The Baby Expert

November 24, 2014

Don't Forget to Take Your Folic Acid Pt. 2

If any of my longtime loyal readers remember, I once had a post about the importance of taking folic acid. This shall serve as a continuation of that post with the hope of educating anyone who might be thinking of having a baby.

One of the first things I did after I found out the wife was pregnant for a second time was to go to the vitamin shop and purchase a bottle of prenatal vitamins and folic acid for her. I still clearly remember our scare with spina bifida when the wife was pregnant with Caitlyn, and I certainly do not want a repeat of that. Ideally, a woman should begin taking folic acid when she’s thinking about becoming pregnant, so we were already behind the curve. Therefore, not another moment could be wasted.

At first, the wife was very good about taking her vitamins. I’d leave them out on the table for her in the morning and would also text her after I got to work as a reminder. However, after one of her visits to the obstetrician, she came back stating that the doctor said the vitamins provided no real benefits and that there was no need to take them. The wife immediately welcomed this as she has never really liked taking anything that’s not natural. She began taking the vitamins intermittently and if I would remind her about it, she’d get defensive and cite the obstetrician’s words to give herself credence.

This went on for a bit until I got fed up with it and asked her to give me evidence and research that showed taking folic acid wasn’t useful. Unsurprisingly, she couldn’t. Therefore, I took it upon myself to compile a bunch of facts to show her that taking her prenatal vitamins was important. All the following was taken from respected medical and health organizations.

1. Taking a prenatal vitamin with the recommended 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid before and during pregnancy can help prevent birth defects of your baby's brain and spinal cord. Take it every day and go ahead and have a bowl of fortified cereal, too.

2. Birth defects occur within the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. So it's important to have folic acid in your system during those early stages when your baby's brain and spinal cord are developing.

3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you start taking folic acid every day for at least a month before you become pregnant, and every day while you are pregnant.

4. It may help reduce their baby’s risk for birth defects of the brain and spine called neural tube defects (NTDs).

5. All women, even if they’re not trying to get pregnant, should take folic acid.

6. It's hard to get all the folic acid you need from food. Even with careful planning, you might not get all the vitamins you need from your diet alone. So even if you eat foods that have folic acid in them, take your multivitamin each day, too.

7. The CDC reports that women who take the recommended daily dose of folic acid starting at least one month before conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy reduce their baby's risk of neural tube defects by 50 to 70 percent.

Thankfully, after sending the wife my list and having her read over it, she agreed to start taking her vitamins regularly again. Our unborn child is going to owe me big time for this one.

Speaking of unborn child, we now know that it’s going to be a girl!!! And with that, I officially submit the name Hannah for your consideration.

October 31, 2014

Oops, We Did It Again

After waiting for the green light from the wife and because I’ve just been too busy/lazy to write a post, I can finally announce that we do indeed have a bun baking in the oven! Back in August when I first found out, the wife was actually trying to hide this fact from me. I guess she hadn’t had time to process it all in yet. The only reason I found out was because we have a little blabber mouth, Caitlyn, whom the wife had imparted and entrusted the secret to. Well, now I know who not to tell my deepest darkest secrets to.

While we were both naturally happy, there was also a sense of disappointment because we both very excited about a trip we were planning to Germany and Europe during Chinese New Year. This, obviously, has been officially scrapped, much to our dismay. After months of rather lackadaisical attempts and being unsuccessful, couldn’t my sperm cells have just waited a few more months to make contact with the wife’s egg?

But on the flipside, we’re having a baby! Yippee. Forgive me if my excitement seems a bit forced, but all I can think of right now are the sleepless nights, stacks of bottles that need to be washed, dirty diapers that need to be changed, and all the baby gear that we’ll have to lug around again. I’m sure all that will change once I see our little bundle of joy for the first time, but still. Bottles upon bottles that need to be washed....

One other thing that flashed through my mind was being on the receiving end of the wife’s frequent mood swings (most of which I was responsible for) when she was pregnant the first time around. However, I’m very pleased to announce that I have yet to really tick her off and be confined to sleep on the couch thus far. While I’d like to say that I’ve changed for the better, the wife is probably more correct in saying that she’s become better at tolerating me. Either way, it’s still early in the game. Will I make it through all 9 months of being on my best behavior or will I crack under the pressure? Only time will tell.

