autumn in sydney

our early arrival

2009-10-14T10:38:00.003+11:00

she wasn't due until the 4th of November. born at just 34 weeks, our little girl is finally here!

100 months

2009-09-23T21:04:00.003+10:00

yup, we're celebrating our 100 monthsary today! nothing special planned really (he even had to remind me it's our monthsary today). at least i didn't have to cook dinner and got thai take-away instead. given how busy our lives are at the moment, not having to cook dinner means a lot.

we also had the worst dust storm in sydney celebrate with us today. imagine waking up to an orangey-red sky. freaky...it was like there was an alien invasion or something. the sky only turned blue after lunch. check out the photos from smh: dust turns sydney sky red.

thirty three years and counting

2009-09-20T22:54:00.001+10:00

happy anniversary papa & mama! thank you for being such good role models to me and eric and my sisters and brother. it's true what they say that it's easy to get married but hard to make the marriage work. eric and i are at the point now where we are trying to balance being partners and parents at the same time and it's no easy feat for sure! you've truly showed us that it is possible to make marriage work as long as we work hard for it...together. we love you very much!

christmas shopping

2009-09-17T23:11:00.003+10:00

one of the (many!) things i wanted to do before i give birth is to buy christmas presents for my nieces and nephews (bahala na my uncles and aunties and cousins, kids muna) because i'm pretty sure i won't have the time when little baby arrives. especially that we'll be spending our first christmas in sydney, i don't have any excuse not to give them presents!

we started "stocking" on presents arleady whenever there's a sale going on. i've ticked some on our list already and have ideas already on what to give the others. oh, and we also have a christmas present for the kids already (aidan and little baby). i'll post photos once it's been set-up. i'm sure aidan will love it (the little baby too eventually...). i'm so excited for my little man!

i can only dream

2009-09-12T16:37:00.016+10:00

we decided to get a capsule for the litte baby. we didn't get one with aidan since we thought it was just a waste since you'll only get a good couple of months using it. but now that i have to think about how to manage daycare drop-off with the little baby (i couldn't just leave little baby in the house can i?), best option would be to get a capsule so i don't have to take little baby in and out of the carseat all the time.

i did my research and narrowed my choices down to these (i was looking at hiring one so initially i just went for the low-end ones):

fisher price capsule

steelcraft cruiser capsule

but i found out that this is available and it was love at first sight:

bugaboo takata carseat

perfect for my bug but is not available in australia. :-( so i searched for another capsule compatible with my bug and found this:

maxi cosi cabriofix in mystic brown

i've seen people around sydney using this but apparently it doesn't meet australian standards yet even though it has passed europe, united states and canada standards. i'm so tempted to get one though since the review is very good (even looked into european baby websites that ship to australia).

and then decided eventually on this since it is compatible with my bug not to mention available in australia (yay!):

peg perego viaggio in papaia

anyway, i went to target the other day and found the fisher price capsule on clearance at 60%! i couldn't resist and got the last available one in stock. another mom actually approached me and told me how she got hers just recently since it was so cheap although she hasn't used it yet.

i'm still thinking if i should get the peg perego one. i could always return the fisher price but for the price i got it for, it's such a steal and too hard not to use such a good buy.

if only i had my way, i'd love to get the bugaboo takata carseat so i'd have the complete travel system.

spring has finally sprung

2009-09-01T22:25:00.003+10:00

it's officially the first day of spring. i'm back from hibernation (not to mention the fact that i don't want one whole year to pass since my last post).

so much has happened the past 9+ months.

but the cherry on the top is that i've been busy growing a baby in my belly. yup, we're 30 plus weeks now and i know the baby's gender but eric doesn't.

touchdown

2008-11-21T17:25:00.008+11:00

we're finally here! pr210, the flight from sydney to manila was far better than i expected. i guess it helped a lot that mama was with us during the trip. aidan pretty much just slept and ate during the flight.

i've always been excited coming home to the philippines but this trip is extra special since i'm bringing aidan with me. this will be the first time my sisters and my in-laws will meet our little man.

as expected, it was very hectic the moment papa picked us up from the airport. we've only been here for a little over a week and so far we've been to greenhills (twice!) and trinoma. went out on a date with my sisters to watch hairspray the musical at the star theater in ccp complex. i had my manicure, pedicure, footscrub, haircut and diamond peel already (things that are a luxury back home). met with all the titos, titas and cousins from my papa's side of the family already (as send off to aris, jen and enz and welcome to me and aidan). mommy, ate gigi and tricia also passed by malingap already to meet aidan.

we'll be going to montemar at the end of the month during the long weekend. in preparation for our dos palmas trip after christmas, we're still deciding if we want to do a practice dive in anilao around the first week of december. we're thinking of checking-in at shangri-la for my birthday on the 10th. eric will be only be joining us here in manila a couple of days before christmas so he's missing a lot! aidan will also be celebrating his 8th and 9th month birthday here so we're thinking what celebration to do while he's with family in manila.

hectic? this is the longest vacation i'll be having in manila eversince we moved to sydney and i sure intend to make the most out of it!

got milk?

2008-10-02T09:39:00.007+10:00

i'm all for breastfeeding (i'm proud to say that my little man is still breastfed) and i believe that breast is best (if it works for you) but this is too much.

ben and jerry’s new flavor: breast milk cheesecake swirl?

i wouldn't even taste my own milk. but if you think about it, we ARE drinking the milk of cows.

happy birthday!

