Congratulations! Have A Healthy Pregnancy!

Congratulations! You’ve done what only a woman can do: becoming pregnant. Hopefully, this is what you’ve been hoping and planning for. Even if it’s a pleasant surprise to you, pregnancy is going to be a new chapter in your life. Pregnancy is going to change your life forever.

No matter what, it’s important to have guidelines for a safe and healthy pregnancy throughout, and this is what this book is all about: the dos and don’ts, the whys and the why nots of what a pregnant woman should know and act accordingly.

Remember, a baby is the most wonderful gift a couple can give to each other. Pregnancy is an amazing, exciting, and educational experience for a couple to share with each other. From fertility, conception, to the miracle of birth, a couple experiences emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual transformation that is not only sensational but also challenging during this nine-month period.

To ensure that the baby has the best possible beginning in life, you need to empower yourself with the dos and don’ts.

Pregnancy is more than just nine months; it is a lifelong project that requires adequate preparation to ensure better results.

    

Do physical checkup first for both you and your partner. (why: to resolve all health issues and problems, e.g. chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.).

Do blood tests to check your immunity to German measles (why: it can cause malformations in the baby) and chicken pox (why: immunization before conception if you have not had it before); to check your antibodies from toxoplasmosis (why: an infection that may affect conception and pregnancy).

Do discuss medical conditions with your doctor: previous pregnancy problems, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, premature baby; genetic disorders in family; current prescribed medications.

Do dental checkup (why: gum diseases may lead to premature birth), and dental work (why: avoiding filling or extraction during pregnancy).

Do weight management (why: overweight may lead to diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy; underweight may result in a small baby, problems during labor, and after birth).

Do find out your ideal weight: to determine that, you need to know your height, and weight, as well as your waist size (i.e. your waist circumference between your rib cage and above your belly button). A waistline of 35 inches or more for most women may indicate overweight.

Do find out your Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a measure of your body fat based on your weight and height. Your BMI is determined by this formula: BMI = (body weight in pounds) divided by (body height in inches x body height in inches) multiplied by (703). To illustrate, if you are 5’11” tall and you weigh 165 pounds, your BMI will be: (165/71x71) x 703 = 23   The BMI numbers have the following implications:

Any BMI that falls between 19 and 24.9 is considered ideal and healthy.  

Any BMI that is below 18.5 is considered underweight.

Any BMI that ranges from 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight; any BMI that is above 30 is considered obese.

You should be within 15 pounds of your ideal weight before pregnancy, and that also applies to your partner (why: an overweight partner may have decreased testosterone leading to depressed libido).

Do birth control until you are ready for pregnancy. Hormonal contraception may take months for fertility to return to normal. Natural family planning is the way to go.

Do boost nutrients for a healthy pregnancy. Important nutrients include the following:

Calcium (why: avoiding back and leg pain, insomnia, and irritability)—eat figs and raw leeks.

Folic acid (why: avoiding structural defects)—eat chives. Chives are a nutrient-dense food low in calories but high in nutrients. Always use a sharp knife to cut chives (why: avoid bruising the herb), and add chives to any dish near the end of cooking (why: avoid losing its flavor).

Iron (why: healthy growth of baby)—eat chives.

Magnesium (why: cellular development; over-coming early pregnancy discomfort, such as constipation)—eat chives.

Manganese (why: baby’s normal skeletal development)—eat raw leeks.

Vitamin B6 (why: avoiding nausea and morning sickness; metabolizing proteins, carbohydrates, and fats)—eat raw leeks.

Vitamin C (why: proper absorption of iron)—eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin K (why: healthy bone growth and proper blood-clot formation)—eat raw leeks.

All the above nutrients and vitamins are especially important not only for pre-pregnancy but also for the first trimester of pregnancy

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Help Your Baby Learn

To make your smart baby super smart, make your home a classroom of learning and teaching. More importantly, make it safe and secure for your baby. You teach, and your baby learns; as you teach, you yourself also learn. Learning to teach and teaching to learn is a unique lifetime experience for both the parents and their children.

Your Baby’s Brain

At birth, a baby’s brain weighs approximately 25 percent of that of an adult. At six months, it may increase to 50 percent. At one year, a baby’s brain may develop to 70 percent or more of that of an adult. At around three years, a baby’s brain may become fully developed. As the baby’ brain develops, the baby learns; the more it learns, the faster the brain develops. Therefore, make the most out of the first three years to maximize your baby’s brain development for a smarter baby.

Through learning and teaching, you can enhance and accelerate the growth of your baby’s brain. A baby’s initial body movements are based on reflexes, which can be quickly replaced by voluntary, intentional movements as soon as its trillions of brain cells begin to develop and mature. As a result, the first few years are particularly vital to the development of brain cells, providing the groundwork for intelligence.

