star quality :-)

birth announcement

Where is Garie?

Garie's actual crib. Linens, pillows and bolsters by yours truly. KInareer ko tlga pananahi while waiting for her arrival :p

It has been ages since my last post. Sorry for not making the tags and droppin’ by your blog to drop a note or a comment and say thank you for visiting our site. Just been busy preparing for Garie’s coming, include to that laziness as well. Hehe. A lot of milestones and stories have transpired during my silence. I do hope I could catch up soon . . . Let me share with you today what I believe will mark a very special moment in our lives . . .

It’s Aug 14, 2009 today. Tomorrow will mark a new beginning in our lives as husband and wife. We'll be facing parenthood. We are expecting Garie’s arrival tomorrow. After 9 months of waiting . . . finally, she’s coming! Just in time for the Feast of Our Lady of the Assumption :-)

A few hours from now – we’ll be leaving the house, drop by the mall and then off to the hospital. Hubby and I decided that I’ll be under going induce labor since I am already 3 days overdue per LMP. I am not feeling any labor pains and my cervix is still closed. It ripens but never opens. As in 0cm. I do not know why my cervix behavior is like this, even when I went thru DNC 2 years ago. Hoping that induce labor will work, I do not want to undergo c-section.

We do hope and pray for safe and healthy baby garie and delivery. Good luck to us!

Bye for now . . . upcoming birth announcement and birthing story :p

It's My Birthday & Our Anniversary!

It's my 29th birthday today! Happy Birthday to me and Happy 2nd Year Anniversary to us. Hehe.

We do not have any grand plans today, not only because I am pregnant but because of budget contraints. Hehe. We just shed out 10% additional DP for the house, then we are also preparing for our baby's coming as well as her things plus the house customization, aesthetic and furnitures. Hay ang daming gastos. But it's okay hindi naman sa kung saan lng mapupunta eh. It's for our future and baby's future as well.

Hubby and I started the day hearing the 6am mass at NSDG were we exchanged vows 2 years ago. Afterwards, we had bfast at McDo then off to office. Tonight we'll be having simple dinner somewhere at Shangrila, maybe CPK or Claw Daddy. Bahal na were our taste buds will bring us.

Oh we might also have simple get together with the Dizon's & Rodriguez' at Pampanga, pag uwi nmin sa June 6. As usual, I cook for the family and they always watch out for new dishes. Hehe.

Thanks babi for the nice white gold earrings! Love you so much! Happy Anniversary!

Working from home

I so love this set up. Morning rush is not in my vocabulary. I do not need to wake up early to prepare our baon, our office attire, myself and transport to office.

As I wake up in the morning, my breakfast is already ready. Then I take a bath (office attire not needed, kahit ano na lng. hehe.) and then work starts via remote access. After a few hours lunch is served followed by siesta then work again then snacks, work again then dinner. Hehe. I do not have to think what I shall eat. Every meal is readily available courtesy of mommy. This is the beauty of staying and working from home.

Aside from the fact that I can save some money for food, transpo and time I can even concentrate well in my work. Though the environment is not very office, aircon turned off, e-fan is enough since my room is well ventilated. I can even feel the natural air from the swaying trees, hear the rain fall on the window pane and hear the humming birds when the sun is shinning. Good thing, I am not magnetized by the bed else hindi na ako nka work. Hehe

Amidst all this benefits, I am missing hubby so much.

So near yet so far

Hubby and I are both in Pampanga for two weeks (May 4-15). He’s at Angeles City conducting training while I am at home, Sta. Ana (my hometown) on a work from home basis.

I have arranged the work from home basis since no one will accompany me at our place and I know for sure that I will be having a hard time in terms of transportation specially now that it is already rainy season though office and our place is merely 15 mins drive.

Home based working is never a practice in our office, good thing they permitted me to do so – since no one will support my users and I am handling 3 major projects that will be put on hold if ever they won’t allow me. So they have no choice but to allow me. Hehe.

Though we are both in Pampanga, roughly around 30 km far apart we don’t see each other and we don’t sleep together, we seldom exchange SMS and we just talk via phone before the night ends. He works up until the wee hours of the morning and needs to wake up early. That’s why he need to stay and rest at the hotel instead of 2 hour drive to and off work.

Oh how I miss hubby. He is so busy. We are so busy kung kelan pa naman preggy ako. Anyway, I understand we are both in the field of IT and of the consulting application. Sometimes wala ginagawa paminsan naman tambak tlga. Hay work life.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It's my dad 60th birthday today! Certified senior citizen ka na. Hehe.