2008-09-26T16:09:00.002+10:00

the fourth trimester

2008-09-23T13:57:00.010+10:00

they say that the first three months of your newborn's life are considered the fourth trimester. i can't believe eric and i survived it.

i seriously was scared leaving the hospital that drizzly cold tuesday afternoon. i felt that if i stepped out of the hospital, that was it...it's time for the real world. i could no longer bring aidan back to the nursery. driving home with the little man strapped in his carseat sucking mama's pinkie was surreal.

it was a blur of activities after that. i remember there were a lot of activities and gatherings going on. there was the baptism that we had to plan. and then there's the getting used to not having mama around since she was due to leave for manila soon.

to say that the two weeks after mama left was crazy is an understatement. i didn't know what to do. i didn't know how to eat, let alone go to the toilet with a baby cradled in my arms who wouldn't let me put him down (sometimes i don't get to brush my teeth at all until eric comes home in the afternoon!). the lowest point of my day would be when eric had to leave for work since that means i'm left alone to take care of aidan. i'd constantly check the clock how much longer till he gets home. there was this one day i remember that i was holding aidan from the time eric left till he came home, kulang na lang ihagis ko si aidan sa kanya when he stepped inside the house. i'd call him frantically throughout the day because our baby just kept on crying and crying and my nipples hurt already from all the sucking he was doing all throughout the day. i felt like it was going to fall off soon! i dreaded going out because we just can't seem to console aidan not to mention the crying and screaming fits he would throw while in the car. there were times that i would just cry whenever he's crying because there's nothing else that i could do. no one told me it's going to be this hard. i'd look back and miss my old life so much, where there was order...where i was in control of things.

but you know what, the hard part eventually passed. he was sleeping and feeding better once we got him in a routine. he started to interact, smiling and making sounds at us. we moved him to his own cot and we got our bed back. funny though since eric and i actually miss him sleeping beside us! he started feeding properly and stopped snacking. he was feeding every two hours and then eventually every three hours, no more comfort sucking which gave my breasts a much needed rest. he finally took the dummy, so he can suck on that as much as he wants. he eventually got used to his carseat and we can now leave the house without the fear of him screaming his head off. he now loves his carseat so much that we haven't even reached the end of our street and he's already dozing off. we were able to go out and about with him in his carrier saving our arms. we would even go to the shops, just the two of us! he learned how to drink expressed breastmilk from the bottle which allowed us to leave him with cousins while we watched phantom of the opera (our first date after giving birth! it was hard leaving him though...). i could leave him in his playcot now so i can eat and attend to some stuff and he'll happily play by himself.

mother's group helped a lot. i met other new moms who were going through the exact same thing as i was. after mother's group, we would head off the local cafe and just sit there and talk. by the time we get home, eric would be home in just a couple of hours!

sure, we still have not-so-good days (according to mama there is no such thing as a bad day) but it's now outweighed by the good days.

i'm amazed at what i can accomplish now. i've learned a lot of new skills i never thought i could and would do. i never considered myself as a patient person but aidan sure taught me and is continually teaching me to be one! it helps that i have a very loving and supportive husband who turned out to be a wonderful father who takes over looking after aidan when he comes home and even in the middle of the night! one who would always remind me before he leaves for work that i don't have to do anything except to look after our little man.

what a roller coaster ride it has been (i'm afraid of roller coasters by the way)!

now i look back and couldn't imagine life without aidan.

let the games begin

2008-08-08T21:50:00.004+10:00

the whole world is watching, with just 10 minutes to go the 29th olympic games is on.

special delivery

2008-07-23T14:48:00.004+10:00

*my long overdue birthing kwento*

days leading to the big day, i was nervous and excited all at the same time! it was actually comforting knowing when exactly you're having your baby. i guess the arrival of my mama and jolly added to the excitement. the day before was my tita bebs' first year death anniversary. so i was able to see most of the relatives while still pregnant one last time. eric and i decided to skip the gathering after the mass and had a nice and quiet dinner just the two of us (soon to be three!). besides, we're scheduled for the induction at 7am the next day!

as expected, i couldn't sleep. i woke up around 6am, woke mama and then had a shower. it was weird driving to the hospital since we all knew that the next time we come home, we'll be bringing our little one with us!

we arrived at the delivery suite a little after 7am. i tried to relax as much as i can (but was too excited!). we even had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, mushroom and sausages with friands for desert! we took photos around the delivery suite, while i can still manage a smile. around 9am, dr. khan, our ob, arrived and broke my waters. i haven't progressed at all and i was just 2cm dilated, exactly the same as a week ago. i was expecting to feel labour pains immediately and i didn't so i started to walk around the suite. our ob was hoping that once my water broke, contractions will come in naturally...it didn't. so after an hour, they administered the drip to speed up my contractions. i was still feeling okay, every now and then i'd feel a contraction but nothing major. nicola, our midwife, increased the dosage and that's when i started to feel major contractions come. i don't think i ever felt anything close to what a contraction felt like. it was a mix of period pain, stomach cramp and constipation. i remember telling mama that i had to go to the toilet really bad. she keeps on assuring me that it's just the baby pushing. when i was having the contractions one after another, i already asked for epidural. i didn't get it though since they wanted me to try gas first. it seriously didn't do anything to ease the pain, i felt woozy and high with it. so again i asked for epidural, nicola suggested to try pethidine first so i did. she injected the drug on my thigh and i was still feeling the pain but was really sleepy. during this time it was really painful already to the point of unbearable. i wasn't screaming (thank god!) but i kept on saying how much it hurts and kept on pushing the sheets with my legs (my socks kept on falling off because of this). i remember there came a point where mama tied my hair and powdered my neck because i was so sweaty already. again, i asked for epidural. they said that the anesthesiologist has been notified already but is in the operating room or something, i really think they were purposely delaying it. when nicola came in to check how much (or little!) i have progressed (3cm...what???) she had the nerve to tell me that i wouldn't dilate if i'm stressed, i should relax (what the?!@#). good thing i didn't have the energy to argue with her!

