Today was my second appointment with the fetal diagnostic specialist. They did the second blood draw for the integrated screening and took a ton of ultrasound pictures of the Snowflake.

During the ultrasound, they took measurements, checked vital organs (heart, brain, kidneys), and even counted fingers. They also determined the sex today. Make your guess now and I’ll reveal the Snowflake’s gender at the end of this entry. Drop me a comment and let me know if you were correct!

When they were doing the ultrasound, they discovered something that appeared abnormal near the opening of the cervix, something that appeared to be fluid, blood, or perhaps a blockage of tissue. This could mean bad news for me, possibly heavy bleeding later in the pregnancy which may result in a prolonged hospital stay, and most certainly delivery via cesarean section. The doc said that we should take a better look at it, which meant they had to switch to vaginal ultrasound — which after months of IVF, is old hat by now, but never pleasant. They instructed me to empty my bladder and come back for part two of the ultrasound.

With all of the hoops that my body made me jump through to get to this point, I never expected that the pregnancy would be completely smooth sailing. My fertility specialist even told me that he considers me a “high risk pregnancy.” I just hoped that whatever it was, that it wouldn’t be a danger to the baby and that it would be manageable. As I made my way back into the exam room, I lifted up a quick prayer.

When they did the vaginal ultrasound, they discovered that everything looked normal. The doctor said that he didn’t expect me to have any problems at all. I was so relieved that I didn’t even ask them what they thought it was. They took additional pictures, which were much clearer since it was less obstructed than a regular external ultrasound.

All in all, Baby Champuru gets an A+ on her report card. Did you catch that?

We’re having a girl!

It’s weird when you actually look forward to a doctor’s appointment, but now that I’m pregnant I can say that I honestly do, especially when an ultrasound is on the agenda.

Tomorrow, we might possibly know the gender of the Snowflake, if baby decides to cooperate during the ultrasound. Although I’m excited about this, I am actually waiting on the results of the integrated serum test with much more anticipation. Those results tell us what the odds are that our baby has a chromosomal disorder like Down Syndrome. We won’t have those results at least for another two weeks, I believe. Tomorrow, I’ll be taking another blood test to complete part two of the integrated serum, so more waiting is in store for me. If nothing else, this whole pregnancy business is teaching me patience.

I’ve outgrown another outfit. Today’s ensemble, although it fit somewhat comfortably in the morning, by the afternoon the pants felt too snug in the waist and my dress shirt felt like it was too short to cover my tummy. It was actually long enough to keep me from looking obscene, but if I lifted my arms, you’d get a peek at my tummy. Probably because my pants were riding slightly lower than normal due to my small baby bump.

A co-worker exclaimed today, “Donna, your tummy is sticking out! You’re showing now! It’s so cute!”

I suppose it’s the one time in a woman’s life when a protruding stomach is considered “cute.” I should enjoy it while it lasts because in about five months, the story will change completely and I’ll finally find the incentive to put my gym membership to good use.

Oh, that’s right. I don’t need a spoon to gag. It doesn’t take much for me to start hacking like a cat with a bad hairball.

Tomorrow marks my 16th week: 4 months! But alas, the 24/7 sickness and bionic nose still persist. I truly hope that I won’t be one of those poor souls that experience morning sickness until the day I deliver. That would just be cruel and unusual, if you ask me.

But, I digress. I prayed long and hard for this pregnancy, and by golly, if it takes 9 months of morning sickness to get this thing done, then so be it. It is one of the greatest blessings and miracles of my life and I don’t want to sound ungrateful now. But, it would be nice to be able to eat without fear of barfing. If not for me, at least for the baby. I’m sure the Snowflake would like a taste of okonomiyaki sometime soon, don’t you think?

Oddly enough, I have found one dish that I can eat in fairly large quantities: Chinese-style Cold Ginger Chicken. Since the chicken is boiled and served cold, it doesn’t emit an odor, and the ginger has a calming effect on my tummy without being overtly offensive to my taste buds. (I don’t care much for ginger, but they way they prepare it for the sauce is super yummy.) In fact, I’ve been eating this dish at least once or twice a week at work for lunch for the past few weeks with great results.

I found several recipes for Cold Ginger Chicken on the web and it looks so easy to make, I wonder if it’ll taste as good as the one I buy from my favorite Chinese restaurant? Maybe I’ll try making it over the weekend. Here’s the recipe from the HECO website:

Cold Ginger Chicken

Ingredients:
1 whole (3 to 5 lb) chicken fryer
Water
1 cup cubed ginger root
4 to 5 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths
3/4 cup salad oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions

Clean and trim excess fat from chicken. Fill a large stockpot 1/2 full of water; bring water to a boil. Add chicken and additional water, if necessary, to completely cover the chicken. Cover and bring water to a boil again. Turn off heat and let stand for 1 hour. Remove chicken from pot and drain. Cover chicken and refrigerate until chilled. Cut chicken into 2 x 1-inch pieces; place in serving dish. Combine ginger and green onions in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add oil, salt, and pepper; chill. To serve, pour ginger mixture over chicken or serve ginger mixture in a separate bowl. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

My friend Myron just got back from Okinawa and he took a ton of beautiful photographs that totally make me want to pack my bags and head for the homeland. I’ve been to Okinawa twice, the last time in 1999 with my Okinawan dance troupe when we had the opportunity to perform in Naha and Gushikawa. Truly memorable experiences, perhaps once in a lifetime for me, although I hope to return to the art again in the future and have the chance to dance in Okinawa again.

