But Who Will Make The Seaweed Soup?!

The last time I went home, I was able to convince my poor ailing grandmother out of her crazy idea to come live with me after birth. She's frail and I fear she just wouldn't be able to handle the four flights of stairs to our San Francisco apartment everyday, much less survive the ridiculous winters here with her little bird bones. Also, she hates cats!

No, sunny Los Angeles is where she belonged. I told her that she should continue to enjoy her retirement schedule of making Korean dumplings, going to the spa with her friends, and generally just taking it easy. Once my wonderful sister agreed to come up for a week or so, my grandmother was finally convinced to stop packing her bags.

The news of my grandmother staying at home however, immediately made my mother worry exactly who would be around to make me seaweed soup! ....Huh?

So what's so important about seaweed soup? Well, I always had it on my birthday so I was a bit confused. In fact, if you ever watch any Korean dramas, people make a pretty big deal about making sure you eat some on every birthday. My grandmother makes kick-ass seaweed soup so I quite enjoy it, but it wasn't a big favorite among my siblings. So anyway, it wasn't until I got pregnant that I finally understood the true meaning of seaweed soup (or 미역국, pronounced Mi-yeok Guk)

The reason why Koreans eat seaweed soup on our birthdays is because it is supposed to be a reminder of what our mothers had to go through to bring us into this world. Yep, some good old Asian guilt! Mi-yeok seaweed is usually the type that is used to make traditional Korean seaweed soup (not the same as the nori seaweed sheets or the bright green kind in seaweed salad). Mi-yeok seaweed is super rich in iron and iodine. Iron is an essential ingredient for our bodies to make blood so it helps replenish all the blood we lose during childbirth. Iodine helps kick-start the production of hormones, which in turn helps produce breast milk. The broth of the soup is usually made out of beef or dried fish, which helps provide some much needed calcium and protein. Turns out that it's tradition for women to eat Mi-yeok guk for up to three weeks straight after childbirth. I don't think my mom ate it for that long, but she definitely had plenty of it after each birth. Out of this first tradition, came the secondary one where we have it on our birthdays as a reminder of our moms having this soup to recuperate from the pregnancy/childbirth.

So I have a Mi-yeok guk recipe on hand that I'll make with my sister after delivery to put my mom's worries to rest. I've been trying to teach myself how to cook more and more Korean food with Baby Bearhat on the way so if I'm successful, little BB won't ever have a birthday without seaweed soup while under my roof! A simple Google search will show you that there are many variations you can make (adding mussels being one of my grandma's favorites, but she also makes hers with homemade marrow broth which takes FOREVER, but is the true secret to why hers tastes so good). I always taste as I go, so you'll notice that happens quite a bit in this recipe. You can find the Mi-yeok seaweed at any Korean food store, just look for "미역" on the bag. It's a simple soup that hits any salty craving. However be warned: the slippery seaweed texture is not for everyone.


Ingredients:

2 cups of soaked seaweed

4 cups of beef broth
4 cups of water
1 package of firm tofu
1/4 lb of beef brisket
2 minced garlic cloves
Salt to taste
Sesame oil


Directions:

1. Soak 1/2 cup of dried seaweed in a big bowl for at least 30 minutes.
   After soaking you'll have 2 cups.
2. Drain the water from the seaweed and cut it into bite sizes.
3. Cut the beef brisket into thin inch-long pieces.
4. Drizzle sesame oil into a big pot and saute beef & garlic for a few minutes.
5. Add in the soaked seaweed and saute for one more minute.
6. Pour in the water and broth and bring to a boil.
7. Taste and season with salt if necessary.
8. Simmer for 20-25 minutes over medium heat.
   Feel free to add more water if it's too thick.
9. Taste again and season with salt if necessary.
10. Cube firm tofu into bite-size pieces and toss in.
    Let heat through 1-2 minutes. 
11. Taste again for final time. Should taste salty, but not too salty!
12. Serve in bowls alone or with Korean side dishes and a bowl of rice.

Serves 4. Soup photo is from Chilli Pepper Travels.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow?

Proving once again that every woman and each individual pregnancy is different, I thought I would write about my hair. Apparently the higher estrogen levels during pregnancy prolong the growth phase of your hair. This means that it grows faster and it stays on your head longer translating to what looks like longer and thicker hair. Prenatal vitamins also add to this boost just by the fact that you're getting more nutrients.

