Sam’s Club / Walmart in China February 10, 2009
Posted by pjpajamas in china.Tags: china, sam's club, walmart
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I’ve never been to a Sam’s Club in US, but I assume it’s huge like a Costco. I’ve been to Walmart. I think people can agree with me when I say it’s where we go for the cheap stuff. Not so good quality, but cheap.
So there’s a lot of things that we’re used to having in the US, that’s kind of hard to buy in China. Not impossible, just not usually at the local farmer’s market. So we go to a nearby Sam’s Club/Walmart. It’s just simple things like butter and cheese.
First of all the parking lot is truly kickass. There’s a little light and sensor above each parking space. It’s red of there’s a car and green if it’s empty. Instead of driving slowly around looking carefully for a space, you can go straight to the green. I love it. There are always things like this that I wonder why isn’t really incorporated in US. But then, it’s never quite as crowded in the US as it is in China.
The other thing I noticed is that everything at Sam’s Club/Walmart is really high-end and expensive compared to the local stores. I’m not very good with brands and such, but I do know Clarks just because I have a pair for work. Sam’s Club/Walmart had a little stand for Clarks.
Going straight to the butter/cheese. It’s interesting, because here at a local supermarket you can find like a dozen different brand of cheese and butter. There probably isn’t a huge difference between them, but the point is that the market is really saturated.
There at China Sam’s Club/Walmart, there was only one brand of cheese and butter. Not the brand that I buy in the US. I’m sure this brand had to cut a deal with Walmart.
I can’t help but think that the US brands that haven’t made it into China are probably missing out on some profits.
Another brand I love and was able to still get in China – Dreyer’s ice cream. A lot of brands, even though it’s technically the same brand, the product is extremely different. I don’t really understand it. Well I understand that the “American” brand bought in China, is really made in China. But isn’t the “American” brand bought in America also made in China?
I’ve written before about how Mead Johnson’s Enfamil’s formula is really disgustingly sweet and completely different in the two countries. One label – two different products.
Now I’m writing – the Dreyer’s ice-cream is even better in China.
Adjusting Your Babies Jet Lag February 9, 2009
Posted by pjpajamas in china, family life.Tags: baby, china, jetlag
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My first born is under 2 years of age and she has already been back to China three times. Dealing with jet lag is always a pain, especially when coming back to the US. However, I believe my husband and I are really getting better at it.
This last time was different, because now we have two babies. We’ve looked up the internet on this jetlag issue before and the advice is always to adjust them early, even before you get on the flight. But most of the advice is assuming people are traveling between states, not halfway around the world.
This time, we followed the advice. We let the babies sleep later and later everyday so that they were going to be around 11:30 to midnight. We did this because our flight to China was leaving at 12:30 am. So we figured it’s better that they can stay awake until the plane takes off.
Going to China is 15 hours, coming back is 12 to 13 hours.
Going to China – our bedtime is their afternoon (around 2 to 3 pm). So it’s not that bad. We just go to sleep around 2/3pm and wake up around 2/3 am. And we move that back by 1 to 2 hours everyday. It’s actually kind of nice to finally be an early bird for once.
Coming back is always the hard part. Because now, our bedtime is like 8 am in the morning. It really doesn’t help to go to sleep at 8 am in the morning and then wake up 8 pm at night and just be awake all night. In the past, we’ve also tried to adjust backwards where we made our daughter sleep an hour later each day. That really took a long time to adjust – almost 3 weeks. And it was painful. This time, we adjusted forwards. We would wake our daughter up and hour early each day. This worked so much better. She adjusted pretty much in a week.
We really couldn’t apply the same strategy to our son – the younger one. So that was the tough part. As my daughter got adjusted and he didn’t – I found myself being up all the time. As soon as she fell asleep, he would wake up.
Either way, it hasn’t even been two full weeks and they are both adjusted now and I’m just happy I can get 6 hours of sleep per night.
I think this experience is preparing me for residency.
Update – Back from China February 9, 2009
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I was in ShenZhen for about 2 months. WordPress is blocked in China, so I didn’t even bother trying to write.
I’ve been back for two weeks now. The two babies are finally over their jetlags, I’m starting to get at least 5 to 6 hours of sleep at night.
Soon I should be posting some more blogs!
An Update December 9, 2008
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Haven’t had much stuff to write about or time. So let’s see…
It’s freezing cold, and I’m heading back to China in Friday.
My baby boy recently had his 2 month check-up, he was 16 lbs and 11 ounces. BIG BOY.
