During yesterday’s pregnancy routine visit, the doctor gave me a warning.
He told me, although my blood pressure was acceptable (122/80), and there was so protein in the urine, he found I had gained too much weight (40 pounds already). Besides, there was a trace of suger showing in my urine.
Even I passed the glucose tolerance test (GTT) (see Survived the GTT), it doesn’t mean I will be completely safe for gestational diabetes, a high blood sugar condition that some women get during pregnancy.
Therefore, suggested by the doctor, I need to pay attention to my diet and do my best to slow down the weight gaining.
How come I gained so much weight? I did follow the guidelines of Healthy Eating and Special Concerns.
It must because I ate too much carbohydrate, especially at night.
I have always worrying about my baby doesn’t get enough nutrition (see Understanding fetal movements, part 1), so I began to eat at night since my second trimester, sometimes at 3 am, sometimes 5 am and sometimes both.
After entering the third trimester, I became lazy and didn’t want to get up at midnight. So I ate a huge bowl of cream of wheat or six slices of whole grain bread around 10 pm, before I went to the bed. Sometimes I ate another huge meal at 5 am. I did get a whole night of sleeping, but obviously at the cost of my health.
I think that is why I gained so much weight whithin such a short time.
Following the doctor’s advice, I need to cut down the volume of carbohydrate consumption, and eat more vegetables and fruits instead. And if I feel hungry at night and need to get up to eat something, just do it.
If I do it right, there will be no shortage of supply to my baby, and I will control my weight gaining. In addition, there will be less work for me to do to lose the weight after she is born.
The first time when I first felt my baby’s hiccups, I was quite intrigued by this kind of jerky and rhythmic movements. After that, once a while, I felt her hiccups, which became more and more noticable with the time going.
What is fetal hiccups? How come baby has hiccups inside the tummy since there is no air there?
The book
What to Expect When You're Expecting: 4th Edition
doesn’t give me much information. It only says fetal hiccups don’t cause the same discormfort in babies (in or out of the uterus) as they do in adults, even when they last twenty minutes or more.
Therefore, as usual, I turned to the Internet looking for answers.
According to Sophia Levis, hiccups in the unborn baby are just a fetal reflex that is remarkably similar to our own. Only the more mature fetuses will hiccup, as hiccups rely on the development of the central nervous system. Some experts think that hiccups in utero are a response to fetal drinking or fetal breathing, which causes the flow of amniotic fluid in and out of the lungs, stimulating the diaphragm to contract.
Excitedly, I found one mother had already asked the same question on Yahoo Anwers. And fortunately, a member named “a6385u” gave us a pretty good answer:
Hiccups are not caused by air; they are caused by spasms of the diaphragm, which in turn are caused by pressure being forced on the nerve that supplies the diaphragm, the phrenic nerve. According to Wikipedia, “ultrasound scans have also shown that fetuses experience hiccups. Some hypotheses suggest that hiccups are a muscle exercise for the child’s respiratory system prior to birth, or that they prevent amniotic fluid from entering the lungs.” So, like in “born” persons, hiccups are not the result of air, but of muscles.
So there is nothing to worry about. I will just relax and enjoy this little entertainment from within.
According to Chinese zodiac*, 2008 is the year of rat. Therefore my baby, who is expected to come in June this year, is a rat, the head animal of the 12 animals of Asian astrology.
So what does the symbol rat associate?
According to Wikipedia, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs.
Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily.
A rat’s natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.
Behind the smiles and charm, rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling, insisting on having things their way no matter what the cost. These people tend to have immense control of their emotions, which they may use as a tool to manipulate and exploit others, both emotionally and mentally.
Rats are masters of mind games and can be very dangerous, calculative and downright cruel if the need arises. Quick-tempered and aggressive, they will not think twice about exacting revenge on those that hurt them in any way. Rats need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail, intolerant and strict, demanding order, obedience, and perfection.
Sounds like I have to work with my baby to keep those good features of being a rat person, and avoiding or getting rid of those negative ones. I will see whether I can outwit my baby in the future. :-)
* Chinese Zodiac is based on cyclic concept of time: a cycle of 12 years, repeated again and again.
The 12 Years are associated with 12 Celestial Animals: Rat (or Mouse on Mongoose), Ox (or Buffalo or Bull or Cow), Tiger, Rabbit (or Hare or Cat), Dragon, Snake (or Serpent), Horse, Goat (or Sheep or Ram), Monkey, Rooster (or Hen or Cock or Chicken or Phoenix), Dog and Pig (or Boar or Hog).
The animal names occasionally differ depending on the Oriental Country origin. The Chinese Yearly Horoscopes are basically built around these 12 Animal Signs.
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