We may not be around celebrating his birthday today but this coming long weekend (May 1-2)we'll have an out of town trip / outing at Coral View Resort at Morong, Bataan. I find it very exciting since it is our first family out of town. Imagine that!

I just do hope that everybody will have a great time. If not sisihin ko sarili ko as the head planner. Hehe.

I'll post pictures and some kwentos after the event!

Happy birthday dad! We love you!

GD Free

Yey! I am GD free. I really worked hard and prayed for this. All the dieting and sugar sacrifices are worth it! Congrats to myself. Hehe.

But this doesn't mean that I should skip diet. I still need to, so as GD will not reoccur. I know and I strongly believe that I can make it. That's the spirit. Hehe.

I got GD

Again, I didn’t pass the 2nd OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test) last April 4. This test requires 8 hours fasting + 4 hours during the actual test. It was again drinking that super sweet concentrate medical orange juice (but this time in a bigger dosage) that made me dizzy and almost puke. Then every after hour for 4 times - a prick will be done from my finger for blood sample.

Out of the 4 blood sample, 2 of which are positive. I actually forgot the result values. This means I am positive to (Gestational Diabetes) GD. For the meantime, OB asked me to diet, since no oral medicine can cure GD. I am now only allowed to eat ½ cup of white rice/ 1 cup of brown rice per meal, veggie, fish, chicken w/o the skin and some selected not so sweet fruits.

It’s really hard to diet when pregnant. I sometimes feel sad not being able to eat the food I want or not satisfied with the meal w/ small serving. Anything and all the best for Baby R, I am very willing to sacrifice and discipline myself.

I’ll have another round of test this coming Saturday, my 3rd screening. This is to check if GD is gone or if I need to inject insulin. I really hope not.

After all the dieting and almost no sugar intake. I guess I need to diet more. I can't really believe that I got GD.

House Update #04: Ang Pagbuhos

It's been a while since my last post re our house construction. Why? Wala kasing progress for the past 3 mos. How I wanted na mkipag away sa Camella and contractor because they don't deliver on time. Hubby and my parents prohibited me from doing so dhil daw bka paglaruan ang quality ng house. Dapat daw maging mabait at bolabolahin, kung pwede nga daw suhulan, suhulan. Hehe.

Anyways, finally the construction begun 3rd week of March. So it's very impossible that we can move by May, they're new target is July - which will be the turn over month. How I wish we can move out before I give birth, pero parang it's impossible :(

The foundation and footings or what they call "buhos" commenced last April 1 at around 4PM wherein the scheduled time is 11:30 AM. Na pa whole day leave tuloy kmi ni hubby instead na half day lng sana. We wanted to witness the "buhos" because we believe in the pamahiin na magsabog ng coins during the "buhos" proper, pampaswerte and for abundant life daw. This has been a practice in our family, everytime na may papaconstruct/renovate sa house nmin we do this . . . ok naman ang buhay nmin, hindi naman kmi naghirap or nagutom. Hehe. Pero ung pagsabog salt hindi na kmi naniwala dun para di daw kmi multuhin or aswangin - we will have it blessed naman. Hehe.

It was hubby who did mostly the pagsabog ng coins. He didn't permit me to roam around the small construction, mabato kasi bka daw madapa ako, my role was maging amuyong at photographer lng. Kundi lng ako buntis malamang sinamahan ko pa ung mga construction workers magbuhos. Cowboy here. Hehe.

The sun was really striking hard that day, pero nung actual buhos na umambon then right after umaraw ulit, ang galing! Nakakatuwa. We consider it as a blessing tlga :)

After 3 days . . . this is their accomplishment, not bad. We were actually with our free of charge consultant. Hehe. Archi Jowette (my HS friend)

Though the construction is delayed hubby and I are still happy to see na ang pinaghirapan nmin is turning now into reality.

Friendly blogger award

"Let's Spread the Spirit of Friendship to all the Blogosphere all over the World."

Here are the rules for this award :

1. Take a Photo or install one now.

- There goes my photo @ 19 weeks pregnant. Wuaaaahh! My nose is getting bigger. Nag iiba na face features ko.

2. Do not change clothes, do not comb the hair, the main image is to be captured (we want to see the real you...hehehe..)

Thanks Carla for the award. I am sharing this award to Mari, Sharlyn and Eds.

