Popi's Dream

Popi Sam is in a far flung place right now. He dreams of blogging about bebi Pacua and about his experiences on the field - but he can't (walang access plus ang mas tamang rason - the mind is willing but the body cannot -- err tamad!) .

So, let me tell you this story.

Ayun, nanaginip daw si Sam ... lumabas na daw ang bebi -- it's a bebi boy! Tapos nalungkot daw ako kasi boy. Kaya ayun, nalungkot din saw si Sam kasi baka daw di ko alagaan pag boy!

Haha.

Well, kahit boy or girl :-) of course love ni mommy! KIEL and secret natin ;-) pero right now ang feeling ko nga boy sya. All myths point to a little boy. Hmm. Can't wait to find out!

Changing OBs

I am a seeker of comfort and nice things. I hate, hate inconveniences and would gladly shell out more money for more comfort. Just like taking a cab instead of transferring jeeps, or buying at nearby Rustan's Fresh (which is a bit more expensive), rather than walk the long way to Landmark, which is way tiring and inconvenient.

Hence, making Makati Medical Center my hospital of choice for my OB Check ups, and eventually the birth of bebi Pacua. I can walk to MMC from the apartment and from the office. I've met my OB before when I had some problems with irregular periods extreme cramps (and... she was Kiel's OB when she had Gael!). Plus, I intend to work up to the time I that I will give birth, making Makati a good location.

BUT - the pending expense at MMC makes my skin crawl. My monthly OB check up costs P600.00 a pop. And just to project the future expenses... normal birth at MMC will cost P40,000 +++ (you could just imagine how much more the +++ will cost hehe) . And 4ok not even buys you a private room - it's semi private with no restroom inside. If you want a private room (which I really prefer!) -- it's P80,000 plus plus plus. Golly. I sure hope I go normal, I didn't even ask how much a C-section is.

Keep in mind, I don't have a health card right now :-( Ayaw ko naman sa V Luna manganak, a lot of discouraging stories there!

OB says I can save around 20K if I don't use epidural anesthesia -- but I really want to keep that option open JUST IN CASE I couldn't bear it anymore.

My mom recommended that I consider giving birth in a provincial hospital in Laguna - The Binan Doctor's Hospital, which is around 15 minutes away from our Laguna house. It's a private hospital - and although smaller and older and super less "sosy" than MMC - they do have good doctors plus complete and clean facilities.

I've been to BDH before... maybe twice in the emergency room whenever I get severe allergic reactions and need a nebulizer (promise mas mabilis pa nga sila kesa sa MMC na kailangan mamamatay ka na bago ka bigyang pansin sa ER) . And yup, I will consider it!

I went to the new OB yesterday (she has "working mom" schedules. 5-7pm Mondays-Saturdays and 1-3PM Sundays) and was shocked at the whopping 26 patients in line! Fortunately my mom called ahead so I was number 16 - and more people also quit waiting so I ended up at number 9. I had an OK waiting time, amused by the couple beside me who brought their newborn baby boy with them!

My new OB was a UP med school graduate, and she was also young and I immediately felt comfortable with her. AND HEAR THIS:

P200.00 ang consultation fee ng OB sa Binan. And normal birth at BDH is P20,000.00 , and private room is additional P5,000.00! Shucks, sa isang birth sa MMC, nakadalwang anak ka na sa BDH!

Epidural will cost an additional 7-10K. C-section package price is 30K.

Anak -- Sa Binan ka lalabas ha? Wag sa Makati! Tapos normal ha? Promise, mas maganda ang gamit mo Binan ka lumabas ;-)

Now You See It, Now You Don't

And that is what sums up my tummy description. In some days my old slacks zip up with ease (like today) , but there are days that I can't even pull them up over the hips! Normal ba to not have a tummy growing at 4 months?

I've gained only one pound ever since we first found out that we were pregnant at 6 weeks. Sigh of relief on that, it means I am eating right (not too much) -- my OB said that some mommies even lose weight over the 1st trimester. However, by the 5th month, I should be gaining daw one pound per week.

Ah and by the 5th month (which is December for us) , I can already feel some kicking. Hehe weird siguro ng feeling nun!