As of this moment, the sex of the baby is still a mystery. Ask me the first time, and I'll tell you that I'll be happy with a boy or a girl as long as it’s healthy. But prod me a bit further, and I’ll admit I want another girl. Even the wife admits she would rather have a girl.

What’s not to like about girls? Bottom line is they’re just plain cuter than boys and 100 times better-behaved.They can do everything a boy can do, only better. I freely admit, girls rule, boys drool. But if you ask Caitlyn what sex she’d like the baby to be, she’ll say a boy. It seems that she's figured out little brothers are easier to control and boss around than little sisters. I just need to think back to how my older sister used to order me around to realize that this is totally true.

"Who run this world? Girls." You tell em, Beyonce.

September 7, 2014

Here to Pump You Up

Has it really been two months since I last checked in? I'd like to think it’s because I’ve been so busy working out. While blogging is a good form of finger exercise, I have been neglecting my other major muscles groups for some time now.

Exercising and my physical health have been on the decline ever since leaving college. It took its biggest dip when I got hitched. No need to impress anyone anymore, right? Plus, with the addition of daddy duties, exercise was the last thing I wanted to do after a long day at work.

But I finally tried to turn over a new leaf this summer. I didn’t want our daughter growing up thinking that being a couch potato is ok. Physical fitness is important. After all, a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. And we all know that a healthy mind leads to an Ivy League college.

Plus, the new school that I just started teaching at is gung-ho about fitness. How gung-ho you ask? Let’s just say that in order to graduate on to the next grade level, the students have to pass a specific physical test. One grade has to bike around the whole of Taiwan, another has to swim across the largest lake in the country, and for one unlucky grade, they get to hike up the highest peak in the country.

A grim mental image of me laid out on the ground, gasping for air and help while a pack of 8^th graders casually hiked by me was enough motivation for me to get back in shape. And to give me a helping hand was none other than my new workout partner, Caitlyn.

Not having a membership to a gym and too cheap to get one, I started doing simple exercises at home. Being at an age where kids copy everything that others do, Caitlyn also started exercising alongside me. We’d do stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, dips, and arm curls together. On days I didn’t want to exercise, she’d call me out and insist we get our daily workout in.

To balance out our physical regimen, Caitlyn also started teaching me how to meditate, which she picked up from Grandpa the last time he visited.

“Close your eyes!” “No! This is how you place your hands!” “You’re not doing it right!” she’d bark as she’d try to teach me the proper way to get in touch with my inner-self. Somehow, she'd morphed from being my workout partner to being my overly enthusiastic trainer.

But the funniest has to be when she insists I shout out, “Hercules!” every time I do a rep of arm curls. A bit strange if you ask me, but she’s my trainer, so I suppose she must know what she’s doing. After all, I do feel fitter than I did two months ago.

Pre-workout stretch

Graceful push-ups

Hercules!!

The Zen Master

In the zone

Workout for the brain

July 4, 2014

Besties on the Weekends

Every morning, Caitlyn will call out either ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy’ to come get her from her bedroom. Which person she chooses depends on what day it is. If it’s a weekday, she’ll say, “Mommy.” If it’s the weekend, she’ll say, “Daddy.”

Just so she doesn’t get things mixed up, she’ll specifically ask what day tomorrow will be, and then proceeds to state who she’ll give the honor to of going to her room in the morning. If either the wife or I try to go in when our name hasn’t been called, we’ll be received with a lot of crying and screaming.

Basically, on weekdays, she only wants Mommy and will ignore and give me the cold shoulder unless I bribe her. On weekends, however, it’s the complete opposite. She showers me with hugs and kisses, latches onto me whenever she sees the wife, only wants to play with me, sits next to me during meals, and insists I take her to go potty and to take a bath.

How she decided on this is beyond me. My theory has been that weekends equal fun. Therefore, Daddy must equal fun. That makes me feel pretty good. What weekdays equal and therefore what Mommy must equal, I leave up to you.

Now that it’s officially summer and school is out, Caitlyn has been a bit confused as to why I’m still around in the morning on the weekdays. As with before, she would prefer the wife over me. But then several classmates at her Montessori school got the enterovirus last week, and the place had to be shut down for two weeks. That has made her extremely happy and in turn, has made every day thus far into the weekend, which means Caitlyn and I have been living it up as best buds.

Would asking the school to shut down for another two months until I go back to work be asking for too much?