the anesthesiologist came in after a couple of hours of agony. :-) i was asked to lay on my left side while he administered the anesthesia. it only took a couple of minutes for it to take effect, all i can say is thank god to whoever made it! i felt relaxed and calm immediately. nicola even told eric to get some lunch. it was mama who first noticed that the baby's heart rate was dropping. i guess she didn't take her eyes off the monitor that's why she noticed. the nurses and midwives came, checked the monitor and before i know it, dr. khan came, checked how far i've progressed (5cm, yey!) and told me the news...i need to undergo emergency cesarean. she explained to me that if she wasn't concerned about the size of the baby and all the other things we were closely monitoring with my pregnancy, she'd be more than happy to let me progress. but given all our concerns, she doesn't want to take any risks. it was a flurry of activities after that.

people started to come in and out of the delivery suite. the funny thing was, eric was out getting take-away for lunch! so mama had to call her and tell him he needs to come back as soon as he can. i was prepped while we were all waiting for eric to come back. i was then off to the theater. eric came with me but mama stayed in the delivery suite and was told to wait there because they will bring the baby to her. i remember being in this small room with this really nice and old doctor (which i later found out was another anesthesiologist) who administered a stronger dose of epidural. he really made me calm since he was explaining everything he was doing even telling me what to expect. as soon as my legs felt like stone, i was moved to the main operating room where i saw dr. khan. eric then arrived all decked in scrubs and was asked to sit beside me and then the anesthesiologist continued talking to us, telling us what's happening, making us all relaxed and calm. i could feel pulling and tugging but no pain at all and then suddenly they were making eric ready his camera since the baby is being pulled out of me. the curtain was lowered a bit so we can see and i heard him, OUR BABY, cry. it was the most beautiful sound, i can still clearly remember it.

AIDAN EMMANUEL ALARCON DOMINGUEZ was finally born. it was the day our lives changed forever.

*pictures here*

he's finally here!

2008-04-20T10:40:00.004+10:00

* birthing story to follow...

the waiting game

2008-04-03T11:05:00.007+11:00

had an appointment with our ob late afternoon yesterday and was told that i have been scheduled for an induction on wednesday, april 9 at 7am. upon examination, i was found to be 2cm dilated already, cervix is ripe (sorry if it's too much information) and baby is engaged and in position already! which comes as really good news because if not for all of these, we have no choice but to do a cesarean which i don't really mind but i prefer to try a normal delivery. platelets as of last test came out to 155,000 which means i have the option for an epidural if in case i do request to have one. we're on the end of our 37th week this week so if i deliver by wednesday next week, we're on our 38th week so our baby is considered full-term. and to top it off, my mama and brother are arriving tonight! i was a bit hesitant at first in them arriving so early given that our edd is not until april 21. i prefer my mama to be here when the baby is born to help me out and teach me how things are supposedly done. i'm just so happy that things are falling into place. so i'll have our baby in my arms by wednesday! that is if he doesn't decide to come out between now and then...

not sure if it's just psychosomatic given the news yesterday but i've been having frequent contractios now. late last night, i was having them one after the other and instinct told me to pack my bags. so i got up in the middle of the night and started packing! i didn't wake up eric anymore since the contractions were more uncomfortable than painful. but i ended waking him up anyway since i was going in and out of our room and making all these noise around the house.

***

i really have to blog about this before i forget. you know how i've been planning the little one's baptism already and how i bought a baptism romper that is a way too big? well, i finally decided to contact veluz (my wedding gown designer) and asked her how soon and how much it would cost for her to come up with "an heirloom piece baptismal gown that our family can use for generations, suitable for a boy and a girl, can fit 0-3 months" as per my exact words. take note, this was just a little over a week before my mama and brother are leaving manila. you know what she told me, "eight hours on a weekday for you. gift ko yun sa yo!". when she was over in sydney middle of last year, we didn't get to meet anymore since she was so busy but we sure talked over the phone. and i did mention to her that eric and i were pregnant and she immediately told me she'd take care of our baby's baptismal gown. i never forgot that. that's why she was always on my mind when i was looking for my baby's baptismal outfit. and this is the response i got from her on my gown specs, "all baptismal gowns are really like that, pwede girl or boy, peter pan collar, super haba. kaloka naman, may bonnet pa (i requested for a matching bonnet as well)! pina silk? gift ko nga yun! wag ng mega burda ha!" who am i to contradict her? it's a gift, she even made it pina silk, i don't mind if it's not "mega burda" since i want it simple lang naman talaga, rush na nga and it's funny how she's telling me she'll put it in her very own special box since her box is really nice (during our wedding wala pa syang own special box). i was so happy! i told eric and he told me mahiya naman daw ako so i told veluz that. you know what she said, "drama, gift nga eh"! sobra na-iimagine ko sya sinasabi yun sa kin.

mama picked it up last night. and you know she told me, "got your baby's baptismal gown. it's gorgeous. veluz has outdone herself again. it's indeed fit to be an heirloom piece, so dainty and elegant. call veluz and thank her. ang ganda. see you tomorrow."

mama texted me again this morning telling me that they are just waiting to board their plane to sydney and my brother is handcarrying the baptismal gown which i'm assuming is in veluz's very own special box.

just want to share these pictures i sent through to veluz after our wedding. my subject was the ultimate designer and she immediately replied back saying kinabahan daw sya sa subject ko. :-)

all i can say is that she deserves to be who she is and where she is right now.

