One of the problems moms-to-be face is their skins. Our faces may look dull or oily due to horomonal changes. Also, our skins may become itchy and dry. So what should we do?

What I did was I switched to organic products, completely. Most of the cosmetic products are safe for pregnant women. However, I just want to be on the safe side, since organic products are free from harmful chemicals. This is also because one of the major concerns that pregnant women has is skincare products penetrating into our skins. So, please take the following advices:

1. If your skin is free from problems, congratulations! You can pretty much stay with your usual skincare products if you don’t feel like switching and you are certain that the products you use are not harmful to the unborn babies.

2. If your skis in oily and getting an unusual amount of acne, do not attempt treatments at home by yourself. Go talk to your OB or a dermatologist and explain your problems. They will be able to help.

3. Whatever treatment you are to receive for your skin, make sure there is no retinols (a type of vitamin A) that are considered by some experts not suitable to moms-to-be as the substance can be harmful to the unborn child – remember, they penetrate!

4. As our skin stretches, it tends to get itchy, especially around our lovely bellies. Many will use lotions or moisturizers that are safe for the unborn children. What I used was just olive oil everyday after I showered. After patting myself dry, I put some olive oil on areas that tended to get itchy – the belly and the bottom. Yes! Olive oil, as simple as that! I am proud to tell you that it worked magic. I only have the slightest trace of stretch marks, they are hardly noticeable. Try it!

5. Always use sunblock – this is extremely important in preventing melasma – they are brown patches on our faces due to the combination of sun exposure and hormonal changes. Trust me, they do occur, no matter how hard you try. So, do your best to minimize their amount.

If you run into serious trouble, don’t hesitate to let you doctor know. They are always there to help.

One of the million dollar questions to the many moms-to-be. I am sure you all have done your researches and read about the advantages and disadvantages of breast feeding. Hey, but those are only reports from researchers. Let’s hear it from the people who actually did it – me!

Only my younger son had the opportunity to be breast-fed. My older boy could not latch onto my breast properly so I was not able to breast feed him. I was longing to breast feed my second son. I was getting anxious and excited. I was very well prepared and also had enough Chinese soup to ensure my ’supply’ was abundant.

As soon as little Ron was able to latched onto my breast, there was a sense of relief! I thought to myself: I could now breast feed, I am a real mother now. The warmth, the intimacy, with my baby in my arms, everything was just right.

Alright, time to face the reality. That was THE upside of breast feeding. All the other upsides about health and stuff are just bonuses. Let’s come back to the real world. The bad news is – the downsides are plenty.

First, you are pretty much on-call 24/7, whenever, and wherever. This is tough, especially when you are extremely tired and need to rest; and when you have to be away. Here you will need the help of modern technology. Get a good electrical pump and prepare some milk for you babies what you have to be away during his / her feeding time. For the worn out part, well, I got up whenever the little boy called me. I was not able to get enough rest. I guess that’s one of the reasons why breast feeding mothers will lose weight faster.

Second, you have to plan your life carefully. What I mean is, a trip to the mall could be very different now. This is because you have to take your baby with you. In that you will have to make sure there is baby care rooms in the mall, if not, you will have to go somewhere else. Also, there are places that you must go, but certainly cannot accommodate your breast feeding. In these cases, you may need to take milk powder with you, which is a debatable alternative since many mothers are against mixing the two milks. If you are adamant about breast feeding only, you will have to carefully plan you routes. Well, you will get used to this.

Third, you are what you eat. To be more correct, your milk is what you eat. So, the diet is very plain, well-balanced, and can be boring some time. No caffeine, spices, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. And you have to let your doctors know should you get sick, because the medication has to be safe for the babies. Last, but not least, for those of you who don’t like milk, you are in for a long time. You have to ensure your calcium is replenished.

Well, that were the worst parts of breast feeding your lovely babies. When you are a new mother and everything seems already chaotic to you, these downsides will just make you go crazier. However, I can tell you, no matter how tired you are, no matter how troublesome things might look; as soon as you hold that baby in your arms, right next to you, that feeling is worth everything in this world. Yes, I mean everything.

To All Mothers!

Many friends have complaint to me that they were losing memories after giving birth. I can tell you that this is not true.

I actually kept a very close eyes on myself on this claim as soon as I gave birth to my first boy. I didn’t feel that my memory was deteriorating. So, why did my friends feel that way?

It is simple – we now have to remember things for another person. With two boys, I have to remember things for three persons. So, I keep telling my friends that we are not getting forgetful. As a result, they should not be too worried about this. What I do is I keep a simple calendar and write all appointments down. And I am in good shape (why I am not using digital devices is another story, I will save it for later).

Back to us losing memory. My theory has real support. I was reading the newspaper this mornning on this topic. A study done by the Australian National University shows that we, mothers, do not suffer from memory losses after giving birth. The study confirms my theory that we are simply too occupied with the baby thing and lose track of things here and there.