With Baby Champuru on the way, I hope that I will be able to instill an appreciation for both cultures (Japanese and Okinawan) in him/her. I have always felt that having a keen cultural awareness since childhood really has made my life richer as a result. At the same time, I don’t want to push my own passions and interests on my child. My parents did a great job of not forcing me to do this or that, but rather gave me the opportunities to learn different things. When I decided to quit, they didn’t force me to continue. When I wanted to go back, they gladly allowed me to do so. I think forcing a child only creates a negative impression in their mind and they may never opt to return. As for me, I stopped and started Okinawan dance lessons a number of times since age 5, but I have always returned out of my own volition. I hope early exposure will grow into a lifelong love of their culture. That would make me very happy.

Photography by Myron Akana

Having been a back sleeper all of my life, I read with great dismay that by month five of my pregnancy, I should be sleeping exclusively on my side. The book What to Expect When You’re Expecting warns:

The back position, though more comfortable, rests the entire weight of your pregnant uterus on your back, your intestines, and two major blood vessels: the aorta (the vein responsible for bringing blood from the heart to the rest of the body) and the inferior vena cava (the vein responsible for returning blood from the lower body to the heart). This can aggravate backaches and hemorrhoids, make digestion less efficient, interfere with breathing and circulation, and possibly cause hypotension, or low blood pressure.

YIKES! Just the threat of hemorrhoids is enough to get me to sleep in the bathtub with a rubber chicken on my head, so I think I can deal with sleeping on my side for a few months. While I’m carrying pretty small at the moment, I figured I would test drive sleeping on my side. As expected, my neck and shoulder cramped up and I was absolutely uncomfortable. I heard about body pillows made specifically for pregnant women, so I started doing some research online and looking for them out and about.

Snoogle body pillow by Leachco

Yesterday Joyce and I went to USA Baby on Nimitz Highway in search of the elusive pillows. They had several types of body pillows, but the one that caught my eye was called the Snoogle made by Leachco. There was also a pillow called Back N’ Belly that looked comfortable, but large and unwieldy.

The only thing that gave me pause was the price tag that these pillows carried: $69.99 for the Snoogle and $89.99 for the Back N’ Belly. Before dropping that kind of money for a pillow I was only going to use for the next 4 months or so, I wanted to be sure that it was going to be worth the cost. I decided that I would check online for reviews and see what people said about the products.

In my search for reviews, I discovered that Amazon.com carries the Leachco pillows for substantially less than USA Baby. It also says that it qualifies for free Super Saver Shipping. The Back N’ Belly pillow is $54.99 and the Snoogle is $49.99. (Quite a difference from the $89.99 and $69.99, respectively, at USA Baby.) I queried the ladies on HawaiiMoms.com about body pillows and it so happens that one of them had the Back N’ Belly ~ and loved it. The only unfortunate thing is that she said that they have a California King sized bed and it took up half the space. We have a standard King, which would pretty much relegate Hubby to sleeping on the floor with the dog, which I’m sure he would not appreciate.

So, today I ordered the Snoogle for $49.99, no tax, no shipping. Hallelujah!

Who knew a baby bittermelon could be so adorable? Okay, so maybe it’s the face only an Okinawan could love, but I thought the baby goyaman key chain was simply the cutest thing ever.

Lunching at Utage with Joyce yesterday, I noticed some signs advertising goyaman key chains in various styles: classic goyaman (with yellow hat and red cape), eisa, hanagasa, and baby goyaman! My friend Henry, who was working the lunch shift, brought it to my table and said that it was a gift from “Uncle Henry.” How appropriate, a baby goyman key chain for baby champuru! Of course, mommy champuru will be putting it to good use in the meantime.

There I was, standing in front of the Philosophy display at Sephora, mulling over whether to get the “Hope in a Jar” moisturizer or “Hope in a Bottle” treatment moisturizer for congested skin. A well-meaning employee approaches me and says, “have you used ‘Hope in a Jar’ before?”

“No, I haven’t,” I replied, interested to see what he was going to recommend.

“Perhaps I can show you some other moisturizers that might be more suited to your skin type,” he started, and it would’ve been just fine if he had left it at that, but he went on, “…because ‘Hope in a Jar’ is more for young skin.”

Good heavens, now I have old skin.

“‘Hope in a Jar’ is the most basic moisturizer that we carry, it doesn’t contain anything for anti-aging…” he continued, but I had already shut him off as he went took me to displays for other much more costly products. He gave me a few options, small one-ounce tubes for around $75. More than I had wanted to spend on moisturizer. I picked one up and saw the words, “for mature skin.” That was it.

I thanked him politely and walked away from the displays and went to find Joyce, who had been corralled into a make-up seat by a beautiful waif-life woman extolling the benefits of a product line that was sure to be perfect for Joyce’s skin type. I’m sure she didn’t insinuate that Joyce had old skin.

I listened with interest and decided that if it was good enough for Joyce, it was good enough for me. We both went home with a starter kit of Dr. Susan Taylor’s Rx for Brown Skin, which is a product line that is specially formulated for people of color. The starter kit, which includes a cleanser, toner, moisturizer and brightener was only $55. All that for $20 less than the one-ounce tube of moisturizer the other guy tried to sell me.

Geez, it’s no wonder I rack up Sephora Beauty Insider points so quick. I get a sample every time I stop in. (You qualify for a free sample of something whenever you spend $100 at Sephora.) The price of beauty is high — especially if you have old skin.