3 years 4 months ago and XXlbs. lighter

eight years of nine

2008-04-01T22:30:00.005+11:00

autumn.gracie.jan.jackie.jeanette.kathy.oly.summer.yayi

it's exactly eight years today since we graduated from college.

six are still in manila, two are in dubai, one is in singapore, and i'm in sydney.

between us, we've had three marriages, two births (another one really soon courtesy of me), countless gimiks, shed some tears and our fair share of joys (not to mention numerous ex-boyfriends between the nine of us, some contributed more than the others here :-P).

i don't think i'll ever meet friends like them here down under. i miss them. thank god for email and ym messenger.

in awe and wonder of what's to come

2008-03-28T14:46:00.005+11:00

i've been thinking on what gift to give my husband when the little one arrives and decided on this...

new dad from the willow tree collection

i think it's perfect given that i gave him this as a present during father's day when we found out we're expecting. it arrived in the mail today. i have to remember to pack it in my hospital bag!

slowly getting there

2008-03-25T17:34:00.007+11:00

it all started during our 33rd week check-up when the ob found out that fundal height didn't increase compared to our last appointment, not to mention i only gained .1kg. so she immediately required a growth scan to be conducted and that's where we found out that the baby is small for dates (small for gestational age). even if the conclusion of the scan was "satisfactory fetal growth, with no evidence of fetal compromise", we were told that our baby's growth is below average which no parent would want to hear. that's when we started to get worried.

i couldn't wait till our next appointment which was two weeks after that so i left a message with my ob's secretary to give me a call once she gets the comprehensive report of the growth scan. my ob got back to me telling me not to worry and all i can do really is rest to help our baby grow. side kwento: i was so insecure of my little belly compared to our pre-natal classes classmates that week!

during our 35th week appointment last week, although fundal height increased already (but still does not corresponding to how far along we are) and significant weight gain has been achieved (i've been eating a lot the past couple of weeks thus the 1.1kg weight gain), our doctor was concerned how my blood pressure has always been borderline so then and there, she had me do some round of blood tests, another round of growth scan (baby only gained 120 grams if i'm not mistaken, expected weight gain is about 250 grams) and had me admitted in the labor ward to continuously monitor my blood pressure (every hour) and fetal activity via cardiotocography. i guess she was just being cautious and wanted to rule out pre-eclampsia. the good thing however is that i never leaked protein in my urine and i haven't experienced swelling of my extremities which are signs of the condition. our ob also decided to inject steroids already in case i have to deliver early. she said that she's not expecting us to reach our estimated due date of the 21st of april and that i may delivery our baby in the next three weeks. she's really hoping though that we reach our 38th week.

the second round of growth scan showed our baby did grow somehow but not as much as we wanted him to so no need to take him out just yet. i was discharged around mid-afternoon after finding out that when i'm resting my blood pressure normalizes. that's when our ob told me that i have start my maternity leave then and there since i have to rest to help this baby grow and the stress and pressure that work is currently giving me is not doing any good for our baby.

i went to the office after being discharged and talked to my boss and my team. i actually went home pretty late that day since i wanted to tidy up my desk (i plan to go back to work by february 2009 which is about 10 months of maternity leave!). i was feeling very emotional that day since i wasn't ready to go on leave yet not to mention leaving behind a project that i've been working on for the past couple of months that has yet to be finished. you see, i was feeling fine throughout this pregnancy. sure, i get tired at the end of the day but nothing major. little did i know that work stress may not be affecting me directly but our baby. the earliest i was supposed to go on maternity leave was end of march and latest was around mid-april. so i had two more weeks to go and i have scheduled what has to be done for that two weeks already.

i think it will take a while getting used to not having the routine of waking up in the morning, dressing up and going to work. the next day, i couldn't help but log-in the office and talk to my colleagues and project consultants. i was pretty much working the next day but from home which according to my husband defies the purpose of resting. i keep on telling him and my officemates that i will eventually let go of work but it's something that i will do in my own pace. i guess i just needed closure somehow since i'm the type of person who wants to finish what has been started. and besides, i invested so much time, effort and energy in my project and we're about 85%-90% there!

anyway, i went back to the hospital the next day for another and last round of steroid shots and then back again a couple of days for fetal activity monitoring via ctg and another one last saturday. we have our weekly appointment tomorrow and another growth scan in the afternoon. i hope that everything turns out fine.

just a couple more weeks to go, hang in there my baby!

