The Story of my Life

I just finished packing our hospital bags. All clothes are already there except for our toiletries. Perhaps I can get them tomorrow.

Had my check-up with the OB earlier today and guess what, my cervix is already dilated by 1cm. Oh boy! The panic in my mind when I learned. But my OB assured me that it might still be too early to say that I’m going to pop now especially when the contractions have stopped. Yes, I had contractions on the way to the hospital with an interval of 10mins. I felt that before but I didn’t know that’s what contractions are until my OB confirmed it earlier. I bled a little but OB said not to panic. In fact, I can still go to work and move around.

Which is exactly what I did today. After the hospital, we went to the mall to get baby’s crib and some groceries. Then headed back home to have dinner and pack.

I’m scheduled for another check-up on Thursday…if I don’t give birth before then.

I’m going to stop here. I know my thoughts are scattered. I just checked in to say that in case you don’t hear from me again soon, then that’s probably because I’m too busy being a mom.

Ciao!

Party invite c/o Anna Cuvin

Souvenirs c/o Mellay

I had a grand time catching up with those I haven't seen for quite a while. The common reaction of our friends is that I've grown so big, they think I'm gonna pop anytime. I'm almost full term so yeah, they can say that.

The games were planned by Anna. At first, I was a bit anxious that Anna won't be able to pull off the games cause she's been very busy with her new job. But come the day of the shower, I was surprised that everything was well taken care of, including props.

This is the multi-tasking game. One has to put all the clothes on the clothesline while taking care of the baby and talking on the phone.

The cerelac eating contest was hilarious as each pairs has tofinish the cup of cerelac blindfolded. One pair ended up having cerelac all over her dress and face. lol

This is game is rather obvious. The Brazilian, the guy on the leftmost, won the game.

The rest of the night were spent chatting and picture-taking with friends. They wanted me to open the gifts for baby, but I declined because the last time I did that, I couldn't stand the thought of everyone watching me open their gifts. So, if you're interested to know what we took home here they are.

You wouldn't believe how many bottles I received from the shower. When I did the inventory, I had a total of 24 btls!!! Wow!

These are super cute comforters. :) I didn't think people would buy them for me but I'm super grateful. Hope they last until the second or third baby!

And these too...cutie socks!

Now that all the parties are over, I've to start packing for d-day. My golly...can't believe it's going to happen soon. Ang lapit-lapit-lapit naaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Can't wait to see Baby Kara. I love you baby.

Was a hilong talong yesterda. Had so many things on my to-do list and for some reason, I can't seem to figure out which one to do first, and all these I have to accomplish because most of them are for my baby.


I did the following:


1. Learned the ins and outs of ordering at Amazon and placed order for a stroller for Bebe

2. Ordered breastpump from a US Distributor

3. Coordinated with Turnover Manager for our unit in Cedar Crest

4. Draw the initial guest list for the baby shower

5. Requested catering quotation from Darlene and Edison

6. Worked on Staff Council matters

7. Ordered blue folders for a loan signing in India

8. Work on various things

9. Work some more.

10. Coordinated with Anna on our schedule for Baby Registry



And then, in the next few weeks, I will be busy doing the following:


Mar 11 (Today) - Baby Registry at Baby and Co.
Mar 12 - Breastfeeding Seminar (9-12)
Mar 12-13 Brainstorming with Husbo on Home's interior design
Mar 18 - Baby Registry at Rustan's
Mar 19 - Check-up (AM) and Unit Inspection (PM)
Mar 20 - Charlotte's Party and Grand Mass at Days
Mar 27 - Bea's party
Mar 31 - Baby shower with the HB's
Apr 2 - Check-up and Baby Shower

I'm 28 weeks now. In 10 weeks, I could already give birth to Kara Sabrina. And these days, I've already started planning what to buy and things to do for our little one. I already told you about the things I want to buy in my previous posts, but for the things to do, i'll let you in on a little secret.

One of the major reasons I'm stacking up on photography gadgets and reviving my photography skills is that when the baby is out I want to take loads and loads of pictures of her. I want to take pictures of her tiny fingers, wrinkled face and pinkish feet. She will only be in this stage once and I want to make sure that everything is well documented.

