Neil Yan Dot Com

There have been some incredible discoveries in medical science in the past decade. Mapping the entire human genome, gene therapy and stem cell research all have changed the science of medicine. But the one thing that seems to stay constant in medicine is “pee on a stick”! Who would have thought the stuff we flush down the toilet on a very regular basis contains so much information about yourself. Well, a routine visit to the OB this week has proven the time-tested method of diagnosis is alive and strong.

Sheila’s OB visit starts out the same very visit. Walk in, grab a plastic jar, pee on the stick, put the stick in the jar, cap it, put the jar in a plastic bag, seal it, hand it back to the receptionist, get on the scale, write down your weight, sit down and wait for your name to be called. It’s every patients ritual. The OB has everyone trained! No deviation. Surprisingly, all patients oblige without contempt.

So, what turned out to be a routine visit (now once a week until Ben shows up) has turned out to be a bit of a scare. Sheila’s blood pressure is slightly high and protein has shown on her stick of pee. It’s know as PRE-ECLAMPSIA! Who made that up? Sounds painful!! Basically, it high blood pressure due to stress or some sort of external event. The condition affects the mom more than the baby. Ben’s fine. He’s just more active now. But mom’s needs to be less stressed. Stress from work is the usual culprit! So, we’ve decided that since she only has 3 more weeks left before she’s officially off on maternity leave, she’s going to work 3 day weeks. Let’s not push it. If this preeclampsia persists, we might have to “encourage” Ben to come out a little early. As excited as that may sound, we’d like to see him in the oven till full term (which is 3 more weeks).

In the meantime, massage therapy, sleep, and delegation of work duties to her replacement is in effect.

Our game plan, “shuck this clam” before it can do more damage!

Here’s the wiki on preeclampsia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-eclampsia

I really was expecting a tour of the hospital, a few questions and then out of there like a flash. Forty-five minutes tops! After trekking through the slushy rain, we arrive at Women’s College Hospital (now Sunnybrook Hospital) a block from our place. “Meet at the auditorium” the invite says. We meander through the maze of hospital hallways to an open auditorium, the kind that resembles a university classroom. To our surprise, there were about 40 couples! I was expecting 8. It was going to be a 1.5 hour Q&A with a panel of 2 nurses, an anaestheologist, a family physician and an OB. The format: you raise your hand, you got a number, and when your number was called, it was your turn to ask a question, 2 questions max. It could be anything.

Here are a sample of the many questions:

1) Q: how does the staff handle “hypnobirth”? A: we accept all forms of methology as long as a) it makes you comfortable and b) you’re flexible to know that if it doesn’t work, YOU DO IT OUR WAY (THE NORMAL WAY), YOU FREAK!! (those aren’t the exact words, but that’s the feeling I got from the OB)

2) Q: what do we wear in the labour ward A: the least amount of clothes that makes you comfortable! (or the standard hospital gown that is given if you feel that you don’t want to bleed or have other bodily fluids on your normal clothes)

3) Q: how well does the staff treat the patients? A: we don’t! The tribe has spoken. You’ve been voted off of the hospital list, dummy!

4) Q: I know nothing about this epidural thing. I hear there is a small window where we can get it. How small is this window? A: you get the needle sometime during labour and before the placenta is delivered (mockingly).

But the “very good question” of the night came from yours truly..

5) Q: assuming the baby is healthy, when can we expect to go home? A: For a vaginal delivery, we recommend 36 hours, for c-section, 72 hours. There is a mandatory blood test (mandated by our government) that tests for 20 some odd diseases while the child is 24 hours old. A shot of vitamin A is given to the mother to help with the bleeding. Other than that, you’re good to go!! A very good question!!

In the end, many good questions were asked and answered. The panel was very friendly, helpful and sometime funny. They must have done this baby delivery thing a few time.

Sheila and I were very happy we showed up. I was still hoping for a hospital tour, but they’ll be doing that in the classes (which start this weekend).

As we leave, the panel members high-fived me on the way out!! “Good question!!” I give them a dirty wink!