Best Ever Foot Spa

I had the best foot spa ever last night. No, it wasn’t done in a very posh spa saloon. It was just a simple home spa. What made it very special and best of all - is that because hubby did the soaking, scrubbing and massaging. Believe it or not! Hehe.

It was two thumbs up, though it was his first time to do it. All the calluses and dead skin cells were removed. Galing!

Thanks babi for the best foot spa service ever. Sana next time my free pedicure na. Haha. Love you!

Gestational Diabetes???

I had another round of pre-natal check up last Saturday, March 28, 2009. It’s my 3rd check up for the month. Good to know that I am UTI free, yey! On the other side, we learned that I might have gestational diabetes.

I took the oral glucose tollerance test (drinking a 240 ml medical orange juice that is so sweet, eiiiwww!), after an hour the medical technologist took a blood sample from my finger then did the sugar test into the strip on a digital device. To our dismay the result is 195 mg/dl that is 50 mg/dl higher than the normal values (80-145 mg/dl). I didn’t pass the first screening. Aside from that, I again gained 4.4 lbs in just two weeks. Whuuaaat! I can’t really believe this is happening - after all the dieting and almost no sugar intake. Hay.

Next Saturday (April 4), we’ll be visiting OB again for further blood test to check my sugar level.

Hungry for sugar

I do not have a sweet tooth, but I hunger for sugar these past few days. When I learned that I have a positive sugar result through my urine exam – I am staying away from it.

My sugar source would only come from low fat milk, wheat bread, brown rice, some veggies and not that sweet fruits. So far I can still say no when they offer me ice cream and donuts here at the office and I am congratulating myself. Job well done. Hehe. Anything for baby and for healthy pregnancy! I hope I can manage to say no until I give birth dahil takot ako magka gestational diabetes at ma CS.

I miss sweets already. Calling some of my favorites - FIC raspberry rapture or strawberry (this makes my headache disappear), my homemade buko pandan and mango tapioca. Hmmm . . . yummy!

Alone

I was alone for two nights, last night and the other night. Though I used to stay by my self when I was still single, but it is different this time. It is my first time to stay home alone, go to and off work since I became pregnant. It was hard for me because I have been very depended to hubby lately. Good thing hubby is going back tonight from his business trip, just in time for tomorrow’s check up. Yey!

Night 1: I hard a very hard time going home with officemate Lor, because of the heavy rain and traffic. Ang susuplado ang mga taxi drivers. It took us an hour to get a cab – which was far longer than our 15 mins trip. When I got home I just kept myself busy doing some house stuffs until I feel like sleeping.

Night 2: Good thing I am not the nervous type of person and I was positive enough to fight the aches I felt. Backache, abdominal pain and knee pains – which made me, rest early last night. I even chilled in the wee hours of the morning and I cannot get up to switch off the aircon. Normally, hubby does that for me and hugs me tight to fight the chill.

I hope I won’t experience being alone again during my pregnancy stage, no matter how brave you are, I believe it is still not good to stay home alone specially at night. I hope no more business trips for hubby. Hay.

What to do?

Hubby is living again tomorrow for a business trip and will be back on Friday night. It was just a few hours ago that their office decided that he shall leave tomorrow off to Naga (Mar 25-26), from airport straight to Sn Fernando, then to Olongapo (Mar 26-27).

We are not really prepared for this situation. Our dilemma is who will look over me at night? We do not have a helper, relatives or a friends that would be able to accompany me. Is it safe for me to stay alone at night? I snore and dreams (I sometimes get mad or screams) at night/morning since I got pregnant . . . .

We can not go home to Pampanga tonight (and do my work from home thingy until Friday) since hubby needs to be at the airport tomorrow at 5:30 AM.

Last week (Mar 17-20) hubby was on a business trip also but we didn't have a hard time thinking were shall I stay since his trip was all the way to north only, Pangasinan, Iligan to name a few. So he dropped me off at home (Pampanga) and stayed with my parents, then he goes to north.

As of now, we do not have plans yet. What shall we do?

2 Prenatal Check Ups for March, 1 more to go . . .

My prenatal check up has been weekly (every Saturdays of March), Tita Bingle is closely monitoring my UTI, OMG! . . . . it's back and it's numerous plus a positive sugar. Whuuuuaaaahhh!

Prenatal Check Up #4 (Mar 14)

- Urinalysis round 4: UTI is back and it's 10-20 pus cells

- Believe it or not, I didn't gain any weight in a month though my tummy is a lot bigger than last month. I did a lil diet - though it's a bit hard for me, I still tried and it was a success. I had no whites (white rice & white bread) and I go for no sugar added juices, I didn't eat too much sweets, I sometimes only eat oatmel or multigrain cereals at night and it works.