My hair however, hasn't really changed much. Or if it has, it's hard to tell because of two key factors. 1) Timing was such that before I found out that I was pregnant I had decided to give my hair a rest and "go natural" just to see what it was looking like these days. I often have my hair permanently straightened or permed into a wave because I can't stand my natural frizzy, thick mix of 1/3 straight, 1/3 curly, 1/3 wavy hair. The verdict? Still a 3-follicle type mess. Which is why 2) because I had decided to go natural, I had my hair layered and thinned out to make the frizz and hair thickness easier to handle.

I guess my hair has grown thicker? Hard to say. I've always had thick hair and I've always had a lot of it fall out without anyone being the wiser. Every time we vacuum, CGB often jokes that the cats and I must have a contest to see who can shed more. Length-wise it has grown at its normal pace of 1/2 an inch a month so no big changes there either. Which brings me to one of my post-pregnancy fears: hair loss. Once estrogen levels go back to normal, the hair's natural growth phase also returns. It's not uncommon for clumps of hair to fall out in the shower and thinning to occur. Usually it looks scary, but it's just your hair going back to what you had before. I fear that I will get none of the benefits of pregnancy hair, and all of the negatives. I've seen with my own eyes other Asian women lose a good chunk of hair. And they didn't return to what they had before, but some serious thinning! Just based on personal anecdotes, I feel that this often happens to pregnant women over the age of 30 (of which I am). Living in a city like San Francisco, it's quite easy to forget that a pregnancy at or over the age of 35 is automatically considered high-risk = OLD :-P

Luckily crazy hair loss didn't happen to my mom the first time around, but she ended up having seven kids so she's a bit of an outlier. Not to mention that it was hard to jog her memory of hair patterns after my sister was born. As a precaution, I've already started to keep all the follicles I can - including the grey ones which I usually pluck out since they all annoyingly grow in one particular spot on the back of my head! I figure I need all the follicles I have until we find out what the situation looks like after birth. Poor Baby Bearhat, in addition to most likely needing glasses (both CGB and I have terrible eyesight), the poor thing has a choice of my frizzy multiple personality locks or CGB's flat, super straight, hard-to-style hair.

Making Room for Baby

Discussed my rib pain with the doctor at last week's check-up and turns out it's not exactly due to stretching as I had hypothesized, but my stomach and internal organs protesting from being smashed up into my rib cage. I had a few Aha moments when I was told that. For one, I always feel better standing or walking, which is when gravity helps pull things down a bit and my spine can be 100% straight, giving my stomach more room. Secondly, it hurts the most when I'm full. This is probably why it was killing me so much during Memorial Day weekend when all I did was eat, eat and eat. Since I don't get heartburn or horrible gas, I guess I won't complain so much and just adjust as necessary.

Above is a screenshot of the best interactive animation I've found of how our organs literally make room for baby (The Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago). Click here to check it out! I'm at week 26 now, and you can see how Baby Bearhat has already rearranged my intestines and lifted my stomach. 

In other news, the dance party continues as BB has learned some new moves in the past few weeks. Instead of just random kicking and squirming, someone's also become quite responsive. It used to be that the little Bearhat would move and kick without any rhyme or reason, peaking around Prime-time. Nowadays there's a morning, afternoon and late night schedule of activity. Even more amazing is that a poke, rub or song will often be rewarded with some movement. It's not unusual to feel something pointy jab through, and even with clothes on, one would be able to see my belly flop and twitch. Again, very weird, but also pretty cool. There's a theme here. Basically all things pregnancy related are always both totally gross and freaking amazing all at the same time.

Luckily I haven't had any issues with waking up in the middle of the night as BB has yet to do enough damage to rouse me from my deep slumbers. No matter, the Charley horses and foot cramps seem to have that area covered! I'll never forget that one morning during week 23 when I woke up in horror to a double Charley horse at 5AM. I went from sound asleep to wide-awake in less than an second. With both legs out of commission, I was unable to get up and walk it off. Instead, I laid there pitifully rubbing my own calves for 10 minutes just praying for the cramps to release. I learned shortly after that bananas (potassium) and Tums (calcium) help keep those night terrors at bay. 

A Food Day To Remember

Yesterday was one for the books in regards to the amount of food I could eat. I think the only way I could have eaten more was if I'd been plopped in front of a fully decked out Thanksgiving dinner table with all the trimmings!

