30 Something ways to guess the Baby's gender!

Last Friday, July 27, marks the beginning of the 3rd trimester! As of today, there are only 93 more days to go before we arrive at the Due Date. Ninety Three Days! That's only a little bit more than 3 months! Wow!

A quick look at the "Gender Poll" shows that 14 readers have voted for Boys, and 12 voted for Girls. Granted that some of them are friends and family members who get to see how Amy is carrying the baby, and made the prediction based on the profile of her tummy, it is still a rather close split of 54%/46% with the advantage going to a Boy!

With that thought in mind, I just want to share something with you.

According to iVillage.com, if the Baby is a Boy...

• You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy (Yes, she did)
• Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute (It's 150+ every time we measured it)
• You are carrying the extra weight out front (She looks to me that she's carrying extra weight, not only out front, but out back, out top, out bottom, and out-within! Actually, she does carry extra weight out front)
• Your belly looks like a basketball (Her belly looks to me like that giant rock in Indiana Jones! Yes, her belly does looks like a basketball.)
• Your areolas have darkened considerably (Looks the same to me!)
  
• You are carrying low (Looks right in the middle to me!)
• You are craving salty or sour foods (Negative!)
• You are craving protein -- meats and cheese (Yes! Specifically Chicken and Cheese.)
• Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy (I thought cold feet only happens right before marriage! Anyway, her feet are actually warmer.)
• The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy (Negative)
• Your hands are very dry (Negative)
• Your pillow faces north when you sleep (I have no idea what this means!)
• Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you (Duh! The Dad-to-be has been gaining weight uncontrollably even before Dad met Mom!)
• Pregnancy has you looking better than ever (What else am I supposed to say here? Of course she is looking better than ever...)
• Your urine is bright yellow in color (Negative! It's more like neon purple with a hint of silver color!)
• Your nose is spreading (Negative.)
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles (I need to buy her a wedding ring first before I can run this test!)
• You are having headaches (Yes! All the time!)
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number (Yes! 138.2 is a even number, isn't it?)
• Dad-to-be has dreams of driving a BMW M5 (Yes)
  

So, it looks like I got 7 hits for the Boy-test.

Now, if it's a girl...

• You had morning sickness early in pregnancy (Yes)
• Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute (Yes)
• You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear (No)
• Your left breast is larger than your right breast (Since I'm banned from touching them, they look the same to me!)
• Your hair develops red highlights (No)
• You are carrying high (I supposed this is a 'Yes')
• Your belly looks like a watermelon (No)
• You are craving sweets (Duh! Ever since we met, we both crave sweets!)
• You are craving fruit (... And when we ran out of ice-creams...)
• You crave orange juice (Not really)
• You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy (No way!)
• You are moodier than usual during pregnancy (Women are not moody by nature. I don't know why the author thinks women could be moody.)
• Your face breaks out more than usual (Negative)
• You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread (Not if I put ice-cream on it!)
• Your breasts have really blossomed! (psi - pound per square inch!)
• Your pillow faces south when you sleep (I still have no idea what this means)
• Your urine is a dull yellow color (Did I mention that I'm color-challenged?)
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side to side (Note to self: I really need to start looking for a wedding ring for her.)
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number (Negative)
• Dad-to-be has dreams of driving a Porsche 997 GT2 (Yes)
  

And the result for the Girl test is 6!

Interestingly, a 7:6 split also comes out to be approximately 54%/46% split! So what does it mean?

A Message to my Child...

Dear Son (or Daughter),

Today is your Dad's birthday!

A year from today, I expect you to sing 'Happy Birthday' to me, and go shopping with Mommy for a birthday gift for me. And it better be a nice gift!

And if you need to raise money to buy me a gift, asking your Grandma would be a good starting point.