Learning and Remembering

Learning is a process of perceiving and understanding information received by the brain. But information is useless and irrelevant unless it is easily and readily available and retrievable; in other words, information must be remembered and properly stored as memories in different compartments of the brain, which are like file cabinets in the human brain.

The Different Memory Techniques

In order for information to be properly stored by the brain, it must be experienced through its five sensory organs. Most learning involves one of three primary techniques:

• Visual memory involves seeing, such as studying a map or an illustration. Visual-memory learning is faster with greater confidence.
•  Auditory memory involves hearing, such as listening to a song or lecture. Auditory-memory learning enhances the compartmentalization of complex materials.
• Kinesthetic memory involves doing, such as brushing teeth or swimming. Kinesthetic-memory learning is more enduring because it is more automatic and spontaneous.

These memory techniques are critical to learning. Many of us are more efficient at one type of memory than another; for example, most of us learn best by using visual memory than by using auditory or kinesthetic memory. Having said that, if you wish your baby to have exceptional memories, develop his skills and proficiency in all memory techniques.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Dos and Don'ts in Pregnancy Trimesters

The pregnancy period is divided into 3 trimesters: first trimester (week 1 through 12); second trimester (week 13 through 26), and third trimester (week 27 through 40). A full-term pregnancy is actually 38 and not 40 weeks (why not: conception generally occurs 2 weeks after the first day of your period).

    

The First Trimester

The Happenings

    

Conception takes place (week 1).

Breakthrough bleeding may happen (week 2-3) (why: fertilized egg becomes embedded in the lining of the uterus).

The breasts feel fuller and more tender (week 5-6) (why: stimulation of milk-producing glands). The nipples become darker with bluish veins (why: increase of blood supply to breasts).

Morning sickness (week 6-7) may occur. Morning sickness that begins in the first trimester may last until early second trimester. It is generally not harmful to the baby unless you have the following:

• You vomit blood.
• You have lost several pounds.
• You vomit as soon as you drink even water.
• You vomit well past the fourth month of pregnancy

The dos and don’ts of morning sickness

• Do suck a slice of fresh ginger in your mouth on rising every morning or any time you feel sick.
• Do get sufficient sleep.
• Do eat small meals.
• Do eat more cold foods (why: they are less aromatic and therefore less likely to trigger vomiting).
• Do eat more carbohydrates.
• Do get a higher dose of vitamin B6 (50 milligrams).
• Do get acupressure wristbands from the Internet (why: they are worn to overcome seasickness).
• Don’t let yourself become hungry.
• Don’t get out of bed too quickly; stretch yourself first before getting out of bed.
• Don’t stress out; avoid any time stress.

The skin around the nipples begins to grow darker (week 6-7) (why: blood supply to the breasts increases significantly).

The waistband becomes tighter (week 8-9) (why: the uterus doubles in size).

Anxiety and irritability may develop for no apparent reason (why: change in hormones); hands and feet become warmer (why: increase in blood volume); dehydration becomes more frequent (why: extra fluids are needed by the uterus) (week 9-10).

The body weight may have increased by 2 to 3 pounds (week 10-11).

The risk of miscarriage is reduced by approximately 65 percent (week 12).

    

The Second Trimester

The Happenings
    

Most discomforts experienced in the first trimester should disappear by the second trimester.

Constipation may become more frequent (why: higher level of progesterone may affect muscles of the intestine; growing size of the uterus affects bowel movements). Do drink more water, and eat more fruits with fiber, such as apples (week 14).

Baby begins to move (week 16-20).

Perspiration may become more common (why: weight of the uterus increases, affecting body movements).

Dark patches of skin may develop on the face (week 17-18).

Breasts start leaking colostrums, the baby’s first food (why: the moisturizing substance protects the nipples during breastfeeding) (week 20-23).

Indigestion and heartburn may develop (why: larger and heavier abdomen may affect the digestive system) (week 22-23). Do take smaller meals with snacks; take a walk after meals.

Backache, pressure in the pelvis, cramps in the leg may occur (week 24-25). Do be mindful of posture, and do get plenty of sleep.

Stretch marks begin to develop around the breasts and abdomen (week 26-27). Do rub coconut oil on breasts and abdomen.

The Third Trimester

The Happenings

Discomfort in the ribcage may occur (why: the uterus is pushing up against the bottom of the ribcage, forcing the ribcage to spread out) (week 28-30).

Varicose veins may be formed (why: pressure is exerted on veins from legs to the heart) (week 28-30).

Episodes of forgetfulness or lack of concentration may occur (why: preoccupation with childbirth) (week 30).

Backache may intensify (why: change in the center of gravity) (week 31)

Better digestion and breathing may result as the baby gets into the head-down position (week 32).

Hands and feet become swollen (why: due to fluid retention in the body). Do wear loose-fitting clothing (week 33).