I was thinking about what’s been going on in my life in the past few years and this is what I came up with:
2005 – Graduated college, Cruised Alaska, went to Costa Rica, started medical school
2006 – Went to China, and then China again, then cruised Europe, got married
2007 – Had my first baby
2008 – Had my second baby
I don’t plan on anything big for 2009.
One Stuffy Nose, One Vomiting Baby October 23, 2008
Posted by pjpajamas in family life.Tags: baby, stuffy nose, vomit
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Is two kids too much? Especially so close in age? 18 months apart to be exact. I wonder how my parents did it. My sister and I are 2 years apart. It’s almost like going one on one, parents to kids, but not quite. It really is more like the kids over power us.
My newborn baby boy has a chronic stuffy nose. It started about 3 weeks of age. Then it went away for a week and now it’s back. Most of the time is just sounds nasty, and he feeds okay and as long as you prop him up, he sleeps okay too. Other times, it’s very frustrating. It’s a lot of bulb suctioning and nasal drips. And those vaporizers. I made an appointment to see one of my professors and for some OMT and I can’t wait.
My older one recently has been very pukey. Three times today she’s puked up formula. Yes she’s still on it. She was down to one bottle a day. But today, she was calling for it, and not too long after she has it, she pukes.
It’s stressful. What’s more stressful for me, is the other adults in the room freaking out. Gotta maintain control. And not scare the kids.
I guess it’s from my ER rotation I get this from, but I ask right away to myself – “Sick or healthy?” She’s well-hydrated, not feverish –> she’s healthy. Okay, let’s not go to the ER. What would one of my preceptors say if they saw a patient like this. “Keep her hydrated, it’s okay if she doesn’t eat for a couple of days. Use a syringe to feed little bits of gatorade at a time if you have to.” So maybe a trip to the clinic is not necessary as well?
But I’ve decided a long time ago that I don’t want to be the doctor of the family – too much responsibility mixed in one. I just want to be mom.
So we’ll still call the doctor tomorrow just to be safe.
Of course, just to be safe, I threw away the newly opened formula can, just in case there’s preformed toxin sitting in there. And we opened another can. It would really suck though is those cans were packaged together.
Why not to feed zoo animals October 7, 2008
Posted by pjpajamas in family life.Tags: bears, beijing, feeding animals, zoo
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This was taken while at Beijing Zoo. What you can’t see is the loads of people top left just throwing water, crackers, etc at the bears.
But for kicks – maybe instead – we should throw bits of food at zoo animals? Aren’t they so much more interactive than any zoo you’ve ever been to?
I’m just kidding – don’t feed the the zoo animals – bad habits like these form.
Breastfeeding and it’s full glory October 6, 2008
Posted by pjpajamas in family life.Tags: breastfeeding, lack of sleep, sleep deprived
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Breastfeeding is definitely making it’s comeback.
I kind of feel like it’s a ”damned if you do and damned if you don’t” kind of situation. I honestly do believe breast milk is the best nutrition on Earth for your babies, however, formula is also the next best thing. Meaning, if you don’t end up breastfeeding, you’re baby will do just fine on formula.
With my first baby, everything was going great, we were doing bottle and breast because I was still in school. And then about 5 weeks in I had block exams (a whole week of tests). Because I really really needed to study, I just pumped the whole week and bottle fed the baby. I guess I shouldn’t be shock that my baby lost her latch. So for the next 6 months I pumped. And everyday I saw my milk dwindling to the point where I was pumping all day just for barely a meal’s worth of breast milk for her.
I hate pumping. All you ever hear about pumping is what a great invention for women who need to go back to work. I think – what a terrible invention made by men to force women to go back to work. I seriously hate it.
Anyways, back to breastfeeding. So for this baby – I really wanted to take time off from school to get it down right for at least 7 months.
There are just so many opinions and pressures surrounding breastfeeding. My own mother really believes in in formula feeding, and would love to just see me bulldoze my way through medical school and become a doctor faster. My mother-in-law definitely believes in breast milk and would have me take all the time off that I need. In fact she would have me take more time off for more babies if that was a possibility (I have toyed with the idea). Either way both supports me in whatever decision I make.
I personally wanted to breastfeed, because I felt it was one of the few things that a mother can really do for their baby that’s truly special. Nobody else can do the same. I also feel that if I’m signing up to be away for the next 4-5 years of my babies lives (residency), at least I can do this for my babies.
