Feeling meaty :(

Carne

I’m 32 weeks pregnant or more or less 8 months! It’s been getting so much harder to sleep since I feel like something is pressing against my chest and making my breathing more difficult. My feet and ankles are swollen like anything and my toes look like awful little sausages.My feet can’t fit into closed toe shoes without feeling super sore at the end of the day. I live in my sandals.

I was supposed to have an OB appointment on Friday but when we got there the clinic was closed. Being dutiful people we waited till the receptionist arrived but she gave us bad news that the doctor wasn’t feeling so well and we had to reschedule our appointment. However she did allow me to check my weight and of course that heavy feeling was justified since I’m now 140 pounds! I know I’m supposed to start gaining a pound a week but I still have around 8 weeks to go! That means I’ll end up close to 150 pounds near term! Wah!

I have so many questions pa naman to ask my OB. I want to get recommendations na on a pediatrician. I need to find someone who is supportive of  breastfeeding. I also wanted a recommendation between Medical City and Cardinal Santos hospital. L and I both have relatives who work in Cardinal so we think that gives us a plus if we stay there. We’ve already seen a sample bill of someone giving (natural) birth there and are prepared.

However we recently toured the birthing suite of Medical City and I must admit I am impressed. Getting to Medical City is difficult but once we got there the place is very nice looking. People used to tell me na sobrang maasikaso ang mga tao sa Medical City and when I got there I really felt it. They are so customer oriented there and so accomodating. It did not take us that long to get permission to tour the birthing suite and someone even accompanied us the whole time from admissions desk to DR area back to the ground floor. There’s also a place called the Strip where a bunch of restaurants and Mercury Drug are. The hospital complex itself has its own Starbucks and people tell me there is free wi-fi. Sigh, guess I’ll have to wait until Monday to get the info I need.

Future Soccer player?

Baby J has also been super active lately. He’s swimming around lazily and gives me a kick every once in a while for good measure. Sometimes I’m having meetings and I wince. The people I’m meeting with end up with a puzzled look on their face because I look like I reacted to what they were saying. I had to clarify and say that Baby J was kicking me in a sensitive spot. They just ended up laughing.

Last Childbirth class

Last but not the least is the fact that we had our last childbirth class today. It was so cute first thing in the morning to see guys trying to change diapers on plastic baby dolls. We also saw how to swaddle babies and Rome played a short film on breastfeeding. The sad thing is that breasts have become so associated with sex when in reality they are there to provide nutrition for our babies. Now I know what some people mean when they said that parang sobrang weird to see the baby’s mouth mimicking a sucking motion whenever he’s hungry. Imagine, you have to breastfeed every 1 1/2 to 3 hours for the first 6 weeks. That’s practically 8 times a day including the night. Sigh, I however swore to myself that I will do what I must to provide the best nutrition I can for my baby.

Good gift exchange experience in Rustans

I had already sorted out the clothes I received from my baby shower into the newborn and 3-6 months stages. Turns out I still needed some more clothes so off we went to Landmark to buy some along with a baby cap and some receiving blankets. I was also going to buy an infant bath tub but I wasn’t so convinced on the ones I saw. I then prepared the initial clothes for washing with the Cycles detergent freebie I got from my childbirth class.

After being satisfied that Baby J would have enough clothes upon birth; I then decided to take a closer look at the other items I got from the baby shower. I decided that one of the gifts wasn’t exactly what I wanted so taking a closer look at the gift receipt I found out I had to exchange it within 10 days of purchase.

So I convinced hubby that we had to go to Glorietta since that was the Rustan’s that had the most items I could exchange with. I tried looking for some infant bath tubs but the stock was disappointingly limited. However I did find some bath towels and wash cloths that I did like. They were an imported brand and actually quite affordable considering the quality. I bought two towel sets and 1 wash cloth set to exchange with the gift from my shower.