People always ask me what my cravings are. I can't really pinpoint because I crave for something different each meal. But thinking deeper, here are some stuff that I liked before but I REALLY like now.

McDonald's Egg McMuffin or Pancake Breakfasts - yup even if I ate already.

Big Chill's Power Breakfast - it's banana, low fat milk, non fat yogurt, wheat germ, rolled oats and crushed cashew nuts.

Dessert - I just have to have dessert, I feel so bad if I don't get dessert. I prefer chocolate :-)

Toblerone - just love the nougat

Powdered Milo and Nido milk mixed together - without water. I just put 3 tablespoons Milo, 2 tablespoons Nido in a mug, mix thoroughly, and eat the powder, as is. SARAP.

Nesvita Cereal Drink

Nesvita Pro Digestion Yogurt (Peach!)

Steamed Fish or Shrimp Dimsum - find myself looking for this. This week my mom gave me tilapia fillets so I can steam them at home

Pineapple!!

Champorado

Nestle Fruit Selection Frozen Yogurt Yummy Strawberry - a cheap P15.00 alternative to BTIC

I don't like fried fish :oP and I cringe at the sight of excess oil. My dust and smoke allergies are getting so much worse that the doctor already gave me safe for pregnancy allergy medicine (I even sneeze and get a super runny nose when I see a dusty house on TV!) And my eyes now easily get tired - they hurt so much after a while of looking at the computer screen :-(

I am bracing myself for an increasing appetite in the coming weeks!

Bebi Book

I haven't been good in updating this Bebi Blog. :oP

Ahh but I've been religious with my vitamins! That's a record. I am really really bad with medications and vitamins. A doctor would prescribe me with a 15 day medicine, and I'll drink about 5 days worth and just forget about the others. Or ... I've been mildly anemic since elementary school but I just get halfway through my iron supplements and chuck the rest out. Same with the Stresstabs that I've always been prescribed to take. I'd buy a bottle, finish 30 pieces and maybe buy another bottle a year later (if I remember!)

Oh but with Obimin, I take it everyday! I might miss a day or two, but I promptly compensate that with Anmum. I am so proud of myself by being a behaved vitamin-popper.

Last Thursday, during my monthly checkup - I heard the bebi's heartbeat via Doppler for the first time :-) "wo-wo-wo-wo" ! Cool. Sam, of course, wasn't there to hear it. Inggit na lang siya - and was asking whether we can buy a Doppler of our own so we can hear the bebi anytime . :-)

Been browsing through my old baby books (the ones where the mom fills in the blanks for baby's developments) and I really like my old one. My mom gave me an old unused baby book (it was a gift for my birth that she didn't get to use) -- nice if I can use the vintage one huh? It has yellowed pages and classic illustrations. But I kind of like to make one myself. Personalized!!!

I have an unused white wedding scrapbook (never got around to putting our wedding pictures in it :-( ran out of money to get photos printed hehehe) -- and I don't think I'll be able to make our traditional wedding scrapbook. I was thinking of converting it into a Bebi Book (just need to modify pictures a bit). It's cool because it has pockets and great wide pages to put bebi's mementos in.

Hmmm. Altho a part of me is still hoping I can still make the wedding scrapbook. :-)



Oh well... I have... 5 months to decide! I can't believe it has been almost 4 months of pregnancy. Ang bilis lang pala nito???

Bebi's First Pictures

Took quite awhile for me to upload these :-) It was nice that Sam was able to join me for the first ultrasound. We had a kick out of hearing the bebi's racing heartbeat. Ah and here's a photo of me in a very unflattering shirt at 6 weeks (taken before we visited the OB for the first time

The bebi is barely there at 7 weeks. With a crown-rump length of .95 cm.

Ah, tiny but with "healthy cardiac activity" - that's quite a healthy heartbeat bebi!
It's 132 beats per minute - so cool listening to it.

Week 8: Goodbye sea creature, hello baby!

