Pregnancy Journal 8.2 (The Elephunk)

I'm often grouchy these days, I don't know why. I get into "minor" quarrels with waiters and salespeople, say, if their service is slow or if the airconditioning is turned on too low. Of course I end up regretting my bad temper, after all has been said. By then it would be too late. Bahd.

My morning was off to a similar bad start today. I found out just when I was rushing to get to work, that all my maternity pants are in the laundry. I would not have fussed over it, ordinarily. But these are not ordinary times.
You see, my only remaining office bottoms are skirts and I have been swearing them off since I became so bloated. Look. I honestly feel like I have elephant legs -



Here's a tighter view. Notice all the spider veins. Eeek. (WARNING: Image not for the queasy or for people who still believe that pregnant people have a certain "glow" to them. Blah.) -



Even my watch barely fits anymore. It literally leaves a mark on my wrist when I take it off.



The solution I have in mind is to stay seated for most of today to hide my lower extremities under the desk. However, that would not be very friendly to my back. And at this point, we all agree I'd rather stay comfortable than be pleasing to look at.

Kebs. I guess I'll just pretend nothing's the matter with my elephunk.

Ang dami-dami

We had lunch yesterday with our closest friends and family to celebrate Malachi's upcoming world debut. Many thanks to those who attended. Now we're drowning in a sea of gifts for the baby. I guess that's why they call it a "shower"...

Pictures to follow. In the meantime, thanks again!

Pregnancy Journal 8.1 (Realignment)

We turned 8 months pregnant today. Hoorah!

I won't bother you anymore with the usual litany of aches and pains. Alam niyo na yun. I'll just show you how huge I've become compared to last month. It's like I swallowed an entire water melon overnight.

   Front View

  Side View

When Seated

On the brighter side, my belly has taken on a very practical purpose. I sometimes use it as a table of sorts, on which I could place the bowl of peanuts that I like to eat while watching TV on the bed. I can also use it to prop up my head, for when I'm thinking or sulking or trying hard to be cute like this. Achuchu-chu.

My hands are showing significant signs of swelling too. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to put on my wedding ring. As you can see, my ring finger has a bewang now. Haha

My nose and feet have begun to retain a lot of water. I wear my shoes without the laces. Because of the magic of pre-natal swelling, my Chucks stay on my feet without external reinforcement. No hassle!

I've given up on the stretchmarks. Like my belly, they also seem to have appeared overnight. I don't care. What matters is I have only 8 more weeks to go before the baby is born. Eggciting!

P.S. If you're wondering why this blog is subtitled "Realignment," it's because I decided yesterday to cancel our childbirth class registration. The decision isn't because I'm counting on a C-section. It's just that I don't have time anymore. (1) I feel exhausted all the time and would like to take the opportunity to get more sleep on weekends; (2) The expenses are starting to pile up and I think the registration fee of PhP4,000 may be put to better use; and (3) My mom gave birth without the benefit of a childbirth class, so I'm assuming I'm genetically able to do that too. Oh well.

Elmo likes to organize

My mom arrived today. She will be home until about 3 months after I give birth. Just the thought of her being around is comforting this late in my pregnancy. No amount of preparation beats your own mother's presence. She knows everything.

Anyway, my mother brought home these bedroom slippers (or socks? Hmmm.) given by my Aunt Lilia. I can't wait to put these on the baby. Yey...


The slippers (or socks?) inspired me to tidy up a little. I intended to organize after we've done some full-on heavy-duty shopping. But picking up baby's things from various places in the house, i.e. our sock drawers, seemed like a good idea today.

So now all of his things are in this plastic container. I haven't quite figured out how the Dewey Decimal system works, so the socks are rolled up in there with the bonnets and the mittens and the rompers and some other stuff. Some shirts for 2 years olds are also somewhere in there too.

What the heck. At least, it's a start.

Who am I?

You realize your priorities have changed when you:

(1) actually know what sugar cookies are; and

(2) get excited by the thought of sugar cookies shaped like baby bottles. 

I hope they taste good though. That's the trouble withordering food online. You kind of just wing it when it comes to senses other than your sense of sight. 

Pregnancy Journal 7.5 (Never Say Never)

I thought the wedge pillow we got when I was 5 months along was useless. It has actually become my best friend. I haven't been sleeping like I used to, of course. But the pillow's been a great help. At least it makes lying down for long periods of time, i.e. 8 hours, more bearable. Although Lawrd, how long until I'm able to sleep face down again? Hay.

I should thank the R&D teams of the companies that come up with these amazing products for pregnant women. I abused the Belly Belt and the Bra Extenders until they couldn't fit me anymore. Now I'm in love with the amazing Maternity Support Belt. I got mine from Havin' A Baby and it costs only PhP545. Yahoo. A maternity support belt looks like you're regular supporter -


- except you wear it around your belly rather than around your balls, if any. It looks more or less like this when worn, minus the pantyhose Teehee -

It literally supports a pregnant woman's belly like so, thereby taking some of the weight of the baby off her back. Thank the heavens, I needed the maternity belt only recently. My back only started seriously hurting at around 7 months, which is right about when I started to look like this.

