Healthy Pregnancy

Getting pregnant is far from being a parent. Generally speaking, it may not be that difficult to become pregnant if both are healthy. But to be a good parent is not easy, and successful parenthood is a lifetime challenge -- one of the many great challenges in life. As a matter of fact, nowadays, many are unfit to be parents; they become parents simply because they are pregnant and have no other choice -- a case in point, the prevalence of child abuse and children being abandoned by their parents.

Be that as it may, there are still many of us who would like to have our own children and be good parents to them. Pregnancy is a major turning point in an individual's life -- opening a new chapter of experiences to be shared and enjoyed by the couple. 

Most recently, my daughter became pregnant with her first child. We are all excited about the pregnancy and the imminent parenthood. 

There are, however, many things a mother should learn to do during the nine months of pregnancy. In addition, there are also many things that her spouse has to do to help her cope with and overcome the challenge of pregnancy, including the physical, the mental, the emotional, and even the spiritual changes brought on by the pregnancy. A safe and healthy pregnancy plays a pivotal part in producing a healthy and smart baby.

The Dos and Don'ts During Pregnancy provides some good advice to help the parents, especially the first-time ones. This book is concise and comprehensive, very highly recommended.

Stephen Lau

The 29 Steps to Teach Your Child to Read

Don’t wait for the preschool to teach your child to read; do it now! Reading is a complicated skill, and that explains why so many Americans are illiterate. The following shows the steps involved in learning how to read:

STEP 1:   Developing Motor Abilities & Sensory Perception

STEP 2:   Initiating Imitation

STEP 3:   Developing Thinking

STEP 4:   Pointing at Things

STEP 5:   Developing Active Speech

STEP 6:   Familiarizing with the Orientation of Print

STEP 7:   Teaching Perception and Discrimination

STEP 8:   Teaching Visual/Perceptual Consistency

STEP 9:   Auditory, Visual Sequencing, and Memory Skills

STEP 10: Introducing Finger Painting

STEP 11: Beginning Writing Skill

STEP 12: Introducing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies

STEP 13: Introducing Picture Story Books

STEP 14: Teaching Prediction

STEP 15: Teaching Word Recognition

STEP 16: Teaching the Alphabet

STEP 17: Teaching Pronunciation

STEP 18: Developing Independent Reading

STEP 19: Learning Sounds and Their Letters

STEP 20: Encouraging Printing

STEP 21: Lap Reading

STEP 22: Shared Reading

STEP 23: Paired Reading

STEP 24: Teaching Language Irregularities

STEP 25: Extending Sight Vocabulary

STEP 26: Encouraging the Use of Symbols

STEP 27: Exploring Different Modes of Discourse

STEP 28: Creating a Proper Writing Environment

STEP 29: Teaching the Sentence

You can begin teaching your child to read. It’s the duty and obligation of the parents to teach their children to read at an early age.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Preparing Your Pregnancy

Getting pregnant is a big deal because you're going to have a baby, and a baby is going to change your life completely. There are many things to consider before you decide to go ahead with getting pregnant.

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.