A Walk Through Life

"There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it." - Chinese Proverb wohooooo... what's up? dipdip is now two months old. wow, that was fast. it still feels like yesterday when i gave birth but when i look at my daughter, my golly, i can't believe that the child i'm seeing before my very eyes came from me! a product of love. she's grown bigger each day and Lord knows how thankful i am for giving me this wonderful gift. she will become my new inspiration. i will give all my best to be the kind of mom that she deserves.

I just had to write about the gifts I received on the day of Mother's Day. Came right on time. They're like Mother's Day gifts and a baby shower. Oh, daddy pippen had one too. They're gifts from Jenneth . Thanks a lot, Tita Jenneth. Thank you, Lord. And Jenn Lord. :) Belated Happy Mother's Day, everyone. Actually, as Bchai puts it, everyday is Mother's Day. So, happy mother's day to us! Cheers!

i have a pretty good explanation for my long absence in this blogging world. yes, i was again caught up with a lot of things. time management. or the lack of it. it seems like i've been doing a lot of "catching up" lately. i honestly needed a secretary to help me with all my schedules. i guess i'm no longer good with math. i simply cannot do the simple rule of division. somebody please tell me how to divide my time! to start with, i'm already back at work. oh well, at first i didn't quite like the idea of having to go back to work that soon. what with my baby still needing my time and attention. in fact, an extension of time would have done me a favor, healthwise, but i realized i needed to go back to work so i can also help my husband with all the family expenses. i couldn't believe an infant formula can only last for a week or two. now if only i can store a lot of breast milk for my baby while i am not around. too bad, i don't have that much of a sup

after the C-section, i thought it was already time to celebrate because i'm already out of danger. unfortunately, when i came back to my doctor to have my incision checked, i had a 150/110 reading again on my blood pressure. my BP has already returned to normal before i was released to the hospital but then it started recurring, again and again. i still have edema in the feet and abdomen at that time so the doctor suspected that it might be the contributing factor to my hypertension. aside from treating my edema, i was prescribed with medicine for hypertension but i only have to take it if my BP is above or equal to 130/80. i was reluctant to drink hypertension medicine because i was worried i might start to become dependent to it but the doctor insisted. my hypertension has to be corrected within six weeks. i was told that a hypertension that won't go away beyond six weeks after delivery is no longer a postpartum hypertension. it might become chronic. also, i was told that if

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I really wanted to breastfeed little Pauline. I've also been encouraged by two of my long-time friends who are also advocates of breastfeeding. They gave me words of wisdom about it. Unfortunately, I didn't do breastfeeding full-time. Pauline has to be on mix feeding. As advised by the doctor, I have to rest also because of my hypertension. So it's either that I breastfeed her during daytime or nighttime. Also, I didn't have abundant supply of milk yet and I couldn't keep up with her appetite. She cries each time the flow of my milk slows down. Anyway, I'd be back to work soon and she'd need to be fed with an infant formula whenever I am not around. I already bought the breast pump (the electric one). I've been taking soups on my diet, too. Both didn't quite help with milk production. Or maybe I am just being too impatient. Suggestions, anyone? I won't give up, though. I'm still breastfeeding. It'

This may not be what you may call a perfect photograph but I was greatly touched by this picture. A picture of the three of us for the first time after the C-section. I look so pale and tired in this picture. Little Pauline is already beside me in my small bed. My husband is taking a quick pancit meal because he can't leave me to eat somewhere else. He's wrapped his hand with clean plastic so he can eat by hand. I gave birth at a district hospital, not so far away from our home. Unlike a private hospital where almost everything in it looks splendid, this district hospital is not really much of a beautiful sight, although their medical team are equally as competent as the ones being employed at a private hospital. In fact, most doctors who are working at a private hospital also work for a government hospital. When I first saw this picture, I was teary-eyed because I pitied ourselves. Didn't we look so poor and desolate in this situation? Actually, we're not in the ward s

Who would ever think I would end up in the C-section? I guess as a primigravida , everyone's (including myself) expecting it'd be a normal vaginal delivery. Well, surprise! surprise! I kept asking myself, "How did it happen?" You see, I've been very careful about my pregnancy. Aside from my usual pre-natal sessions, I kept reading and browsing the Internet just to keep me informed about anything pertaining to pregnancy and motherhood. I guess I still have a lot to learn. A week before I gave birth to Pauline, I was requested to do another ultrasound. I was relieved to know that my baby is in cephalic position. I thought that should already be enough to keep me assured that it would be a normal delivery. It turned out that I was wrong. It was already three days past my expected delivery date, yet I still didn't feel any signs of impending labor. I don't know why but my doctor is beginning to worry. She did an internal examination on me and she said my cerv