The damage from sunrise to sunset:

• 6" submarine sandwich 
• 1 cup of carrot sticks
• half a gala apple
• 2 granola bars
• 1 cinnamon sugar donut twist
• a handful of dark chocolate Raisinets
• 1 apple fritter slathered with cream cheese
• 1 large bowl of shell pasta with meat sauce
• 2 large shrimp fajitas with guacamole
• a bowl full of cherries

The 2nd Trimester Hump

I know I should really be enjoying this 2nd trimester while I can, but I have to say it's quite boring! All the weekly updates that you get during this time are really similar and most of time you think, "Oh, I thought the baby could already do that!". For instance, today marks the beginning of week 25 and all the sites say the baby is going to start gaining some serious weight, and will start looking very much like a newborn. I dunno, I'm not impressed. I felt the baby kicking as early as 17 weeks so it's been a lot of kicking, squirming and stretching already. It never gets old, but it's certainly not new.

I'm big enough that people will willingly give up their seat for me on the bus, but not big enough to waddle. I'm officially in maternity pants, but as a petite person who often wore loose tops, I haven't really needed to buy much else for my changing body. In fact, I find most maternity wear ill fitting unless they're pants. If you have a small frame like me, here's what helps:

• Empire waist and wrap tops are great for an expanding chest & belly
• Elastic bands and stretchy fabrics 
• For skirts, just move the band above or below the bump
• Yoga pants are THE BEST

I was one of those types that was really hoping to go all out with the maternity clothes by my 2nd trimester, but it just hasn't happened and it makes me kind of sad. Often times in this chilly SF weather, if I'm all bundled up, you can't even tell I'm pregnant! I went shopping yesterday for a skirt and dress. Though I fawned over the maternity selections, what ended up fitting me was the same size I always wear. Granted I followed my new found rules for elastic and stretchy, and since I haven't been much of a dress wearer before, it has been a fun category to dig into.

This is why I can't wait for the 3rd trimester when we can start getting this show on the road. We'll start having bi-weekly check-ups to find out sizing and positioning, I also have one more ultrasound left and we can start focusing on our exit strategy. And maybe...just maybe I'll finally get the bump I've dreamed about. I really want my baby to be a nice, rosy, healthy chub-chub. Not too big (a la nearly 11lb Maxwell, as I'd like to avoid a C-section), but a skinny wrinkly newborn is NOT what I want to see in September! Thank goodness I have the baby shower to distract me. Thus far, decorations and details are lining up right on time. And oh yes! One more sunny trip down to LA to visit my family. Those ALWAYS do the trick when it comes to packing on the pounds!

10 Things I Love About Being Pregnant

I should add: "So Far" to the title, but I'm not one to hold back on enjoying and reflecting upon the simple things in life when I can. So here are 10 things about pregnancy that I just love:

10. Going to bed early and taking naps at any time without guilt. It used to be that my husband or friends would poke me and nag that I couldn't keep up with them on the weekends. Well, now I have a bullet-proof excuse to sleep as often and as long as I please.

9. Boobage & Badonkadonk. I've never had the most womanly of figures, but now I feel like Botticelli's Venus. Now if only I could find a giant scallop shell to lie in while a baby cupid feeds me grapes.

8. Shopping! I haven't gone crazy, but new lumps = new wardrobe. Additionally, shopping for the baby has given me a perfectly rational reason for spending money.

7. Not having to clean the litter box. I never really minded it before because I love my kitties and it comes with the territory. However, when it's doctor's orders that I not touch it at all and poor CGB has to deal with it? Pretty hilarious.

6. No laundry or trash duty. Going up and down 4 flights of San Francisco stairs is dangerous enough so I'm permanently off cleaning duty!

5. No birth control. No pills, hormones, rings, patches or rubber needed.

4. Letting it all hang out. Never having to suck it in, or squeeze into clothing. If it's not comfy, I don't wear it. Bump accentuation is so much more fun to dress for versus beer belly minimization.

3. Not having that "special time of the month". For an on-the-dot cycling girl like me, I haven't seen a pad or tampon in over 5 months and it's unbelievably freeing!

2. Being doted on and fretted over by CGB. An A+ father-to-be, he's come to every appointment (with a laundry list of questions each time), rolled me onto my left side countless times throughout the night (supposed to be the optimal way to sleep after 20 weeks), brings me chocolatey treats, and has read more books and articles about parenting than I have.