i think it's what they call nesting

2008-02-24T17:42:00.007+11:00

i've heard and read about it. never really thought that it would happen to me. it seems that i'm obsessed in fixing the house all of a sudden. last week was the front lawn, i had to cut the hedge along the walkway to our front door so it would look nice and straight. after that, it was cutting the agapanthus since their flowers wilted already. yesterday was the patio, i threw out any plants i think were dead (before mama arrives and sees it!) and re-arranged all the bromeliads. i even anchored the bougainvillea to the fence with a straw since it was falling already (with eric's help of course!). and for some strange reason, i can't take seeing any cobwebs (and there seems to be a lot now in the garden because of the weather). i tell you, i haven't seen cobwebs these big before! medyo na-iimmune na nga ako sa spiders since i think i've seen all colors, shapes and sizes already. today, it was the garage. for weeks, i've been bugging eric to fix the garage since it's such an eyesore everytime i come home and seeing the garage shelves so disorganized. since he hasn't done it yet, i thought i'll just do it and rearranged it according to category: car, paint and gardening. i get really tired after doing the fixing-up though. i make sure however that i call eric to lift or push anything that is heavy (he's the one brining the laundry basket to the laundry room now).

i'll probably start washing the barnyard stuff so we can use them already. eric keeps on asking me when we're going to put the curtains and the window valance up. i have to remind him every now and then that we're planning to have the baby sleep in our room in his own cot so it's not really necessary to have the nursery fully decorated. he still wants it nice and ready for his baby boy though.

***

i rushed to the hospital last wednesday during my lunch break for our bi-weekly appointment with the ob. she was so happy to inform me that as per my last blood tests, my platelets are now up to 145,000 (minimum normal is 150,000). i actually missed a call from the hematologist about this. bp also was normal and test confirmed negative protein leak (sign of pre-eclampsia) so she was pretty happy with everything. i told her about experiencing shortness of breath every now and then and she said that it was because i was carrying high and the baby is putting pressure in my diaphragm and lungs which is causing the shortness of breath. i should get relief when the baby drops which signals that i'm about the delivery anytime soon after that. it was funny that when she measured for fundal height, she commented on how i don't have room anymore left!

***

last thursday, the filipinos (or should i say filipinas since it was only us girls) in toshiba threw me a baby shower luncheon. we had lunch at the newly opened ribs and rumps just right across the office. they gave us an avent gift set which consists of an iQ24 electronic steam steriliser, airflex feeding bottles, extra teats, tongs and a bottle and teat brush. it was so nice of them to organize something for us. we couldn't thank them enough! :-)

***

pre-natal class last week was spent watching actual videos of birth in the hospital. i never really fully understood how a woman's body...uhm, transforms to push out a human being out to this world, until we watched the videos. and seriously, even if these women knew that they were being filmed, they didn't try to hide the fact that childbirth is painFUL. but then again as we've been told, our body is designed for childbirth and millions of women have been through it and survived (not to mention go through it AGAIN!).

***

8 months (32 weeks) now!

10 more weeks to go...

2008-02-17T17:48:00.008+11:00

we've passed our 30th week!

we started our pre-natal classes two weeks ago, every thursdays from 8pm-10pm until march 6. there are 11 couple in the class and i think we're one of those whose edd are latest amongst the group (due dates range from late march to late april). my tummy is really small compared to our classmates and even when i was in manila, people are commenting how small my tummy is given how far along i am with the pregnancy. am thinking if i should be worried but my ob said everything is fine with the baby and his growth is within the normal range of his gestation.

i woke up one morning around the end of our 29th week and i think i saw three faint stretch marks below my tummy! i've been religously applying cocoa butter cream every morning and bio-oil every night. oh well, it's part of the pregnancy i guess. i even showed it to my officemates and they said it doesn't look like stretch marks (i think they're trying to make me feel better) but marks from my office pants instead. i'm pretty sure they're strech marks.

i think it's safe to say now that my belly button will never pop, it seems to just flatten out. which is good so i don't have this protruding door bell-like belly button showing through my tops.

we got ourselves a box of newborn nappies already and am looking at baby bath stuff as well. we still don't have a bathtub to use but that should be easy to buy. we're also looking for a cot mattress to put in the portacot so the baby boy will be more comfortable when he's sleeping, might as well get a mattress protector as well.

i'm planning to start washing some of the baby boy's stuff by the end of the month and pack both my labor and hospital bag (we were told during our prenatal classes to separate the two) early next month.

we're starting to look into how we're going to celebrate our little boy's baptism. we initially wanted to have it in manila (since most of our family and friends are there) but decided against it since we're planning to visit manila during the holidays again anyway. we have a rough idea already where we could have the ceremony but we still don't have a venue to have the celebration afterwards (we initially wanted it in this garden venue near the place where i work but when eric inquired we have to pay for the venue pa in addition to the food, parang hindi worth it). so now we're thinking restaurant na lang. we'll always have our house as a fallback anyway. i actually bought a really nice raw cream silk baptism romper online already (talk about impulsive buying) but it's way too big (it would best fit a 6 month old i think). so either i get it altered or contact veluz to have a baptismal gown made instead. i was in dj's in the city one weekday when i had a time off and a baptism outift costs between $150-$250, ang mahal! so i think i'm better off getting one from manila.

i've been searching designs of baptismal gown that i like already. i want an heirloom piece that would suit either a boy or a girl, so not too much frills and lace. we'll see...