While it truly is glorious and a wonderful thing, it’s not that amazing in practice. I’ve haven’t had a full night’s sleep, not even a 3 hour sleep, in who knows how long. I wake up every 1 to 2 hour to breastfeed my baby. When I breastfeed, my baby gets sweaty where his skin is touching mine. I have this constant sleep deprived headache that I can keep at bay, but not get rid of. I have no idea how much my baby is getting down. I keep second-guessing myself and my supply of breast milk just to remind myself that he’s growing well. I can’t help but keep feeling his fontanel to see if he’s dehydrated. When I am breastfeeding, it’s like a 30-45 minute ordeal where I can’t help but get bored so I’m becoming a TV junkie. I couldn’t help but feel like I had already failed when we had gone back into the hospital for jaundice and the doctor ordered the baby to be given supplemental formula for those few days.
And that is breastfeeding and it’s full glory…
… I am enjoying every minute of it.
New Baby Boy – Story of My Labor October 1, 2008
Posted by pjpajamas in family life.Tags: delivery, fast labor, new baby boy
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As I try to write about my labor, I can’t help but be pissed about the whole situation. But if I write in a pissed off mood – I’ll just make it out as if the nurses were incompetent. They really weren’t, they were great at their jobs. BUT – I felt that AS a patient, I was ignored. They really didn’t believe I was in labor.
9/14 was Chinese Mood Festival Day – a day where families gather together in celebration to recognize the change of seasons.
That morning I woke up at 4:50 am (I have a projection clock so I always know the time). I was feeling a lot of pressure in my tummy (that’s the best I can describe it). It was completely different from contractions from my first labor. I waited, the sensation passed, then it came back again about 4-5 minutes later and then again.
Just like that, I was having regular contractions and they were progressing in pain fairly quickly. I woke up my husband and told him it was time to go to the hospital I’ve been told many times before by many doctors and nurses that based on my first labor, I should go to the hospital right away for my subsequent labors.
We arrived at the hospital at about 5:30 am. We had to go through ER and then up to LDR on the 2nd floor. I walked into labor and delivery with a smile on my face and I tell the nurses “I think it’s time”. I can’t really blame them for not believing me I guess. Not many women labor with a smile on their face. One nurse even admitted to me afterwards that she hadn’t believed me. I should have been more melodramatic, holding my tummy and screaming all the way in – then they probably would have believed me.
7 am was also shift change – just my luck. I’m pretty sure that had something to do with why they couldn’t get a hold of the anesthesiologist or why he didn’t show up until a little after 7.
As the anesthesiologist is trying to give me an epidural shot and I’m lying on my side trying not to move too much – my contractions accelerate. I feel as if my contractions are constant and I’m not getting a break anymore. I feel a lot of pressure down there and I tell the nurses that the baby is coming. And this really made me upset – my nurse chuckled and said “that’s not your baby.” Another nurse was better and asked when was the last time I was checked – which was when I had come in and had been 4 cm. So they decide it might be a good idea to check me again – I was fully dilated and baby was definitely coming.
They call the OB, but not in time. The nurse ended delivering my baby at 7:28 am, right after I got one shot of epidural in. The OB made it in time to deliver my placenta.
I loved the SOFT program at this hospital. Pretty much from when my baby was delivered, he was skin to skin with me for the next 3-4 hours. I loved it. They did all the shots and assessments with him right on me.
I really don’t mind that the epidural didn’t come in time. I really don’t mind that the OB didn’t make it to deliver my baby, even though I switched hospitals and everything just to be closer to home. And it was a big switch took, because I was leaving not only a wonderful OB, but my preceptor and a whole labor and delivery team that I had rotated 6 weeks with.
What is really frustrating is that I felt like I did everything right on my part. I even told the nurses repeatedly that I would be a fast labor when I had arrived. So it really hurts me that I felt like I was completely ignored as a patient. I’m sure plenty of people feel this way all the time. I guess in the end I’m just grateful my son came out healthy and well.
Adjusting A Baby’s Jetlag September 14, 2008
Posted by pjpajamas in family life.Tags: adjust, adjusting, baby, china, jet lag, jetlag
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There were so many topics I had thought to write about, but was too jetlagged to write a couple of weeks ago. And now of course, I’m slowly remembering what those topics were, including this one.
There is about a 15 hour time difference between California and China. I just remember to add 3 to the current time and flip the AM/PM – this usually works.
So adjusting jetlag in China:
Our baby is a night owl and can go until 11 or even midnight US/Pacific time. So that translates to about 2 or 3 pm in China. When we went back to China when she was 7 months, she really adjusted by only 1 hour a day. However, now that she was bigger (16 months), it was easier to push her an extra 1.5 to 2 hours a day. No matter what, the first day we arrive, we let her do whatever she needs to do. Everybody’s clock is just as messed as her clock. The most important thing is to sleep when she sleeps!
