An Extensive Description of Pregnancy and Child Development on Perla Example

On reaching their home, Perla was waiting for me outside. They are currently renting an apartment in Isaacs sisters house. They are renting a basement which has two full bedrooms, extra small room, bathroom, kitchen area, dining area, and a living room. Upon entering, I was warmly greeted by George with a large hug. I proceeded to greet Isaac and thanked him for allowing me to interview their family. I approached Ana, and she did not want to greet me she was probably too shy and was hiding behind Isaac. As a sign of my appreciation, before I arrived, I had stopped by Dunkin Donuts to purchase donuts and coffee for them. I wanted to offer a donut to Ana to try to establish contact with her which surprisingly worked. At first, she was uneasy, but then she warmed up to me after I approached her with the donut box which she gladly took. As I was settling down, I couldn't help but notice that Perla and Isaac would talk in Spanish, but when they spoke to the kids, they talked to them in English and Spanish.

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After setting up I began my interview, we started by talking about Perlas pregnancy and the differences in both of her pregnancies. She explained how different they were even how different the birth process was. During Georges pregnancy, she was very laid back and would want to sleep consistently. During Anas pregnancy, she could not be still and had also experience morning sickness. The pregnancy she struggled the most was with Ana. She had an induced labor because she had passed her due date and had to be scheduled in. She stated it was the most painful event she had every experienced. When George was born, he weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 inches long. Ana weighed 9 pounds and 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. Newborns on average range in length from 19 to 21 inches and their average weight is 7 to 71/2 pounds (Martin & Fabes, 2009 pg. 118)

Next, we discussed sleep patterns in George and Ana. According to Martin & Fabes, night waking is common in infants, and during the first few months, babies awaken on average every 3 to 4 hours at night often because they are hungry and uncomfortable. Anas sleep pattern was similar to a familiar pattern. Perla explained that with Ana she would sleep and only wake when she was hungry. As for George, it was the complete opposite as he was a crier. He would sleep for short periods and would stay awake a lot at night. She never used any sleep aid for any of them, for example, a pacifier or teddy bear, etc. The regulation of sleep is involved, influenced by both the qualities of the individual child and his or her relationship (infant-parent) (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.135)

During this particular discussion on sleep pattern of the conversations that stood out to me was their sleeping arrangements. Since an infant, Ana was able to sleep on her own in her crib but George since he always had an intricate sleeping pattern as an infant, Perla said that she would have him sleep next to her in her bed. Ever since she accustomed him to sharing a bed with her, she has been unable to get George to sleep in his room.

Perla and Isaac are both Hispanic, and in the Hispanic culture it is allowed and even promoted for the infant to sleep together next to their mothers for their first year of life. In the United States, most newborns sleep alone in and in many countries, infants and mother sleep together during the first few years of life (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.135)

According to Martin & Fabes, 2009, Infants use gross motor skills to move about and explore their worlds. These skills involve movement of large muscle groups in the body such as moving the legs to walk around and controlling the head and body to sit up (pg. 149)

Perla stated that both George and Ana started to crawl around the same month. Perla reported that George was very alert as an infant and began to crawl at six months. Aurora also began to crawl at six months and started standing at around five months. She would always try to pull herself up, and with George looked for the support of either one to help him. He needed to feel protected before he took his next step.

One of the many important developmental milestones is of walking, and it is a marker where they have mastered a certain motor skill. Learning to walk is a step-wise process and not long after infants start to creep and pull themselves to a standing position, they begin to cruise- moving around while holding on to things for support (Martin & Fabe, 2009 pg. 152). George and Ana started to walk during different times. Ana was able to walk sooner than George. Ana began to walk two weeks before she turned one year of age and George was about one year and two months when he started to walk.

Afterward, we discussed both George & Anas language development. Perla mentioned that due to their dual language at home, Ana would only speak two words, Ma and Papa. She voiced her concern to her pediatrician who assured her that it was normal due to the dual language that is spoken in their home. When it came to George, she stated that ever since he was able to produce sound he was very vocal. He would try to repeat sounds and words we would seek to say, which is what is known as Babbling. Childrens first attempt to speak real words are important because they signal that the child understands the symbolic significance of words ( Marin & Fabes, 2009 pg. 186)

Disclosure

One of the things that are omitted here is about attachment: during Perlas second pregnancy were different because with her first pregnancy she was able to stay with George, she was able to create a greater bond with George because she spent most of his infancy with her. As for Ana, she was working during her pregnancy, and when she had given birth to Ana, she returned to work after the 2nd month. Ana was able to create a greater bond with Issac since Isaac was not working during that time and has the primary caregiver to Ana. He was able to respond to her cues and needs since he was with her most of the time.

Real Names

Ana- AuroraPerla Prisma

Isaac- IsidroGeorge Gio