my parents and brother seem to be gearing up already to be here for the birth. they're looking at arriving between end march or early-mid april. depending really on what my ob says. medyo expecting na din kasi kami that i won't carry full-term since i was born premature. and my mama seems to be adamant that she's here during the birth of her first apo. my sisters couldn't commit naman since all of them have work. at least it's going to be my brother's summer vacation that's why he can go. not sure though how long they can stay. i'm not expecting long since my papa has work and my mama has the farm that she needs to attend to. bahala na, thankful na lang ako that they'll be here. we were planning to have the baptism between the baby boy's 2nd-3rd month para medyo malaki-laki na sya but i think my mama would want to have the baptism while they're still here that's why she's been encouraging us to have the baptism (kahit simple lang daw, no frills para lang ma-bless na) within the month the baby boy is born.

i need to file my maternity leave already before the month ends. eric and i are still undecided whether or not i take an entire year off or not. basta it's non-negotiable for him that i stay at home for at least six months before we send the baby boy off to daycare. if i have the choice, i'd prefer to go back part-time (three times a week) after nine months and then full-time after twelve months. that way, it wouldn't come out as a shock to me transitiong from a full-time stay at home mom to a full-time working mom.

speaking of daycare, not sure where we're up to on that (eric's the one looking after it) but i know that we've filed applications for waitlist already in some daycare centres, but the hunt isn't over yet! and would you believe, we were actually advised that if we're eyeing particular private schools, we have to file for an application as soon as the baby boy is born! that way, we've got better chances of getting a slot when the time comes for us to enroll him.

ano pa ba? eric's been helping me do the laundry already (at least taking down the sinampay) and he started to accompany me to the grocery since it's becoming more difficult for me to push the cart and load the grocery stuff in the car.

work still is crazy by the way. the project was planned just in time for me to finish it before i go on leave. but you know how projects are, more often than not they don't turn out the way they're planned. every now and then i still get overwhelmed. i'm just thankful that we have eric to go home to at the end of a long day.

the youth of the world...

2008-02-12T20:57:00.001+11:00

...are coming to sydney in 2008.
http://www.wyd2008.org

5 and 6

2008-02-05T20:02:00.000+11:00

...months that is. the pregnancy continues to be easy for me. i even survived the long flight to manila and back to sydney given that we have a stopover in bangkok not to mention all the walking i did because of shopping and the late night-outs with friends. i had an appointment with my ob as soon as we arrived and was shocked how much i gained the past couple of weeks given that i saw her only the week before we left. the good thing though was the next time i saw her, i lost weight which means what i gained really was just holiday weight. my platelets are still being continued to be monitored and as mentioned in my previous post, i had my glucose tolerance test. i'll know by the end of the week the result of the long gtt if i have gestational diabetes (short gtt showed a result that was a little higher than the tolerance level) and i'm really hoping that it turns out negative. i'm seeing my ob every two weeks now and then every week once i hit the 36th week mark.

since we got back, we've been scheduling our weekends now to do some stuff that needs to be done before the much awaited arrival of our baby boy. we're kinda anticipating that i might deliver early given that my mama wasn't able to carry me full-term. we finished painting the nursery (okay, it was really eric who did it :-P) and installing the border (i helped here) but haven't finished decorating yet. we'll probably set everything up around end march.

we were able to acquire more barnyard items to add to our collection (eric still wants to get the rug and lamp).

we also bought another portacot to be set-up outside so we don't have to wheel the one for the bedroom/nursery in and out. we got it for 40% off so we couldn't resist the bargain. although eric still dreaming of getting a boori timber cot.

we bought the car seat already...

and finally paid our baby's bugaboo in full (we have yet to pick it up though). i'm so happy we got it last year when babies galore went on sale since they increased the price a couple of hundred dollars as the start of this year not to mention that the canvas topping is now available in blue (it was a toss between red, orange and blue). we even got the transport bag so we could bring it with us when we go on a trip.

we pretty much have the major stuff that we need. we're still searching though for my rocker and glider.

the baby just moves all the time now unlike before that i can only feel his movements usually during evenings. sometimes when i just stare at my belly i can actually see the movements underneath my skin! i love feeling him move inside me.

i can already feel the additional weight of my belly and at the end of day my legs ache but nothing a couple of pillows can fix when i sleep at night. speaking of sleep, i have to get up every night now to go to the toilet so i feel i don't get enough sleep and having real difficulty in waking up every morning.

i can't believe we only have a little over two months left before we finally get to hold him. it seems just like yesterday that we found out we were expecting!

a very busy friday and the road trip down south

2008-02-03T17:31:00.000+11:00

took time off last friday to do some stuff. i thought that instead of arriving late to work or leaving early to do some pregnancy related tests, might as well take the entire day off and do some errands as well. i started the day early going to the hospital for my long glucose tolerance test (the short gtt came out with a result of a couple of points higher than the tolerance level so my ob decided for me to undergo the long gtt to ensure that i don't have gestational diabetes). eric and i were already in the hospital the night before for the baby boy's fetal echocardiogram that the doctor wanted for us to do on our 24th week but we were in manila at that time and last thursday (28th week) was the only schedule we can get from the specialist to do the scan. everything seems to be okay we were told which is good. anyway, after that i went to see my gp since the ob was quite concerned about my high blood pressure eversince i got pregnant. the gp however confirmed that i have always been on the high side anyway but still checked for protein in my urine just to check if i manifest any signs of pre-eclampsia. results turned out negative but it will be checked by my ob every two weeks from now on. i then went to the shops to grab some lunch (i had to fast for the long gtt so i was already starving), had passport photos taken and then go to hcf and medicare for reimbursment of some medical expenses. i took the train to go to the city to go to the philippine embassy to have my passport extended and amended with my married name (finally, after 3 years of being married). since eric's been working with a client in the city the past couple of weeks, we decided to have dinner at the meat & wine co in darling harbour (eric truly enjoyed his prime cut fillet while i feasted on my prawn and beef skewer). we capped off our sumptuous dinner with a very rich cake from the lindt chocolat cafe in cockle bay wharf.