Then we start pushing back her sleep time. The first night she slept around 2-3pm and woke up around 10-11pm. Then we would try to go for a walk, take her out, eat our “breakfast”. And in a couple of hours – she’ll need her “morning nap” at around 2-3am. We slowly push that sleep time from 2-3pm to 4-5 pm to 5-6pm, and so on. Until eventually she’s sleeping at 10-11pm every night. It was actually pretty easy, except for the part about finding things to do with her in the middle of the night. We found places to eat noodles and soy milk, and we even visited TianAnMen once for the raising of the flag. The good thing about China is that it’s still pretty hot, comfortable, but hot to us at night that the baby always needed her nap soon. So we napped when she napped and just went by her clock.
Adjusting jetlag in US:
This is actually harder. Coming back is always harder, but partly it’s also because it’s coming back from vacation. I had calculated all the timing ahead of time to no use. Because like I said, the first day we let the baby do whatever she wants and the very first day she didn’t sleep by what I had expected. Part of it is because we had about a 2 hour drive from the airport back to our home. So thank goodness our airplane had been delayed a couple of hours and the drive occurred around 4-6pm. She woke up by the time we got home, but went back to sleep around 8-9pm. Woke up I believe around 2 or 3 am for a couple of hours and then went back to sleep.
It was very weird, because instead of doing a long “night sleep” and short “day nap”, she was doing 3 sleeps a day at about equal lengths (4 hours each). It was hard to figure which two was technically the night sleep. Eventually it worked out the same as to when we were in China. It was better than I thought. Because by my calculations, she technically would have needed her “night sleep” starting at like 9 or 10 in the morning. However, she was able to start at around 2-3pm. I had wondered to try to move her schedule up or back an hour like China. But with her behavior pattern, it was also easier to just move her schedule back. It took about 1-2 weeks. It’s easier that I had nothing else going on and that was my sole job, helping her adjust jetlag.
I’m pretty sure it was easier on my own body too to adjust it only by an hour a day. By the time we were adjusted, everybody else was still fighting it hard at dinner time. They had to adjust right away because of work.
A problem that came out of this was that while adjusting I would let her watch TV in the middle of the night. Especially in our neighborhood, there is really nothing else you can do in the middle of the night. And it’s cold, you can’t really take your baby for a walk.
So after she was adjusted, there were some times where she would walk up in the middle of the night, expecting to be allowed to watch TV. But that went away after a couple of days of being firm. We would hold her and sing to her, but no matter what, would not let her leave the bed room.
We might go back to China in a couple more months when she’s about 19 months. I’ll see how she does then, it might be a bit harder because she’s already moved onto 1 day nap from 2. And it’s only 1.5 hours. This time someone else will have to adjust with her as well because I’m adjusting with the newborn. We’ll see!
Dilated 2 cm – What Does That Mean? and Bishop’s Score September 12, 2008
Posted by pjpajamas in family life, medicine.Tags: 2 cm, bishop's score, cervix dilated, dilated cervix, dilation
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Absolutely nothing!
So I went to my 38th week prenatal check-up today. It’s very strange because I just changed hospitals to be closer to my in-laws and this new place doesn’t do routine urine dipsticks. I’m so used to being bladder ready and peeing into the cup as soon as I arrive. Oh wells.
Anyways, the doctor checks me and says I’m dilated two centimeters. That’s a big change from not being dilated last week. But what does it really mean? Nothing. Doesn’t mean I’m going to pop right away. Preggos can walk around being dilated 2 for weeks. So I didn’t want to really tell my in-laws, might get them too excited and worried. However, being the big-mouth that I am, I still tell them and of course they think I’m going to pop this weekend. Still, it is my 2nd baby and multips most definitely can go at anytime.
Another way to see if I’m favorable to go into labor is the Bishop’s Score. It’s looks at several categories and gives a score, highest is 13. The score means two things. The lower the score, the less likely labor will start without induction. However, below 5, induction will probably fail anyway. The higher the score, the more likely spontaneous labor will start. And above 9, induction is likely to be successful.
| Parameter\Score | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Posterior | Intermediate | Anterior | - |
| Consistency | Firm | Intermediate | Soft | - |
| Effacement | 0-30% | 40-50% | 60-70% | 80% |
| Dilation | <1 cm | 1-2 cm | 2-3 cm | >3 cm |
| Fetal station | -3 | -2 | -1, 0 | +1, +2 |
I love wikipedia, btw, and this chart is from there.
So I’m basically only a score of 1, because I’ve only got the dilation thing going for me. Which, I should emphasize again! – is very common for preggos to be walking around 2 cm dilated during their last two weeks.
