week 39

(click on the picture to enlarge it)

One more week to go! Yay, I'll meet Nhu-Y by next Tuesday. How exciting!

There is a big difference between this week and last week. I feel heavier when walking. Walking is also harder when the baby has dropped very low. I feel like there is a big rock sitting on my bladder. So even though I don't have to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes, I feel quite uncomfortable walking especially when I need to pee.

The back hurts after I sleep for a few hours. I totally blame this on the bed. Thuy complained about how soft the bed was when we bought the mattress 2 years ago. I thought he was picky. Now I understand what he said. It's a little bit hard for me to get in and out of the bed. The back problem seems to go away when I stretch and do a little bit of yoga and work-out. So it's not a big complaint for me there.

I can eat a lot more now. However, I am still at 137 lbs - which means I only gained 26 lbs through the whole pregnancy. This is the last week of pregnancy, I convinced Thuy to let me eat the sticky rice which usually spikes up my blood sugar level.

I got the ultrasound today. Nhu-Y is about 7lbs 14 oz. So Nhu-Y will be around 8lbs next Tuesday. Nhu-Y is fine (according to the doctor): the size is on target; the sizes of the head and stomach are normal. They think her legs are long - I guess it's good. She will be a supermodel then :). The amniotic fluid is also on target. (The doctor said the insulin may affect the amount of amniotic fluid. Too little fluid may affect the growth of the baby and the brain. Too much fluid may cause complication during the delivery. Darn, I have learned so much during the pregnancy. Biology does not seem so hard any more!)

We got a clear view of Nhu-Y's face today. During other ultrasound sessions, she usually covered her face with both hands/arms. Today, we're lucky to see her face. She looks like me - the nose and the lips. I prefer that she will look like her dad. But I guess it's OK she looks like me. She's still cute to me anyway. I'm a lot happier when her dad replied "Excellent! it's like winning a lottery when I have two of you" when I asked him what he thinks if the baby is like me. That's the best gift that I ever had.

Nhu-Y's room is livable. It's far from being "ready" as I would like it. I was stressed a little bit several weeks ago then I realized that it was not worth it. So I lowered my standard to "livable." My happiness and health are more important than having a nice room for Nhu-Y. I'm sure she will agree and thank me when she's healthy :).

I have an NTC3.2 release at work. I hope by the end of this week, I can verify all the bugs. So other QA member will be able to handle the rest of the release. Therefore, I hope Nhu-Y comes out after this week. It's ideal for her to come out as scheduled, Nov. 24. So I have this weekend to complete everything I need to. And I have the coming Monday to rest.

My induction is scheduled at 7am on 11/24/2009. The doctor advised me not to eat much after midnight. The reason behind this is if there is a complication, then food might go to the lung in the case of an emergency c-section while under general anesthesia. While the reason does make sense, I don't think it will be a big problem. Here are my reasons: 1) if complication occurs (knock on wood), then it will take at least several hours to detect. At that point, food may have moved to the small intestine already. 2) I should be in the best state of my mind to be calm and relax, having an empty stomach will irritate me dramatically. 3) women who do not have scheduled induction/c-section can still go into labor right after a big meal. I haven't seen any statistic on those cases. So based on those reasons, I will ignore the advise from the doctor. I will have a good breakfast then go in with a happy face and a ready mind for the labor.

I need to write a lot of things I learned during the pregnancy. But I guess this is good for now.

week 38

2 more weeks! How exciting it is! I can't wait to meet Nhu-Y but I still wants her to arrive on 11/24. The doctor scheduled the induction at 7am on 11/24. She said it usually takes 12 hrs for the first pregnancy. So I may have Nhu-Y around 8pm on that day. People at work think I will have this baby earlier than that. So there is a bet in the office. It's a win-win situation for me. If Nhu-Y arrives on 11/24, I'll get the whole pot. If not, I'll get 1/2 :). I swear that I didn't come up with the rules :).

Luckily I still feel great. I eat and sleep more but I don't feel tired yet. I feel so heavy sometimes but then sometimes I have to check to see if I'm still pregnant.

The doctor wants to induce the baby this week if I'm on insulin. But since I'm off insulin for several weeks, she thinks it's OK to induce Nhu-Y on her due date.

I weigh 137 lbs now. My measurements are 38-44-39.

I was so worried that I couldn't finish a release at work. But now, I'm on the 3rd one. I'm happy that I can help the team out before I leave for my maternity leave. After this week, I should be ready to leave work.

Week 36

(wrote on 10/28/2009)

It's the week 36 now. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. 4 more weeks to go! Thuy can't wait to meet Nhu-Y but I really want to have this baby around Thanksgiving. I am not completely ready yet.

Nhu-Y is in a good health. She weighs 6.5 lbs now. The doctor said that if she arrives on the due date, she will be around 8 lbs. She will be a big Asian baby. I guess it means I will have a hard time during the labor. Darn!