1. Stuffing my face. Since there are certain things I can't eat (or drink), I take great pleasure in chowing down on everything else. A goal of having to gain 1-2 pounds a week is pure heaven for a foodie like me. 

Picking Out A Baby Name!

The first question everyone asks is: 
Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?

The second one is:
Have you picked out a name?

The specifics are still secret in our case, but I can say the answer to both is yes. The gender will be revealed at our baby shower and both a boy and girl name were selected back in January (I know, pretty early). When it comes to names, the only criteria I hold is that it's not just a name I find nice, or one that I just like the sound of. There has to be deep meaning and a story behind why. About a month ago, all the baby sites started to post name popularity rankings for 2012. My favorite baby name site is Nameberry.com, but here is the top 10 list from BabyCenter:

When you start to do research for a baby name, you'll find lots of opinion pieces on why "so and so" won't be choosing one of the top names. But the reality is that these are the top names because they are GOOD names. I say this because back in 2009, I read a great Wired article titled: "Why Your Baby's Name Will Sound Like Everyone Else's" that I never got out of my head (still available online). It's a breakdown of SSA data that analyzed the baby name trends and discussed why certain names are more popular than others. For instance, the growth of vowel vs. consonant starting names is easy to spot, but why do these kinds of changes happen? The reality is that, "parents are really bad at knowing why they like certain names." So even if I go with my meaningful/story rational, the bottom line is that my name selection will fit within my generational set:

"In aggregate, the popularity of baby names are merely driven by the rules of fashion. By a process known as the “ratchet effect,” the names change slowly, as millions of individuals just happen to like names that sound kind of, but not too much, like ones they know."

Even names like Jacob and Isabella which you may think are largely due to the infamous tween Twilight series, are actually only because the names, "fit into the ratchet effect already...If a celebrity has a name that fits in with the ‘different, but not too different’ thing, then it booms.” (eg. Miley Cyrus, quite similar to Emily, no?).

However, we're seeing more and more of a shift towards choosing more novel and unique names. One perspective says that our desire to do so says something about our national culture to be unique and stand out (but then isn't that also following the crowd when it's starting to look like a trend?). Others argue that the visibility of these annual rankings impact our decision against choosing a culturally popular name since we are now very much aware of it being #1 or #2. To which I say, sure, but I already know of an Ethan, Sophia and Ella all born in the past 3 months. If I expanded out to 1-2 degrees of separation, I know a toddler or baby that hits every name on this list. For whatever reason these names "sound" right to us and if you picked one of them, there is no doubt that everyone else will like them too - which is a good thing!

For someone named Cherry, I've always believed no one would even bother to blink at what I decide to name my child. If they hate it, there's a built-in excuse: "well, her name is Cherry, so go figure." Did I hate my name growing up? Never. Was I teased? Yes, I recall some childhood jokes when the Cherry Merry Muffin doll came out (just replace "sweet" with "bad" and you get the picture):

But here's a newsflash: teasing isn't only name-based, children are still figuring out who they are and in the process can be cruel. It's up to parents to teach them how to be good people. After grade school, so many more people loved my name, gushing over how pretty it was. To this day, when I pick up a name tag or check in for an appointment/reservation strangers still smile and compliment me on something I never even had a choice about (which is mostly true, but I'll save that story for another day). My name broke a lot of "rules". It's a fruit, and spelled like it. Some might argue it's a stripper's name. When you look up Cherry in Nameberry, it simply says: "Why give your future teenager even more reason to hate you." But on the contrary, this name has worked out great for me and I've always worn it proudly!

If there's one thing that's for sure, no matter what you name your baby, some will love it and some will hate it. Everyone brings their own memories or personal baggage when they hear a name, but it's not THEIR baby, it's yours. Choose the one you love -- popular, unpopular, unique or otherwise.

Just don't name them Hitler.

The Post-Pregnancy Feast

The feasting wishlist includes:

• A plate of salami and prosciutto with a slice of triple-creme brie and a freshly baked french baguette
• A glass of pinot noir, preferably from the Russian River Valley
• A bone-in slice of grass-fed Prime Rib, a beautiful medium pink
• A plate of yellowtail, toro and salmon sashimi with shredded daikon radish and shiso leaves
• One dozen Tomales bay oysters with watermelon mignonette
• A pan of Tiramisu, chilled to perfection