Just short updates .. (really, it seems like the bebi is draining most of my energy for the PC.. I can't really sit long enough to write a decent blog entry !) But also add to that busy weekends when I have to go to school, spend quality time with the husband who's going away soon, and the fact that I don't have net access in the apartment

1. We had our first ultrasound last week -- bebi pacua was .95 cm with a heartbeat of 132 beats per minute (dugug-dugug-dugug) Will post as soon as I am able to scan. Although the bebi was just a tiny blob that's twitching! Sort of like a peek into a BIO 2 microscope when we had those hay infusions (bahala na kung sino maka-intindi) :-P

2. I don't feel crampy anymore, but I DO get morning and late afternoon-sick. But not sick enough to throw up, whew. But really sick enough to feel lightheaded and woozy and to wish about going home by 2PM. I really can't even bear the thought of going to work tomorrow.

3. The good thing is, the books all say that the queasy feelings will soon stop. I hope I am not part of the statistics who experience the sickness up to the 4th month. Oh please.

4. Sam brought home a copy of the National Geographic book "In The Womb" (click image for more info it's a printed copy/ coffee table book of the really nice documentary I saw on the Nat Geo Channel last year -- haha , where I cried when I was watching the mom gave birth! Parang ang sakit kasi talaga!!! I wish I can have the DVD too)

It's a really great book, and we had fun reading it (well, Sam lies down and asks me to read to him :oP ) But it was still fun. The photos are super cool too!

5. A lot of people who find out about my pregnancy almost always comment on my coffee-loving ways. Sigh, oo na, bawal nga! What I do now is sip hot water and say to myself, "Isipin mo na lang, kape yan..." and Sam's coffee smelled so good this morning at breakfast. Sigh. Have to condition my mind that Anmum tastes as great!

So what happens during Week 8? I got this from Baby-Gaga.com

Woohoo! You've got one whole inch of baby inside of you! Your little embryo has finally reached the one-inch mark (30mm). And if it were possible to take a peek, you could actually see your tiny baby without a telescope!What’s more, your baby is finally starting to take on some very distinct human features. For starters, their little tail (really just the spinal cord) has disappeared completely. It’s nice to know your baby can no longer be mistaken for a sea creature! Additionally, both their toes and fingers are prominent with very little, if any, webbing. Upper and lower limbs all show recognizable joints (elbows and knees) and the lower limb bones are starting to ossify. But don’t expect your baby to resemble either parent quite yet. Right now, your baby’s head is disproportionately larger than the rest of their body--making up almost half of your little one’s height and weight!

Changes

(Here I am again being confused with the cross posting option of Multiply and Blogger, basta, this particular one, I am writing here through Multiply)

Anyway, my main goal should be -- from this moment on ... the bananaspin (www.bananaspin.blogspot.com) blog won't be cross-posted here at the Water Melo site... This one will be a "family blog" for all things personal.

I have always promised myself that (way, way back) that I will not lose my "being me" even after I get married or after I have kids. I am "ME" first , before I am a wife and a mom. That doesn't mean that I'll be selfish and think of myself first ... it means that my identity as Hanna shall flow forward to being a wife and a mom and not let the two roles eat my whole person. ANG HIRAP I-EXPLAIN BASTA YUN NA YUN.

Just to illustrate, in a book I read somewhere -- the author encouraged couples to keep their "pet names" even after they have kids - and not be limited to call each other "Mommy" or "Daddy" . Retaining the pet names (i.e Mahal,Honey, Sweetie, Babe, whatever) keeps the couple on their toes about their affection for each other.

Ah di ko talaga ma-explain ... basta -- I don't want to lose myself.

Therefore, I separate my bananaspin blog to all things wifely and motherly. I don't know how l can do it, but I will try :-) From this moment on , my new baby blog, www.bebipacua.blogspot.com will occupy this Multiply blog.

I am not promising anything :-) malamang mag ooverlap din sila eventually. But right now I still can't bear the thought of stopping my bananaspin blog!

As I always say at the start of something new - BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THIS WHOLE NEW ADVENTURE !

Bebi's First Thunderstorm and Flood

Hanna writes: (siyempre ako lang kasi lagi naman kami lang magkasama :-)

Last night I got home at almost midnight - I was stranded at WalterMart Pasong Tamo because of the heavy rain and sudden flood.

Vic dropped me off at Kamagong cor. Pasong Tamo , where I usually catch the jeep to WalterMart, then I walk home from there. The moment I stepped out of Vic's car, the rain really just got so MAD ! It just got worse after I boarded the jeep - the wind blew in all directions with non-stop thunder and lighting. Even inside the jeep, we were all wet.