Just for the record, it's been fourteen days since my maternity leave. Little Pauline is still kicking strong inside my womb. If she follows the expected delivery date stated in the ultrasound, I'll be due in eight days. Waaaaaa... I'm getting excited and nervous at the same time. How will I hold out on this pregnancy? God, I certainly wish and pray for a safe delivery. Ever since I got this break from work, I've been doing some walking as a form of exercise. The doctor told me it is best for me. It can certainly help induce labor by bringing on contractions, in a natural way. Everytime I do that, I feel like she's going a little lower, heading down below my pelvis. If she's indeed moved a little lower, the internal examination tomorrow wouldn't be as painful as my first experience. I'd be lucky if the doctor wouldn't have to probe deeper. I wake up everyday wondering if today could be the day that my waterbag breaks. Am I ready for it? I have everyt

I remembered bchai mentioning something about an oatmeal lotion that can give some relief to itching during pregnancy. I’ve been doing some shopping here and there but I didn’t see any oatmeal lotion being sold here in Cebu. Or maybe I just didn’t look hard enough. Right now, I’m itching all over my belly. My back is itching too but it’s not quite as itchy as my belly. I tell you, it’s not fun to itch like this. I’ve been trying to control the itching by trying not to scratch it, like it’s a mind-over-matter kind of thing. Sometimes I can’t help but scratch it a little. And a little bit more. Now the sight of my stretch marks is getting worse.

Since I’m getting closer to my D-day, I’ve been seeing my ob gyne every week. If I remember it right, this weekly pre-natal visit started when I hit my eighth month. During the first few weeks of my visit, ob gyne just did some routine check—measuring the size of my belly and checking on the baby’s heartbeat via Doppler. What else is new? I've been getting my usual verbal reminding from ob gyne about my almost uncontrollable appetite. Like a recorder, she’s been constantly telling me to eat in small meals and that I should stop eating before I feel “full”. Oh, I don’t know why, I don’t have special cravings for a certain food like most pregnant women but I believe I have a crazy appetite. If I should get pregnant again, I will no longer submit to my appetite, no more overeating. It’s such a struggle when you’re pregnant and putting on too much weight. It’s an excruciating experience especially during the later weeks of pregnancy. Why? First, it’s harder to get up with a really bloa

I thought I would not be writing anything until after my big day. Since I’m already within the full term of my pregnancy, I’ve been caught up with a lot of things. So this is what it feels like when you’re waiting for D-day, huh! Everytime hubby is planning on going somewhere else without me, I feel so scared that he won’t be around when my water bag breaks. It’s a blessing in disguise that their training in the new company was put on hold until further notice. It buys us some time for him to be around when I’m in labor. By the way, we’ve received monetary gifts from sister-in-law in Norway and aunt/uncle in New Jersey. Such sweet relatives--thank you very much! They sent us to the mall shopping for more of our baby Pauline’s needs. Thank you God for all the blessings! As far as planning is concerned, everything went well. We just hired someone to help us around the house. She’ll be our baby sitter when hubby and I get back to work. We also made sure that we have everything we primari

So I’ve forgotten to write an update about my pregnancy. Let me just pick up where I left off. I’ll be on my eighth month this February 15th. Last Sunday, I went to the clinic for my pre-natal checkup. Ob gyne almost forgot to give me my second dose of anti-tetanus that day. I almost forgot about it, too. Lately, this pregnancy is keeping me from remembering a lot of things. I’ve already stepped out of the consultation room and she had already pushed the button to call on her next patient when my husband who was just in the waiting area asked me if I was done with the anti-tetanus stuff. I had to ask the front desk assistant so that I’d be allowed to go back in to remind her about it. It’s in the patient card, doc. How could you have missed it? You had the schedule of the shot clearly written. I could have told her that but I didn’t. I don’t blame her. She got lots of patients every Sunday. It’s already way past lunch but she had to attend to about ten patients more. This is the same

and the element of surprise was gone last friday -- we are getting a girl! the polls are right. baby girl wins! unless the ultrasound or the sonologist made a mistake about it because i've read about odd cases like this. some of my friends made some guesses that i'm getting a boy because to them i didn't look my best. or i looked different from what i used to be. i heard about this a lot of times that i didn't really bother to fix myself up anymore. it's like my subconscious wanted them to be right about it [ all right now, i looked awful, so you maybe right, it's a boy ]. there was a time my husband asked me why i didn't comb my hair. i jokingly told him, " i'm getting you a baby boy " and we just laughed about it. when i sent dad an SMS telling him that we're getting a girl soon, he said he knew it's a girl. i was touched because in my father's eyes, i looked blooming with my pregnancy. well anyway, all these are anything but gue

whoopss, was i gone too long? january really kept me busy. and we're even just halfway through the month. starting today, though, we weren't ask to do a one-hour extension, it looks like our workload and our deadlines have already become manageable. yipee! talk about timing. i was really hoping we could have some free time. just to take a breather. from work. from all the rush. and avoid the stress. when we had a meeting last week, i jokingly lied to our boss that my doctor prohibited me from doing overtime. it didn't sell, anyway. i guess you could say i'm not a natural liar. care for some pregnancy update? last january 11th, i went to see the ob gyne for my pre-natal checkup. she was surprised to see that i bloated so much. this was the first time that i heard her say i had better slow down on my eating and measure what i eat if i don't want to have problems during labor. oh boy was i embarrassed. i wonder why i feel hungry most of the time. hubby took this seri