Despite of the contractions around the week 28, the gestational diabetes and the minor car accident during the week 35, everything is still great. I feel great. I can still eat and sleep very well. I'm still able to work out or walk a few times a week. I breath heavily during a few sit-up and down, but I don't feel really tired. I'm still able to do housework and cook. But I haven't cooked much lately due to the work schedule and doctor appointments.

The insulin does not seem to help with my diabetes. So I've been off that and only control it by my diet. I haven't discussed with my endocrinologist about getting off the insulin but I submitted my blood sugar log to him. He seemed to be happy with the numbers.

36 weeks! Nhu-Y will pop out any time now. I need to finish her room and the bags to go to the hospital.

Week 35

35 weeks - wow, it's a big milestone. In two more weeks, Nhu-Y will  be fully developed. I am so excited now. Thuy is also excited. He wants Nhu-Y to come out now, but I told him and Nhu-Y to wait until Thanksgiving.

Thanks to aunt Chieu, Nhu-Y's room is clean now. She cleaned it up over the weekend. There was too much stuff in there and I got lost. So I didn't know how to organize the room until Chieu came over and cleaned up.

This week, I start feeling tired when I get up and down. I haven't been walking for more than a week already. My diabetes got worse since I didn't control my food at some events. The doctor now ordered me to take more insulin during lunch and dinner. And since the baby will gain weight a lot faster now, I really have to control my blood sugar level. I have to take more insulin to correct the problem if after meal's number is high.

The good side of the diabetes is we get to see ultrasound weekly until birth.

Week 32 & 34

According to this website, http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_calendar/week32.html, Nhu-Y now should be 4 .lbs and 11.4 inches.I didn't gain much weight during these two weeks. I'm still at 128lbs.

The pregnancy is still easy on me. I can still sleep and eat. In my third trimester, I didn't feel tired yet. Thank you Nhu-Y for such an easy pregnancy.

I failed the sugar test and now I'm entitled for the gestational diabetes. I've been seeing Dr. Fehrenkamp and his nurse practitioner, Amy. They are wonderful. I love it when the doctor spent time and explained everything for me.

Week 34 

The diabetes is not so bad. At first, the doctor wants me to control it by my diet. But then, he put me on the insulin since I didn't gain weight. I have to take insulin before lunch now. Everything else is good.

The death of an acquaintance

This morning, one of my ESL students told me that another student passed away. It was very sad to hear the news because I just met her at the VACAT's Moon Festival Picnic. She was there quietly enjoying the lantern parade. I stopped by to say hi and asked her to join the parade. I didn't realize she was suffering from a heart attack at that moment. There were doctors, nurses, and pharmacists from AVAMPS (Austin Vietnamese American Medical Professional Society) there. There were policemen and firemen there. If she said something, her life might have been saved. If her symptoms got severe, her life might have been saved. It is sad to see how easy a life can be ended.

From the other student, I learned that she had the shooting pains in her chest for a few days. That morning, the pain got worse. I know she had MAP (medical assistance programs) to allow her to go to an assigned clinic and the Brackenridge hospital in case of emergency. I also know it's quite hard to schedule a doctor appointment with the clinic especially when she did not speak or understand English well. I don't think if she knew those were heart-attack symptoms. And even if she knew how bad her condition was, I don't think she knew she could go to the hospital with her MAP card.

Sitting here with thousands of thoughts running through my mind, I am wondering what she knew and what she didn't know; I am wondering if there was anything that could help; I am wondering how many people are like her in the Vietnamese community? I am wondering what program(s) we can create to help those people. And I just realized my social program at VACAT is not enough. In that program, I help people to get government assistance for health, food and others. But I do not have any programs to educate people about their rights or how to use those programs. And there are no Vietnamese speaking representatives at those programs to help the Vietnamese people. It was my plan last year to campaign and lobby to the city/state to have the Vietnamese speaking language at all the programs for low-income people. I started talking to a few people at the state then the plan was halted. I was lazy and busy. And a part of it, I was discouraged by some rude people who bugged me constantly when they didn't really need help. The death of this person gives me encouragement and inspiration to continue. I hope to remember this death whenever I feel lazy or discouraged.

Beef with Black Bean and Baby Spinach

Ingredients:

- 1 lb beef
- 1.5 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp black bean sauce
- 1 tsp red chili sauce
- 1 lb baby spinach
- shallot and garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil

Methods:
- Cut beef into small strips
- Marinate beef with all the ingredients + 1 tbsp olive oil for 1 hour or overnight
- Chop shallot and garlic
- Heat the pan then put 1 tbsp olive oil in.
- When oil is hot, put shallot and garlic in.
- When shallot and garlic turn brown, put marinated beef in.
- Stir fry for about 10 mins then put baby spinach in.
- Stir fry for another 3 min, then turn off heat.
- Serve beef with white rice.