.
Currently baby weighs about a pound and is little longer than 8 inches, or so they say. She’s starting to grow her fat and muscles, possibly doubling her weight in the next month. It will be scary if my weight doubles as well! Ha. The skin around my belly feels tight as if it’s about to burst and split sometimes, but a good belly rubbing makes me feel a lot better. My belly button has started to change too. Mike's waiting for it to pop out. He says it'll be my third nipple. Oi.
Baby Shyu’s wriggling in the tummy has turned into sharper pokes and kicks. Mike’s waiting for the day that he can feel it too. The “was that baby or a random cramp” has turned into a “was that a poke or a kick” question. She goes quiet whenever Mike places his hands on my belly though, as if playing a game of hide and seek. I think it'll be a few weeks before baby can play patty cake.
Currently baby weighs about a pound and is little longer than 8 inches, or so they say. She’s starting to grow her fat and muscles, possibly doubling her weight in the next month. It will be scary if my weight doubles as well! Ha. The skin around my belly feels tight as if it’s about to burst and split sometimes, but a good belly rubbing makes me feel a lot better. My belly button has started to change too. Mike's waiting for it to pop out. He says it'll be my third nipple. Oi.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Baby Bump
To borrow lyrics from Sir Mix-A-Lot’s famous song: Oh my god, Becky, look at her… BELLY!
Yup, this belly has popped. Currently I’m at least 4kg (9lbs) heavier than pre-pregnancy and my waist is 6.5in (YIKES!) wider. My hips feel larger too, but I’m still in denial about that so no measurement for you. =p There was a second sometime ago where I went into a panic because I thought I could no longer touch my toes, but I tried again and succeeded. I imagine that will change soon enough.
So Mike and I took a little babymoon last week. Mike had an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Singapore and then we hopped right over to Thailand for a nice 5-night vacation. I’ll write more about the trip later because this post is the baby update.
What baby update? Well the day before we left for the trip we had THE CHECKUP – the halfway mark and detailed ultrasound. Baby Shyu is developing nicely, just the right size with all the fingers and toes. What a relief it was to see all the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby, though in no way was it anything like the peaceful floating in a bubble that a lot of drawings depict. Baby’s actually a bit cramped in there! During the ultrasound, baby was actually head down and pushing around trying to get more space. Practicing for the big push perhaps? I’ve no clue. Everything from this point on is new territory and we’re ecstatic about it. We’re so looking forward to be able to feel baby from outside the belly (kick mommy!), then meeting for the first time around Christmas.
The only thing the doctor ordered was for me to gain more weight (I was only +2kg the day of the checkup). Well I’ve definitely achieved that this past week, doubling my weight gain! Ah thank you Singapore chili crabs, Thailand hotel Thai food buffets, room service American breakfast and croissants, and the bountiful shrimps in every dish we ate the past week. Seeing as how I eat 5 times a day, that’s a lot of food. I’m so glad I brought my lock-and-lock with me for all those meals. The leftover chili crab with bread for next morning’s breakfast was excellent. I anticipate this week that baby will be wondering where all the yummy seafood went and issue a complaint with me. Sorry baby, it’s not the same in Beijing.
This isn’t 100%, but the technician thinks it may be a girl. YAY! A girl would be great to lavish our affections on. I suspected it might be a girl earlier in the pregnancy although I wasn’t as sure later on. Either way, this one’s gonna be loved. All we pray for is that baby is healthy. Mike’s debating on whether to collect knives or guns to scare future suitors. HA!
So Mike and I are now thinking of names, but it seems easier to think of names NOT to name her:
• Already in the family – ie: Anna; Ariel; Gillian; Helen; Leslie; Maureen; Natalie; Rosalie; Stephanie; Tiffany; Wendy; Whitney; Charlotte; (in no particular order)
• No colors - ie: Ruby Shyu; Jade Shyu; Pearl Shyu; Heather Shyu;
• No seasons – ie: Summer Shyu; Autumn Shyu;
• Watch the initials – ie: A.S.S.
Yeah, the list goes on. I’m sure you’ll think of more. Whatever our choice is, the advice we got from a fellow tourist in Thailand was to keep the name a secret ‘til the end. I guess if we let the name out, someone’s gonna find a way to ruin it, such as knowing another person with that name and adding a bad connotation to it. There’s wisdom in that advice, so mum’s the word.