Then a colleague told me that there's a local photographer who does maternity and new born shoots ala Anne Geddes. When I looked it up in the internet, I was facinated. And it made me more excited to see my baby.

We haven't really decided if we're availing their services because they're a little pricey for us. So for now, I'm just getting inspiration from these photos hoping that when I shoot baby KS it'll be as pretty as these.

Photo credits: The Stork Studio

I remember I wrote about reading to the baby before bedtime. I still do. I make it a point to read to her before we sleep but when I'm really tired, I just talk to her until I head to snoozeland...which doesn't really take long. hehehe

As early as now, I'm already asking friends what baby gadgets I should buy, where I can buy it, and how much they would cost. I've done some math and I'm a little overwhelmed with the amount we will be spending. Good thing there's an option to buy it from the US, where I can get them for half of the local price. I haven't really visited malls yet, all my researches are based on online prices and friends' feedback.


Here are the items on the list, so far:

Maclaren Techno XT Stroller

Medela Freestyle Breastpump

Graco Crib

I'm thankful that our company insurance will take care of the hospital bill when I give birth, at least I can focus on saving up for these and other baby stuff. Now I just hope relatives in the US will be kind enough to ship these to us. Please help me, dear Lord.

A lot of my mommy friends told me not to start shopping until all the baby showers have been held so as to save us money and time. Though I'm not expecting that friends would go out of their way to plan that for me, some of them have already given me a heads up as to when they plan to hold my baby shower.


True enough, Baby Shower no. 1 was set as early as last month. And the save the date is out!

This one is from the HBs-slash-Badminton friends. Thanks guys! Looking forward! :)

21 weeks based on Babycenter, but as per my counting, I'm already at 22 weeks. My bump is really showing and it's twice harder to fit in my old clothes (read: shorts and pants). I've also started buying more maternity pants and dresses for work.


Anyway, I got excited when I read this alert from Babycenter.ph.

And I feel like baby also read the article because this week I've been feeling her light touches (or maybe kicks and punches?) regularly, mostly in the morning and afternoon. Today alone, when I was convincing myself to get up (for an hour), I felt baby's soft touches again as if saying "mom, you're late. you better get up."

If I could sum up 2010 for me, I would say that 2010 marked the beginning of a new life for me. New home, new responsibilities, new job, new car, etc.

The past year has been good to me and I praise God for that. From a tumultous 2009, he made 2010 peaceful, fun and full of love and happiness.

January

Married the man of my dreams.
Honeymoon at KL and Bali

February

Joined ADB Volleyball club’s beach volleyball at Bora with the Husbo.
Husbo and I decided to our own house which we can move into by May this year.

March

Travelled to Balai Isabel with the Husbo on the first visit, then with his family on the second visit.
Bought my first (laptop)computer.

April

Ultimate roadtrip with Husbo to Thunderbird Poro Point La Union then to The Lighthouse, Subic, and then finally back to Manila. On the way to Subic, Krugger broke down, we had to be towed out of SCTEX and commute from Bataan to Subic for our overnight stay.

May

Visited Hamilo twice with (1) Jom’s college friends; and (2) Struktura and my college friends.
Roadtrip again, but this time to Bataan for the ADB annual summer outing.
Got my advance birthday gift from the Husbo.

June

We started to seriously work on having a baby.
We got Beamer.

July

Had a minor procedure done.

August

Saw CATS the Musical.
Joined my first non-ADB Badminton Tourney.
Impromptu trip to Tagaytay with the BigBarks.

September

Celebrated my 32nd birthday in Cebu.
Got our first brand new family car.
We found out that I was 6 weeks pregnant!

October

We bid farewell to Krugger.
I was ordered to bed-rest for 3 weeks because I had spottings.

November

Got back to work again after a long period of rest.

December.

Had a glimpse of my baby thru the ultrasound. Such an amazing experience!
This year, we're expecting to move in to our new home and having our little bundle of joy. I also hope that this year, God will shower us with more love and happiness.

A prosperous new year, everyone!

My OB advised that aside from listening to classical music, I should also talk to my baby and read books to him/her. And so for the past weeks, I’ve been reading to baby as much as I can, usually before we sleep.

Last night, I realized I received a number of books from friends which I can read to baby or use as guide during my pregnancy or as scrapbook.