Meretrisha and a Happy New Year... Hello friends, I'm back. It has been a pretty longggg time minus the blogging. I had been wanting to update my blog but, for the past few days, sleeping (next to eating) became my passion. After reading some great blogs from my favorite friends and bloggers, it would already feel like it's bedtime. I couldn't think of anything to write, anyway. I can only imagine our bed, the pillows, and a good night's sleep with my husband. So what has kept me busy for the past week or so? Our company just had our Christmas Party last December 13th (yeah right, it's the same date as my high school reunion). It was a successful event. We've been wanting to go home with the washing machine but Stephen won an MP4 from the raffle, instead. I on the other hand won a computer keyboard. That's not all--our team won the Christmas caroling contest! Because I'm pregnant, I had the privilege of not joining in the presentation and games. Sometime

It looks like I haven’t written anything for like three days. Last week, I was caught up with one challenging project in the office that almost all of my energy went into it, and by the time I got home, I was too tired to even think about anything. I tried to be in the writing mode but before I could get my fingers typing, my eyes were already drooping that I had to give in to my sleepiness. Over the weekend, I felt I wanted nothing more than just curling up in bed with my husband and sleep all the weariness away. This morning, though, I looked up at my notes in the calendar and realized that it's my pre-natal schedule with my ob gyne. So, it's not the 28th, huh? Whatever happened to my sense of time? Fortunately, we still made it to the clinic on time--I was her 18th patient. Well, there wasn't much of an update. Dra. wanted me to continue taking iron-folic and omega-3, and just replaced my vitamin B complex with calcium. I was unaware that I had been eating too much ever

Time flies so fast. It's getting more and more obvious. My belly. I realized I almost run out of clothes to wear. It looks like I have outgrown almost everything I have in my closet and nothing seems to fit me anymore. Don't you just hate it when you have to search for anything still wearable at this time? Ah, I told my husband, we're going shopping this week. Just a pair or two every payday. I'm not planning to buy lots of maternity clothes though because I know this pregnancy won't last very long. We would rather save it for baby's future needs. Here's a sneak peek at my growing belly. Hubby just took a shot of this tonight. Should I let it grow more by eating more? I think there's nothing wrong with my appetite, though. I eat anytime I feel hungry. So, no worries. Don't I look awful? hehehe.. I guess I'll just have to sleep this off. Goodnight.

Yesterday, when me and my husband were heading home after an eight hours' work, we bumped into Manang L, the owner of a carenderia just beside our office. Everytime we bump into each other, she usually has something friendly to say to me, although I didn't like how she would often mistake or call me "Janet" (she meant " Jenneth ", a friend/ex-officemate/ex-lunchmate of mine, who already found a new life with her American husband in Ozark, Arkansas) when we've already known each other for years. Don't get me wrong, though, I don't have anything against my good friend, Jenneth. Maybe I just find it irritating everytime Manang L displays episodes of selective amnesia. Anyhow, I'm willing to forgive Manang L for it as she must've been too stressed preparing all the viands each day, or worse, she must've been affected by a lot of monosodium glutamate intake in her cooking which probably blocked her memory moisture hehehe. Yesterday was su

i have been feeling my baby's strong movements and kicks this week especially when i'm working in the office and sitting for hours. i know it's my baby moving around, it feels different. it's not painful but it should be enough to get me fidgeted, but only for a while. it's really a wonderful feeling everytime i feel the little one moving inside. for now, though, hubby can't still feel the baby kicking. maybe in the next month or so, he should be lucky enough to feel those kicks. the very first time i told him that i felt the baby's movements inside, his face lightened up! i wonder what his facial expression would be when he would be able to feel it for himself. and if anyone is wondering why i'm awake at this time, it's because i have awakened from my wonderful sleep. this little fella inside is probably doing some sort of a somersault. i've been talking to him/her about going easy on the movements hehehe. this now brings me back to the topic o

question: if you were a first-time parent-to-be, would you like to know ahead the sex of your baby? for some hopeful parents, they want to keep the sex of their babies a suspense but, as for me and hubby, we are dying to find out! but whether the baby be a boy or girl, we will love him or her just the same. i'm already nearing the 5th month of my pregnancy, so i guess the ultrasound can already detect the gender of our baby. it should give us the thrill and excitement to shop ahead for baby garments and stuff. hmmm, couldn't wait to find out but we will do this in december though when our budget is not too tight hehe. so for now, we'll have to keep guessing. :)