Monday, February 8, 2010

Snow storm Feb 2010

週末(02/05, 06)讓我見識到什麼叫做下大雪
Pittsburgh 地區大概下了有50cm左有的積雪
星期二,三又要再下個20cm左右
目前PITT已經停止上班上課兩天了
不知道會不會整個禮拜都是放雪假(snow day)

The big snowstorm last weekend really opened my eyes. We got about 18.7 inches of snow in the city of Pittsburgh. There is another snow storming coming this Tuesday and Wednesday with about 6-10" of snow. University have been close since Monday...not sure whether we need to go back to work on Wed. Who knows...maybe we will have a whole week of snow days.

從星期五晚上開始 從窗外看去是一切都是雪白的
馬路和人行道都分的不是很清楚
星期六下午趁雪停後到家裡附近走走 順便照一些雪景
在及膝的雪裡走路真的不是很容易 
花了比平常多了兩倍的時間才走到附近的公園
才走半個小時我就累的半死了
積雪大到有人在公園裡cross country ski 呢
還有很多小朋友坐在雪板上給爸媽拖著在雪裡走     超可愛的
Post 一些照片給大家看看....有興趣看更多的請連至右下角的相片集

Since late Friday night last week, the view from our living window has been just all "white". It actually took a while to distinguish road and sidewalk. We went out for a snow walk Saturday afternoon after snow stoppped and took several interesting pictures. Walking in keen-height depth snow was not easy..it took twice more time to walk to the city park near by, and I got really exhausted after 30 mins of walk. Snow in the park was thick and fluffy....we heard people were cross-country skiing earlier. We also saw kids happily siting in their sleds hauled by their parents......it would be us in a few years!!
We posted some pictures here...if you are interested in seeing more, you can click on the photo album in the bottom of the right panel.


Thursday, February 4, 2010

29W

不知不覺中我已經進入懷孕的最後一期….
覺得才剛懷孕不是嗎?怎麼時間過的這麼快
都已經七個多月了…我才寫過一篇懷孕日誌
大概是史上最無敵懶惰的孕婦
那我就大概交代一下這幾個月的近況吧

All of a sudden, I’m in the 3rd trimester. Didn’t I just get pregnant? Where did the time go? Now it has been 7 months and 1 week, and I have so far only written one blog post about my pregnancy. I’m probably the laziest pregnant lady (at least one of them). I thought I would just give everyone a brief summary about the past few months.

孕婦我本身呢 其實健康狀況目前一切良好
幾個星期前的血糖測試一切正常 只是有貧血現象
我一點都不覺得去產檢很麻煩
因為醫生很nice也漂亮 又可以免費停車
而且覺得我體重控制的很好很高興 (目前大概只胖了 16 lb~=7Kg)
(不過有體重有加速增加的現象…所以可以維持多久很難講)
美國的正常標準是增加25-35 lb (11-15kg)
可我姐叫我不要胖超過10公斤
她說我是東方人要用東方人的標準 不然以後很難瘦下來

For me, everything is going well…really nothing to complain. The glucose test done a few weeks back was normal…just that I’m a little bit anemic. My prenatal visits so far have been very pleasant experiences. Nice doctors (particularly one), free hospital parking. Plus I am happy to find out each time that I’m doing a good job of controlling my weight (So far I’ve gained about 16lb, but there seems to be acceleration in weight gain in the last few weeks. So we will see how good I’ll be able to maintain my weight situation). In the US, the normal weight gain is between 25-35lb. But my sisters said: “You are Asian, you should use the Asian standard”, which means no more than 22lb. Otherwise, I’ll have a hard time giving birth and losing weight afterwards.