we just came back from an overnight trip to jervis bay (about three hours drive from sydney). with just a couple more week to go before the end of summer and feeling guilty of not planning anything during the australia day long weekend last week, we've made arrangements to go to jervis bay this weekend since aris and jen raved about how great hyams beach is when they went there around the same time last year. it has been raining (and hailing!) in sydney during the week so i wasn't really expecting that we could go to the beach yesterday. to our excitement, the weather was pretty good down there, blue and clear skies and the water was just so inviting! jen wasn't kidding when she said that the sand is really white and fine, reminds me so much of boracay. we stayed at a two-story loft apartment in dolphin shores dolphin shores and had a fantastic, filling dinner of mexican food at 3 gringos. on our way back to gloomy sydney today (it's still raining), we passed by woolloongong and had fish and chips for lunch.

i'm pretty tried now given my activity-filled past couple of days, and it's back to work tomorrow!

*baby and pregnancy updates soon!

we keep coming back to manila...

2008-01-29T21:04:00.001+11:00

we had a pretty hectic and intense three weeks in manila. trying to make the most of our short time there, i met up with friends the first week (took a toll on my body though since by the end of the first week, i was feeling sick already from all the late night-outs!), second week was spent with family to celebrate christmas and out-of town dive trip to dumaguete (i had to content myself snorkling though since i couldn't dive given my state now), and third week (or should i say the entire time i didn't meet up with friends) was spent shopping, eating, and more shopping (we bought so much stuff for the baby boy that we had to leave five full shopping bags in malingap which my parents will just bring when they come over and visit around april).

i paid homage to trinoma (countless times), greenhills, tiendesitas, eastwood, serendra and mall of asia (wasn't a good experience though). pinatulan ko even the sunday market at lung center (i got a LOT of carter's overuns from there)! feasted on chicken joy, jolly spaghetti and jolly hotdog at jollibee, sisig at gerry's, fried chicken and caramel bar at max's, spinach dip and linguine di valentino at cibo, upscale turo-turo at mang pepe's, friday's special thin crust pizza, chick n' chips and thick strawberry milkshake at shakey's, angel hair pomodoro at italianni's, ice blended mocha at coffee bean and tea leaf, giant squid at aloha polu kai, virgin martinis at larry's bar, black paella and conchinillo at alba's, ebi tempura and chicken kamemeshi at kamameshi, pasta, pizza and gelato at amici, bibingka with goat cheese and salted egg at via mare and other places i can't remember the name anymore. i had a couple of massages while there (not to mention the foot massages i got in bangkok airport), a haircut (the last one was around the same time last year!) and a diamond peel session.

we attended a wedding (eric attended two weddings while we were there). my mama and sisters threw us a baby shower before christmas. we went to the annual alarcon christmas party at pao the day before christmas and then heard christmas eve mass at club instead of our parish. christmas morning was spent in malingap and then off to san juan for christmas lunch with the in-laws and visited daddy at manila memorial. we then went to dumaguete for a couple of days before having our annual fireworks display in taysan to welcome the new year.

truly hectic and intense but it was worth every minute.

baby shower

christmas eve

on our way to apo island

family picture before leaving dumaguete

with ange friends

with miriam friends and the newest addition, tim

with p&g friends

halfway there

2007-12-08T19:49:00.000+11:00

20 more weeks to go!

i've started to feel "sensations" inside my tummy around the end of my 18th week. wasn't sure if that was the baby moving since it wasn't consistent (malay mo gas lang sya or something...). but i've been feeling it constantly now so it surely is him! i wouldn't describe it as butterfly flutters (as what i've read in mags), it was more on rolling and squirming inside. it usually happens at night but every now and then i'd feel it during the day.

as posted earlier, we found out that it's going to be a boy during our morphology scan which was done on our 19th week which really came out as a surprise to everyone!

my blood is still being continually tested every three weeks. the good news is i haven't heard from our hematologist since our last appointment. our agreement was that if my platelets drop to a dangerous level (around 20,000 i think), she'll give me a call so we can proceed with either me taking drugs or transfusion. no news is good news. but we're hoping to see her next week before our trip just to be safe.

it's been getting uncomfortable sleeping now with the growing belly. i find that putting a pillow underneath it while sleeping on my side helps (i still can sleep on my back with no issues though it's just i read it's best to sleep on your left side). i've woken up in the middle of the night twice already with really bad leg cramps. the first time it happened, i was able to pull my foot to stop the cramping but the recent one i had, i couldn't reach my foot anymore! and it took the husband a while to realize what was happening and pull my foot for me! i still wear my heels to work (i wear decent height heels anyway). i wonder if that contributes to my leg cramping...