PREGNANCY JOURNAL. This one is from my bestfriend. She gave this to me together with her wedding gift. I actually had forgotten about it as I had it stacked with bathroom magazines way back. Found it again during my bedrest period. This book is sort of a journal. I am supposed to write the moments and milestones of my pregnancy. Have not done anything yet. hehehe

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING. This one is from Leslie, an officemate, who was one of the first who knew I was pregnant. Since Jom and I started trying, she and I have monitored my period every month and were watchful of any signs of pregnancy. So when I delivered the good news to her, she gave me this book as soon as she could. It has been my bible ever since. All questions I have about pregnancy, I refer to this book. The book is divided in chapters based on the months of pregnancy, and I read them as I go through the month of pregnancy. Sometimes I read in advance, so I know what to expect. So far this book has been a great help. A little bit of info: Another officemate-friend, Mars, was supposed to give me the same book but when she found out I had one already she bought me a lotion, instead.

OH, BABY, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO. This one is a short book whose main purpose is to be read to the unborn baby. I’ve read it a couple of times and it’s a bit of a tongue twister. It’s fun though. Given by Pepper, another officemate, who’s a lawyer. Baby, would you like to be a lawyer someday?

BEFORE. And finally, this book is from Mellay, a good friend of mine from Days. She scribbled a note on the first page but forgot to scan it. Anyhoo, it read that since she hasn’t been pregnant herself, she doesn’t have pregnancy stories to share with me. Hence, this book, a compilation of stories about pregnancy. This and the previous book are the ones I read to baby whenever I have time.

I plan to continue reading to baby every night, if I’m not too tired, so that the baby can discern mine and dad’s voice among others. Will also consider this as our “us” time.

I'm now on my 2nd month of pregnancy. A lot of changes are happening to my body and I want to document all these changes, including some pregnancy signs, in the hope that it will come handy for my friends who are planning their first baby.

Increased Body Temperature. Before I got pregnant, Husbo and I noticed that my body temperature was strangely warm. I know that a woman's body temperature changes when they ovulate and returns to its normal after the ovulation period. But mine was different. I had warm body temperature for an extended period. I stopped wondering when the doctor confirmed that changes in body temperature is normal for pregnant women.

Sore breasts. One of the first questions my OB asked me the day we met her for my pregnancy test was how my breasts felt. They were sore and extremely sensitive. In fact, they're more sore and sensitive compared to what I feel before I have my period. And based on my readings, this is because as my body prepares for the pregnancy it is producing more hormones, estrogen and progesterone, thus the tenderness of my breasts.

Wider hips. Just a few weeks into my pregnancy, I felt I grew a few inches in the bottom part which made fitting into my pants impossible. From pants, I shifted to tights, skirts and dresses. Good thing I've invested on them months before. Nowadays when I’d wear my pants, I have to make use of extenders to make end to end meet.

Nausea without vomiting. I'm so thankful that I'm one of those who don't experience morning sickness. I've seen an officemate battle it out with morning sickness for months and it was not a pretty sight. She was almost always at the restroom vomiting during working hours and I saw how difficult it was for her. The worst case of morning sickness I've experienced so far was nausea, which came to a point that I was almost going to collapse. But vomiting is not my thing, thank God!

Food cravings/aversions. I'm not difficult to feed. In fact, when Jom and I eat out I always let him pick the restaurant because I could eat anything, anywhere. But since I've gotten preggers, my taste buds have become more picky with what I eat. I can't seem to find anything I really like, nothing seems appetizing so I always find eating a chore.

Constipation and Flatulence. Enough said.

Wild dreams. For 3 consecutive days, I’ve been dreaming about weird things and I end up crying heavily in my dreams. And when I wake up and touch my eyes, I did shed a few tears.

Overly sensitive and emotional. Had a minor disagreement with the Husbo last weekend. Normally, I would let a thing like that pass, but last weekend I noticed it was too difficult for me to control my emotions so I ended up getting mad at him and crying myself to sleep.

I know a lot more will happen in the coming months, and I hope husbo and I will be strong enough to manage all of them. I cant wait for our next check-up. I want to see how big my baby has grown and what new body parts are now visible. I hope the days move faster to the third week of October.