What’s She Doing (the day after) Wednesday

So it’s Thursday. I could’ve skipped this week but instead I felt I should post this week, since I got some good pictures of Jia playing with chalk and then at daycare. At least, in my opinion (and lack of photog skills), they’re “good”!

This week we’ve been still trying to adjust to daycare. She’s eating really well at lunch and snacks, showing all the kids that she can scarf down corn while the others weren’t interested (Mama pat on the back!), and she’s having a little fun now. The teachers try to take photos when they can, and so far all the pictures of Jia have her two lions clutched in her little fists for comfort. She’s painted, played with cornstarch mush stuff, gone on the 8-kid buggy ride a couple of times, and seems to be bonding with some of the teachers! Other things: Continue reading “What’s She Doing (the day after) Wednesday” »

Baby, You Makin Me Sick ~ All About Morning Sickness

Funny term, “Morning Sickness.” As if it really only ever happens in the mornings. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Pretty much every piece of literature that I’ve read out there warns women that “Morning Sickness” (aka NVP; Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy) peaks somewhere in the first trimester (around week 8-10) and usually ends around the 3rd to 5th month of pregnancy (only about half of women with NVP feel relief by the end of the 3rd month, actually. Ninety-percent of women finally felt relief by 22 weeks’ pregnancy!) <— that was me, no relief until week 21!

If you never got morning sickness, consider yourself really lucky. (Kinda like those women who lost the baby weight quickly. It’s probably best not to brag about these enviable details 😆 ). About 75-80% of pregnant women experience morning sickness in some way, shape, or form.

So here are some things to know: Continue reading “Baby, You Makin Me Sick ~ All About Morning Sickness” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: Happy Birthday, Daddy!

After the last couple of weeks, it’s nice to be home.

After that one afternoon in daycare, Jia and I jetted off to Charleston SC for my brother’s wedding. Little did I know that Jia was on the edge of her sanity, scared and afraid I would leave her at any turn. We arrived in SC to my mom greeting us at the baggage claim/terminal exit. I got her out of her car seat, hoping she would run over to my mom. She just stayed with me and buried her head in my legs, but I figured that was a normal shy response. No biggie. Then, when mom picked her up, she would start whimpering “Mommy, mommy??” but as long as she was close by me, she would tolerate being distracted by mom. This changed when we walked outside with our luggage to see my dad waiting for us. The minute she saw dad, she started to worry; started to cry. I installed her car seat into their back seat as she wailed and wailed. We kept reassuring her that I was coming with her, but she couldn’t hear me through her tears. I picked her up and placed her in the car seat and she threw up all over herself. This was a first. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: Happy Birthday, Daddy!” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: First Day!

Today (Tuesday) was Jia’s first day of daycare. A momentous, emotional, milestone day. Lots of babies head off to day care at around 3 months old, but Jia’s start came at 18 months and 16 days. We’d gotten pretty comfortable with our time together, just the two of us after daddy went off to work in the mornings, but with our move west came what was only a matter of time. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: First Day!” »

Listeria “Mysteria” & Pregnancy

OB/GYN – “So now that you’re pregnant, you should stay away from alcohol, illicit drugs, caffeine, swordfish or tilefish, raw fish sushi, cigarettes, deli meats and soft cheeses… gain 25-35 lbs throughout your last two trimesters, try to eat healthy, exercise regularly, take a folic acid supplement, also a DHA/Fish oil supplement, a prenatal vitamin, ….”

Newly Pregnant Woman – “Sure, yeah, ok, got it”

Somewhere along that whole spiel of overwhelming information, the deli meats and soft cheeses point may have been lost. Sound familiar?

I mentioned in this week’s WSDW post that I was considering writing about listeria poisoning (& its relevancy with pregnancy precautions) because of a family friend who recently died of listeria poisoning. If you want to read about it, the FDA recall of his suspected exposures is described here. It’s been an extremely awful and painfully devastating experience that this family has been through. And who would’ve even guessed that it could come from a popular ice cream distributor that sells to nursing homes, hospitals, and schools? It’s absolutely frightening. Mom and Dad, this post is dedicated to you.

So let’s talk listeria. Continue reading “Listeria “Mysteria” & Pregnancy” »

#SummerofDad 14: (Almost) Everything I Learned in the Last 12 Weeks

Gabe and I will see you a little further down the line!

And the last installment of #SoD finds me posting from my actual home, in Baltimore, after driving ~3,300 miles and flying cross-country to Seattle and back all in 12 short-but-sometimes-long weeks. All told, Gabe and I visited or traveled through nine states (Maryland, Delaware, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, and Washington). What’s odd though, is that on Wednesday I was relieved of the primary parenting duty and I’ve gone primary-parenting cold turkey. (Jenny and Gabe stayed in New York, as I had school meetings on Wednesday and Thursday). Some observations about going cold turkey:

Continue reading “#SummerofDad 14: (Almost) Everything I Learned in the Last 12 Weeks” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: What’s She NOT Doing?

It’s so hard to keep track of all the new things Jia’s learned and done over the past week or so. I barely have any time to write it down somewhere before we are off tempering a tantrum or figuring out where in our new neighborhood we should explore next. Since #SummerofDad is coming to an end soon, I really am going to have to step up my blog game and get back into the groove of doing some real posts here.

A (non pregnant, non female) family friend recently died of Listeria poisoning so I was considering writing about pregnancy and listeria warnings, but I am also considering a post about the hormonal triggers for pregnancy cravings, the physiological readiness of potty training, the link between otitis media and pacifier use, and a couple other interesting topics. Let me know if you lean one way or another. All I can say is, let’s not get into a controversial topic this time! Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: What’s She NOT Doing?” »