i officially can't wear my pre-pregnancy pants anymore. for a while, looping a rubber band in the button hole and then hooking it to the button worked. but then as the weeks went by, i can't seem to zip my pants up anymore. besides, people at work keep on telling me that i've all of a sudden "popped", that's when i decided to stock on maternity pants already (not to mention an officemate actually commented one day "for god's sake autumn, get some maternity pants already!" since it was really obvious that my pants were unbottoned with a rubber band looping the button and the button hole obvious through my tight top, nakakahiya!). i just hope they last through the entire pregnancy para ma-roi ko naman my investment on the preggy clothes! i can still get away with wearing some of my pre-pregnancy tops, as long as they're stretchy. :-)

also, people in the office have started to ask me when i'm due so i guess it's really obvious now that i'm expecting!

we had our company christmas party last night at sydney shangri-la. buti naman i was able to come up with an outfit to wear kahit last minute (i got a non-preggy top but in a couple of sizes up from my normal pre-preg size, it's a good thing that uso ang empire/babydoll cut ngayon!). i'll probably wear the same outfit as my christmas outfit para ma-sulit. we have a wedding to attend to while in manila so isa pa yung outfit that i have to come up with soon since i don't think i have time to buy a dress to wear. i didn't realize dressing up while preggy could be so challenging!

we've been so busy with work lately. too busy in fact that eric had to put his day care search on hold until next year (after returning from our christmas vacation in manila). ako naman, we kicked-off our project at work about two and a half weeks ago and my replacement only started last week so medyo stressful talaga. had to remind myself every now and then to take it easy kasi i'm scared that it might affect our baby. been going home so exhausted lang talaga not to mention sleeping late as well the past couple of weeks.

on the shopping front, we got our graco pack 'n play already (we got the oakwood design). the car seat we'll probably get early next year na. we've been buying some little stuff already (blankets, clothes, etc.) but we really plan to buy the bulk of it in manila.

went shopping almost the entire day today for more pasalubongs and eric couldn't resist buying this for the baby boy when we saw it...

that's it! i'm celebrating my birthday on monday and our anniversary on tuesday. we didn't make any big plans this year since we're both so busy with work and we're off to manila on friday already. siguro dinner lang kami somewhere nice. till my next post...

one shopping day

2007-12-02T20:49:00.000+11:00

we were planning to go to bondi junction eversince eric got his new laptop so we could buy the oakley laptop bag that he wanted. i told him that we'll get it for him (that's me and the baby boy) as our present already for christmas. he told me wanted to get an overnight/travel bag as well (his jansport backpack has seen better days) so i told eric that we could get that for him for our anniversary. so happy that i got his presents already! at least i don't have to worry about it anymore.

since we were already there, we went to nine west so i could show him this big tote bag i wanted (perfect for our trip to manila, fits my usual bag stuff plus passport and other travel stuff i want to bring on the plane not to mention stuff that i might buy in bangkok airport dutyfree during our stopover!). he was more than happy to get it for me that since he knows he needs to come up with a lot of presents for me this month (i got the one in black though)!

i already asked my ate to check out some coach leather bags in the us as well (carly leather in chili and ergo belted leather hobo in either black or brown, sorry, i can't seem to copy the bag pictures in their site). sobra unti lang kasi ng bags that their sydney store carries, mga old styles pa. not sure though if she could get it for me since she's already in atlanta for work (she was on holiday in san francisco and then las vegas a week before her business trip). na-guiguilty ako magpabili ng lv batignolles kasi when eric went to the lv store, it costs a whopping au$1,100.00!!! we could already buy our baby's car seat with that (we don't have a car seat just yet)! coach siguro i wouldn't feel so guilty. :-)

we were there lang sa bondi junction for two hours only (and that includes having lunch already). which is good kasi we don't have to pay for parking yet. ang mahal kaya mag-park there!

given that this is the second to the last weekend till our vacation in manila, we decided to do some more shopping for pasalubongs today. so off we went to birkenhead point. we first went to the nine west outlet. i was able to get a bag for my mama (i wasn't planning at all to give her a bag for christmas). eric was able to get my sis-in-law a handbag and i was able to get a weekend bag for myself (courtesy of my dear husband again, super cheap lang naman eh!).

then we went to the surf shop to get my brother his rip curl boardshorts which he asked me to buy for him (my siblings think that australia is the land of billabong, rip curl and roxy, dami nga here but they're so expensive naman kaya! i wouldn't be surprised if it's cheaper sa manila). sana lang it fits since i got him a 38 (he told me to get a 36 pero walang nice na 36!). i called one of my sisters in manila and asked what size i should be getting for him and she said the last time they got my brother a 36 pants, they had to return it for a 38 so hopefully tama nga (but the shorts really look big). oh well, if it doesn't fit him, then it goes to my papa. i also got thongs (that's flipflops for you!) for my sisters since they were on sale, 3 for au$20.

we also passed by the pumpkin patch outlet to get the baby boy some stuff (we got ourselves stuff kasi so i wanted to make sure that he doesn't feel left out :-P). got a two-pack onesies that snaps on the side. i find baby stuff so expensive, i can get cheapo tops for au$10 (not the best quality though) samantalang the baby clothes costs around au$15-20. i really have to stock up on the basics while we're in manila. not to mention ang unti lang ng clothes for boys samantalang ang daming cute stuff for girls!

before our free parking ended, we decided to go home already (obvious ba that we hate paying for parking???) we went home happy with all our shopping finds but broke. oh well, at least happy naman...