So, mommies, don’t be silly. We are not getting older and more forgetful just because we are mothers now. Take some rest, and you will be reset tomorrow morning.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH! But, what’s next?

Let’s face it! We are growing new lives inside our bodies, so, it is NOT easy to relax. Nevertheless, stressing out will not make the pregnancy easier. So, try taking the following advices.

• Think positive. Too many of us are too worried about the whole ordeal – will it be a boy or girl? will I have a painful delivery? will I have a speedy recovery? will the baby be free of problems and be perfectly healthy? The list is endless. And the fact is, we ask ourselves far too many questions and put ourselves into too much unnecessary stress. Again, take a deep breath, than tackle these questions one at a time.
  Does it really matter if the baby is a boy or girl? Not really. How long will the pain last in a really painful delivery? A few hours and you are going to forget all about it once you see your baby. Recovery? Everyone will recover eventually, don’t worry. Will the baby be healthy? Well, you have done everything you can to ensure the health of the baby, there is only so much you can do.
  So, next time when you have a question, write it down, than try to answer it with your best effort. After that, you should leave the questions behind you, considered them problems solved. This should make you feel less anxious.
• Get information on your questions. It is always a good idea to try to find answers to your questions. However, try to avoid information overload. You need to know how to strike the balance. Otherwise, you will get buried inside the massive information and get even more stressed out after reading all the materials. Try to figure out when to stop is very important!
• When you are  stressed, you won’t get enough sleep; you can’t eat properly; you will mess up priorities of things…it does more harm than good. Talk to someone about your stress. You can talk to your doctors, your best friends, your partners. They will probably tell you that all of your concerns are unnecessary. And it is also true that they might not be able to help you to get the answers to all the questions, but having someone to share your worries will certainly help you to relieve the pressure.
• Cut down on your chores and errands. These little things add to your stress. Get help and find someone to share your burden, it will give you room to relax and breathe.
• Listen to your favourite music. I know I know. Some of us want to give birth to geniuses, and may turn to classical music, language courses, etc, hoping that the little ones will be the next Einstein, Mozart, or Picasso. Well, I didn’t buy that! I just went for my favourite music according to my mood – opera, classical, punk rock, jazz…anything that I love and would make me feel better, I went for them. The pregnancy is already stressful enough, why should I do something that I don’t like or enjoy? Now at 2 and 4, my boys love any kind of music that I play. Although they are not Einsteins, Mozart, or Picasso, I still love them very much!!!
• Exercise. We all know exercises are the magic cure to a lot of stuff. And yes, it too can reduce the stress levels of expectant mothers. It will take your minds off your worries for a little while. And it also helps you to stay in shape. Go for it girls!

Being pregnant is stressing us out physically already. There is no need to stress ourselves our mentally. So, remember to share your worries with your partners. They are there to help you out!

Chinese eat a lot of exotic delicacies, the Chinese expectant mothers are no exception. I want to talk about the two most popular ones – fish maw and bird’s nest.

Fish Maw (花膠) – yep! Fish Maw! This is the gas bladders in fish. And yes, I am talking about the internal organ of fish. But, don’t be turned off. When cooked properly, this delicacy is a real treat! It is also a rich source of collagen and believed to be good for you and your babies.
There are different ways to prepare the fish maw. The easiest and most convenient way, I have done in the past, is to prepare a larger piece at once, then eat portions of it when needed. To do so, you first to soak the washed larger piece in cold water overnight. When the fish maw is soften, you then bring a pot of water to boil, and place the fish maw in it. When the water and the maw boil again, you can turn the heat off and let the fish maw remain in the pot for three to four hours. When it is soft enough, you will take it out, drain it, cut it into smaller pieces, then place the smaller pieces (wrapped separately) in the freezer for later use. Next time when you cook your favourite soup, just dump a few pieces into your soup, and you have finished the cooking. But remember to eat everything in the soup! Otherwise, you would have missed out a lot!
Oh! You can also make sweet soups with the maw. Simply take out the smaller pieces and ‘double-boil’ it with rock sugar. It is deeeeeee-licious!
One more thing, some people may say that you should eat the male or the female maw. To me, there wasn’t any difference, as long as there is something for me to eat!

Bird’s Nest (燕窝) – that’s another delicacy. You can eat it sweet or salty. To make the sweet soup, soak the washed nest in cold water for about two hours, then ‘double-boil’ it for an hour or so, add rock sugar, ‘double-boil’ for another 5 to 10 minutes, you are done! It is really tasty!
Another easy way to cook it is, after soaking it, place the nest in congee and serve. It is convenient and tasty as well.
One thing I have to remind you is that, as tasty as bird’s nest is, doctors have recommended expectant mothers not to consume too much of it. Some lesser quality bird’s nests are believed to be contaminated with heavy metal. Eating too much (unintentionally of course) of heavy metal will certainly do more harm than good to you and your babies.

Bon Appetite!