Some of the sweetest treats I’ve enjoyed during my pregnancy have come from my wonderful coworker and dear friend Tarrin! Throughout my pregnancy, she’s given me these gifts of various awesome handmade lollipops from mihow on Etsy. Made from real old-fashioned sugar (no corn syrup), they’re high-quality ‘pops that taste absolutely delicious!
Towards the beginning of my second trimester, when I was still feeling really queasy from morning sickness, Tarrin first introduced me to these amazing lollipops with the First Trimester lollipops, which is a mix of lemon and ginger:
These actually really helped with the nausea! I had bought boxes of Preggie Pops beforehand in hopes that they’d soothe my morning sickness, but they weren’t super helpful… so I was really excited to find a remedy that actually worked! 🙂
At the beginning of the third trimester, she got me these yummy matcha lollipops. I pretty much love matcha-flavored anything, so these went really fast!
And now that my due date is fast approaching, Tarrin just gave me these Due Date lollipops yesterday, which are wintergreen-flavored with fennel seeds. (Fennel seeds apparently help with the production of breast milk — I had no idea!) They’ll come in handy during labor, when I likely won’t be able to have any solid foods, as well as afterwards! 🙂
I’ve become a big fan of mihow’s lollipops after having the pleasure of trying all these varieties thanks to Tarrin! Dan has even snuck a couple here and there (even though they were meant for me… :P), and he’s commented on how great they are as well. I may have to order some myself and try some of the other intriguing flavors that are featured in her shop, even after I’m no longer pregnant! I love the variety of unique flavors, and the fact that some of them are geared towards helping with pregnancy woes — they make great gifts for mommies-to-be, or if you’re just a sweet-lover like me. 🙂
A sincere thank you to Tarrin for introducing me to these lollipops and repeatedly gifting them for me over the past few months! These delightful sweets and your thoughtfulness has made the more difficult aspects of pregnancy a little more bearable. ♥ You’re the best!
Maybe it’s because I’m 38 weeks pregnant and am more emotional and mercurial than ever (Yesterday, I had a bout of hysteria when I realized that my engagement ring and wedding band would no longer come off of my swollen finger and that they were cutting off my circulation. Thankfully, after some diligent prodding with soapy water in the shower, I was able to finally get them off and save said finger from the possible disastrous fate of amputation that I so feared)… or maybe it’s because my anxieties are only mounting higher than Mt. Everest along with my burgeoning belly… but watching the following video today made me cry like a baby.
It’s an encouraging compilation of footage of mothers and what they would tell themselves if they could go back to just before their first child was born.
Dan brought me home a double chocolate cupcake from Berkeley Bowl. I love how it’s iced to look like a Hostess cupcake. heehee* (Of course, it tasted much better than a Hostess!) It’s been raining cats and dogs all week in the East Bay which has made the daily commute to work all the more tiring and unpleasant… so this was a delightful little pick-me-up. 🙂
Although we’d gotten baby essentials such as our crib and changing table new, two big ticket items we had not had to spend a penny on had been the infant car seat and stroller — my boss’s sister had very graciously let us borrow her Graco SnugRide travel system which her kids had outgrown. We thought we were all set in that department — until about a week ago, when Dan went to get the car seat inspected at the local police department to make sure he had installed it properly. (Apparently, 90% of parents don’t install their car seats properly — being the anal retentive worrywart that I am, I made sure that we got ours inspected to make sure that that would not be the case for our baby.)
Dan’s installation of the car seat was perfect — in fact, the police officer was really impressed, saying that it was the best installation job he’d ever inspected. There was a problem, however, with how old the car seat was and the fact that the mount showed wear and sun damage, and so the car seat itself failed the inspection. Apparently, you’re not supposed to use car seats that are over five years old period — the one we were borrowing was a little over five years old, but it looked to our untrained eyes like it was in really great condition so we were really surprised when we were told by the officer that he couldn’t pass the car seat. Five years seems like sort of a short lifespan for a car seat, especially if you plan to have multiple children to reuse it for, but I guess safety regulations can change a lot within that time.
As bummed as we were, we knew it was better to be safe than sorry, so we set out on our search to buy a brand new car seat. Which meant that ultimately, we ended up having to buy pretty much all of our big ticket items completely new, which we had been trying to avoid as cost-conscious new parents — but so it goes. Such is life.
And so we did our research — from Graco, Evenflo, Britax, to Chicco… but we ultimately ended up going with what my cousin Yuko had recommended to us when we visited her last September. The Baby Trend Flex Loc — affordable, manageable, and the #1 rated car seat in terms of safety. It can be used for a pretty long period of time, considering you can use it until your child is 30 lbs — which is great, especially with the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommending that you keep your child in a rear-facing car seat until the age of two. We went with the Grey Mist model, because of the soft, high-quality fabric and cushioning as well as the fact that it would be gender-neutral for potential future children. (Dan’s eyes are starting to hurt from all the pink!)
As for the stroller, after talking to a number of seasoned parents and reading various reviews, we decided against getting a full travel system to go with the car seat, at least for now. We were tempted to get the Jogger stroller that the car seat fits right into, after seeing how maneuverable and relatively light it was, but a lot of parents told us that the last thing we will want to deal with is a bulky travel system that will be a pain to unfold and put together. For myself personally, if I’m going to be taking the baby out on my own, I’ll want something I can unfold and snap the car seat into with one hand , unassisted, while holding the baby. So the Snap-n-Go Stroller seemed like the perfect answer. It’s a simple, light metal carriage frame that you can easily snap the car seat into and be on your way. I’ve seen a bunch of parents wheeling these around in the area, and it’s so low-profile and seems so much easier to handle than their travel system counterparts. You’re already carrying around so much extra baggage with the diaper bag and other baby essentials (not to mention the baby herself adds considerable weight), so why get an unnecessarily large car seat-and-stroller system on steroids? In a metropolitan location like the Bay Area, this seems like the way to go. We’ll definitely need to invest in a larger stroller when the baby’s older and can no longer fit in the infant car seat/carrier, but until then the Snap-n-Go should be enough for us.