The flood was knee-deep when I got off at WalterMart at around 7:30 PM. The umbrella was useless because of the wind and I was soo c-c-old. Really, the situation, the cold, my aching legs (normal, my OB said), my headaches, my cramps (again, normal daw - as long as it doesn't last for long periods and that I find time to sit and rest) , my hormones -- made me want to cry. I ate dinner and felt thankful that I was inside already -- people were coming in with like, WAIST -DEEP flood marks (gets? Kita nyo ang guhit ng baha / basa sa damit nila)

Ah the cold really made my legs ache more and the cramps much worse. Stabbing pain everytime I get up. I was relieved when I found a comfortable seat, and there I spent my time speaking to the baby in my mind and just praying for the rain to stop.

After waiting for almost 4 hours for the flood to subside, Pepi came to my rescue (bait ng dad ko! he had the flu but still got up) Roads were still flooded but jeeps were starting to appear again. I felt so sorry for the people who were also stranded (and who were still there when I left) , I'm sure mas malayo pa yung uuwian ng iba!

A mug of warm milk relaxed me last night. I also rubbed a few drops of Little Soul Sisters' healing oil wherever I ached. It's really only just like baby oil, but I guess the thought of it really soothes me and my soul. We got it from the Little Soul Sisters' convent in Tagaytay - they're likethe Pink Sisters (contemplative nuns) , only , they wear peach :-) Visit them sometime, they also make yummy ice cream wafers.

I slept in this morning - woke up at 7 and took my time getting ready for work. Today was MRT-LRT-cab day (no carpool available!) and I amazingly felt better. I'm more focused, no cramps, not even the uncontrollable sleepy moments I've been having the past week!

I'll be meeting my friend Gladys (who's due this OCTOBER) later on and we'll go to the ultrasound place together. The husband just MIGHT make it.

Happy Tuesday bebi!

The Best Birthday Gift

Hanna writes:

We're pregnant :-)

Morning of September 3 was my 4th day or so of feeling queasy and exhausted. For a time, I blamed it all on the long travel time to and from work (it ain't that far, but I hated jeep exhaust fumes, which makes more than 30 minutes on a jeep agonizing!). I blamed my delayed period on the sudden change of routine (again, that's normal for me... I usually go irregular if my environment changes). Allergies also make my temperature rise in the eve nings. Sam has been bugging me to do a pregnancy test but I told him I already felt the onset of stomach cramps and constipation, which usually happens a week before my period comes.

But that extra queasy morning, I decided to surf the web for "early pregnancy symptoms" and read all about - nausea, rise in temperature, heartburn, extreme ex haustion, constipation, slight cramps and missed period... The only symptom I didn't have was "a positive pregnancy test." The nausea was getting unbearable and the cramps were worrisome so I texted Sam and said "Popi pag-uwi mo, buy na tayo bebi kit"

And what do you know, the husband declared that he will immediately come home on a Wednesday night! It was his birthday September 4, Thursday, anyway .. so we can have an early celebration.

I was excited to get home because we're having a party :-) I bought steaming hot, winner "Sinigang na Salmon" at Milky Way Cafe (right along Pasay Roa d, Makati -- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) , wore a dress, played Michael Buble and waited for Sam. We had our pre-birthday date right there at home.

After dinner came Sam kept telling me to pee already and try the test kit he bought (made in USA at P88.00 - he didn't buy the cheapest "para daw maganda ilagay sa scrapbook!) So, one, two, pee... And lo and behold... after much anticipation -- we left it alone, danced to "Summer Wind" and hurried to the little kit ...

NOTHING HAPPENED.

Palpak! Haha. Oh well, it was a nice birthday celebration tho, maybe over the weekend we can buy another one, I told him. But Sam was persistent and told he won't be able to sleep without knowing. He went out again and bought another one, this time a P120.00 kit ...

And there you go... YES, we are pregnant! We decided to skip work on his birthday the following morning to visit the OB and to get me started eating healthy food. It was such a great day (although Sam's birthday was overshadowed by the incoming baby :-) ... I have always imagined making my first OB visit alone because of Sam's job. I was so happy he was able to come with me.