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.

應該讓大家知道囉!!

很早以前就想和大家分享這個好消息了

不過我們還是決定穩定一點後再跟大家宣布

自己的好消息要忍很久真的事件蠻痛苦的事

對於懷孕這件事 其實已經計畫了一陣子

就在我們覺得 這檔事可能不會在我們預期下順利發生時

我懶惰的不再天天吞一大顆臭臭的”prenatal vitamin”

吃東西也不再戒口　生病了就吃藥　也不再等確定沒懷孕才吃

沒想到　這件事就這麼奇妙的發生了

或許上帝是要讓我知道 祂有祂的旨意 不是我能安排的

知道懷孕的當下 我們的反應一點都不像電影或電視裡演的

我沒有高興的大叫 反而是鎮定的盯著驗孕棒遲疑了一下

靜靜的沉浸在欣喜與訝異中 互相擁抱

懷孕的第一期 身體及心裡的不適其實大於欣喜

一方面是因為一點都不覺得自己懷孕 肚子也沒凸 也沒什麼人知道

只是一整天持續的噁心(倒是沒有吐太多),疲倦(平均睡眠9 hrs) ,食慾不振 (瘦了6磅)

在加上媽媽姐姐不在身邊, 總覺得少了那種”及時分享喜悅”以及”交換經驗”的感覺

兩個姐姐年齡相近, 結婚懷孕的年齡也相近 我好像永遠趕不上似的

想到若是媽媽在身邊, 至少可以和媽媽撒嬌請她煮我想吃的東西

所以 其實前三個月 有點小 depressed (因為疲累和頭暈 無法專心 工作上的進度也很慢)

懷孕對男人而言其實也是很不公平的 因為他們完全沒有辦法真正的體會

不太會煮中國菜的老公 只能看著我每天碎碎唸 這個不好吃 那個不想吃

或是在我吐的時候 站在旁邊很心疼的看著 問我要不要喝ginger ale

不過他倒是蠻認真的唸 “Daddy is pregnant too” & “Baby Bargain” books

進入第二期 身體舒服多了(頂多只是每天偶而的胃不舒服)

精神體力也好很多 三不五時的肚子餓 一餓就一定要吃

大部分的家人及身邊的朋友都慢慢知道這個消息

這幾天 肚子也慢慢突出來 也開始穿起孕婦裝

一切覺得比較真實了

接下來 就等到下次的超音波揭曉baby的性別囉

因為H1N1流感的肆虐 以及幾乎24 hrs 的旅程

我們決定今年冬天不回台灣了

下次回去的時候….就會帶著新成員和大家見面囉!!!

Till later….

Without further ado...

... I am pleased to introduce to you initial images of our little (very very little, as of yet) daughter or son (!). We expect to make more personal acquaintance with him or her sometime in April 2010.

I think it's pretty good timing for a birthday, since it's also the same month as YT's and the year is a multiple of 10. That means 2 birthdays around the same time, and it will always be easy to calculate his or her age (ha ha). I also believe (and have been told) it will give the sense of re-birth in spring a whole new meaning.

As you can imagine, we're both pretty excited.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves right now, and let Little Bu* sign off with a smile and a wave. Or, if he/she were wearing a hat, he/she could be tipping it at you right now. Actually, I suppose he/she could be thumbing his/her nose at us all, but I prefer to think our prenatal child would have better manners than that.

BB & YT

















*Yeah, we're calling him/her Little Bu right now to ease the pronoun ambiguity. I considered 'Pat' or 'Jean' or some other gender-neutral name, but thought it might stick prematurely. Plus, Little Bu rhymes with 'Bru' and it's around Halloween, so it seemed fitting. I also thought of 'Baby Gaga', but that was vetoed pretty quickly.  Cherry cherry boom boom, anyone?