Oh, one more thing... I don't like fruits on my cake and I prefer chocolate flavor!

love,
Daddy

Pregnancy Update

Here's an update on what had happened since we last posted an update:

• Yesterday marked the beginning of the 24th week of our pregnancy!
• We had our monthly doctor-visit this past Monday (I immediately flew out to Orlando right after the appointment for a week-long business trip. Hence the late update to this blog.)
• During the doctor visit, Dr. Chen once again used the doppler to measure the heartbeat of the baby. This time it was 155 beats per minute! "Very healthy!" The Doctor said.
• The Doctor was also satisfied with Amy's weight control. (However, he didn't comment on my weight.)
• We no longer have to visit Dr. Kenneth Chan since our last visit
• And Dr. Chen didn't perform any Ultrasound this time. Therefore, no pictures to post!
• Amy has been awaken by the Baby's kicks throughout the night, especially during the morning hours.
• Almost certain, is that whenever Amy had ice-cream, the Baby will start kicking right away.
• Last but not least, we only have 3 more months to go!
  

How (not) to teach your kids to stay away from drugs

With Fourth of July just around the corner, I want to wish everyone a Happy July 4th holiday!

Meanwhile, here is an enlightening report for your holiday reading...

An American man who injected his sons with heroin and cocaine so they would understand how he felt when he used drugs has been sentenced to 10 years' jail, Associated Press (AP) reported.

Stephen Pickle, 39, was sentenced for injecting the boys - aged 12 and 16 at the time - with the drugs.

His younger son contracted hepatitis C as a result of the injections in 2005, AP reported.

According to AP, Pickle's lawyer, Joel Schwartz, said that Pickle was "incredibly remorseful" about what he had done.

The court heard argument that Pickle destroyed the boys' childhood.

Prosecutor Teresa Bomkamp said Pickle also injected his daughter with drugs that year, but was not charged because the girl was 18.

Here's the link.

A Ferrari for my Baby

"Not Type-Approved for the USA" is what it says on the Ferrari Store web site. But if it's designed for Ferraris, and meant for Ferrari owners around the world, I'm confident that it is safe enough for my daily commute in my 328i.

If you ask: "How do you know this is meant for Ferrari owners around the world?" Just check out the price tag! €1,166.67 ≈ US$1,582.35!

Besides, I'm not too sure about this 'side-way' layout (instead of the more common 'child facing forward' type).

Just in case if there are any parents-to-be, who want to try this out but with uncertainties, I do not mind to offer my help for an in-depth product review, if such unit is delievered to my address.

Here's the link so that you can skip Googling it.

Child Left in Stroller at Disney World

From Central Florida News' web site...

A mother and father are facing child neglect charges after deputies say they left their young child in the hot sun at Disney World.

According to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, Juan and Dannette Rodriguez left the 3-year-old sitting in a stroller in the sun while they went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

The little girl was there for 45 minutes.

By the time anyone noticed, the girl was unresponsive due to heat exhaustion and had to be revived by paramedics.

The parents were arrested without incident.

The girl was placed with relatives.

Deputies and the Department of Children and Families continue their investigation.

Note to self:

• Try not to take rides that have a wait time greater than 45 minutes
• If wait time is greater than 45 minutes, use FastPass
• Keep child away from sunlight while left alone

Baby's Fourth Photoshoot

Dr. Albert Chen

It's been another month, and we had our rounds of Doctors' Visit again today!

We first went to Dr. Albert Chen for our 10am appointment. Unfortunately, we were left waiting until 11am before we were called in for the consultation. It looks like Dr. Chen was really backed-up this morning! Although we saw the Doctor walking around (meaning he did show up to work today), there weren't that many people leaving the exam rooms while we were waiting.

Anyway, as soon as we met up with him, he told us that he had 2 emergency cases this morning, that got squeezed in to the top of the queue. (Apparently, those were both bleeding cases!) Which is why all the appointments got pushed back today.

So, the very first thing that Dr. Chen asked of us, was to provide him with an update. We told him that Amy felt some high-frequency-type vibration in the past few days. He looks shocked and asked Amy to further described what the vibration was like. After further demonstration, he looked puzzle, and began to open up 'our file' to check out the details.

"Oh! You're only in your 5th month! Then this is normal! By just looking at your tummy, I thought you are already in your 8th month."

It turns out that Amy had gained almost 10 pounds since her last visit. Immediately, Dr. Chen asked us some questions about our diet. (Sadly, he didn't believe that I eat so small in portion.) Dr. Chen wants Amy to control her diet and weight gain, and told us that he only wants to see Amy to gain another 4 pounds when we visit him next month. (While I should probably drop some weight from 4 pounds to any power of 4 pounds.)