寶寶的話呢….是個男生啦
果然敵不過布先生家”生男生的傳統” (他16個cousin只有一個是女生)
應該會是一個好動的寶寶 每次照超音波都動來動去
上次醫生在聽他的心跳的時候 他也給人家翻滾了一下…差點嚇到醫生

As for the baby…in case you don’t know yet, it’s a boy. I still can’t break Mr. Bru’s family tradition (he only has 1 girl cousin among a total of 16). We think he is going to be an active baby. He moves a lot in every ultrasound visit. He made a big noise last time (by bumping my tummy) when the doctor used the Doppler to listen to his heartbeat. He almost scared the doctor.

話說 有一次跟我媽視訊的時候
寶寶突然在肚子裡大力的翻動
我就叫了一聲 ”我的媽呀!!” 結果被我媽罵
她說 寶寶動的時候要安撫他 要說好聽的話 不是大叫我的媽呀

One time I was chatting with my mom using the webcam, and baby made a big kick. Immediately, I screamed out something equivalent to OMG in Chinese. My mom warmed me not to scream like that and instead, I should calm the baby and say some nice words to him. Well...I’ll try my best. But when he kicks like that, it’s hard to not shout out.

以前胎動都要用感覺的
現在胎動看肚皮就看的出來
我很期待看到大家描述的
“可以在肚皮上看到寶寶的手或腳型” 不過聽說很痛就是了

Before the end of the 2nd trimester, I could only feel baby’s movement, but now I can see it too. It’s quite an interesting experience. Although it hurts a lot, I’m looking forward to see baby’s hand and/or foot shape on my belly.

我跟布先生偶而會唸故事給寶寶聽
布先生說我要多學習用英文唸故事 因為我的語調太平了
他還每天唱同一首歌給他聽 (In the bulb there is a flower)
有朋友說 將來寶寶出生後聽到這首歌 會有熟悉的感覺而靜下來
有沒有用 以後再跟大家報告

In The Bulb There Is A Flower
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Occasionally, Mr. Bru and I will read stories to the baby (we only have English baby books). He said I need to practice this more because my tone is too plain. Also, starting from several weeks ago, he has sang to baby the same song, “In the bulb there is a flower”, everyday. He hopes this song will become a soothing song for the baby. It apparently works for a friend’s sister. Later, we will let you know whether this method really works.

已經29週了 還有一堆事情都沒有做
按照媽媽說我會早生的推算
(因為她的三個女兒還有我兩位姐的四個小孩都是提早生)
算算只剩下兩個多月的時間了…….啊

29 weeks, lots of things are waiting to be done. According to my mom, I should expect to give birth 7-10 days before the due date. Because her 3 pregnancies and my two sisters’ 4 pregnancies, babies were born about 7-10 before the due date. So, I guess I only have barely more than 2 month to get things done… augh!!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

16W

隨著肚子慢慢變大, 懷孕的感覺越來越明顯
雖然現在沒有像之前一樣的疲累或不適
但我這顆孕前非常健康開心的胃
慢慢開始了解什麼叫做胃灼熱,胃酸逆流
尤其是傍晚 特別覺得好像有東西卡在食道的感覺
咳嗽或打噴嚏時 也會造成由胃酸逆流引起的嘔吐感
雖然醫生開給我胃藥 我還是想能撐著不吃就不吃

With my growing belly, the pregnancy seems to be a lot more real now. Although the fatigue and morning sickness have gradually faded away, I’ve started experiencing so called “heartburn” & “acid reflux” (which my happy tummy hardly experienced before). It seems like there is always food rising up in my chest, especially in the evenings. Or the nausea returns due to acid reflux induced by coughing or sneezing. My OB gave me a prescription for Zantac (she guarantees this is perfectly fine), but I think I can handle this without taking medication.