Aches and pains may occur in the pelvis area (why: due to hormone relaxation and increase in baby’s size) (week 34-35).

Hardening (about 30 seconds) and relaxing of the uterus becomes increasingly frequent (week 36-37)

Anxiety and depression may occur (why: due to physical discomfort and worry about the forthcoming childbirth) (week 38).

e uterus is taking up all the space in the pelvis and a great deal of room in the abdomen (week 39).

During the final phase of the third trimester, the body weight normally plateaus; some weight loss may even occur.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

When Should Children Learn to Read?

Since parents expect their children to learn to read eventually, it would therefore be an advantage to learn sooner rather than later—in fact, the sooner the better. 

Generally, four is the optimum age for most children to begin learning how to read. By then, they have become mentally alert and mature enough to ask the right questions about what things are, and how they work; that is, they have become genuinely interested in the things around them. They want to know, they are ready to know, and they are able to know; in short, they are now ready to learn how to read. 

Although it is desirable to teach children to read at around the age of four, age should not be the only determinant because the mental capacity and the physical development of children vary considerably, irrespective of their intelligence. The other factors that determine children's reading readiness are a large oral vocabulary, and fully developed sensory organs. 

Reading is the ability to make the association between sounds and letters, as well as between sounds and words. If children can decode the oral sounds of words, that is, giving meanings to them, they are already on the way to learning to decode printed words, that is, to read. Therefore, an oral vocabulary of several hundred words is essential to learning to read. In addition, children must be able to see printed words and letters clearly, before they can learn to read. 

Furthermore, they must be able to hear distinctly sounds for letters or letter groups before they can make the right associations. Hearing with reasonable accuracy is fundamental to learning to read. 

Finally, the ability to write complements and reinforces the process of learning to read. Accordingly, developing sensory organs is necessary in the process of learning to read and write.

To conclude, parents should be able to decide for themselves the most appropriate time for their children to begin learning to read, since they are in a better position to gauge the development and capabilities of their children. However, it is important to remember that reading is an ongoing process with neither a beginning nor an end. You need not set a date on which you will formally start teaching your child to read. If you have been a good parent, you may have been inadvertently preparing your child to read from day one of his or her life.

Stephen Lau

The Wisdom of Letting Go

I have just published the following book on AMAZON:

The Wisdom of Letting Go

The pursuit of human happiness is forever elusive and evasive. Why? It requires human wisdom to ask the right questions, and spiritual wisdom to seek self-enlightening answers to the questions asked throughout our life journey.

Human wisdom comes from the mind: an empty mindset with reverse thinking; mindfulness living in the present with no expectation and no picking; and spontaneity with understanding of the natural cycle of all things, that is, what goes up must also come down. The ancient Tao wisdom from China may enhance human wisdom.

With human wisdom, one may see the wisdom of letting go of all attachments in the material world. Attachments are the raw materials with which we often create the self-delusive realities of the ego-self. Letting go of the ego and all its attachments may let us see the true nature of everything: who we really are, not who we wish we were, and what we really need, not what we desire.

The ego is the human flaw that not only undermines the natural human wisdom but also distorts the lens through which we see the world around us. Therefore, we need spiritual wisdom to complement the inadequate human wisdom, to guide the soul on our life journey. Spiritual wisdom can only be attained through trust and obedience to the Creator, which is letting go to let God.

The above is what this book is all about.

If this book is right for you, you can get it from AMAZON. Click here for the digital copy and here for the paperback edition.

Stephen Lau

As If Everything Is A Miracle

As If Everything Is A Miracle:

This 125-page book is about how to live your life as if everything is a miracle, instead of as if nothing is a miracle. To do just that, you need wisdom to "rethink" your mind, which may not be telling you the whole truth about your thoughts and life experiences; you need wisdom to "renew" your body, which lives in a toxic physical environment; you need spiritual wisdom to "reconnect" your soul, which is the essence of your spirituality. Most importantly, you need wisdom to "realign" your whole being because the body, the mind, and the soul are all interconnected and interdependent on one another for your well-being to live your life as if everything is a miracle. Your mind is the roadmap and your soul is the compass; without them, your body is going nowhere, and you will live your life as if nothing is a miracle.

Consciously and subconsciously we have created for ourselves a world in which our bodies, our minds, and souls have become toxic and we live as if nothing is a miracle. To do just the opposite—living as if everything is a miracle—we have to renew the mind, renew the body, and reconnect the soul, and realign the being so that we know who we really are, instead of who we "think" we are.

Believe in yourself: believe that you can be a better, happier, and healthier you. Believe that you can even be a centenarian, if you choose to. The only hurdle is stress in contemporary living. Learn how to overcome your stress by letting go your ego-self. No Ego No Stress!

All in all, to live well, you need wisdom, which is clarity in thinking.

Stephen Lau