- Aside from 8-10 glasses of water intake in a day, Amoxil and Isoxilan (both 3x a day) were prescribed for UTI; continued food supplement for daily vitamins dose.

Prenatal Check Up #5 (Mar 21)

-Urinalysis round 5: UTI is still present and its 5-20 pus cells, no improvement at all. Add into that postive sugar result. Hay. I hope this won't end to gestational diabetes.

- The 1 week window difference has been hard for me to diet or maintain my food intake since I stayed with my parents because hubby was on a business trip and no one will look over me. Mom loves to cook and dad loves to eat - so when I am at home we eat 3 full meals and 2 heavy snakcs. I guess the fresh pick yummy sweet mangoes, buko pandan and mango tapioca made the positive sugar result. Hay.

- Though we found out that I have UTI, this vist was really very touchy . . . for the first time we heard baby's heart bit using doppler (dati kasi we saw it via ultrasound). Though the bit sounds like a running horse I still find it cute, maiyak iyak nga ako eh hearing baby's heart bit. Hehe. We are glad to know that he is doing well - his/her heart rate range is 151 - 155 which is within the normal rate :)

- Again, aside from the 8-10 glasses of water a day, I continued my antibiotics - pero this time Cefalexin naman along with the Isoxilan (3x a day); Tita Bingle also prescribed the following medicines - Hemarate: Iron + Folic Acid in one - after breakfast, Omega 3 - after lunch and Calcium after dinner.

I do hope and pray this coming March 28 (Check Up #6), no more UTI and a negative sugar result.

Noblesse Oblige Award

Thanks for the award Sha, sorry it took me ages to post it. Hmm . . . I am kinda busy here at the office, rushing some things.

This Award is presented to bloggers who display consistency in any one or a combination of these conditions:

1. The Blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervades amongst different cultures and beliefs.
2. The Blog contents inspire; strives to encourage and offers solutions.
3. There is a clear purpose at the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economic, the Arts, Culture and Sciences and Beliefs.
4. The Blog is refreshing and creative.
5. The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking.

The Blogger who receives this award will need to perform the following steps:
1. Create a Post with a mention and link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award.
2. The Award Conditions must be displayed at the Post.
3. Write a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved – preferably citing one or more older Post to support.
4. The Blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the Award conditions.
5. The Blogger must display the Award at any location at the Blog.

I may not be that new to blogging but I still consider myself as a newbie since I am not that active. I fail to blog some other important milestones in our lives and some important matters that are worth sharing. Albeit inactive and not a good writer, I believe that I inspire other bloggers/readers and I know somehow someway they can grasp some info, and some helpful tips in my entries.

My uRinvited advertisement slideshow helped some of bride 2bs and groom 2bs find their invitation supplier and at the same time a new found cyber friend to consult on wedding things.

More changes . . . boy or girl?

While the program is being debugged by our ABAP programmer, and while I wait for my turn to test it . . . blog muna ako re my pregnancy - the changes in me. Pampalipas oras. Hehe.

We are now on our 16th week of pregnancy. The 3rd week of my 2nd trimester. 24 weeks more to go. Ang tagal pa, naiinip na ako. Hehe. Can't wait to see, hug and kiss Baby R.

These past few days I noticed a lot of darkening in my body. Eiiiiiwwwww! Hate it! My neck and "batok" are starting to darken, with warts on the side pa. Para tuloy malibag ako. Kadiri. Good thing I have long hair to cover them. My office mate was even making fun of me, para ko daw ibinilad sa araw ang leeg at batok ko. Hmp! Not only my leeg and batok are darkening include to that the singit of my nose (which is also getting bigger) and other parts of the body. Hay . . . kailangan ba tlgang ganito pag buntis? Are these signs na we are having a baby boy? Sana. Hehe.

Aside from the darkening thingy, I am now conscious on how I look particularly with my hair, skin and nails. I make sure that I always have a good hair day, I religiously dry it with blower or electric fan or I even iron it. I am even planning to buy ceramic electric brush and curler in 1. Unlike before wash and wear lng sya. I am always in front of the mirror and check how I look and I make sure that I have a clean nails and nice polish - I love the striking red devil shade now. Hehe. Aside from these, I even bought a complete set of beauty regimen and planning to buy make up kit too. In short, ang arte ko ngayon. Hehe. Is it now a baby girl? As per my office mates, bouncing baby gay daw pag labas. Haha. Pero most of the people around me, they say or they bet, it's a girl. Let's see.