Watching TV the other day got me thinking,  what Ben is thinking now that he can hear us and the noise that’s going on around us? Here’s a short list:

• there always seems to be a lot of killings and shootings around 6pm and 11pm
• this economic meltdown people keep referring to, I hope it doesn’t affect me
• why are people paying for cheaper gas? Is mommy making less money when she farts?
• why can’t someone go and help Survivorman? He seems to go to places alone all the time. Doesn’t he have friends?
• I don’t ever want to be “voted off”
• I don’t want mommy and daddy to keep inviting Gordon Ramsey over. He swears too much.
• football; you can run with the ball in your hands sometimes, and other times you can’t? I don’t get it.
• Who is this Oprah friend that keeps talking to mommy? I can’t wait to meet her. She’s soooo smart.
• Why are people young and restless? And why can’t they all get along?
• It sounds like mommy and daddy are planning to go on some amazing race with their friends; but why don’t they all get along?
• basketball sounds like a pretty cool game; although I don’t know why the Raptors keep losing
• These Toronto Maple Leafs are horrible! Go Red Wings Go!!

Along the way through this great journey to fatherhood, people have asked me if we’re going to get the epidural during the labour process. My obvious question is, “why do I need a shot? I think I’ll be ok. Or let’s hope”.

I can’t say I’ve ever been offered an epidural shot. So, my curious mind went searching on our friend Google on what’s involved. Low and behold, it’s not pleasant!! But I guess it’s the worst of 2 evils, labour pains/contractions or POSSIBLE SPINAL CORD DAMAGE! One’s more permanent than the other. That’s one of the many arguments against the epidural. Here’s a website that lists a few reasons why you shouldn’t have it: http://www.nt.net/lerouxma/complications.htm 

But, the information site that I first visited has pretty diagrams:

http://www.pennhealth.com/health_info/pregnancy/000168.htm

…but notice the last paragraph..”to lower side effects..”, I never lists the side effects….hhhmmmmm.

We (well, mainly Sheila, because it truly affects her more than me) are going to try it without the needle. But like most women in labour, I guess it might be a last minute decision, depending upon the pain.

We have our first ‘baby’ class on Saturday, November 29th. We decided to do 2 consecutive Saturdays instead of the usual full weekend (too much baby stuff to absorb) or 4 night classes (way too much baby stuff to drag on over a month). Lucky for us, our hospital, Dr Herer (our OB) and classroom are a 5 minute walk away from our condo. We’re going to debate whether we even need to drive to the hospital on the day of the delivery; it’ll be quicker to walk, since I’d need to look for parking.

Here’s what we get for the $180 fee: 1) a 2 hour visit of the hospital facilities, 2) 16 hours of classroom discussion on who-knows-what and 3) bring-your-own-lunch and sit-at-the-food-court-across-the-street-and-make-lifetime-lasting-friendships-with-other-pregnant-couples! All I’m interested in seeing is the 15 minute tour of the hospital (NOT 2 hours) and the birth video (which grosses everyone out). I can do without the other extraneous info since everyone tells me that it’s learn as you go anyways. Which brings me to another question: did our parents go to baby classes? I’m going to say NO! My parents were new immigrants to the country and I’m going to say their ‘Engrish’ was limited to the words ”Yes”, “hello”, and “good moning”! So how did they do it? Did they “google”? Wait, way before their time. They must have consulted the “What to Expect..” book. No. It hasn’t been translated to Cantonese. Looking back, it was a little bit of luck, lots of hard work, and the disciplinary tool called the “Hot Wheels track”!

So, why can’t we wing-it? Isn’t Ben going to do his thing? Are we’re going to show up at the hospital and sit in the waiting room until it’s time? Doesn’t mother nature take over from there? I hear hospital rooms are a first-come-first-serve basis anyways. So even if we wanted a semi/private room, there’s a high probability we won’t get it. Why do we need a rehearsal?

I’m hoping my $180 will answer some of these question.

Here’s the link to the Sunnybrook Hospital: http://www.womenscollegehospital.ca/programs/program140.html

Ben finally got a taste of world class culture at the new AGO. The newly renovated gallery for $250 million was the brain child of world renown architect Frank Gehry. There has been a lot of buzz around this building ever since the Canadian born architect put his name to the project. He’s famous for other buildings such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Disney Concert Hall in L.A and the Gehry Tower in Hanover, Germany.

If you’re not into funky buildings, you won’t be a fan of Gehry. Ben, on the other hand, seemed pretty excited about AGO 2.0; he was kicking up a storm while we were there for the grand opening (maybe he was hungry too, but we’ll attribute his excitement to the new structure).

