(Untitled)

[laynamarya]

So the school where I teach has had a lot of days off this year. This is a massive change from the academy (hagwon) where I worked my tush off for the two and a half years before I hit the educator's jackpot

Comments

[laynamarya]

Yeah, I'm not terribly coordinated, and since I'd be with a bunch of kids who may or may not be experienced, the likelihood that someone is going to smack into me is just too high.

Being pregnant in Korea is ok so far. Unfortunately, I can't stand the smell of kimchi right now, or fish, and those things are EVERYWHERE. Luckily we have a separate refrigerator for our kimchi, so at least I don't have to deal with it every time I open the fridge. Mostly I've been craving fruit, especially strawberries, which are widely available, and ice cream. The only thing I have had a really hard time finding is pretzels. Normal, small, crunchy ones. You can get giant soft pretzels at a certain coffee shop, and you can get weirdly-flavored crunchy ones, but I could really go for some Rold Golds. But whatever, I'll live. I looked up how to make them myself, and it just seems like more pain than it's worth.

Other weird things are: they do ultrasounds ALL the time. Apparently they are really cheap over here, so they do them for greater assurance that the baby's okay. I read somewhere that they COULD be linked to autism, but it's really preliminary research, and I've read a lot of other articles that link other things to autism. Autism, man. Nobody understands it.

My ob/gyn is Korean, but he's nice and explains everything to me very well. I suspect that I and every other mom-to-be worries way too much, so he spends most of his time trying to convince me to chill out.

My insurance also covers the vast majority of my pregnancy expenses, which is a HUGE thing.

The only tough things are that I'm gonna lose my job, and there is a very high percentage of surgeries in Korea, which I am going to try my best to avoid. My Korean doctor friend says I might be able to avoid it, though. I'm going to meet a doula next weekend, so if we go that route, I think it will help my cause.

[colonelperry42n]

interesting stuff. . .I initially asked, because I had a friend who had a baby there (I didn't ask her about how the pregnancy was, but it looked like she was stressed with everything!!) Also, I was on birth control there, and it made me have CRAZY cravings. I literally cried when I first saw a Tex Mex place upon returning to the States :p Of course, I lived in Daejeon, which had limited Tex Mex until this one place opened up last year.

I was surprised when I had an ultrasound for my annual exam, but I was also really glad, just so I could see that there was nothing wrong. . .I'm a hypochondriac who always suspects crazy things going on in my body. . .

As far as autism goes, I really don't think an ultrasound would cause autism. My brother is autistic (he's 26), and I always try to stay on the cutting edge of research. Autism, from what I understand, is an immunodeficiency disorder where the body can't process certain toxins - mainly mercury - found in certain vaccines. While of course it's ridiculous to just not vaccinate a baby, if you're worried about autism, I feel it might be beneficial to have someone guide you on how to space out the vaccinations so they don't get like 20 shots when they're first born or look into the possibility that there might be vaccinations that don't contain mercury (maybe they make those nowadays?) Anyhow, I don't want to spread the mania, because there are places in the US where the whooping cough has broken out, because idiotic people have just plain refused to vaccinate their babies. . .crazy stuff! Anyhow, you're probably getting a lot of advice from everyone nowadays. . .

Good luck with the doula! Post about that if you can, I'd be interested to know more about that. What kind of surgeries do they have in Korea? Are they for when you go into labor?

[laynamarya]

Wow, thanks for all the information! And I especially appreciate the advice on vaccinations.

I will keep you updated on the doula situation.

[colonelperry42n]

no problem :) If you wanted to know more about that, I got the information from an occupational therapist. They can help with spacing out the timing of the vaccinations.

[athene]

There is now research that says no, vaccines do not cause autism.

If you're interested in vaccination schedules, check out the Dr. Sears book on it. Check out Dr. Sears in general!

[colonelperry42n]

Do you have any links or sources to that? I'm just curious, because other research says it only affects people who have a certain inability to process toxins (this certain inability is linked to autism).

Doctors are putting research out that says the vaccines aren't directly linked to autism, to deter the crazies who are avoiding vaccines (which is seriously ignorant, given that diseases like small pox and the whooping cough are reemerging in some parts of America!!) It's not the vaccine itself, it's the mercury, and the fact that some newborns can't process the mercury from the 20+ vaccines they are given the second when they pop out. There's definitely no harm in spacing the vaccines apart, since babies are very protected for the first 6 months of their life (they normally don't go outdoors or spend a lot of time with other babies in public places, which is how they would catch diseases).

[athene]

Why are you going to lose your job? What's maternity leave like or are you quitting?

If you want to go natural (and i can send you a million resources on this if you want), a doula will be very helpful. Also, Birthing From Within is a good book to read (can be overly hippy in places).

[laynamarya]

In Korea, you are only given maternity leave as a teacher if you have tenure. Since I am not Korean, I cannot get a tenured position. So I am on a year-long renewable contract. If can't complete the year, I'm just replaced. One of the Chinese language teachers, and also our department head, were both let go this year due to pregnancy. America may have a lot of problems, but is leaps and bounds above many countries in terms of women's rights.