Now that we’ve purchased these final items, we’re finally completely ready for our little girl. Since last Friday, I’m 37 weeks so the baby is full term and can come at any time in the next few weeks. All we can do now is wait patiently to see when she decides to make her much-anticipated arrival! 🙂
It’s been over a week since the devastating M 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan, and the nightmare only seems to have gotten worse in the days that have followed, with a nuclear crisis and shortages of food and water in the affected areas. I’ve been keeping up to date with our family and friends in Japan on the phone as well as on Skype, and some of their stories have been unimaginable and painful to hear. It’s difficult to believe such an industrialized country as Japan — one of Asia’s wealthiest — is now suffering such deprivation; the nation has surely never seen such hardship since World War II.
As we reported immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, we have confirmed that all of our family and friends are safe, but we have since found out that Miho, one of Dan’s cousins who lives in Miyagi Prefecture (where the epicenter of the quake was as well as one of the areas that was hardest hit by the tsunami) has lost her home to the tsunami. She has been in a shelter for the past week (presumably with her family) and of course her safety and wellbeing is more important than anything, but we cannot fathom how awful it must be to lose your house and see your town wiped out in a matter of minutes. Dan’s parents are trying to send some financial relief over to their family to help them rebuild. For the moment, we’re worried about whether or not the shelter she is in has enough food, water and resources to sustain her and the other victims, especially in the snow and freezing temperatures that have fallen upon the affected areas in recent days. Please keep Miho and her family — as well as all the other earthquake and tsunami victims — in your thoughts and prayers.
I have been following updates on the disaster situation in Japan regularly every day, whether it be via online news or watching streaming news from Japan on my NHK World TV Live app on my phone. (Luckily, I happened to get the iPhone right before this tragedy struck and have been able to keep up with news directly from Japan 24-7 with this app, even now when the American TV coverage is no longer so focused on Japan.) It’s been difficult to watch the situation turn more and more grim in some respects, but I have also been moved and inspired by the human stories that have surfaced amidst such a horrible disaster: The four-month-old baby who was rescued unscathed and reunited with her parents after three days. The 60-year old man who was rescued after being swept 10 miles out to sea. The loyal dog who heroically refused to leave his injured fellow canine’s side (ultimately getting both of them rescued and taken into veterinary care). The heroic Fukushima 50, the nameless 200 men who have stayed behind and are working around the clock to control the situation at the nuclear plant, while everyone else has been evacuated. The elderly man who, after being rescued three days after the earthquake, told reporters with a smile that “Let’s rebuild it all again.”
It has been noted by the media that there has been no looting or violence in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami, which is unusual in the wake of a natural disaster, when chaos typically tends to breed social anarchy. Many have praised the Japanese for their discipline, mutual respect, and allegiance to keeping societal order, while some have criticized them for their stoicism and apparent lack of emotion. As this article mentions, however, this can be mainly attributed to the fact that Japan is a group culture in which people are socialized from when they are young to put group interest above individual interest — although such a culture may have its criticisms, in this case it has strengthened the social cohesion of the nation in the face of tragedy. Make no mistake — the Japanese victim hurts like any disaster victim in the world. But as the article notes, he or she has been raised to prefer to mourn as quietly and privately as possible.
Reading the tweets from Japan on the PrayforJapan.jp site, I’m amazed that even though these are the people who are most in need of comfort and hope in these darkest hours, ironically it is their words that have instead moved me to tears and given me the confidence that Japan will overcome this and face a brighter tomorrow. Their words exhibit courage, strength, resilience, compassion, honor, and hope — I’ve never been more proud of the motherland and of the Japanese blood that runs through me.
I have also been touched by my fellow Americans’ concern and efforts to reach and out and send relief to the Japanese victims in their time of need. On my way home from work the other day, I couldn’t help but tear up when I saw a group of young children playing their instruments in front of the BART station, with large cardboard signs indicating that they were raising funds to “Save Japan.” It was been inspiring to see that as we live in an area where there is a sprawling Japanese and Japanese American community, local community organizations and Japanese businesses have all put forth efforts to help out in their own way. The JCCCNC has set up a relief fund with which 100% of the donations will go directly towards citizen relief efforts in the most affected areas. Several Japanese stores and restaurants have set up fundraisers and pledged profits from sales to be sent to Japan to offer relief  and aid. As an interpreter in Washington, DC, my father  has been attending conferences held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission every day to communicate with Japan this past week about their nuclear crisis and how the NRC can send support and help. Working in 8-hour shifts with other interpreters around the clock, he’s been fighting the exhaustion so that he can help Japan in the best way he can. He was also asked to translate a speech by President Obama in support of Japanese citizens during this trying time. Although everyone has their own way of helping, I really believe that every bit of effort makes a difference.
I wish that I could do more, but I feel that all I can do at this time is send monetary donations to support in the relief aid and continue to pray that Japan will recover as smoothly and as soon as possible to see a brighter day.
And so we did our research — from Graco, Evenflo, Britax, to Chicco… but we ultimately ended up going with what my cousin Yuko had recommended to us when we 
As for the stroller, after talking to a number of seasoned parents and reading various reviews, we decided against getting a full travel system to go with the car seat, at least for now. We were tempted to get the 