Here’s the wiki on Frank Gehry:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry

Here’s my contribution from AGO 2.0 (more on my photo page..link is above):

It feels like the calm before the storm. We’re not feeling any pressure yet. The nursery is finally painted (Quiet Blue, CIL VOC-Free paint, tag M32..for those who are looking for a colour). The crib will hopefully be assembled this weekend (after I get it out of my office). The registries are set and stuff scanned. The baby classes are booked (2 consecutive Saturdays starting Nov 29th). I just need to pick up a dresser drawer, stroller (the Baby Jogger City Elite) and the Graco SnugRide II (because we have a spare car seat adapter for the second car). WHAT ELSE DO I NEED? We’ve even narrowed down the kid’s university (really, he’s going to the University of Waterloo…mainly because I went there, but truly because it’s got the best co-op program in the world and that means it’s a huge savings for us)

I recently checked the tuition fees at UW and U of T, and they average about $9000 per year. That doesn’t include books, residence and booze (ie. living expenses). If I can extrapolate 15 years from now (we’re assuming he’s going to skip a few grades), tuition…$1 billion per year!! I told Sheila between her 2 degrees and my math degree, maybe we can home school him. That way we can take his RESP and spend it on travelling!! Ya…the kid is going to break the bank when he heads to university!! More research is needed to see how old he can be to legally work.

Whoever said kids are inexpensive don’t have kids. :-%

On our typical carpool trip to work today, Sheila and I discuss world politics (mainly Obama and that milf Sarah Palin) and things seen over the weekend. Well, we happened to have watched a CBC documentary called The Disappearing Male on sunday. It’s an interesting doc about the effects of man-made chemicals manufactured over the past century has had on the male population. Basically, the male species is shrinking!! My first question is, “who’s going to be the lucky LAST guy?”. It gets you thinking about the things that our parents and grandparents have used in the past that we assumed was safe to use. Things like BPA (a softener for plastics) are just now being banned, and shown to cause birth defects and cancer. THAT SUCKS!! I love soft plastics!! (insert joke here).

It just so happens that a friend in the office mentioned a website he uses to analyze products he and his family uses. Since he’s a new dad himself, I’ve taken to heart the information that was shared. Here’s the link:  http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.php?maincat=babycare&nothanks=1

Basically, you can look up your favorite shampoo, skin lotion, and cosmetic product on this site and it will give you a “chemical” rating. It was definitely an eye opener to find out that J&J’s Baby Oil has a rating of 3 out of 10 (10 being chemically dangerous). It’s just oil, isn’t it? Nope, this site gives you the chemical breakdown of the product you are looking for. That’s crazy!!

A quick search of some of the products we use produces the same conclusion: IF IT SMELLS NICE, IT’S BAD FOR YOU!! It’s the fragrances that contains the carcinogens and other unknown chemicals.

So, the next time you smell me, and I don’t smell nice, it’s because I’m chemical free.

Here’s the link to the documentary: http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/docplayer.html?id=911913844

The debate is on! Should we vaccinate Ben or should we leave it to chance? As as child, I’ve always wondered what that little mark on my upper arm was. Right around the time the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) came out, I had convinced myself that I was tagged by “E.Ts” and that someday, I’ll be picked up and sent back “home”. “Cool, I get a chance to visit outer space!”. I think that was the year I got chicken pox too.

Fast forwarding to present day, and with so much information at our finger tips, it’s a daunting task to determine what’s right or wrong…WITH EVERYTHING!! It’s VACCINATION!! What could you possibly find wrong with vaccination? You’re protected by some of history’s worst infectious diseases! Well, at least you thought you were. Some have argued that the organic mercury (yes, MERCURY) in some vaccines can lead to autism (although recently the US and most European countries have banned the use of mercury in their vaccines). There hasn’t been any proof of a correlation between the vaccines and autism, but most countries (excluding Canada) felt it better safe than sorry. Besides, Canadian babies love mercury!! “It’s makes them warmer in the winter”.

Other arguments include “weakening of the immune system”, invasion of civil rights (for mandatory vacines), religous rights and “they don’t really work”. The jury is still out on whether the severe side effects are caused by the vaccines. All I know is that it truly can’t hurt. Vaccinations have been around for over a century, and the data shows that most of the diseases it was meant to prevent have been either eliminated or close to it. Sure, some have made a comeback, but so has the Backstreet Boys!! But eventually, they too will be eliminated.

Besides, the BSB tour will probably be over by the time Ben arrives.

…and the winner is…