In terms of emotional aspect . . . it is true that pregnant women are emotional, I am. Hehe. There are times na ang bilis uminit ng ulo, ang taray ko and then I just suddenly cry with no reason at all. Pati ako nawiweirdohan sa sarili ko. Hehe. Good thing hubby is patient enough.

Re: my growing progress. The way I see my tummy parang it didn't grow that much but I sometimes feel that Baby R is moving. It looks the same when I was at my 3rd mo and no added inches at my waist. Maybe because I have lessen my sugar intake and I don't eat that much, nasasabyan ko yta ang pag diet ni hubby. Natatakot ako lumaki masyado at lumaki din ang gastos bka kasi ma C-Section ako which is far expensive than normal delivery. Hehe.

Check Up & Changes . . .

The laziness in me strikes again. Hay. I haven’t posted any update re my pregnancy. Bad me. I know that these are important milestones that I should not fail to document or share with my fellow bloggers. I guess it’s not yet too late to blog about it.

Let me start with my prenatal check ups we have been through . . .

Prenatal Check Up #1 (Dec 13)

- This is the day when we learned that we are pregnant. Hubby immediately scheduled an appointment with Tita Bingle/OB (hubby’s aunt) for check up. Since we already have a record at the clinic, no medical historical background was made. The usual reminder of things and food to avoid.

- Aside from the routine checks (BP, IE, weight, etc . . .) I also had urinalysis – sad to say had UTI again.

- Expected due date: Aug 15 (by LMP)

- Multivitamins (after breakfast), Folic Acid (after dinner) and Duphaston (2x a day-since I had a miscarriage history) were the prescribed medicines.

Prenatal Check Up #2 (Jan 5)

- I had another round of urinalysis, and this time it’s normal! Yey!

- I did not gain any weight.
- I had a transvaginal ultrasound and we are so happy see our baby’s heartbeat. Cuteness! We cannot describe the feeling of seeing our baby and the beat of his heart. This time we can really tell the world that we are pregnant. I felt lesser worries after knowing that baby is doing well inside my tummy. We also learned that baby is already 7 weeks and 5 days old.
- New due date: Aug 19
- Tita Bingle prescribed the same medicines. Another 10 more days for Duphaston.

Prenatal Check Up #3 (Feb 7)
- Urinalysis round 3 – normal again. Yey!
- I cannot believe that I gained 2 kls / 4.4 lbs. in a month. Tita Bingle find it a bit alarming since the ideal weight gain per month is only 1 kl. She advised me not to take too much sugar. If I continued gaining too much weight this might lead to CS delivery and that I may be a candidate for gestational diabetes. Wag naman sana. Promise I’ll watch over my diet.
- She changed my vitamins (this might be the possible reason why I gain too much weight) to food supplement.

Changes . . .

We are turning 13 weeks tomorrow. A lot of things have changed and transpired within the period in different aspects of our lives. In terms of my physical attributes, different things I feel as my pregnancy progress, wife and husband responsibilities.

As a mom to be . . . my tummy is now 6 inches bigger kaya at 8 weeks pa lng I already started wearing maternity clothes (ang laki ko daw magbuntis, siguro dahil giant ang daddy. . . hehehe), my breast became more fuller (gifted eh) , my nipples and areola are darkening (awwww!); headache is always present, heartburn is also there, I sometimes feel dizzy, l easily get irritated, lack of energy and already experiencing lower back pains. Good thing nausea and spotting snubbed me. I beat constipation by taking as much fiber and water as I can. I make sure that I sleep early to catch more then 8 hrs sleep and I take power naps during lunch break. The disciplined me. I reaserch a lot and I do read baby books too! Ako ba to? Hehe.

I still fulfill some of my wife responsibilities but limited to cooking + preparation (with hubby’s assistance pa), folds the clothes and sweeping. No more no less. The rest of the household chores are assigned to hubby since we do not have house help.

I am so thankful that hubby is always there taking care of me and our soon to be baby. He just don’t know how much I appreciate his presence and being responsible enough as all in one – driver (to and off work though out of the way), cook, labandero, iron man (haha!), dishwasher, financer and as a loving hubby. I am glad that he is able to manage all these things though he works full time at the office and with heavy workload. As a daddy naman I find him very funny and sweet every time he talks and sings to baby. Ang kulit tlga! Haha.