Thursday, January 26, 2006
Week 29 (ultrasound #2)
Hi folks,
First, I'll post last week's ultrasound. This is the second one and it's different from the first. In the first, you can see all of Sammy on the screen. Now we are just seeing sections. If you have any experience viewing these, you might be able to see some interesting sights including his beating heart, hardening skeleton, face (with some swallowing and blinking), and hair (at least one of us will have it).
Now what about mommy? She (and Dan) was amazed at this ultrasound. It's difficult for the untrained eye to see all that the ultrasound shows, but having the doctor there to point things out was so fun. She was especially excited about Sammy having hair already (something to make fun of me over).
It's at moments like this that the hardened interior melts and you can see the nervous, excited, new mother. She pours over the ultrasound printouts like a designer imagining the finished product. All of the hopes and fears of the finished product reflected in her eyes. (Daddy is not immune from this cognitive exercise either).
After taking a moment contemplating her design, Moon is off again managing materials and logistics. Specifically, she has been obsessing over her iron intake. She is trying to avoid pills if possible and has taken to reading every product to discern the amount of iron and calcium in everything she eats. I'm not sure this is the best way to do it, but she seems to be doing a good job with nutrition overall.
Last, but not least, Mom Kim (actually Shin, but that's a cultural lesson that can come later) will be coming on April 3. I'm going to have to pick her up in Chicago. Let's hope that Moon's not a couple days early. By the time I make the round trip Sammy may be feeding :)
First, I'll post last week's ultrasound. This is the second one and it's different from the first. In the first, you can see all of Sammy on the screen. Now we are just seeing sections. If you have any experience viewing these, you might be able to see some interesting sights including his beating heart, hardening skeleton, face (with some swallowing and blinking), and hair (at least one of us will have it).
Now what about mommy? She (and Dan) was amazed at this ultrasound. It's difficult for the untrained eye to see all that the ultrasound shows, but having the doctor there to point things out was so fun. She was especially excited about Sammy having hair already (something to make fun of me over).
It's at moments like this that the hardened interior melts and you can see the nervous, excited, new mother. She pours over the ultrasound printouts like a designer imagining the finished product. All of the hopes and fears of the finished product reflected in her eyes. (Daddy is not immune from this cognitive exercise either).
After taking a moment contemplating her design, Moon is off again managing materials and logistics. Specifically, she has been obsessing over her iron intake. She is trying to avoid pills if possible and has taken to reading every product to discern the amount of iron and calcium in everything she eats. I'm not sure this is the best way to do it, but she seems to be doing a good job with nutrition overall.
Last, but not least, Mom Kim (actually Shin, but that's a cultural lesson that can come later) will be coming on April 3. I'm going to have to pick her up in Chicago. Let's hope that Moon's not a couple days early. By the time I make the round trip Sammy may be feeding :)
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Week 28
Week 28 was an exciting week, but I can't remember why :)
We had an OB appointment on Thursday and our 2nd ultrasound. You might be expecting another Craig Production. It's coming, but you'll all have to wait. My big daddy computer went down the other day and it's going to take a while to get that video up and running. I'll take soundtrack requests until I get it up.
The good doctors at Southside OB gave the baby a clean bill of health. Height, weight, and so forth look good. The placenta (seek Week 18) has moved to its proper location and everyone is jollier for it.
The only warning the doctor had was that Moon was a little anemic. Time for more red meat and spinach :) She's balking at taking yet another pill. She's already taking her prenatal vitamins in the morning and calcium supplements in the evening. Whoever said that a balanced diet was all that was needed for a pregnant woman was full of %&*#. Balance goes out the window when you need 300% iron and calcium.
Stay tuned for the 2nd ultrasound.
We had an OB appointment on Thursday and our 2nd ultrasound. You might be expecting another Craig Production. It's coming, but you'll all have to wait. My big daddy computer went down the other day and it's going to take a while to get that video up and running. I'll take soundtrack requests until I get it up.
The good doctors at Southside OB gave the baby a clean bill of health. Height, weight, and so forth look good. The placenta (seek Week 18) has moved to its proper location and everyone is jollier for it.
The only warning the doctor had was that Moon was a little anemic. Time for more red meat and spinach :) She's balking at taking yet another pill. She's already taking her prenatal vitamins in the morning and calcium supplements in the evening. Whoever said that a balanced diet was all that was needed for a pregnant woman was full of %&*#. Balance goes out the window when you need 300% iron and calcium.
Stay tuned for the 2nd ultrasound.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Week 27
BABY CLASSES BEGIN !!!
Ok, I'm not really that excited, but I'm trying. I knew what this would mean...the dreaded video.
Around the time that we found out Moon was pregnant, I went Google crazy. I looked up everything that I could think of. One of the items that I found was a video of a baby being born. I think that I've seen similar videos on TV documentaries, but this one was graphic beyond the boundaries of television shows. There was no way that I was going to show that to Moon.
Well, when we signed up for the prenatal classes I knew that the video would be a part of the process. When we walked into the classroom, I noticed that a video was part of the agenda. Needless to say, Moon got her first glimpse of birth and she was freaked out. "How does it get through that little hole"?
I think that we are going to spend the next few months calming her down :)
Ok, I'm not really that excited, but I'm trying. I knew what this would mean...the dreaded video.
Around the time that we found out Moon was pregnant, I went Google crazy. I looked up everything that I could think of. One of the items that I found was a video of a baby being born. I think that I've seen similar videos on TV documentaries, but this one was graphic beyond the boundaries of television shows. There was no way that I was going to show that to Moon.
Well, when we signed up for the prenatal classes I knew that the video would be a part of the process. When we walked into the classroom, I noticed that a video was part of the agenda. Needless to say, Moon got her first glimpse of birth and she was freaked out. "How does it get through that little hole"?
I think that we are going to spend the next few months calming her down :)
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Week 26
We're approaching the end of the second trimester and evidentally the end of the "good" times :)
Moon's finding it more and more difficult to do the simple things in life, like getting up from the couch. She's also been having nasty leg cramps. This lead her to suck on calcium supplements, exercise more, and get rub downs from her husband/servant at night. The combination seems to help. At least she is sleeping through the night.
We went to the OB on Wednesday. Everything still looks good. I guess that's all I can hope for--no bad news :) Moon also took the Glucose test. Haven't heard back from them on that either, so, again, no news is good news.
The appointments are now going to come every two weeks. At the next appointment, we'll have the second ultrasound. Looking forward to that and planning the next soundtrack.
Moon's finding it more and more difficult to do the simple things in life, like getting up from the couch. She's also been having nasty leg cramps. This lead her to suck on calcium supplements, exercise more, and get rub downs from her husband/servant at night. The combination seems to help. At least she is sleeping through the night.
We went to the OB on Wednesday. Everything still looks good. I guess that's all I can hope for--no bad news :) Moon also took the Glucose test. Haven't heard back from them on that either, so, again, no news is good news.
The appointments are now going to come every two weeks. At the next appointment, we'll have the second ultrasound. Looking forward to that and planning the next soundtrack.