What impressed me the most was that the total of my bill for exchange was still below the actual price of the gift. The sales girl asked if there was something else I wanted to buy but seriously there isn’t much you can buy in Rustan’s for P63 only and I wasn’t about to shell out more cash. Lloyd and I were all for forgoing the P63 but the sales girl had a bright idea of using it to buy candy. I immediately said “Gummi Bears!” since I love those and she assisted me in getting some for P63! Thus, na sulit ko talaga yung exchange gift policy ng Rustan’s. Wow, it it pricy in that place but I can’t fault the customer service.

I plan to go to SM next to check out the infant bath tubs since that’s one of the last items from my list and they supposedly have a wider range of products. I’m just trying to figure out when to do so since Lloyd gets all irritable when there are large crowds. I wonder if Baby J will be the same.

The Nesting Instinct

Supposedly one of the things you notice when you’re nearing your due date is the nesting instinct wherein there is an irresistable urge to start preparing the house for the baby. I’m not due for another month or two but reviewing the loot from my baby shower is making me all emotional.

I went a little obsessive compulsive on my loot and started categorizing them into different boxes depending on the age class of the clothing. Then I started compiling all the getting-ready-for-baby checklists I could get from my childbirth class to my office mates. Now I know what else to get based on my compiled checklist.

As I was organizing my loot, I found myself getting all teary-eyed and I started fawning over little booties. I used to see such items as cute but not to the extent where just looking and handling the booties would get me choked up with emotion. I have to keep reminding myself to not to go overboad and buy loads of baby clothes since Joao will only use them for a few months. It’s been extremely helpful that some barely used clothes from my cousin were passed on to me since that lessens the stuff I need to buy.

I’m still thinking whether or not I want to get the crib my cousin volunteered to lend me. I saw a 3-in-one crib by Graco online that I really wanted. Maybe I can justify the price since it’ll be useful not just as a crib but as a playpen as well. But with the current prices of everything shooting up should I be gungho about that large an expenditure?

I admit with around two months left I’m extremely excited and scared. There’s so much that I think about with regards to the baby. I love my job and all but not even that is making a dent in my wandering thoughts. All I can think about are the preparations I must do for Joao.

Baby Shower

Not even the rains could ruin the lovely and wonderful baby shower that my relatives threw for me. I admit that I pressured my sister into organizing it for me but who can say no to a pregnant lady? I was a bit apprehensive at first if people would be going other than my relatives but those friends who did drop by seemed to have had as great a time as me.

The food was also entirely home-cooked as my relatives pitched in cooking their specialties. The only commercial dessert there was the mango torte from Dulcelin but that’s because it’s a favorite. We had lengua, empanadas, potata au gratin, baked macaroni and chicken lollipops. Dessert was chocolate cake by Ate Kris, chocolate flakes and chocolate bears by Mariel. I ate so much!

The picture above is me at around 30 weeks and that weird looking bulge is my maternity belt. I swear that maternity belt is a lifesaver supporting this heavy belly.

I got some wonderful loot from this baby shower like clothes, bottles, a newborn grooming kit, car seat/baby carrier and a MacLaren stroller! Of course Lloyd considered the stroller and car seat his loot since he’ll be the one in charge of them.

We also played some baby shower games. The balloon blowing game was new to me but we had to exempt the pregnant ladies. The trivia game was truly intriguing because there were some questions that even I didn’t have answers to at first!

Here’s a picture of me with the baby shower organizers: my sister and my two cousins. Thank you so much!

About me today

I’ve been tagged by an officemate to talk about 6 things about myself today. So here goes…

1. I did my to-do list today on my Palm Centro. I’m the type of person who needs to write down my to-do list or else I’ll forget it. Sometimes when I remember something in the middle of the night I can’t sleep until I write it down.

2. I walked to work today since I waited for the sunshine to come out. Got a bit scared when it was raining around 6am but the weather is finicky.

3. I forgot my Flyff jacket at home T_T

4. I failed twice to get a chocolate sundae from Jollibee. Sira machine nila. Darn it.

5. However I was able to persuade someone to buy me a hot fudge sundae from McDonald’s

6. I’m just waiting for people to pop in to the office cause I need to meet with them.

Whom to tag? I tag Van P, Van D, Cecil and Jane.

