This week, we went to Dr. Ma for our 26 week check-up. Mommy is gaining weight too fast again (as of now +21 lbs!) and the urine test is showing extra protein. This combination may lead to gestational diabetes – diabetes that you have during pregnancy. It’s not a good thing for baby as the baby tends to grow too fast and get too big. So next week, I’m having a blood and glucose test to validate whether I have gestational diabetes or not! Fingers crossed I’ll be okay otherwise no more sweets (and that includes Ian! Sweets I mean!) until Monkey is born. Pregnancy and food just don’t go together. Whomever tells you that you can eat “anything” and “everything” during pregnancy is a liar. Setting the whole Chinese nonsense aside, there are just way too many restrictions! And there will be more when I breastfeed! But I am determined to get take-out sashimi when I leave the hospital to get my raw fish craving satisfied. There are others too (like shrimp dumpling dim sum) but those are secondary!
We also spoke to Dr. Ma about circumcision. The world of beliefs in circumcision is very much divided. Some people are really for it (due to religious and hygienic reasons) and some are against it (putting your special bundle of joy under the knife – quite obvious, really!). Our doctor is neutral one way or the other. Her decisioning point will be how “big” the penis is to make the recommendation or not. Ian thinks that Monkey will definitely require one just because of that! So after paying for the advice, we are back to ground zero. Not sure whether we should have Monkey go through the trauma at such an early age. If you have any good suggestions / tools for us to make the decision, drop us a post!
By the way, Monkey didn’t have a good snap at the ultrasound scan. So we thought we will post a photo of his new home and the change table instead:
His new home will stay in our bedroom for the first few months and then we will likely move him out to the guest room. And what that means is we are likely kicking Ian out to the guest bedroom (so he can get sleep – how thoughtful of us!) until Monkey gets his sleep pattern sorted!
Until next week, love from Hong Kong.
Hi.
I’m a mom of 3 kids – 2 boys and a girl – and I’m also a nurse.
My advice on the circumcision is don’t do it. I had my first son circumcised and he almost bled to death from the surgery. He had to spend a few days in the intensive care nursery to monitor him. He’s fine now but it was very scarey at the time. Complications like his are rare but they can happen.
I went back to college and became a nurse before I had my other two children. I learned that circumcision caries no real medical benefit but it does carry some risk (which I had already seen firsthand). The best thing circumcision can do is lower the already low risk of male urinary infection. That small percentage of boys who get urinary infections can be effectively treated with antibiotics just like little girls.
My second son was left intact (uncircumcised) and never has had a problem with health or hygiene. Neither the circumcised or uncircumcised son was any more difficult to keep clean or teach to use the toilet than the other one or even their sister.It was all very easy.
Is circumcision a widely practiced thing in Hong Kong? If so, is it normally done in infancy or adolescence? I know in the US circumcision rates are dropping. I’m assuming you aren’t Muslim or Jewish so both professionally and personally, I can’t say I would recommend it.
It’s hard to find “balanced” information on the web. Most sites are either very much “pro” or very “anti” circumcision. The best site with both pro & con sides I’ve found is at http://www.homiegfunk.com/RIC2.htm (try http://www.homiegfunk.com/ and select “words” if that link doesn’t work).It was a college paper written by a woman in California who doesn’t have a medical background or children but I think it has good information in it.
Famous pediatricians, like Dr. Spock and Dr. Sears, have written against routine circumcision (http://askdrsears.com/html/1/t012000.asp) and WebMD.com has an article that says there aren’t many benefits of circumcision babies ( http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/circumcision-benefits and http://www.webmd.com/news/20010227/to-circumcise-not-to-circumcise ).
To be honest, there is new research on HIV/AIDS and circumcision. Some studies suggest circumcised men in Africa carry a lower risk of catching HIV and some other studies say it’s inconclusive. My personal opinion is using a condom will always be a better preventitive measure than having surgery.
I hope that information helped you some. I don’t have any information from Hong Kong. I am sorry. I do know from working in a hospital that a few parents were not able to circumcise because their child had “micro penis”. The parents get very upset by this. If that happens, don’t worry. It just means there isn’t enough foreskin tissue to do a circumcision at the time. It doesn’t mean your son will have a micro penis forever. It’s just skin and it will continue to grow along with the rest of him!
I had gestational diabetes too! It’s unpleasant but it goes away after delivery. The worst part was having to go to the doctor for the glucose tolerance test all the time (it tastes like a very, very sweet orange drink!).
Happy pregnancy to you! Enjoy this special time!
Cara (from Oklahoma City USA)
By: Cara on August 2, 2007
at 10:28 am
Hi, stacey :
I totally agreed with your doctor & it really depends on how BIG penis of your child. I would not let my baby do it unless the doctor recommends it. I ate a lots during my pregnancy and I gain about 20lbs during my 1st trimester. I believed that I have a right to eat whatever I want and I do not have to control the diet. That is not ture – finally I had gestational diabetes & I punched my figure everyday. I still eating my favorite pasta, bread & rice etc. My reading was very high and my blood sugar is out of control. Until one day, the doctor told me that I might need insulin if my blood sugar keeps high. Finally, I went to see the nutritionist for help, I cut down my daily habits, give up the noodles and bread etc. I only eat salads & white meat chicken, milk daily, finally the blood sugar is under control.
Good luck on your test, and please starts diet now – cut down noodles & rice, more veggie and white meat, so you can enjoy the watermelon around your third trimester because I couldn’t able to taste it at all.
By: Alexandra on August 4, 2007
at 1:46 pm
I am a college age student, who was cut at birth. I am definitely glad my parents decided to do it when I was born, so I wouldn’t have to go through it later. I know it’s very popular in the US, phillipines, and korea. My advice is to go for it, and I’m sure he’ll be glad you had it done for him.
By: B on August 29, 2007
at 6:32 am