Shopping for baby items is next? How early is too early to be buying stuff? And good lord, that’s a lot of money.
Yup, this belly has popped. Currently I’m at least 4kg (9lbs) heavier than pre-pregnancy and my waist is 6.5in (YIKES!) wider. My hips feel larger too, but I’m still in denial about that so no measurement for you. =p There was a second sometime ago where I went into a panic because I thought I could no longer touch my toes, but I tried again and succeeded. I imagine that will change soon enough.
So Mike and I took a little babymoon last week. Mike had an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Singapore and then we hopped right over to Thailand for a nice 5-night vacation. I’ll write more about the trip later because this post is the baby update.
What baby update? Well the day before we left for the trip we had THE CHECKUP – the halfway mark and detailed ultrasound. Baby Shyu is developing nicely, just the right size with all the fingers and toes. What a relief it was to see all the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby, though in no way was it anything like the peaceful floating in a bubble that a lot of drawings depict. Baby’s actually a bit cramped in there! During the ultrasound, baby was actually head down and pushing around trying to get more space. Practicing for the big push perhaps? I’ve no clue. Everything from this point on is new territory and we’re ecstatic about it. We’re so looking forward to be able to feel baby from outside the belly (kick mommy!), then meeting for the first time around Christmas.
The only thing the doctor ordered was for me to gain more weight (I was only +2kg the day of the checkup). Well I’ve definitely achieved that this past week, doubling my weight gain! Ah thank you Singapore chili crabs, Thailand hotel Thai food buffets, room service American breakfast and croissants, and the bountiful shrimps in every dish we ate the past week. Seeing as how I eat 5 times a day, that’s a lot of food. I’m so glad I brought my lock-and-lock with me for all those meals. The leftover chili crab with bread for next morning’s breakfast was excellent. I anticipate this week that baby will be wondering where all the yummy seafood went and issue a complaint with me. Sorry baby, it’s not the same in Beijing.
This isn’t 100%, but the technician thinks it may be a girl. YAY! A girl would be great to lavish our affections on. I suspected it might be a girl earlier in the pregnancy although I wasn’t as sure later on. Either way, this one’s gonna be loved. All we pray for is that baby is healthy. Mike’s debating on whether to collect knives or guns to scare future suitors. HA!
So Mike and I are now thinking of names, but it seems easier to think of names NOT to name her:
• Already in the family – ie: Anna; Ariel; Gillian; Helen; Leslie; Maureen; Natalie; Rosalie; Stephanie; Tiffany; Wendy; Whitney; Charlotte; (in no particular order)
• No colors - ie: Ruby Shyu; Jade Shyu; Pearl Shyu; Heather Shyu;
• No seasons – ie: Summer Shyu; Autumn Shyu;
• Watch the initials – ie: A.S.S.
Yeah, the list goes on. I’m sure you’ll think of more. Whatever our choice is, the advice we got from a fellow tourist in Thailand was to keep the name a secret ‘til the end. I guess if we let the name out, someone’s gonna find a way to ruin it, such as knowing another person with that name and adding a bad connotation to it. There’s wisdom in that advice, so mum’s the word.
Shopping for baby items is next? How early is too early to be buying stuff? And good lord, that’s a lot of money.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Halfway mark update
So Baby Shyu is halfway done with the “living in my belly” part of its life. From our last checkup we saw that baby is looking fully human: round head, strong spine, beating heart, and arms and legs that do kung fu. We had tried to take a peek at the “family jewels” or the lack thereof, but baby’s head was in the way. We’ll just have to try again next time.
From the ultrasound photo I noticed a thick white band of “substance” in between the skin of my belly and the baby. My eyes widened at the sudden alarm rushing through me from the shocking thought: “EEEKS! That’s a whole lotta fat!” Fortunately the doctor saw my shaking finger pointing at the substance and enlightened me that it was the placenta. I went Ahhh... and gave a relieved chuckle. So baby’s placenta is situated in the front, acting as a natural buffer between me and its kung fu moves. That would explain why I can’t exactly say if that jabbing pain in me is from the baby or spicy food.