Here’s to THE mom

Well, before I can actually become a mom I have to remember that I came from one as well. Here’s to my mom since it is her birthday today. We’ve had our ups and downs. Maraming downs. Lols. But I would not be here if you didn’t carry me in your womb for 9 months and go crazy over blueberry sauce topped ice-cream. Happy Birthday Mom!

All due in the next few months

Here are two pictures of the members of our childbirth class.

We started the class in small groups talking about what we wanted to happen during labor. It was as usual a very interesting class since I had no idea there were so many options to consider. The most I knew about labor is from small stories that my relatives or friends mentioned to me. In fact, I was then convinced that maybe going to Medical City wasn’t as good an idea as I thought since we have relatives who are doctors in Cardinal Santos. So, why not give birth in Cardinal Santos? We also got a sample of a bill of the same OB and now have a better idea of how much it costs.

I really like the classes so far and it is a good thing that I didn’t get lazy or think that it was useless. There’s more to this childbirth class than just lamaze, it is about knowledge of pregnancy, giving birth and the huge change of having a child. Best of all you get to bond with people who are undergoing the same experience as you and compare notes. It may mean waking up early on a Saturday morning but I find myself looking forward to these sessions.

Lorenzo Joao Manaloto first peek!

It’s highly convenient that Lolo Tek wanted to take a peek at his grandson’s progress. Not only did we get an ultrasound but we got a 4D ultrasound! I was surprised when he suddenly suggested it. How amazing is it when you get to see the hands and feet of the person kicking you from the inside? However we don’t have that clear a shot of his face, we don’t know whom he will resemble yet. But we do know that he’s healthy!

Joao's foot

Joao's hand

Joao's face

7 months

I’m now more or less at 29 or 30 weeks depending on how you count it. We went to visit our OB this morning since Saturday mornings will be dominated by the childbirth classes for the next month. It turns out Baby Joao is in the transverse position meaning he’s lying down. His head is at my right side while his feet are at my left. Most pregnancy books will tell you to sleep always on your left side so that you don’t cut off circulation to your uterus. That is what I’m used to. Lately however, our darling baby has enjoyed walking from the inside of my stomach whenever I lay on my left side. I used to wonder how I could get simultaneous movement from the left and right side and now I know why. It’s Joao stretching!

On other news, my OB says that I need to gain a bit more weight. I asked her if it was ok to not totally avoid sugar and she said fine from time to time. I made sure Lloyd heard that so that he wouldn’t be totally strict on my diet. Dra. however said not to eat too much carbs. Protein however is good. In celebration of this piece of news I promptly told Lloyd I wanted to eat at Pepper Lunch.

After our appointment we drove to Rockwell and had lunch at Pepper Lunch where I got to have that sinful Hitokuchi cut steak. Turns out the honey brown sauce is for the meat while the garlic soy is for the veggies. To think that the first time I ate there I was alternating the sauces on the meat trying to figure out which one I liked better Lloyd I think got a little umay with the same order. He however loved the shake shake salad and said whoever invented it was brilliant. After consuming my steak I was liable to agree with him on the umay factor and will probably steer away from oily food this weekend.

Lastly, we finally got a yoga mat. No more sheepish grins during our childbirth class floor exercises! Hooray! Siyempre Lloyd wanted to get the generic yellow/gray color but of course I insisted on the hot pink one. He he he. I luv it and can’t wait to try it out tomorrow.

Karma?

I still walk to work everyday. It’s become my mandatory exercise despite the bulk of my protruding stomach. It’s quite a short walk and is quite easy to manage. Lately though I’ve been harboring some anger at cars that do not stop when I am walking on the pedestrian lane. Some will coming zooming in from nowhere while I’m already in the middle of the pedestrian lane and have the gall to honk their horn at me. I’m friggin’ waddling like a duck with all this weight in a very unmanageable area and you expect me to walk fast in the rain?

Is this karma for all the times that I laughingly referred to M’s joke of getting bonus points on a pregnant woman since two for one? o_O I’ve always felt it was a sadistic joke but I still laughed. Is that laughter now haunting me?