Very heavy guys. Very heavy indeed.

All for now. I went home early and was trying my best not to cry in the car while driving from the office because of the back pains. I'm such a loser - who has got to get some rest. Toodles.

Pregnancy Journal 7.4 (Go, migrate!)

We were informed yesterday that I may have to give birth by C-section. I was initially relieved, because God knows how scared I am of even the thought of pushing a human being out of me. It doesn't matter that that was how nature intended childbirth to be. I'm just scared.

But then the thought of having major surgery and then taking a longer time to recover, scared me equally. I know 30% of women who give birth, do it by C-section (sometimes even by choice). And that, when safe childbirth is your priority, a cesarean delivery is the way to go. But I fear our case is a lot more complicated. I am not giving birth by C-section because I want to. It's because I have to.

Baby and I have a month to go before our doctor finally decides on our birth plan. I'm ready to face my fear of a normal delivery, if only my body would cooperate. Now we're praying that God gives my placenta a passport and a visa already, so he can migrate away from my cervical opening in time for baby's birth.

Please pray with us. 

Sneak Peek

It's settled. I have very low EQ. I just can't wait anymore for the colored pictures from the baby's 4D ultrasound to come around, so I'm posting lower resolution pictures of him here. 

I told you he looks like me. See the resemblance?

His nose, however, I recognize from someone else. I think from this little person here...

...who grew up to be this handsome fellow here.

We did a little album digging, and found that baby's nose definitely comes from someone's side of the family.

                      Exhibit 1: First Generation, Pao's grandma Lola Au

        Exhibit 2: Second Generation, baby's future paternal grandma Mama Girlie

    and Exhibits 3-A and 3-B: Third Generation, baby's future paternal uncle Dipi

This, unfortunately, is all the theorizing I can come up with for now. We'll post the rest of the pictures when they get here and will, of course, post pictures of the baby when he arrives. Until then, we have 9 more weeks of baby-growing to go! Yey. 

Ctrl + Alt + Del

We're taking a breather today. Woke up to morning sunshine, took a leisurely breakfast of Vigan longganisa and sinangag, will now spend the day with pillows behind my back. 

Pregnancy Journal 7.3 (How's it going in there?)

29 weeks is the perfect time to take a 4D Ultrasound. Baby's getting bigger by the minute, see? There he is. Now I look like I'm definitely child-bearing.

We got ours at In My Womb at the Link (the new Landmark) near Glorietta.

I loved their service, although we haven't received the final edited video yet. I'm just saying the staff  is nice and efficient. When you go, be sure to get your sonogram taken by Dra. Granada. She was recommended by our insurance agent, JP Cox, who also happens to be the wife of my law school blockmate Marc.

Dra. Granada is so pleasant. I wish I'd met her earlier so I can stare at her all day. Heehee Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the sonogram room. So if you're curious, you may just want to Google her. She's so pretty. * Girl crush *

We got the Ruby package, although in the meantime, we were only able to take home 3D black and white pictures of our baby. I'm debating whether I should post them here already, or wait for the higher-quality colored ones. Basta, we confirmed that the baby's very limber. His feet were near his head and he was jiggling his arms the whole time. I also think he looks just like me. I was a chubby-cheeked baby.

I highly recommend not In My Womb per se, but just Dra. Granada. If you're expecting, consider having your 3D/4D Ultrasound taken by her. You can check out In My Womb's rateshere. Our package said we get only 30 minutes to take baby's pictures, but Dra. Granada spent an entire hour with us, chuckling over the baby's nose. Haha
You'll see. Pictures to follow, promise. 

Pregnancy Journal 7.2 (Window Shopping)

Picked out some baby things last week, with the help of my in-house consultant - my sister, Gene. I just figured, since I am clueless about these things, I should get myself the services of an expert. And who could have more expertise than someone who's been there THREE times?

See, here are the fruits of my sister's labor, in order of appearance on planet earth...

                                                                             Ate Jowie...

                                                                              ...Kuya AC...

                                                                           ...and Baby Gab.

My sister had a blast window shopping for baby things. We spent a good three (3) hours going around the mall, filling out our baby registry. I got really really tired. But my sister, who's been known to stay in the mall from sun up til closing hours, had the time of her life. Say hello to the camera, mother.

It's a good thing I came prepared. I printed out a list. We love lists. If this list did not exist, we could have spent the entire day just looking for things.

It's also good thing we were only window shopping because, boy oh girl, infant stuff are horrendously expensive. This play pen costs PhP11K! *What?!

And this stroller with matching baby carrier (even when) costs around PhP20K! *What?!

Anyway, we were able to finalize our gift registry with just the right mix of socially-sinful and budget-friendly things. Next stop: baby shower venue. Cheers!

* I know, I know. The blurry pictures hurt my eyes also. Sorry. I mistakenly resized all the pictures in that folder to thumbnail size, and then resized then back again to browser size. Apparently, that doesn't work.