He then took out a tape to measure Amy's tummy vertically. According to the measurement, her tummy size is equivalent to a tummy that is 22-weeks pregnant. (We're just approaching our 20th week.)

Finally, he used his Doppler to listen-in on the Baby's heartbeat. It was beating at 150 beats per minute. "Very healthy!" Dr Chen said.

The only instruction given to us, was to watch our/her diet. He wants us to cut-down on carbohydrates.


Dr. Kenneth Chan

By the time we arrived at Dr. Kenneth Chan's office, we were already 45 minutes late. The nurse told us that Dr. Chan has left the office and rescheduled us to return in 2 hours. Amy and I took this opportunity to go grab lunch and the 2 hours went by quickly... because there was good food around!

As mentioned in my previous post here, the 2nd trimester blood test came back with flying colors! We were told that the primary purpose of this visit is to check on the Baby's heart.

Once again, we informed Dr. Chan that we don't want to know the gender yet, should he happened to notice. After quite a bit of measurements on various locations like brain, skull, arms and legs, heart, etc., all results came back normal! Interestingly, all measurements came back in-sync with our pregnancy term - at approximately ~20weeks, +/- 5days. I asked Dr. Chan if the size of Amy's tummy is normal. He refused to answer because he considers such question is a form of WMD (look it up if you don't know what WMD means!) He sees it as the same question as 'Does my wife looks fat?'

Dr. Chan told us that everything looks perfect! He told us to enjoy the remaining term of our pregnancy, and there should be nothing else for us to worry about!

Yeah! (And we don't even have to visit Dr. Kenneth Chan again from now on!)

Finally, here are a few Ultrasound shots that were captured today. This first 2 shots below are a scan of the skull / face. (Click to enlarge)

These 2 shots below show the Baby's head and upper body. You can see very clearly from the very last shot that the baby is pointing his index finger upward. I guess he is already 'pointing his/her finger' at his/her parents, before he/she was even born! Fortunately, it's the wrong finger! (Click to enlarge.)
During the ultrasound scan, we can clearly see the baby turning his/her head, and swallowing.

Last but not least, for those who wants some inside-information on the gender of this baby, Dr. Albert Chen made a comment that, his guess, by looking at the size and shape of Amy's tummy, is that it will be a boy! This is totally unscientific. Dr. Chen has not performed an ultrasound on Amy since our first visit, which the gender of the baby was yet to be determined. And he is very well aware that we do not want to find out the gender until the baby is born.

Well, I think this is a long enough update for you all! Thanks for reading!

Oh, if you have yet to subscribe to our mailing list for updates, please do so by providing your email address to the box on right side of this page. Don't forget to 'confirm' your subscription by responding to the email in your email inbox!

The 19th week!

Today marks the beginning of the 19th week of our pregnancy. According to all the books, magazine, and blogs that we've read, this is what the Baby has been doing so far...

• Fingernails, toenails, and his/her own set of fingerprints are all done!
• He/she may already be sucking his/her thumb. But suck it all he/she wants while he/she is still in her Mommy's tummy. Because once I've cut the umbilical cord, there will be no thumb sucking allowed!
• The Baby has grown to about nine inches long
• The Baby's skin is now red and wrinkled
• And the Baby's weight is just under one pound

Coming Monday, 6/18, we have another round of our monthly doctors' visit. Maybe we'll have some more ultrasound scan to share. So remember to check back often!

Best T-Shirt Contest

Nominee #1: Gerber Baby

Nominee #2: Playground Pimp

Nominee #3: Pro-Choice

Nominee #4: Shake Me!

Nominee #5: Tore Mommy a New One

Nominee #6: Are You My Dad?

Nominee #7: Bigger Than Yours!

Nominee #8: Blowjob

Nominee #9: Daddy Drinks Beer

Nominee #10: Dad's Lil' Squirt
Now cast your vote!

I can finally afford a Porsche... not!

A Porsche Stroller - US$690
A Porsche Bassinet - US$190
An opportunity to be a Porsche owner - Priceless

For US$880, I get the opportunity for owning a 3-wheel Porsche. Technically speaking, it's a Porsche Cabriolet! And it only comes in Grey color. No leather interior, no anti-lock brakes, and no airbags. The softtop needs to be manually opened and closed. Oh, and there's no air-conditioning either.