孕婦就是這樣 盡量將藥品視為拒絕往來戶
也不就是為了希望肚子裡的寶寶健康
但這次H1N1流感讓孕婦成為高危險群
在詢問過婦產科醫生及幾位醫生朋友
我也是毅然決然的挨了兩針(一般及H1N1流感疫苗)
雖然有人不信任疫苗安全性
或相信所謂”增加小孩自閉症機率”理論
我選擇相信科學根據(當然我知道科學不是100%)以及風險效應
尤其我冬天常常生病

Pregnant women often try to avoid medicine as much as possible for one simple reason: to keep the baby healthy. However, the outbreak of H1N1 has put pregnant women on the top of the high risk group. After consulting my doctors and several M.D. friends, I also received seasonal and H1N1 flu shots. Although some people question the safety of the vaccines and/or believe the “vaccine-Autism” theory, I chose to believe science and risk-benefit (though I know nothing is 100%). And on top of that, I get sick pretty often during the winter.

我雖然贊成用疫苗來保護媽媽寶寶以及廣大社群
但打不打疫苗是個人選擇 我也尊重反對意見的人
每個人的情況都不同 (至少我不會正面去批評)
但我就遇到有人當面嗆我說
“我才不相信流感疫苗這種東西, 那會導致自閉症, 我才不打”
不知道講的人有沒有心…
但我聽起來就是在批評我是個壞媽媽
或許是我太敏感 (孕婦很敏感喔…大家請小心)

Although I strongly support getting flu shots to protect expectant mothers, babies, and the greater community, I also think this is a personal choice. I respect those who choose not to get vaccinated; at least I won’t confront them. However, I encountered someone that brutally said to my face (can’t remember exactly how that person phrased it) “I don’t believe in flu shots, I never get them. They cause Autism. I don’t believe that kind of ****”. Maybe this person didn’t mean it, but I took it hard. I felt I was being criticized as a bad mother that put my baby at risk. Maybe I’m too sensitive….but I guess pregnant women are sensitive in general because of all the hormones.

不過願意打H1N1的孕婦還真不少
這個禮拜二下午接到醫院打來的電話
說當天四點到六點可以免費到醫院打H1N1
我翹班準時四點到…已經有一百多個人排在我前面
整個走廊擠滿孕婦坐在地上等著打針 (有點像孕婦難民營)
在我等待的45分鐘 大概來來去去有兩三百人吧
從來沒同時看過這麼多孕婦 應該照個像的 真的很壯觀
我想醫院也沒料到會有這麼多孕婦願意打H1N1吧

However, there are a lot of pregnant moms out there (at least in Pittsburgh) willing to get H1N1 flu shots. I got a phone call from my OB office Tuesday afternoon that they have a free H1N1 vaccine clinic for pregnant women 4pm-6pm that day. I arrived on time at 4pm, and there were already 100 pregnant women ahead of me. The hallway was packed with pregnant women sitting on the floor (like a refugee camp) waiting to be called. During my 45 mins wait, there was probably about 200-300 expectant mothers. I’ve never seen so many pregnant women at the same time; I should have taken some pictures!! The hospital probably didn’t expect so many women so desperate to get an H1N1 flu shot.

還有還有, 這個禮拜接到移民局的通知
我的兩年”條件式”綠卡正式已核准轉為十年”永久”綠卡
(由結婚拿到的綠卡只有兩年, 屆滿前要申請移除”條件”轉為永久綠卡)
這次移民局的動作還蠻快的 居然六個月就通過了(聽說有人等一年)
至少申請費變貴是有改善成效的

By the way, we got a letter from USCIS that they approved the removal of my “conditional” status on my permanent residency (which was necessary because I got it through marriage), and will give me “permanent” permanent residency within 60 days. I’m very pleased with USCIS’s processing time. It only took them 6 months to approve it, but it’s often twice that or more. I guess the increasing fee is worth it.

所以….這個禮拜很開心
打到H1N1, 永久綠卡沒問題, 星期六還去看了場學校的足球賽
只是工作上的事永遠做不完……………..

In general, I had a very good week, getting H1N1 shot, having my green card conditional status removed, and watching Pitt’s football game in Heinz Field. The problem is…….I’m still so behind in my work.