What is annoying are pregnant hormones, specifically progesterone. As I understand it, it’s relaxing my intestine muscles so that food passes by slower and my body can have more time to take nutrients from the food. The annoying part of this is the gas that builds up. Mostly the gas rises (I deny any that come out the other way) and causes me to burp. One or two burps are not a problem. It’s the late at night, lying in bed, suddenly have a million gas bubbles part that is extremely annoying. It feels like heartburn and throwing up gas that’s on fire. It’s already hard to sleep through the night from the tossing from side to side due to pressure on the hips and veins as well as the two trips a night to the bathroom, now I have to sit up and burp fire non-stop for five minutes. Baby, you so owe me.
By the way, Oh So Bossy Baby has relaxed and chilled. It is possible that I just don’t feel baby as sharply as before because of the placenta buffer. It is also possible that baby has gotten off my case now that I live by its strict schedule: eat every two or three hours when I’m awake and don’t forget that midnight snack (which probably contributes to the late night/early morning fire breathing). Lately I’ve been drinking soymilk, which eases the hunger pains a lot and lets me enjoy eating rather than wolfing down food with a frown to ease the pain.
So far I’ve only gained 2kg (4lbs) and when you look at me from the front I look pretty much the same, although some think my face has gotten thinner. Looking at me from the side on the other hand, I’m no longer the “maybe she ate a lot of burritos” size but the “that’s a baby bump, let me ask how far along is she” size.
I go to prenatal yoga once a week, but I’m the smallest in the class. Other ladies are 34 weeks (one has twins!), some 29 weeks, and one that’s 26 weeks. We go around the room introducing ourselves and I announce my little 19 weeks bump to the 34 weeks everything is open and about to drop ladies. Sometimes I think to myself, maybe I don’t need yoga yet and I’ll just come back in a month or two. But after the class I feel so relaxed and my aches are all gone, I say to myself that I gotta come back again. I adore the little babies that come to the studio for the postnatal yoga classes. If baby is good I'll bring it then too. Who knows? Maybe baby will make a friend. =)
From the ultrasound photo I noticed a thick white band of “substance” in between the skin of my belly and the baby. My eyes widened at the sudden alarm rushing through me from the shocking thought: “EEEKS! That’s a whole lotta fat!” Fortunately the doctor saw my shaking finger pointing at the substance and enlightened me that it was the placenta. I went Ahhh... and gave a relieved chuckle. So baby’s placenta is situated in the front, acting as a natural buffer between me and its kung fu moves. That would explain why I can’t exactly say if that jabbing pain in me is from the baby or spicy food.
What is annoying are pregnant hormones, specifically progesterone. As I understand it, it’s relaxing my intestine muscles so that food passes by slower and my body can have more time to take nutrients from the food. The annoying part of this is the gas that builds up. Mostly the gas rises (I deny any that come out the other way) and causes me to burp. One or two burps are not a problem. It’s the late at night, lying in bed, suddenly have a million gas bubbles part that is extremely annoying. It feels like heartburn and throwing up gas that’s on fire. It’s already hard to sleep through the night from the tossing from side to side due to pressure on the hips and veins as well as the two trips a night to the bathroom, now I have to sit up and burp fire non-stop for five minutes. Baby, you so owe me.
By the way, Oh So Bossy Baby has relaxed and chilled. It is possible that I just don’t feel baby as sharply as before because of the placenta buffer. It is also possible that baby has gotten off my case now that I live by its strict schedule: eat every two or three hours when I’m awake and don’t forget that midnight snack (which probably contributes to the late night/early morning fire breathing). Lately I’ve been drinking soymilk, which eases the hunger pains a lot and lets me enjoy eating rather than wolfing down food with a frown to ease the pain.
So far I’ve only gained 2kg (4lbs) and when you look at me from the front I look pretty much the same, although some think my face has gotten thinner. Looking at me from the side on the other hand, I’m no longer the “maybe she ate a lot of burritos” size but the “that’s a baby bump, let me ask how far along is she” size.
I go to prenatal yoga once a week, but I’m the smallest in the class. Other ladies are 34 weeks (one has twins!), some 29 weeks, and one that’s 26 weeks. We go around the room introducing ourselves and I announce my little 19 weeks bump to the 34 weeks everything is open and about to drop ladies. Sometimes I think to myself, maybe I don’t need yoga yet and I’ll just come back in a month or two. But after the class I feel so relaxed and my aches are all gone, I say to myself that I gotta come back again. I adore the little babies that come to the studio for the postnatal yoga classes. If baby is good I'll bring it then too. Who knows? Maybe baby will make a friend. =)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)