But this opportunity does not just limited to me! For you readers, you can also get the chance to give a Porsche as a gift (to me!) Opportunity like this (to tell your friends that you just bought a Porsche and gave it away) does not come around often. Grab it before someone does!

The 2nd Trimester Blood Screen Results

Well, we did not receive any phone call from Dr. Kenneth Chan's office yesterday, and I took that as a positive sign! This is because Dr. Chan told us last week during the consultation that if the blood test result is good, his office won't even bother to call. So today, I have decided to call Dr. Kenneth Chan's office to find out the result myself.

It turned out that all the Tuna Sashimi (food), Bacardi Mojito (liquid), and skydiving (exercise) that Amy did in the past few weeks had helped! Amy passed the blood test with flying colors!

If you can recall (click here for the details), Amy's 1st Trimester blood test wasn't that flashy! Although the baby scored a 1 in 10,000 chance of Trisomy 18, the test result for Down Syndrome was a 1 in 86.

Thanks to all the prayers and support from around the world, Amy's 2nd Trimester blood test came back as follow:

Trisomy 18 - 1 in 100,000+

Down Syndrome - 1 in 500

This is absolutely an excellent news for Amy and I, our Family, and all our friends from around the world!

During these past few weeks, Amy and I have received a lot of emails and phone calls from friends and family telling us positive and encouraging information in regards to this 'topic of concern.' We want to take this opportunity to say 'Thank You' for all your effort, prayers, and support!

We are relieved! And we are now ready to take-on the 2nd Trimester with strength!

:-)

Disclaimer: The special diet and exercise prescription of Sashimi and Mojito do not work for everyone. Please consult your physician before altering your current diet plan.

Baby's Third Photoshoot!

We had our round of Doctors' Visit today!

We first visited Dr. Albert Chen and here's the summary:

• The Baby's heartbeat is very strong! (Dr. Chen applied the Doppler again.)
• The Baby seems to be moving quite a bit because the Doppler couldn't catch the heartbeat from a single position.
• All the blood tests, and urine tests, came back as normal.
• Weight gain is progressing normally.

We then visited Dr. Kenneth Chan and here's the summary:

• The Baby does not have any birth defects.
  
• All the arms and legs are there.
• All the internal organs are there.
• The size of the brains, skulls, and arms are normal. But the legs are a tick short, but nothing to be concern of.
  
• Per our request, the Doctor told us to look aside when he was scanning the genital area... just in case "something pops up!"
• The Doctor also drew blood for the 2nd Trimester Down Syndrome test. We'll find out the results in about 1 week. (The doctor said if the result is good, he won't even bother calling me.)
• The Doctor also scheduled us to return for another scan in a month's time. He wants to take a look at the Ultrasound of the heart. Right now the heart is too small that he can't really tell if it is in good condition.
  

Last but not least, below is an image of the Ultrasound. (Click on the image to enlarge.) You can tell by looking at the image that the 1st shot is at the skull level where the skull, the eye sockets, and the jaw bone is clearly visible. The THIRD shot is almost at the skin level, where you can see the profile of the face, the nose, the mouth, and the chin. And the 2nd shot is somewhere in between.

Visitors Update!

I started this Blog on March 1, but I didn't make the announcement, via this Blog, until May. During the month of May, this Blog received 213 visits from around world. The geographical breakdown of our visitors are as follow:

There were 21 cities among these 213 visits. The significant ones are listed below...

But what prompted me to publish these stats is because of the LACK of responses in our Guest List and Voting Department.

Among these 200+ visits, only 13 made an entry to the Guest List, and 18 casted the Boy vs. Girl vote. Where is everybody? Come on! This is my first Father-Child project, and the responses that I have received so far does not proportionally represent the intelligence of the Dad!

On a different note, there are about 10 Readers who have signed up to receive an email notification whenever there is a new post added to this Blog. However, my report shows that a few of those who have signed up, did NOT confirm the subscription. Remember, once you have entered your email, and pressed Subscribe, you will immediately receive an email in your inbox. From such email, you must click on the link provided in the email to confirm your subscription. Without confirming the subscription, you will not receive email updates. (For those who have subscribe, but did not follow-up with the email confirmation, you may re-enter your email address and Subscribe again. I will clear any duplicated email addresses from the back-end.)

To sign the Guest List, please click here.
To cast your vote, please direct your attention to the side-bar on the right.

The Nominees for the Best Parents of the Year

Nominee #1 - Duct Tape Parents


Nominee #2 - Beer Mommy


Nominee #3 - Sandwich Daddy


Nominee #4 - Microwave Mom


Nominee #5 - Sex Toy Daddy


Nominee #6 - G-String Mommy


Nominee #7 - T-shirt Mother


Nominee #8 - The finger Mom



Now please cast your vote! Who do you think deserves the Best Parenting Award?

Street Dancing could be dangerous!

All along, I thought this video was about someone going to break his/her arm or leg while street dancing. I don't want to ruin the ending... watch it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Cost of Raising a Child

Only had I read this Newsweek article a little sooner, I would have learned that...

To raise a kid to 18 costs $191,000. Throw in lost wages for a stay-at-home mom or dad, plus the cost of college, and by adulthood the little bundle of joy really will be a million-dollar baby. A $1.6 million baby, to be exact, according to the USDA.

Also found in this article, is that how a couple thought that they can save money on baby products, but it turned out that the baby just knows better...

It started out with little things—inexpensive diapers gave him rashes, prompting an upgrade. The Baby couldn't tolerate standard $3.99 baby wipes, either, and now his mom stocks up on an alcohol-free, hypoallergenic brand at $10 a pack.

The bright side, I supposed, is that my wife could be earning a 6-figure income before I even realize it...

Stay-at-home mothers just got a little more ammunition against their working counterparts in the mommy wars. It seems that if homemakers were ever paid for the myriad jobs they perform—from chef to chauffeur to psychologist—they'd command a whopping $138,095 annually, several times what most working mothers earn in the workplace. This according to a new survey from Salary.com, which based its calculation on a 92-hour workweek and the median national wage for the assorted jobs that mothers must perform each day.

This should give Amy one more argument for quitting her job after the baby is born.

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

Ever since we have announced that we are expecting, the most often asked question is...

"Have you found out if it's a boy or girl yet?"

Well, I have the answer for you today! And the answer is...

"We do not plan on knowing, but rather, we want to be surprised when that big day arrives!"

Although people around us have been warning us that the nurses at the clinics might just slipped and used phrased like "Look at his/her heartbeat" during the Ultrasound, leading us to discover the gender of our child, Amy and I have decided to try our best not to find out.

For those who want to buy baby gifts for the baby, and hoping that knowing the gender of the child ahead of time will help, may I suggest you to consider some gifts that are suitable for both boy or girl. For example: BMW, Dell, Bang & Olufsen, Nintendo, to name a few... are all companies that focus on products with unisex appeal.

If you need help with finding these products, please leave a comment here, and I (or my readers) will respond back with a few links for you to get started.

Before you move on to read the next post, don't forget to cast your vote on your Boy or Girl pick. The voting window is located to the right of this post, further down in the sidebar.

Does Baby Gender Affects Your Due Date?

According to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology...

If you know the sex of your baby, you might be able to better prepare for his or her arrival. Asian and African-American girl children tend to arrive before the mother's due date. (Caucasian women usually have longer pregnancies.) Boys usually come after the predicted delivery date. And women who are pregnant with multiple babies or already have children typically give birth before the due date.

This Little Piggy... is now live!

Last night, I sent out an email to our family members to inform them of this Blog. It appears that almost everyone did click the link and visited this Blog. However, only 1 person signed the Guest List. I'm hoping for a more overwhelming responses, but it appears that I might have to wait till I have notified more friends and family members later. The good news is, I haven't heard back from them, which means that they must feel 'okay' about this Blog, or they just don't know what the heck I'm trying to do here.

Anyway, I think I'm going to send another email out later this weekend to announce this good news to the remaining family members.

Shopping - Maternity Clothes

Today, I brought my wife to shop for some maternity clothes.

I first took her to the Adidas store, and I learned that Adidas had never carry maternity clothes line. Then I tried the local BMW dealer... no luck there either!

I ended up have to settle for some Mom-and-Pop store in the local shopping mall. I picked out a few outfit for her. They look very comfortable, and probably fit me just as well because of my big tummy.